I wound up with a whole loaf of bread and nobody to eat it. Often, I save chunks of stale bread in the freezer for adding to gazpacho. Bread emulsifies the olive oil, making a thick and creamy soup. But, it’s many, many months until gazpacho season. Migas, another good use for stale bread, is really meant for a big family gathering. Not what to cook for one.
Having recently signed on to the Sin Desperdicios (No Waste) movement, I thought I’d better come up with some good use for this bread. I turned the whole loaf into fried bread crisps that—if I don’t keep munching on them—will last up to a week. The crisps are perfect for adding to soups, crumbling into salads, or using as dippers. Sprinkled with sugar or drizzled with honey, fried bread makes a satisfying breakfast. You can even dunk the crunchy bread into coffee.
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| Thinly sliced bread fried in olive oil makes crispy toasts that will keep for days. |
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| Fried bread for breakfast, with sugar or honey, fruit and jam. Dunk it in the coffee or hot chocolate. |
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| Better than crackers! Serve fried bread with soups of all kinds. Here bread crisps are shown with Fish Soup with Sour Orange (Cachorreñas). More about bitter oranges and a recipe for the soup are here. |
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| Crunchy fried bread goes with salad. |
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| Fried bread is the base for store-bought partridge pâté with pickled onions, olives and red wine. |
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| Ladle garlic soup over slices of fried bread, top with a poached egg and strips of ham. Recipe for garlic soup (maimones) is here. |
Crispy Fried Bread
Pan Frito Crujiente
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| Barra loaf makes 24 slices. |
Make fried bread with any type or shape of bread, sandwich loaf or baguette, a big, round hogaza or a bollo (crusty roll). Cut into dice, fried bread becomes croutons (costrones). In strips, they might be called picatostes. This version is made with slices, Slice the bread thinly (¼ inch), with or without crusts. The fried bread can be seasoned with herbs or spices, if desired. Salt or sugar for savory or sweet. Extra virgin olive oil is the essential ingredient.
24 slices day-old bread
½ to ¾ cup olive oil
Salt (optional)
Sugar (optional)
Place oil to a depth of ¼ inch in a skillet. Heat the oil on medium-high. Add a crust of bread to the pan. When the crust begins to sizzle and brown, the oil is hot enough to fry the slices. Place them in the oil in a single layer and fry until golden-brown on one side, about 30 seconds. Flip the bread and fry the reverse sides.
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| Fry bread in olive oil. |
Remove the slices with a spatula, letting them drain briefly. Place in paper towels to absorb excess oil. Continue frying remaining slices, adding more oil as needed. Sprinkle with salt or dust with sugar while still warm.
When crisps are completely cool, store them in an air-tight container or plastic bag.
More ways with fried bread:
I love fried bread and have discovered that it works well, with less olive oil, if done in the oven. I save my stale bread up to make croutons. I drizzle stale, bit sized pieces with olive oil and sprinkle on chopped garlic and herbs. I do these in the oven too, but imagine an air fryer would work. These last for a very long time in the freezer and can be revived quite quickly in a warm frying pan. They also work for breadcrumbs, when crushed with a mortar and pestle.
ReplyDeleteMad Dog: Thanks for this. I considered trying the oven--but what I really wanted was fried bread!
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