Bread crocks are quite effective (with lid)
Hello Richard
How about bread pudding? That's what I usually do with any left over bits. Recipe if you're interested
June Seymour
I make breadcrumbs at least once a week. If I don't use them the birds are happy to find them on the birdtable. I actually buy bags of stale bread from the Boulangerie for my hens, goats, ducks and rabbits. However, if I get my own stale bread there's always Panzanella from Giorgio Locatelli:
Because of panzanella, I don't think I have ever thrown a single piece of stale bread in the bin! The great thing about this Tuscan salad is that it goes well with just about anything – grilled fish, chicken, prawns, you name it – or you can just hog a whole bowl of it to yourself.
1 small loaf of country-style bread (about 2-3 days old), cut into large cubes 1 small cucumber, roughly chopped 1 large red onion, roughly chopped 3 very ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained 1-2 teaspoons sugar (to taste) 12 basil leaves, roughly crushed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place the cucumber, red onion and tomatoes in a large bowl and add the bread. Mix well with your hands and season with salt and pepper.
Whisk the olive oil, red wine vinegar, capers, sugar and some salt and pepper together and add to the bowl with the basil. Give it a good stir, then cover and leave in the fridge overnight for the flavours to mellow. The bread should feel moist but not soggy. Serve as a starter or salad, or with grilled or roasted meat.
snap!
other than breadcrumbs, croutons, the birds, the dog, the chickens... THE absolute BEST THING to do with yesterdays baguette is 'eggy bread'
(weird as we always called it 'French Toast' when i was little...)
Carve your bread into slices, whisk up a couple or more eggs, SOAK the bread in the egg for a showers time, then fry in butter each side until golden and glorious... i like mine savoury with ketchup, husband prefers his with honey
x t
I just blitz the hard bread up in the blender into bread crumbs and then store them in a jar for when I need them later.
The French solved this problem centuries ago. They marinate slices of stale bread in a whisked egg and milk mixture and fried it up after the bread had absorbed a bit of moisture. Then someone, probably an Englishman, came up with the catchy name; French toast.
To store, in advance, I cut/break the baguette into 3-4 sections and place in a ziplock bag and put it in the freezer. The next morning, I thaw it in the microwave and it's as good as new!
Or don't bother toasting & make a catalan break-time snack, pan tomaquet : rub bread with bit of garlic, smash up a very ripe tomato & dollop it on top, dribble on a bit of olive oil, add a pinch of salt & a sliver of jamón serrano/bellota/pata negra (if you're lucky.) Slurp & crunch your way through it ;-)
If it's a day or two or three old but still sliceable with a sharp bread knife then slice it up quite thinly into rounds. Toast the rounds on both sides under the grill. Leave to cool, then put in a zip lock bag and use for an instant canapé thingy with any topping you can imagine. They keep for ever (almost) in the zip lock bag in the cupboard. Some examples:
1) finely diced tomatoes with seeds taken out, left to drain over a sieve. add balsamic, olive oil, salt, pepper. dollop on top of each round of toasted round of baguette.
2) philiadelphia or ricotta or creme fraiche type stuff mixed with anything you fancy including herbs and or spices
3)smoked mackerel all mashed up with creme fraiche
4) blob of creme fraiche topped with blob of caviar, sliver of lemon zest
5)anything else lurking in the fridge which can be used as a topping
I also do the breadcrumbs thing with it if it's really not sliceable any more - stick in the food processor, turn into breadcrumbs and put in the freezer for an ever ready supply of breadcrumbs (for gratins, coating things etc)
Either wrap it in a moistened kitchen towel overnight or cut into useable pieces and freeze them. Toast the frozen baguettes,obviously, before using.
Richard, We wrap ours in the kitchen towel. This helps it survive for another day or two. When they go hard we grind them up in the food processor and use them as bread crumbs.
toasted with melted camembert and wafer thin crispy smoked bacon, its the best use I can think of :)
Oooh missis! (you have to say it with a Frankie Howard voice to make it funny!)
Yum Yum!!
That sounds like one of my "non-specific" recipes! People ask me what I put in dishes and how long I cook them for and I honestly don't know, I just make it up as I go along and hope for the best!
Andrew has the keeping it soft sorted, so here's a possibility for the dried-up remains.
In view of the weather, comfort food: Bread & butter pudding - slice it up with a serrated knife, butter one side of each slice & put them standing up in an oven dish, pour over a mixture of milk & egg (500ml of milk, 3 or 4 eggs, couple of tablespoons of sugar) let it soak for a bit & top up with milk/egg mixture if it looks too dry - then sprinkle the top with a bit more sugar & possibly cinnamon - in the oven at 160 for half an hour or 40 minutes. Then go & eat it with a spoon by the fire.
If you like you can put ginger marmalade in (spread it on the butter & don't bother with the sugar)... I loathe raisins in things but some people think they are lovely so that's another possibility.
It loses its crustyness, Terry, but at least it's still edible and doesn't get given to the horses!
But doesn't it go all limp if you keep it in a plastic bag, Andrew?
Bread and butter pudding! AKA coupetade (at least that's what they call it here). And no, I don't have a specific recipe. But all it involes is cutting the bread into smallish chunks, putting butter on it if you must, soaking the lot in a milk and egg mixture, stirring in lots of dried fruit -- or just prunes according to the local recipe for coupetade -- and shoving it in the oven in whatever container takes your fancy and will take the heat. What temperature and for how long? Haven't a clue!