Simply, bread crumbs should be crumbled bread. I know, so boring. But yet, so binding! Which is often the point, right? Like, that grain meatloaf holds together so well with bread crumbs! Or, such a toasty good and crunchy topping. As in, mac-n-cheese with garlicky bread crumbs is delicious! So paying $3 or whatever for processed, sodium rich, rancid smelling bread crumbs with fake Italian seasoning is just plain wack.
Glad I got that off my chest.
I love making bread crumbs! I save all the ends that are just not good enough for toast or sandwiches. If the baguette gets hard on the counter, I just save it. That little bag of mini-bagels Ruby had to have - but didn't get eaten on the road trip? No worries. Toss them all in the freezer, let 'em pile up. At some point, I'm overwhelmed with the random bags and baguettes, or I'm out of bread crumbs, and so I make more. Thaw out the whole mess of random ends and such, then put them through the cuisinart until they are crumb-tastic. If I must soften the bread before whizzing in the food processor, I just toss it in the microwave for 20 seconds and it's ready to rock. Soon, my freezer has lots more space and I'm ready to feed the army of hungry vegan warriors I've invited over for dinner.
I have bread crumbs for my chickpea cutlets, my mac-n-cheese, my meatloaf, my pasta with garlicky bread crumbs and red pepper flakes....and they are real bread! Either "fresh" or toasted if I want. See?
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| It seems criminal to not finish a loaf of Dave's Killer Bread, but it makes damn good breadcrumbs! |
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| Cups and cups of crumby bread. |
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| Now I'll just store this in the freezer, and they'll be good for months & months! |
Ah, I 'm so grateful one easily available brand of breadcrumbs over here has only 3 ingredients: flour, yeast and water. Finally something vegan developmental country Germany hasn't botched up yet, - but don't get me started on adding butterfat to each and any of the chocolates that were perfectly vegan only a year ago and explaining it by "customer demand". Yeah, it's just a coincidence that butterfat is cheaper than cocoabutter, right.
ReplyDeleteI see, your breadcrumbs is my butterfat ...
while I will not claim to being vegan, I too don't get that people pay for bread crumbs!! It is so easy and cheap to make them. All you need is the bread you might have thrown away anyway and it can be spiced up any way you want! Love your blog!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lisa - I make my own bread crumbs all the time. There seems to always be a bag of bread loaf ends in my freezer waiting to be eaten by the food processor.
ReplyDelete