What to do with an overload of bread?!
Answers: I have a bunch of day old bread that I have been given. How do you know if it is still good? If it smells yeasty - then is it too late? I have frozen some, but there is still more. I thought maybe I could make fresh bread crumbs and freeze them, but I don't know how to do that. Do I set it out on the counter and let it get dry? I know to put it in the blender or food, but that is all I know. I need step by step, please.I know these are dumb questions. I just don't want it all too go bad. All kinds - sandwich bread, french, hamburger buns, etc.
Here are some recipes
Bread Pudding with a local flair
(serves 6)
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
3/4 cups maple syrup
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 lb.of day old hearty bread (Pain Au Levain works great)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Grease six 3 in. cupcake tins.
Whisk together eggs and egg yolks. Add maple syrup, cream, milk, and vanilla.
Cut bread into 1 in. cubes. Fill tins with bread.
Pour egg mixture over bread. Push bread down into egg mixture to moisten it. (It will float back up-- this is o.k.)
Place cupcake tins into 2 in. deep pan. Fill pan with 1 1/2 in. of water. Bake for 45 min. or until lightly browned.
Flip out individual servings and pour caramel sauce over inverted pudding.
Caramel Sauce for Bread Pudding
2/3 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
pinch of salt
Warm the syrup over medium heat. Whisk in cream. Reduce this mixture over medium-high heat until it begins to thicken (15-20 min.). Add salt and butter. Keep at low heat until pouring over pudding.
This recipe would also be great with local strawberries added as a topping, when they are in season.
Since I like to make homemade bread, I always seem to have end pieces around that I target and save for make homemade bread crumbs.
Any type of bread (white, wheat, sourdough, rye, etc.) can be used. There's nothing wrong with combining various breads; why let them go to waste? The mixture of various breads also gives your dishes some wonderful taste experiences!
Please, don't use stale bread in this process. Stale bread makes for stale tasting breadcrumbs. You need to use dry bread only. If you bread is too fresh, just bake fresh bread slices in a slow oven a oven until slightly dry.
I usually wait until I have enough bread slices to fill my food processor before making the crumbs. Just store your odds and ends of bread in a large resealable plastic bag in the freezer until ready to make your homemade bread crumbs.
If your bread is not dry enough to crumble in the food processor, place bread piece/slices on an ungreased baking sheet. Bread pieces will dry faster and evenly when they are laid out in a single layer, rather than when the pieces are stacked; allow a bit of room between pieces to dry properly. Bake in a 300 degree F. oven for approximately 10 to 15 minutes; about halfway through, turn them over so they dry evenly. Remove from oven and let cool.
Tear dried bread into smaller pieces and place in your food processor. Whirl until desired coarseness. NOTE: I like to grind mine until a coarse texture. This way, if I need finer crumbs, I just regrind the amount needed when making my dish.
Savoury Bread Pudding
tablespoons butter
3 granny smith apples, peeled and coarsely chopped (3cups)
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
4 cups cubed firm bread
1 lb bacon, cooked and chopped
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
5 eggs
Grease 2 quart casserole.
Melt butter in a large frypan over medim heat.
Cook apples in butter 2-3 minutes , stirring occasionally, until crisp tender.
Stir in brown sugar, reduce heat to low.
Cook 5-6 minutes , stirring occasionally, until apples are tender.
Layer half of each of the bread, bacon apples and cheese in casserole.
Repeat with remaining bread, bacon, apples and cheese.
mix remaining ingredients, pour over cheese.
Cover tightly and refrigerate at least 2 hours but no longer than 24 hours.
Heat oven to 350 degrees, Bake uncovered 40-45 minutes or until knife inserted in centre comes out clean Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
If it's a day old, it will be fine for a while. Don't worry about it until you see mold.
Start making sandwiches and soup.
You could donate it to the poor.
If it has a strong yeast smell, it is or has developed mold, don't eat it.
i would make bread crumbs, first toast the bread, i would put it in a 350 degree oven for about ten minutes then put it in a food processor, there is no reason to freeze it if you keep in an airtight container.
Also bread pudding
INGREDIENTS
10 slices white bread, cut into cubes
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
6 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups scalded milk
1 pinch ground nutmeg
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly butter one 2 quart baking dish.
Combine bread cubes, butter, cinnamon and raisins; mix well and place in baking dish.
Beat together the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt. Add milk, mix well and pour over bread cubes.
Sprinkle with nutmeg and bake for 25 minutes. Top with sweetened condensed milk.
Or make a homemade stuffing
INGREDIENTS
1 (1 pound) loaf sliced white bread
3/4 cup butter or margarine
1 onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup chicken broth
DIRECTIONS
Let bread slices air dry for 1 to 2 hours, then cut into cubes.
In a Dutch oven, melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Cook onion and celery until soft. Season with poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir in bread cubes until evenly coated. Moisten with chicken broth; mix well.
Chill, and use as a stuffing for turkey, or bake in a buttered casserole dish at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes.
"Fresh" breadcrumbs means they are made from bread that has not dried out yet. For those, just run them through your food processor either before you freeze them or after you thaw the bread. For dried bread crumbs let it dry thoroughly, then run them through the food processor. If they are well dried they don't need to be frozen, just kept dry. Ziplocs work well for that.
Other things you could make and save would be croutons and dried bread cubes (for stuffing).
Bert
you make bread crumbs by setting the old bread on the counter and letting it get good and dry. In winter this will happen in only a few days. Then just put it in the blender and grind until you like the size. A long time for fine and a short time for coarse. Store it dry. Can and spices if you want. I usually freeze mine because believe it or not the breadcrumbs can go rancid if you don't use them or freeze them
PhD Food Chemistry and Nutrition.
Open the bread and let dry completly. Completly means til all is hard as a rock.
Then put into food processor.
Store in a air-tight container at room temperature. Will last years.
Add italain seasonings to make a seasoned crumb.
Oh, you need to make bread pudding!
Take any of the bread that you have, tear up enough to fill a casserole, beat eggs and milk together in about a 1:1 ratio, add sugar and cinnamon and raisins, pour over the bread, make sure all the bread is wet, and bake at 350 until the middle is cooked through. Eat it hot, it's delish!
You can even wait a couple days to do this, too.
you can make croutons, too. cut your bread into the size you like for croutons, season with olive oil and seasonings that you like, I'd put a garlic salt on them, spread out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and dry in a low oven (200). they'll keep for quite a while in an airtight bag if you get them really dry.
French bread makes wonderful French toast. And you can freeze it for later.
Any bread you just put in the freezer won't last too long--we used to have to buy ours from a discount store and freeze it--the edges on the bottom get really soggy and the top gets hard as a rock.
Those bread pudding recipes can be frozen, ready to pop in the oven when you need one, and the cro?tons and bread crumbs last a long time.
how about donating some to a homeless shelter or a soup kitchen?