Juliet's Food Diary - lockdown crumbs of comfort
Has bread making become tiresome yet? Pre-lockdown and beyond, bread flour appeared to be one of the most hoarded items. We’re all Paul Hollywood now, which is a rather terrifying thought and should, when the pubs reopen, send the barmaids scurrying into the beer cellars.
If like our Paul, you’ve been making your own bread, along with the new muscle tone in your arms, one thing you won’t want to waste is any of your precious efforts.
This month I’ve come up with some old but good ideas for using stale bread. First idea is to make breadcrumbs. Tear it up, crusts and all and roast lightly on a baking tray. Whizz in a food processor or break up in a bag with a rolling pin, saying to yourself: “Who’s got a soggy bottom now, Hollywood!?” These can be stored and used for home made fish fingers, or as a crunchy topping when baking a lasagne, cauliflower cheese or macaroni. Croque Madame
This would be a Croque Monsieur (which means Mr Crunch!) if you didn’t bother with the fried egg. When I make this for my daughter I don’t add the mustard and it's still super tasty. If you don’t have any French cheese to hand, worry not and use some cheddar instead, the world won’t end. Unless you’re French and then it probably will. This recipe makes two.
For the sauce:
1tbs all purpose flour
1tbs butter
1 cup milk
1 half cup grated Gruyere cheese Melt the butter over a low heat and stir in the flour. Gradually add in the milk and keep stirring until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. I like to add a little freshly ground nutmeg at this point.
Season to taste and add the cheese. Stir and set aside off the heat.
To assemble: 4 slices of toast, 2 tbs softened butter, 2 slices ham, big enough to cover the toast, 2 slices of cheese, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Preheat the oven to 250F. Spread each piece of toast with butter, then place two pieces, butter side down on a baking tray. Spread each slice with the mustard, top with ham, then three quarters of the cheese. On the non buttered side of the remaining two pieces of toast, spread half the sauce and put them onto the other slices sauce side down. Spread the remaining sauce on the top and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese. Bake in the oven until bubbling and golden, usually 10 minutes. Top with a fried egg and serve with a crispy green salad if you’re feeling fancy.
Panzanella
Purists may disagree with my version of this but in current times the only purism we're after is social distancing and hand washing, thanks. This is basically a tossed salad with bread in it, and only stale bread works. It’s a great dish for using up bits and pieces but should almost always taste of summer. If you can't get tasty enough tomatoes use sunblush. Serves two.
Handful fresh basil
3tbs extra virgin olive oil
1tbs capers
2tsp red wine vinegar
150g stale bread (sourdough or Focaccia work best)
300g ripe tomatoes
Small sliced red onion
You can also add a roasted red pepper, a ball of mozzarella, olives, cucumber, whatever you like.
Save a few basil leaves to garnish and add the rest to either a food processor or a pestle and mortar with the oil, capers and vinegar.
Whiz or bash but either way I like to keep a bit of texture. You could pop half a clove of garlic in if you like, why not? Chop the tomatoes and give them a squeeze into your serving bowl. Add all the other large ingredients then the dressing. Mix well and ideally leave for a bit to let the flavours develop and the tomato juice and dressing to soak into the bread. Although this goes well with a nice piece of roasted white fish, it’s also a meal on its own.