Well, it had to happen. Perhaps the most surprising thing is that it took 18 months of blogging for us to get to crumbs.They are such a big part of my life, crunching under foot with nearly every step I take. When the 2yo decides that he wants dry Weetabix for breakfast, walking across the kitchen floor takes on a percussive quality.
But crumbs needn't be the bain of your life. In fact you could learn to love them. I have.
Rather than throwing out that stale heel of bread, or ignoring a slice of toast which has been neglected in the toaster for a few days, reach out to them. Show them some love. In the form of whizzing them up in the blender. It's what I do and it makes me feel efficient, frugal, and like a top mum in a Good Housekeeping kind of way. I just need a white coat and hair that doesn't look mental.
Then I pour the crumbs into a resealable bag which I keep in the top drawer of the freezer, topping up whenever I have some old bread hanging around. I'm not sure about the hygiene element of this. Probably some of those breadcrumbs are several months old, but I'm still here, never having succumbed to a crumb related illness (that I know of) and you can buy breadcrumbs that hang around in cupboards for years, so I reckon there's not much which can go wrong (*drops dead*).
When to use them? Whenever you want. I don't think there's much that can't be livened up with a layer of crunch. The other night we had braised fennel and leeks - a boring way to spend a Monday night, you might think. But not with a layer of Parmesan breadcrumbs on the top (and half a bottle of Oyster Bay). Rather than use plain breadcrumbs I season them, and mix them up with grated cheese, dried herbs, and a spot of chilli (if the kids are in bed).
I'm not the only one to be in thrall to the crumb. Mrs Beeton liked them too, as does the Reluctant Launderer, who blogs brilliantly about them here. Having read this I made the tomato dish that night, with a herby, cheesey crust. There's not many things that can turn a couple of tomatoes into a delicious meal, but breadcrumbs can. And the KitchenMaid also has some great hints and recipes for them here.
Go on, fill your boots. And your freezer bags.
A breadcrumb-related illness would be very DM, don't you think? Esp if it was posh crumbs!
ReplyDeleteLove your work, as always, and many thanks for the link.
"She choked on her ciabatta-crumbed lasagne" said Ms McDonald, in the Daily Mail. Brilliant!
DeleteI love a few posh crumbs myself. Blogged about some parmesan and ciabatta crumbs for homemade fish fingers yesterday in fact.
ReplyDeleteooh! get you! sound delish! I think we should hear/do more on cheesey fishfingers
DeleteSpooky - I just made the tomato dish this evening, for the first time in ages! Your fennel and leek sounds divine. Not as divine as the oyster bay, however. Sigh... (Thank you for the lovely mention too!)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to use up a bunch of tomatoes. Must try that some time.
ReplyDeleteI use a lot of breadcrumbs when I do fishcakes or fish fingers but breadcrumbing is a lot of faff and messy.
Claire - i can't believe we are sisters and have been blogging for 18 months and never had the crumb discussion. My freezer is chockablock with little pouches of crumbs (more hygienic, I think, than one big one) from odd bits of stale bread. I use them on lasagnes, to coat fish and chicken bits and to bulk out stuffing. And you're right, it makes me feel very holier-than-thou. (*needs to get out more*)
ReplyDeleteIs it too early to start thinking about my very cold Friday night glass of wine? 6 hours to go...
ReplyDeleteps - my word verification was tits. Not kidding.
DeleteI am proud that our word verification is so exciting. And yes, am planning dinner tonight around glass (bottle?) of cold white. Sigh. Still so long to go...
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