So you purchased that perfect olive loaf from La Brea
Bakery and while it made superb sandwiches over the past week, there’s still a
half loaf leftover that’s beginning to stale. Or perhaps it’s that artisanal created
baguette from that independent French bakery down the street that’s also gone
stale after several days. What do you do with all of that stale bread?
You could simply tear up the bread and feed the pieces to
the neighborhood fowl… like my neighbor down the street. Of course, that simply
trains wildlife to be dependent on human contact for their daily sustenance.
And propagating invasive bird species is definitely a risky proposition with
the rise in H5, H7 and H9 avian influenza.
The Simplest
Repurposing
This simply involves grabbing that original kitchen appliance
that hasn’t been doomed to the dreaded kitchen appliance graveyard, the
toaster. I mean, the toaster’s main job is to bring stale bread back to life by
converting a chalky, dry piece of bread by hastening moisture loss and creating
a crispy, desirable piece of toasted bread via the Maillard reaction. In fact,
sometimes I enjoy a golden browned piece of toast even more than fresh bread
straight from the oven!
You could also take several pieces of toasted bread and
run them in your food processor to create homemade breadcrumbs. Running stale
bread through the food processor also creates breadcrumbs but I find that the
moisture level of stale bread still allows even refrigerated breadcrumbs to form
white, black and various hues of blue “beards” and that toasting removes enough
moisture that your refrigerated breadcrumbs usually last until you use them for
meatloaf, meatballs or Romesco sauce. Plus the caramelized surface of toast
adds another flavor dimension to your culinary creation.
Savory Bread
Pudding?
Everyone is familiar with the concept of bread pudding,
usually cubes of stale bread soaked in a sweetened custard mixture consisting
of milk, eggs and sugar often laced with dessert spices and fruit then baked
and served with a rich, sweet sauce. I’ve made my fair share of sweet bread
pudding using baked and fried goods as diverse as stale doughnuts to
Wolferman’s blueberry English muffins. And while a sweet bread pudding…
especially a cinnamon infused version using stale cinnamon rolls topped with a
sweetened bourbon sauce is divine, a savory version during the main meal is
just as delicious. The original version of this recipe was from Chef Edwin Goto
while he was still the Sous Chef at the Koele Lodge (he currently runs Village
Burger Waimea and Noodle Club Waimea). However the original recipe called for 2
cups of heavy cream which usually doesn’t have a place in my daily diet so I
dropped that all the way down to skim milk and substituted whole wheat bread
for white bread and increased the fresh mushroom content so it’s guilt free the
whole week. Though this recipe was first published in the Nichi Bei Times over
10 years ago, I think it’s worth another look…
Mushroom Bread
Pudding
1 tbsp unsalted butter
¼ cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 tbsp unsalted butter
½ c finely diced onions
2 tbsp finely chopped garlic
4 c coarsely chopped fresh shiitake mushroom caps
4 c coarsely chopped button mushrooms
4 c coarsely chopped oyster mushroom caps
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 c skim milk
½ tsp poultry seasoning
2 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of ground nutmeg
2 egg yolks
4 whole eggs
1 lb whole wheat bread, cut into ½ inch cubes
2 tbsp chopped parsley
Butter bottom and sides of a 2-quart shallow casserole
dish with 1 tablespoon of butter.
Sprinkle with panko, ensuring it adheres to the dish. Shake out excess panko; set dish aside.
In a large pot fitted with a lid, melt the other
tablespoon of butter over medium heat.
Cook onions and garlic until translucent but do not brown. Stir in mushrooms, cover pot and cook for
about 5 minutes, allowing mushrooms to render their liquid. Remove the lid; add thyme and rosemary. Cook uncovered, stirring frequently until all
the liquid has evaporated, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the milk, poultry seasoning, salt,
pepper, cayenne and nutmeg. Allow to
reduce just before boiling and remove from heat; cool. Once the mixture is cool to the touch, add
egg yolks and whole eggs; mix thoroughly.
Fold in bread and parsley. Allow
bread to absorb custard for about 15 minutes, mixing occasionally. Transfer custard to prepared casserole dish;
bake uncovered for about 45 minutes at 350ºF.
Pudding should be firm and a knife blade inserted into the middle should
be clean when removed. Serves 10-12
people.
Savory bread puddings can also constitute a full, one
baking pan meal if you incorporate proteins into the mixture. Since I have to
refresh my “Sponge Bob” sourdough starter at least every 3 weeks, it means I
make quite a bit of sourdough focaccia. Whatever leftover focaccia I have usually
is transformed into a strata. While most strata are served for breakfast due to
the use of eggs and milk along with usual breakfast meats, my favorite strata
application is my Strata Italiano highlighted in my December column using
Italian sausage, roasted red peppers and spinach. The basic recipe calls for 4
cups of milk, 5 eggs along with a protein and at least one balancing acid
source (pickles, mustard, tomatoes, etc).
Or Bread Salad?
This Old World repurposing of old bread hails from Italy
where panzanella or bread salad converts stale bread into a delicious salad.
Basically, cubed pieces of stale bread are tossed with fresh vegetables to
create a great side for savory proteins as the vinaigrette tossed in the
panzanella refreshes the palate between bits of richer protein dishes. And once
again, a version of this recipe first appeared in the Nichi Bei Times well over
a decade ago but since we’re heading closer to summer when grills re-emerge
from their Winter slumber, it seemed appropriate to repost.
Grilled Veggie
Panzanella
2 zucchini quartered lengthwise
1 large red onion sliced in 1 inch slices with rings kept
intact
1 green, red, orange and yellow bell pepper, seeded then
quartered lengthwise
1 lb fresh cherry tomatoes, halved
¼ cup light olive oil or canola oil
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
Salt and fresh black pepper to taste
1 two foot long whole wheat baguette, split lengthwise
and cut roughly 1 inch cubes
(make sure bread is stale, the bread can be rock hard).
Place in large mixing bowl.
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 tbsp canola oil
About 20 pitted Kalamata or Nicoise olives roughly
chopped
1 small clove garlic finely chopped
1 tbsp rinsed, drained and roughly chopped capers
Fresh black pepper
Julienne fresh basil, about ¼ cup
Place veggies in a plastic bag with oil, Italian
seasoning and salt and black pepper. Grill veggies except tomatoes on a very
hot grill until grill marks appear – don’t overcook veggies, they should still
be a little firm. When veggies are done, roughly chop into 1 inch pieces –
mushrooms can be whole, halved or quartered depending on size – then place all
veggies over stale bread cubes (along with juices from veggies) then cover
mixing bowl with shrink wrap. The residual heat, veggie juices and steam will
penetrate and soften and flavor the stale bread. Mix next seven ingredients
into a vinaigrette and pour over bread/veggie mixture. Toss with the strips of
fresh basil. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
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