THE SIDE DISH YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR

 

Rustic lunch or savory side dish--garlic-fried breadcrumbs topped with grapes and olives.

Migas—fried breadcrumbs—just might be the side you need, the dish that will fill the carb slot for breakfast, lunch or dinner. And fill it with plenty flavor, too. Oh, and might I add? This could be the turkey stuffing you’ve been waiting for. Use migas to stuff a bird or serve it as dressing on the side.

Migas is an old country dish, the sort of thing vineyard workers or shepherds in the field might cook up in a deep pan over a woodfire. While it can be as simple as crumbled bread fried in olive oil, it usually has bits of pork fat and chorizo added as well. 

Then, choose your toppings—olives, grapes, raisins, pomegranate arils, fried green peppers, even chocolate sauce. Add something substantial to make a meal—fried eggs, fried pork loin, grilled (or canned) sardines, lamb chops, roast chicken--- You see how adaptable these crumbs can be? 

Breakfast: garlicky fried crumbs with a fried egg. Add diced bacon to the migas.

Lunch: grilled sardines and a heap of migas. 

Dinner: Migas are a fine side dish for roast or grilled chicken. Use it to stuff a turkey, too.

Garlic-Fried Bread Crumbs

Migas Campesinas

Dice stale bread.

Start with a loaf of stale (day-old) bread, preferably of a dense, country loaf. The crusts can be removed or not. It’s easier to break up the bread into crumbs while it’s frying if crusts are removed. Dice or crumble the bread, dampen it, then fry the bread in olive oil while cutting it into smaller and smaller bits with the edge of a spatula. The object is to end up with crunchy crumbs.  

Use a deep skillet or pan; a flat-bottomed wok is perfect. Country-style, serve the migas right out of the pan in which they cooked. If plating the migas to accompany dinner, place slices of roast turkey right on top of the migas. Add gravy, or not! 

Dampened bread, ready to fry.

12 ounces day-old country-style bread, to make 6 to 7 cups of diced bread

½ teaspoon salt

Pinch saffron threads (optional)

2/3 cup hot water

½ cup olive oil

6 cloves garlic

Diced bacon or pancetta (optional)

Pinch of ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon pimentón de la Vera (smoked paprika)

Toppings or garnishes (as described in the headnotes)

Cut the bread into small dice, discarding as much of the crust as possible. Place the diced bread in a bowl. Dissolve the salt and saffron, if using, in the hot water. Sprinkle the salted water over the diced bread, turning to dampen all of the bread. Gather the bread into a dampened towel. Let it set at least 4 hours or overnight. 

Fry unpeeled garlic.

Heat the oil on a deep pan on medium. Lightly crush the cloves of garlic but do not peel them. (The skins keep them from burning.) Add the garlic and bacon, if using, to the oil until it begins to sizzle. Add the diced bread to the oil. Keep turning the bread with a spatula, wooden paddle or skimmer, cutting the dice with the edge of the spatula into smaller and smaller pieces. Regulate the heat so the crumbs don’t brown too quickly. 

After 10 minutes, add the cloves, cumin seed, and pimentón. Taste the bread crumbs and add more salt if needed. Fry 5 minutes more and remove the pan from the heat. Serve the migas hot or room temperature with toppings as desired.

Variations: Migas with Semolina.