A Lesson on Leftover Bread

I never throw bread away. My father would turn over in his grave! Bread is the staff of life and should be respected as such. Leftover bread, whether a country loaf, baguette, or sliced bread, does get stale after a couple of days, but there are still many ways to use it. It can be cubed for croutons and added to salads or turned into crumbs and sprinkled on top of a gratin or sautéed vegetables, or on fish, meat, or poultry, as well as over soups. Stale slices of bread soaked in a mixture of milk and eggs, then sautéed in butter and sprinkled with sugar make excellent French toast.

I wanted Shorey to understand how important bread is and how to use it when it is stale. The bread I had on hand was a baguette that was a couple of days old and a bit dry. Timing will change depending on the staleness of the bread and how thick the loaf or slices are. Dampening the bread reintroduces moisture and makes it very crispy. When preparing wet bread slices in a toaster, you may have to toast the bread twice so the slices brown and get crusty. For croutons, slices of bread can be coated with oil and browned in the oven. For use in soups or salads, crush them with the back of a skillet into coarse crumbs. A whole reconstituted baguette will be crisp outside and moist inside for just a few hours, so it should consumed fairly quickly.

For toasted baguette slices: Run 5 slices of the baguette briefly under water. They should be barely wet on the outside, not soaked through. Place the slices in a toaster for 4 to 5 minutes, until nicely browned and crusty; you may have to toast them twice.

For croutons or bread crumbs: Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Spread the oil on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Press the remaining 10 baguette slices into the oil, turning to coat on both sides. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until well browned and crusty. Leave whole for croutons, or coarsely crush into crumbs.

For whole loaf: Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Run the bread under running water for a few seconds to wet the outside. Place directly on the oven rack and heat until hard and crusty on top and soft inside, about 15 minutes for a baguette and a few minutes longer for a large country loaf. Slice and eat within a few hours.

To see how it’s done, go to www.surlatable.com/jacquespepin.

“My favorite part of the meal is almost always dessert, but when it’s not, it’s the bread!”

—Shorey