My dad always talked about this tomato dish that was always served at Milan Plaza Court Meat & Three, the restaurant with the town's new motel on the corner of Highway 70 and Liberty in Milan, Tennessee, next to the Big Star market and Dairy Dip ice cream drive-in. As a young boy in the 1940s, Dad loved dining here and would order the meat of the day, plus 3 sides of the "stewed" tomatoes.
Fast forward twenty years, and Dad wants to make this recipe at home, but every recipe for Stewed Tomatoes disappointed him. He could not find a recipe to duplicate the tomato dish he remembered and loved from his youth.
Until one day....
While waiting to be seated at the local Cracker Barrel restaurant, Dad picked up a recipe book and started flipping through the pages. To his delight, he discovered a recipe for Tomato Pudding. Could it be???
Using this recipe as a base, he tinkered in the kitchen and was able to recreate the tomato side dish of his dreams.
Tomato Pudding
INGREDIENTS
- one 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 3/4 cups brown sugar
- 1/2 cup whole butter, melted
- 8 slices white bread, cut into cubes
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Pour the canned tomatoes into a medium sized mixing bowl with brown sugar, half of the melted butter and half of the bread cubes. Mix well and pour into buttered casserole dish. Some folks add a little salt and pepper.
Top with remaining bread cubes and pour remaining melted butter on top.
Bake until bubbly and golden brown.
Delicious! But Dad's recipe is much simpler. Throw it all in a bit pot, stir and simmer stovetop until hot and bubbly. This variation is just as delicious, easier, faster, and with less clean up. I'll be making this recipe stovetop from now on.
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