On occasion some of that wonderful Red Hen bread here in the shop goes into the “day old” basket and is sold at a reduced rate. We are all trying to save a buck these days, so we grab a loaf, head home and attempt to resurrect it into its original, soft-centered, crusty wonderfulness. My most successful method of reviving bread, is to loosely wrap it in a paper bag, run water over the bag so that it is moistened, but not drenched, and then heat it in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. This does a fairly good job, especially if the baguette just became “day old”. But let’s face it, in the end we would all rather have a fresh loaf for that saucer of Monte del’Olivio olive oil or block of Delitia parmesan butter. So what to do with older bread??? Try creating something new out of it!
When I first got my hands on one of these loaves, I went straight to my food processor and made breadcrumbs. I now always have a pile of yummy crumbs on hand for my chops, meatloaf, crab cakes, etc. No more cardboard canisters of “Italian Flavored Crumbs” from the local super stores! Spice up your fresh crumbs any way you’d like and taste the difference! Have you tried mixing in a about a tablespoon of Herbs du Provence or Elements of Spice “Zest for Life” rub with lemon, garlic & parsley?
Another simple idea is to make some good old classic croutons. Use them as stuffing mix, or to top a salad or soup. Just cut the bread into cubes, place in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and bake at 325 for about 10-15 minutes. Better yet, brush the cubes with melted butter or olive oil, sprinkle with a combination of your favorite spices and a little finely-grated Ambriola Parmigiano-Reggiano and then bake.
For dinner lately, my partner and I have been making the ultimate croutons...garlic toast. This has become our starch staple and creates a lovely partnership with favorite pasta dishes, salads, or meat/veggie combos. We slice the baguette at an angle into inch-thick pieces, brush the slices with melted butter, and then sprinkle them with a “healthy” layer of chopped Goodness Greeness organic garlic—the more cloves of garlic, the better! Next pile a decent mound of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano on the top of each slice. I prefer to use the wider holes of my box grater, which gives a nice texture to the cheese once it melts. Place the toasts on a cookie sheet and broil them until nicely browned and bubbly. Don’t worry about a few charred edges, this only adds to the goodness!!
One last option, to finish off that day-old, is inspired by peasant workers from marble mines in old Tuscany. Slice the bread at an angle as with the garlic toast above, but this time go a tad thinner. To make life easier, pop the slices in a toaster and brown them to your liking. Drizzle the toast with a little olive oil, lay a thin slice or two of the LaQuercia Lardo onto the bread. Top this with a slice of fresh tomato-- hopefully there are still a few left hanging on the vines in the garden??? Sprinkle with some freshly ground pepper and sea-salt and dive in. Experiment with any number of flavorful variations—Delish! By the way, the salume Lardo is cured pork fat that is layered with rosemary and other spices. The traditional Lardo was cured in vessels made of marble mined from Carrara. Lardo was first considered to be peasant food and I read that meals brought to the mines were oftentimes variations of the recipe above. The workers probably had a good bottle of vino to wash down their meal. So let one of us at Provenance help you find a lovely Tuscan wine, or any of your favorite sippers to pair. Bon Appetito!
