Letters: Readers share their tips on what to do with old baguettes
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For those who find a quantity of bread gone stale overnight, the option to simply toast (and then serve with butter or cheese) can revive smaller amounts.
Placing into a piece of tinfoil with some water and then roasting for a few minutes at 180C will revive a larger piece.
Failing that there are excellent recipes for pain perdu or use it to make a simple bread and butter pudding.
If, as this article suggests, some baguettes become unusable because of hardness then simply give them to a local farmer who will happily feed them to the pigs.
Otherwise might I suggest a bit of forward planning and budgeting on the part of consumers?
Cut in half and freeze. To use: 7/8 mins in the oven gives you fresh crusty half baguettes.
Chop into dice and fry fresh in olive oil to use as croutons. Dice and freeze and use in the same manner.
Whizz up in a food processor to make breadcrumbs. Use these fresh in stuffings, burger mixes or to coat fish, chicken or turkey escalopes. Or dry crumbs off (oven or radiator), freeze in
bags and use as for fresh.
No reason to waste any of it. Feed scrappy bits to the birds.
I save my unused baguettes and make bread pudding. French bread does not go mouldy so cut the crust off, cube and when your bag is full make bread pudding.
Apparently french ladies do this too but the ingredients are different.