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BANG FOR THE BITE
If 10,000 Biter families of 4 eat all the unspoiled food they typically throw away, in a year we'll save a collective $6,000,000.
COCKTAIL FACT
You can tell which day of the week a bread loaf was baked by the color of its plastic twist tag. (Colors depend on region and store.)
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home › tip library › Day Old Bread
Think day-old bread's the culinary equivalent of twice-worn socks?
The Bite
Think again. Instead of tossing stale bread, whip up some delicious bread pudding, bruschetta, panzanella or French toast. You might never bother with fresh bread again (but please do continue to bother with fresh socks).The Benefits
- Less bread = less bread packaging = less waste!
- Cheap eats. At the store, day-old bread costs a third to half as much as fresh bread.
- Smaller landfills. Although bread's biodegradable, it takes years to decompose in a landfill, where light, water and bacteria are scarce.
- Tastier than you might think.
Personally Speaking
Heather makes a mean bruschetta - just don't tell her to call it "brew-SHE-tuh."Wanna Try?
Check for mold (which isn't good for birds either) before using.May 02,2007
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I Promise, it’s “Brew-SKETT-uh.” Like, with a ‘K’
So, I'm getting a little tired of being corrected when I say the word "bruschetta." Lovely, well-meaning friends are constantly informing me: "It's brew-SHETT-uh, dear..."
Um, no. It's not, actually. Just like pancetta is not "pan-setta" and chianti is not "she-auntie," the word "bruschetta" trips off the tongue to the beat of an Italian drum... And that's a beat where a "CH" followed by an I or E is pronounced as a K, and a "C" followed by and "E" or an "I" sounds like an English CH... (Think "cappuccino" - which is never "cap-poo-SEE-no"). Net-net? It's "Brew-SKETT-uh." I promise.
Best word for practicing this? Cichetti... Cichetti are essentially tapas in Venice. If you try to order "See-SHET-tee" in Venice, I'm not sure what you'll be served. But if you order "Chi-KETT-ee," you'll get some lovely treats.
Long-winded, and pedantic way of telling a story. At our last company retreat here in SF, I decided to make an ill-fated dinner. Nothing grilled right. I forgot most ingredients. Somehow, a few bottles of wine in, no one wanted to play the Biter Trivia that I was so excited to do (although Sara and Tosh would have won). But the Brew-SKETT-uh went over nicely. And the next day, the leftovers were thrown into a panzanella salad, which might be the easiest thing on the planet to make, while ranking up there with the best of foods. So all in all - eating leftovers in wine country - I had nothing to complain about.
Until someone corrected me and very thoughtfully said "Heather. It's Brew-SHETT-uh..."
-Heather... off to plan trips to Italy...
Biter Comments...
and don't forget gazpacho for using left over stale bread.., esp w/ summer coming on. prob lots more ideas from readers? if so, please share.
You just hit one of my pet peeves right on the head! My sentiments exactly. . . I practically cringe at "brew-shett-uh" - the worst being when waiters in Italian restaurants pronounce it like this. Chefs/restauranteurs, teach the staff how to correctly say the food you prepare! Brava Heather. :)
Stale bread makes the best bread crumbs too-and who cares how its pronunced as long as I can make some when the tomatoes and basil are ripe...
Throwing organic materials such as bread or any food or yard waste into a landfill is much more of an issue than just taking up space and not degrading for several years. Landfills are not giant compost piles. Landfills isolate waste from water and air which results in anaerobic decomposition, meaning in the absence of oxygen. This anaerobic decomposition emits methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more potent that carbon dioxide. Landfills are the largest human-caused source of methane. The organic materials in a landfill also contribute heavily to the production of leachate, or garbage juice, which meanders through the landfill picking up lead and other toxins from the discarded trash, eventually finding its way through the liner and into groundwater. The EPA emits all landfills will eventually leak.
Several countries and regions have banned organics from the landfill because of these problems and in an effort to boost composting.
I think there is a general misconception that throwing something "away" or to a landfill is okay if it's biodegradable but it's not. It will cause problems now and for future generations as those landfills become the next generation of Superfund sites. I think many of your readers could use some clarification when it comes to the safety of landfills. This does not even address the waste of resources when we landfill materials. San Francisco is a great example of an American city focusing on composting and collecting food and yard scraps at the curb through their Fantastic Three program. I'm happy to provide some resources and information on the problems of landfills.
*applauds enthusiastically" I love this post. I remember ordering brew-skett-uh once and the server told me, "Ah yes, the brooshetta, ma'am." *tears hair out*
Better than using stale bread - keep your bread in the freezer. It'll keep for months! Any time you want some, just take out the slices you need and pop them in the toaster on the lowest setting for less than a minute and it's like new again!
"Garbage Land" by Elizabeth Royte, speaks to the garbage problem. I loved this book. Also wonder,if we are sloppy[ not turning it much, not keeping it at a good heat or using the 'right' mix etc] with composting at home/garden, are we also making methane and 'bad' stuff?
I was surprised that I did not see a suggestion for freezing bread to prevent it from going stale... I always freeze it & then microwave it for 30 seconds & it tastes (and smells) like fresh bread!
