stale bread - what to do with

[shirt]

i buy a fresh crusty loaf from the bakers almost every day - usually a rustic round thing [campagne?] or sourdough bloomer.

the thing is i really only eat the crust, leaving the bulk of the middle bit and the bottom. this usually gets fed to the ducks but i guess i should start making something tasty for myself out of it instead.

so, anyone got any good reciped involving bread other than bread & butter pud?

[Nefarious]

Lightly toasted cubes of bread with a little drop of balsamic on go great in salads.

Bread sauce for poultry roasts freezes well

Perhaps an opportunity to make Wiener Schnitzel, Chicken Kievs, Breaded fish etc etc?

[dcw@pr]

sausages

[mrsshpub]

Loads of ideas on the BBC Good Food website here.

[louiebaby]

Throw it at the ducks, like in "About A Boy"???

[juice]

Soak the bread in milk and use it to make Meatballs...

[escargot]

What's that dish called where you mix bread & lightly toasted bread with tomatoes, olive oil, onions etc. I think it's Italian.

Whatever it is, it's bloody nice with a steak.

[shirt]

panzanella sounds good, will try that at some point this week.

[prand]

I use a food processor and make breadcrumbs with it (put in a airtight box). Use the breadcrumbs for gratin toppings, into burgers/meatballs and for fishcakes.

I find if the breadcrumbs are very dry they last for a long time (months). But you only need a couple of leftover loaves to make enough to last you.

[grumbledoak]

Breadcrumbs. Very handy. They freeze well, too. Pop them in a tupperware container or a freezer bag. They don't really even need defrosting for most uses.

[Alexj800]

shirt said:

i really only eat the crust, leaving the bulk of the middle bit and the bottom

Brush it with milk and pop it in the oven and make yourself another crust.

[Leebo77]

Another vote for panzanella. See my post near the bottom of the page for a pic:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... of your Dinner&mid=0

[Urban_Ninja]

eat it before it goes stale? and thats the inside of the bread not just the crusts.

just a thought?

[shirt]

but i only buy it for the crust. the baker does a really nice pain de campagne and as i'm getting there just before closing i get a large one for 80p. bargain. i usually peel the top off with just a few mm of the insides, lightly toast it then wipe on some butter and manuka honey

making panzanella this evening to go with the PH winetasting.

[sleep envy]

bread veal escalops with them!!

they freeze well so you can make a dozen or so and take them out the night before you need them

[bazking69]

Panzanella is bang on if done properly and belies the basic ingredients that it consists of.
Other than that, I just make crotons with old bread, by cubing them, covering them in olive oil, salt and pepper and putting them in the oven, which can then be used for salads, soups or even as a snack on it's own.
Top tip, if you buy the jars of sun dried tomatoes in oil, use the oil out of the jar instead of normal olive oil. Superb end result.

[zac510]

I don't mean to sound too radical or anything but how about toast?

[captainzep]

grumbledoak said:

Breadcrumbs. Very handy. They freeze well, too. Pop them in a tupperware container or a freezer bag. They don't really even need defrosting for most uses.

Agreed.

Handy thickening agent for the more robust tomato based stews/sauces too. First saw this in a backstreet restaurant dish in Italy. Somehow seems to carry the garlic/tomato/olive oil flavours better.

[Shaolin]

Why don't you buy baguettes instead? Better ratio of crust to bread I would think for your purposes. I find Waitroses "Grand Mange" gives the perfect ratio for the family.

[collateral]

captainzep said:

grumbledoak said:

Breadcrumbs. Very handy. They freeze well, too. Pop them in a tupperware container or a freezer bag. They don't really even need defrosting for most uses.

Agreed.

Handy thickening agent for the more robust tomato based stews/sauces too. First saw this in a backstreet restaurant dish in Italy. Somehow seems to carry the garlic/tomato/olive oil flavours better.

Might have to try that.

I normally let a few ciabbiatas (typo!) go hard and then wizz em up - makes very nice ones