10 Ways To Use Stale Bread
April 30th, 2009
For longer than any of us have been alive, cooks have been finding uses for leftover bread. If you find yourself in this predicament, here are 10 delicious ways to salvage bread before it goes to waste.
1. First, the obvious: Make breadcrumbs.
2. Whip up a custard and you’re halfway to making bread pudding. We like it savory — with asparagus and morels or spicy andouille and cheddar — as well as sweet, either infused with bay leaf or with raisins and cream and made even simpler in the microwave.
3. Or why not try making a strata — that popular make-ahead brunch staple that’s a bread pudding-like layered comfort food casserole made with eggs, cheese, stale cubed bread and any number of filling, like this one with apple, smoked turkey and cheddar.
4. A classic Pappa al Pomodoro or Tuscan tomato soup tastes more like a tomato-bread porridge.
5. This light vegetable and sausage Tuscan soup uses a scattering of cubed bread.
6. Soak stale bread to make homemade tarama with this simple recipe and see how much better it tastes when you make it yourself.
7. Stale bread is part of what gives Spanish gazpacho or garlic and almond soup body.
8. Make an Italian bread salad or panzanella with things like fresh basil, tomatoes and the best extra-virgin olive oil you have in the house.
9. This savory French toast is made even more decadent with spring asparagus and Gruyère.
10. And, of course: croutons!
More ideas?
April 30th, 2009 at 11:59 am
French toast
April 30th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Stuffing
April 30th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Panzella
Croque monsieur
Base for creamed….anything (meats w/gravy, aspargus in cheese sauce, welsh rarebit, etc.)
Bruscetta
If not too stale- spread slices with ehrb/garlic butter and toast in the oven. Top with grated cheese if desired (cheese bread). Ot make grilled cheese.
April 30th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Eggy country style breakfast casseroles
April 30th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Romanesco
Milk toast
My grandmother always used to make a dish that was somewhere between stewed tomatoes and chunky tomato soup with fresh basil, garlic and leftover cubed bread. A sprinkle of parmesan and it was a delicious “poor man’s” dinner.
Actually, stale bread went into a lot of our “poor man” soups. Bean, kale and bread. Cabbage, mushroom, potato and bread. All had a butter or olive oil base, onion, garlic, some carrot and celery. Maybe a bit of fresh herb. And often grated parmesan. Another nickname for them was Friday soup.
Andof course, we often put a slice of stale bread in the bottom of the soup bowl too.
My aunt made a dip of garlic, potato, olive oil, parsely and bread called skordalia.
And don’t forget those delicious German or Czech bread dumplings.
May 2nd, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Bread adds body and thickness to soups. I posted a recipe for soup which includes a few slices of bread on my blog Completely Edible.
May 27th, 2009 at 10:42 am
[…] While visiting our friends over at Cookthink.com, we noticed a great post about “Ways to use stale bread.” […]