Yes, I know freezing & nuking use energy, but at least I'm not contributing as much to landfill waste - as I use COMPLETE loaves.
I once heard a renowned chef say, "Stale bread will taste like stale bread if you use it in a recipe." If you have access to a bakery that makes a wide variety of breads, you can find a FRESH, crusty bread that will work if you need the firm quality of STALE bread. The other option is to pick up the day-old bread which will be a little firmer/crustier, but won't taste stale. I know that Italians can make bread last for days. Each day as the bread gets "staler" they use it for something different.
Peace.
I slice up my stale bread, let it dry on the counter during the day (flipping it once). Then I use my rolling pin to mash it into crumbs for crispy chicken breasts, homemade chicken, buffalo, or ostrich burgers, or crust for baked mac n' cheese. I keep it in a container in the freezer.
OMG yes! Brewsketta, and also, I can't stand it when someone orders a 'panini' - one is a panino. Two paninis - even worse. And if you're having coffee, it's one biscotto, two biscotti. However, most baristas (is that even a word) won't understand you; I have to ask for a biscotti so that they get it and I don't hold up the line.
Don't even get me started on the faux pas of ordering a latte after 11 am. And I'm not even Italian!
Ciao!
I would love to see a recipe for dairy-free bread pudding. Or rice pudding, for that matter! Anyone know of some good ones?
I'm surprised someone's not mentioned this yet... but stale bread + soup is a very tasty combination that helps avoid waste!
The soup definitely rehydrates the bread when you dip it in there, and depending on what type of bread you have, soupy bread can still have a soft chewy center with a crispy crust.
That's my pet peeve too! I understand if someone may not know how to pronounce Bruschetta, but I took 3 years of Italian and the wrong pronunciation just sounds horrible to me. Once a waiter tried to correct my husband, who is Italian!
Another great book for an eye-opening look at our trashy lives is Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage, by Heather Rogers. It's CRAZY all the usefullness we used to get out of our "garbage," even though some of it I'm glad we no longer do (like boiling it all down, stuffing it in pig intestines and giving it too the poor as sausage--eew), how much of this could we still be doing to reduce our waste? Something to roll your mind around, anyway.
Thank you thank you thank you! I have been corrected by well meaning, non-Italian speaking people for years! I lived in Italy, became almost fluent in the language and am constantly corrected, even in Italian restaurants! Maybe if I start saying EYE-talian, they will give me a break! Ciao, bellissa e mangia bene!
I'll never forget a college day-trip to the nearest "big town," when best friend and I went to a chain Italian restaurant (we were young and clueless and hadn't yet embraced Supporting Local Businesses), and the waitress asked if we would prefer wedding soup or pasta e fagioli, pronounced "pasta EE fag-EE-Oh-lee". I just about fell out of my seat, and replied that yes, I would love a bowl of "pastafazhohl." I'm not only a foodie but an educator now, and mispronunciations can be not only annoying but lead to lots of serious mix-ups in the classroom and laboratory.
Another note on stale bread - one of my favorite Mexican breakfasts, chilaquiles, uses stale tortilla chips or stale corn tortillas. Of course you can use fresh ones too, but its original purpose was to find a use for tortillas that were going stale. The dish requires you to soak the chips in salsa making them yummy version of soggy nachos.
I don't like using the ends of the loaf for sandwiches. Instead I let them dry out and then crush them to make my own breadcrumbs. This saves money not only because you are making your own breadcrumbs, but you won't being buying the container that they come in every time.
I want to know what uses I can do to 3 day old bread ( take note, it's days old after the expiry date ). The bread has green molds on it already. What do I do ? Should I give it to the rats ? You know, put rat food/poison on it. I did and placed it in a rat path but no takers yet. I placed the other 3 day old bread in plastic and placed it in the freezer. What do I do w/ it ?
Please enlighten/inform me as soon as possible.
I would appreciate it very much if I get an answer ASAP.
I need as many different receipes for uses for day old bread as I can get. I can buy about 150 loaves of day old bread (differnt kinds) for about $10. I tend to give away alot of it but much goes to waste as I never seem to get rid of it all. I even give some to orgaizations that will use it.
You can get recipes for the following on the web, lots of recipe sites.
Bread pudding- lots of kinds
Strata (kind of a savory bread pudding)
croutons
stuffing
bread crumbs
French toast
Croque Monsieur (french toast with ham and cheese in the middle)
cups for mini-quiches (cut off crust, push them down into muffin tins & fill)
I saw this recipe for day old bread not too long ago...cut off the crust & slice bread into strips...using 2 forks, dip into sweetened condensed milk...roll in coconut & then bake in oven at 350 until brown...going to try it myself this weekend
Posted by: Marissa | July 16, 2007 at 01:43 AM
Try and get other friends to go in with you on this. Try some people from your church (those who won't get offended)about using old bread.
I get about 200+ for $10 and I always get rid of them.
I also have a retirement home who will take all I give them.
My wife cuts shapes out of the breads and toasts them and make canapes.
Make apple pan charlotte, french toast and then freeze them. Croutons, breads crumbs for casseroles, bread puddings.
PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: Paul | May 02, 2007 at 05:26 AM