Do Not Forget our Daily Bread

Bread is a staple in many people's diet and one of my pet hates is wasted bread.  So much so, I am endeavouring to limit this where at all possible, especially in our current reality where War in the Ukraine has caused massive disruption to grain supplies amongst other things, prices of the grain have gone up across the board.  That has impacted on food everywhere and of course the fuel problem.  All that put together with things like Avian flu, lack of responsible food supplies within our own country are a crisis that we could do without. We could grow oh so much more than what we actually do and many other things besides.  It is literally our bread, butter and meat that is being affected, if not now that will come in the future as people will also go out of business because of the prices and the pot of what will be available will get less and less.  We have to take responsibility for our own families and put up what we can and how we can depending on those resources available to us in our own lives. Even if it is only a little. If we do not look out for ourselves, it is a sad fact that with the current status of the Government "they could not run a p..... up in a Brewery"!  The two-facedness, back-stabbing, jostling for own personal position, moral bankruptcy at the expense of others is not to me putting the needs of the majority ahead of their own personal agendas. That is Ego speaking because they want to be famous for five minutes. What about doing things from the heart!  In a country which is supposed to be one of the top ten richest countries in the world, there is poverty and people going without food and heating.  That should not be happening. Why is it happening. Our own deserve to come first before anyone else is considered. 

I want a government that will deal with the real needs of the majority not just with a chosen few.  After all the majority of the public put them where they are and they should not forget this.  I want a government that treats its Citizens with respect and does not just use them when it is convenient or politically viable or when there is a health crisis!

Right, I had better get off my soapbox before I end up offending anyone which of course is not my intention.  I do not often spout off. I just want common-sense to prevail.

Back to bread.  I am not wasting any.  I had trimmed down our consumption of bread in any event.  I have a little, but I have an issue with swallowing bread, and it often gets stuck.  I love it, it does not like me.  

With price increases a pack of a well-known Sage and Onion stuffing and replicas has gone up an awful lot.  For me adding Sausage, Sage and Onion stuffing to a meal, pads the meal out a bit.  When I had the freezer, I used to make a big tray and then freeze any leftover so that it could be retrieved cut in slices on another day to pad the meal out and make it go a bit further.  Yorkshire pudding does the same thing.

Quite often the bread is sold off of an evening at the local shop for about 60p for a large loaf.  I therefore go and buy a couple of loaves every so often as there is a need for Sage and Onion stuffing mix in my household as there is for Bread Sauce.  Therefore, I am crumbing the bread for both stuffing and Bread Sauce mixes.  I have crumbed it by hand; the way my Nan and my Mum taught me.  I have packed it into my Dehydrator to dry as it is on, and it may as well be full up with stuff to dry when it is on.  You can do this in the oven though.  Just put your crumbs or slices of bread into a roasting pan and pop the tray in the bottom of the oven each time you have it on, and the residual heat will sometimes make the bread go golden, certainly crispy and it will certainly dry.  It will also keep for at least three or four months if popped into a jar. It makes super stuffing.  I crumb it like I do so that it retains some texture and does not go down to a very fine powder.  You can do this in an Aga or a Rayburn as well. There is no need for a Dehydrator although for me like an Aga and a Rayburn they are becoming a way of life for me as I am saving so much that could go to waste with it.  

I do also on occasion use traditional methods of dryinglike stringing for herbs, chillies and mushrooms.  You can also do apple rings in this fashion as well.  When I had the airing cupboard, quite often there would be a loaf of bread rising in there together with a couple of strings of mushrooms and of herbs. Tucked in the back and nowhere near the linen.  I do miss my airing cupboard.

The bread in the dehydrator tray.  It does not take long to dry.  You dry it until it is crispy.

From one loaf, I have managed to get two bags of Breadcrumbs for stuffing mix.  I just have to add the Sage mix in, some white pepper and write on the bag that it needs some fried onion and raw onion with a little mixed herb and Sausagemeat to make the stuffing.

Bread Sauce, which we serve with chicken is also worth making from the crumb.  When I have a freezer though as we like it so much, I tend to make up several pots in one go and then store them in the freezer for when we need them.  The recipe I use is here:

Bread Sauce Recipe

If perchance you should have any fresh bread left over, there is always the option of making a Bread-and-Butter pudding.  The link for this one is here:

Marmalade Bread and Butter Pudding Recipe

This is a Marmalade Bread and Butter Pudding, but you can feasibly change the filling to what you want.  You can also use Croissants, fruit Buns instead of Bread loaf to make this recipe.  A good way to use up some lurking marmalade though.

Bread Pudding (the cake version) which is lush is also a good one to eat and puts some "cake" on the table or indeed for packups too if it lasts that long.  Cheap padder outers using what you have to hand.  I make this every so often in any event.  There is a comprehensive post here with the recipe that I use.  Sometimes the old recipes are the best.

Bread Pudding Recipe

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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