Brielle's Avalon

Since I wrote about dry toast as a way to preserve bread for yummy later use it occurred to me I should do the same for unsliced bread. So what if the baguette, loaf, boule or whatever bread you have is too dry to slice for toast? You can let it get dry enough to grate. Get out the handy-dandy cheese grater, place it over a bowl and start grating. Make sure the crumbs are compleatly dry or they will mold, but once grated they should dry in no time. If you’re worried at all just put them in the oven as it cools from whatever else you just cooked and let them finish drying in there. Keep them in a jar or container until you need them for meatloaf, topping a casserole, thickening a stew or whatever.

If you want to make them buttery and herbed, melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a pan or drizzle in some olive oil, sprinkle with herbs appropriate for your dish and lightly fry about 1 cup of crumbs. This can make a lovely topping for casseroles or garnishes for salads and stews…but I wouldn’t do it ahead of time. Once they are buttery the butter or oil can go rancid quickly. It doesn’t take long to make, though and makes the kitchen smell lovely.