[RecipesAndMore] Tips

[steve doyle]

STALE BREAD GETS SECOND LIFE       If you routinely toss old bread in the trash, shame on you! Those hardened heels and slices deserve a little respect.  Due to a quirk of nature that even scientists don't fully understand, bread morphs as it ages into a useful ingredient with different culinary characteristics from fresh bread.   After the bread turns stale, You can  use it to make everything from ravioli filling to fruit lasagna. Stale bread also can be used in soups and salads, as well as in French toast and egg casseroles.   It's a common misconception that stale bread is simply dried-out bread. The reality is that even a tightly wrapped loaf will turn stale, even though the moisture content remains the same as when the bread was pulled from the oven.   The starch in flour is partly to blame for staling.  As bread bakes, water enters the starch granules and causes the simple amylose starch molecules and the more complex amylopectins to swell and soften, says food scientist Shirley O. Corriher of Atlanta, author of "CookWise" (Morrow). As bread cools, the starch molecules recrystallize, hooking together more tightly than they were originally.   Amylose starch recrystallizes in the first hour or so after baking, which makes the bread firmer and easier to slice, Corriher says. But most of the starch in bread is amylopectin, which takes several days to fully recrystallize. As it does, the bread gets firmer, breaks into crumbs more easily and becomes more opaque, says Carl Hoseney, a cereal grain scientist in Manhattan, Kan.   Thrifty peasant cooks have revered stale bread, it was never thrown away but instead was used to stretch soups, salads and entrees to feed more mouths.    Crumbs can be toasted and used as a cheese substitute, "poor man's parmesan," in gratins and other dishes. Fine crumbs can be recycled as coatings for fried foods, while coarse crumbs can be toasted and added to pastas, soups and salads for crunchy texture.   Crumbs also can be used to thicken sauces and gravies. Because the starch is already cooked, the crumbs don't impart a raw flour taste.   OTHER USES FOR STALE BREAD:   Panade, a soup traditionally made from stale bread, broth and any vegetables on hand. The bread softens and swells in the broth, adding body and texture.   Another popular Italian bread soup is ribollita (meaning "reboiled"), which at first was leftover minestrone mixed with bread cubes. Today ribollita refers to a thick soup made with layers of cannellini beans, stale bread and a little broth. "It's the kind of thing you can eat with a fork," Field says.   Panzanella, or bread salad. The bread cubes hold together even when doused with vinaigrette. For a smoky flavor, try grilling the bread first.   Bruschetta and crostini, multipurpose Italian toasts. They are often rubbed with garlic and drizzled with olive oil.   Croutons, toasted bread cubes used to garnish salads and soups.   Pain perdu, commonly known as French toast.   Stratas and frittatas, egg dishes that become more of a meal when bread is added.   Bread puddings are filler-up desserts that can be fruity, chocolatey, boozy or a combination, depending on the recipe.   Day-old loaves can be used in French toast.  Fresh bread gets too soggy.  You can float a slice of stale bread in French onion soup, top it with cheese and broil it.   COOK'S TIPS   To make crumbs, process stale bread in a food processor with a steel blade (for coarse crumbs) or a grating blade (for fine crumbs).   To make croutons, cut stale bread into bite-size cubes, drizzle with olive oil and bake at 350 F about 8 minutes, until crisp and golden.   You can leave croutons plain or season them with just about anything, including parmesan cheese, oregano, parsley, garlic powder, butter and chili sauce.   To speed up staling, put bread in the refrigerator. "Bread gets staler in one day in the fridge than it does in six days at room temperature," cooking author Shirley O. Corriher says.   To freshen stale bread, sprinkle it with water, wrap loosely in foil and heat in a 350-degree oven 10 minutes. LR FROM NOTTINGHAM ENGLAND --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Access the Recipes And More list archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/recipesandmore%40googlegroups.com/ Visit the group home page at: http://groups.google.com/group/RecipesAndMore -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---