Bread crusts - what can I make with them?

[MothershipG]

So in the freezer I have a big bag with the ends of loaves of bread. It's a mix but mostly the 50/50 sliced stuff the kids eat.

So what can I do with them, there are only so many breadcrumbs I can use, or do you have a fab recipe for using up loads of bread crumbs?

No one is very fond of bread pudding and I don't think crusts work well in bread & butter pudding, any other ideas?

I mix mine with cheese and chuck on top of pasta bakes

For breadcrumbs:

coat turkey/chicken steaks with them and some spices and fry - taste fab

make treacle tart

make Queen of puddings

make cheesy/crispy toppings for pasta/cottage pie etc...

put a thick layer of breadcrumbs and cheese to top a pie - we do bolognaise pie whenever we make bolognaise sauce, make double, eat one- then - put rest in a pastry case, top with cheesy breadcrumbs - yummmmmm

Some good ideas there but I could do with some more, keep 'em coming!

What I do is take the crusts, cut them into cubes and place in a very cool oven for about 2- 3 hours until they are completely dried out. Then whizz in the Magimix. What you end up with are crisp, dry, fine breadcrumbs that make a terrific coating for fried foods, a topping for baked dishes etc. Because you dry out the crusts you'll find that it whizzes down to a relatively small volume which you can keep for months in an airtight jar.

Make eggy crusts! Beat a couple of eggs with salt and pepper, or spices, or sugar, dip in the crusts and fry until golden.

oooooooooooo - I forgot eggy crusts - a staple pudding when we were little!! soak (really leave them to soak up all the eggy gooodness) in beaten egg and cinnamon, fry, then dredge with icing sugar.... yummmmmy then put some seedless raspberry jam in a bowl - mix with a little water, melt over a pot of boiling water or 20 sec microwave and dip those crusts

Noooo! You can't make eggy bread with crusts, that just wrong, sorry.

Well it looks like it will just have to be breadcrumbs with everything for a while, I real like the anchovy idea cold but don't tell anyone else in my family, they think they hate them, I actually use anchovy paste quite a lot, mwah, ha, ha ( my evil laugh.)

Some more breadcrumb ideas:

Spaghetti with bacon, garlic and breadcrumbs is lovely.

Make gremolata to scatter on stews and greens.

Make aubergine Parmesan or schnitzel or salmon with an herb/garlic/sundried tomato crust.

Tear bread into chunks and make panzanella salad or a sort of fake fattoush or bread soup. Or croutons.

Thanks Xiao the bread isn't nice enough for panzanella but I like the sound of that spaghetti, I take it you fry up the breadcrumbs with the bacon & garlic?

Bread and butter pudding. I sometimes put in sliced banana, or raspberries/blueberries or chips of dark chocolate - rather than the more traditional dried fruit.

Well i'm inspired.

Saw thread title and 11 answers and thought 11 versions of b&b pud.

Shows what i know!

I think the crusts are okay in bread and butter pudding, if you leave the mixture to soak for a while. (Though I quite like a texture with a little more bite.) Also by varying the additional ingredients, the taste can be quite different to what people think of as bread and butter pudding - more luxurious.)

The Guardian has also had good recipes for a) variations on Welsh rarebit and b) croque monsieur. Both are a bit fiddly but would work well with crusts.

Yes, you fry off the bacon fat, then remove bacon, crush garlic into the pan, add a bit more butter, and sauté the crumbs till golden. Toss everything together with some fresh flat leaf parsley.

It's from appetite by Nigel slater which also lists lots of nice variations - adding things like chilli flakes, lemon & thyme, anchovy, roasted tomatoes etc.

croutons
duck food

This is a good excuse to make home made fish fingers or chicken nuggets or fish kebabs.

Fish Goujons
Chicken nuggets
Fish Kebabs

melt some butter, mix in some crushed garlic and or herbs, and toss crusts cut into cubes in the mixture. Hot oven for 10 ish mins - keep an eye on them. Crutons for salad when this snow disappears, and soup to keep you warm in this silly weather.

Duck food?

DC too old to feed ducks, DD (dear dogs) too interested in harassing ducks! and around here I think the ducks are so over fed that half of what's left for them is taken by rats [shudder].

Just had Pesto & olive-crusted fish for tea, it was yummy!

Also just made a chocolate version of this bread & butter pudding

Later in the week I'm going to try my hand at breadcrumb dumplings and knock up some turkey nuggets.

Any one made a Brown Betty? Are they good?