by Chef Robert Bell
Archaeologists say baking goes back 14,000 years. It pre-dates agriculture by about 4,000 years. The Flatbreads of India and the Middle East date back 6,000 years, and are baked today in a very similar way. Flatbreads are easy to make, and require little fuel to fully bake, making them perfect for nomadic peoples.
Historically, the working class lived in poverty. Bread was an inexpensive staple that could be baked, bought, and traded for to feed families cheaply. Food, and specifically bread was never wasted. Old bread had many ways of winding up for dinner. Old bread can be found in desserts, soups, salads, meatballs, sausage, migas, meatloaf, dumplings, eggs and bread crumbs. Bread, in all its stages of age, has found a place on the dining table.
Two or three day old bread is perfect for absorbing milk and egg batter for French Toast. It can also be torn in small pieces and used for stuffing various vegetables. Calabrese Stuffed Eggplant is delicious.
Store bought, packaged pre-sliced bread, when stale, is good for French Toast, Meatballs and Meatloaf. But first, good stale bread needs to be good fresh bread. Homemade or bakery breads make really good Stale Bread, for Stuffings, Croutons, Puddings, and Migas.
You do not want your leftover bread to turn moldy. It will turn moldy in a few days if kept moist in a package. So, once you decide you will not use the bread as fresh bread any longer, cut it in 1-inch cubes, place the cubes on a cookie sheet, and leave them in a warm part of the kitchen. Mix the cubes a bit each day to give all the cubes exposure to air. You want them to become very dry; this generally takes three to four days. If it is humid, it will take longer. Once the cubed bread becomes very dry you can place them in Zip-Lock Plastic bags to use later. If you are in a hurry, you can always do the drying slowly in the oven.
Toasts
Semi stale bread makes good Toast. Toasts can be Crostini, Bruschetta, Pan con Tomat, English Cheese Toast or any fried, grilled, toasted or griddled bread. Now add a topping and Voila.
In decades past, the poor in England ate toast and beans. The Welsh have their delicious Rarebit, the French love their Croque Madame. Australia grows avocados throughout the continent, and I’ve heard they originated the Avocado Toast. Who knew?
One of my favorite Toasts, often served in Catalonia tapas bars, is Pan con Tomat. It is finished with grated, aged Manchego cheese, and topped with a slice of fried, grilled or griddled eggplant. You can take this a step farther with a drizzle of basil pesto.
Migas
In Spain, Migas are large bread crumbs, too large to be called crumbs. These semi-dry large bread crumbs are slightly soaked in milk or salted water overnight. Then fried in olive oil or lard the following day. Typically, adding at least a couple more ingredients that happen to be on hand, like, bacon, sausage, ham, paprika, and herbs. The Migas are then topped with fried or scrambled eggs. Either is delicioso.
Iberian mountain shepherds used stale bread and other grains enriched with lard and meat scrapes, garlic, and herbs. They would sit around a fire during winter mornings eating Migas as their first meal of the day. Historic facts on the culinary culture of Spain and Portugal indicate this has been a tradition for thousands of years.
Shepherds Migas
You will need semi-dry bread that has retained about 25% of its moisture. The bead can be roughly chopped or hand torn into pieces about the size of pine nuts. The day before cooking the Migas, place about 1 lb. of the raw Migas in a large bowl and sprinkle with milk or salted water. Do not wet too much, mix well and leave in the refrigerator overnight.
Heat about 1 oz. of your preferred fat, add the bacon or chorizo then garlic. Cook until the meat is cooked. Now add an herb or two and some sweet paprika, top with eggs and enjoy.
Bread Pudding
Many Restaurants use leftover bread for dessert, as bread pudding. The South is known for their Bourbon Bread Pudding, made famous in Cajun Cooking. Not so famous are many types of Savory Bread Puddings. I love the Ricotta Rosemary Bread Pudding. However, my favorite Savory Bread Pudding is tomato. Yes Tomato Bread Pudding. Here goes.
6 oz. stale, very dry cubed bread
1 cup half & half
2 large eggs
This is the custard and bread.
Whip the half & half together with the eggs in a bowl.
Place the bread cubes in a bowl and pour the [custard] egg mixture over the bread cubes, mix, re-mix and mix again until the bread virtually absorbs all the liquid.
Add a bit of ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, chopped parsley, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix very well and pour into a loaf pan for baking.
Bake at 350. It is done when you press down on it with your finger, feels solid and no liquid seeps to the top. Maybe 15-20 minutes.
I would serve this with a green salad, fish on top of the bread pudding and finished with buttery sauce.
Bread Crumbs
Bread Crumbs are usually made from stale, fresh whole bread.
I prefer grating the hard bread on a box grater. It is tedious and time consuming, but worth the effort. The food processor works well, but quickly dulls the blade and then must be washed. Of course, you can purchase bread crumbs. I have a round box of bead crumbs and just counted the number of ingredients: 56! It’s not likely they were ever bread!
The larger, fluffy bread crumbs called Panko, which I have been told actually start as bread, have only four ingredients. These work well for many types of food choices.
My Grandmother would make wonderful steamed artichokes that were stuffed with bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, chopped parsley olive oil and chopped prosciutto. She stuffed the large outer leaves with the bread mixture and steamed them. Who needs mayo?
The Italians make some of my favorite stale bread recipes. These are known as Cucina Povera or Poor Peoples Food. I really enjoy Stuffed Eggplant.
Stuffed Eggplant Calabria
Roast a whole eggplant until it can easily be pierced, cut in half and let cool.
Once cooled, scoop out most of the flesh and set aside.
Soften small cubes of stale bread by lightly soaking them in milk in a large bowl. When softened add tomato sauce, garlic, basil, parmesan or Romano cheese, cubed provolone cheese and 1 raw egg. Mix all together well.
Fill the two eggplant halves equally with the mixture. Now cover that with the remainder of the scooped out roasted eggplant. Bake at 350 until very hot and the provolone is melted. Serve with crusty fresh bread.
Panzanella Salad Tuscana
Sauté stale cubed bread [Italian if possible] in extra virgin olive oil until golden brown on most sides. Set Aside.
In a large bowl combine diced fresh ripe tomatoes, minced garlic, olives, cucumber and red onion with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). Salt and pepper to taste. Let marinate together 2 to 3 hours, then add the fried croutons. Toss well, let stand for 30 minutes or so, and serve.
Ribollita Tuscana
This is a simple soup of beans and bread, and delicious.
Start by sautéing Sofrito, [onion, carrot, celery and bell pepper], with some diced fennel in olive oil until soft. Add a can of drained cannellini beans.
Add some chicken broth and a chiffonade of white cabbage. Simmer, adding more chicken as needed. Add some cubed stale bread, mix well and simmer.
To finish, add more stale bread cubes, drizzle with EVOO, and parmesan cheese. Brown and serve. Accompany with a simple salad and it is dinner.
A couple of books on the subject which I enjoyed reading:
“The Stale Bread Book,” Cider Mill Press, and “Cucina Povera.” Giulia Scarpaleggia.
Chef Robert Bell was raised in Brooklyn where Grandma Millie welcomed her grandson’s help in the kitchen. Over a 45-year career, Bell and partner Michael Franks opened many South Bay restaurants including Misto, Fino, Depot, Chez Melange, and Descanso. Today Bell enjoys teaching, catering and writing.
For questions about food and entertaining, email Robert Bell at chefrobertbell@gmail.com. Pen
