USING UP STALE BREAD

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 51, 14 June 1940, Page 44

USING UP STALE BREAD

bread that people often take an extra loaf on purpose! In olden times, of course, when bread was made only two or three times a week, at any rate in country places, there was generally plenty of stale bread which had to be used up somehow; because once the fresh, hot loaves came out of the oven — and oh! the goodly smell thereof! — nobody wanted to eat the old bread, however many times Mother said, "Waste not, want not." However, there are still some places where the baker does not call every day; so here are some recipes for using stale bread: A hee there are so many delicious eatables to be made from stale

Doctor Johnson’s Pudding Fill. a dish with alternate layers of sliced apples, and bread and butter, with a sprinkling of nutmeg. Add water to cover. Cover the dish with a plate if it has no lid, and bake on the coolest shelf of the oven for 2 or 3 hours, the longer the better. This makes a jelly-like pudding, as the bread melts away into the apples and is delicious either hot or cold, Sauce or cream may be served with this pudding. Banana and Lemon Pudding This comes from a Ngaio link in the Daisy Chain. She says: "This is a recipe for a truly delicious pudding. It doesn’t sound very interesting, but, believe me, it is good, especially with cream. It is very simple and easy to make." Butter a pie-dish, and line it with thin bread and butter. Sprinkle with sugar; then add 3-or 4 ripe, well-mashed bananas. Then make this crear. Into a saucepan put % pint of water, 4% cup of sugar, a small knob of butter, and the grated rind of a lemon, Mix a_ level tablespoon of cornflour with the juice of the lemon, and add it to the mixture, and bring to the boil (butter side up) and bake for about half an hour. Before serving, let it cool, to allow the lemon; mixture to set, Clappertones These are a kind of glorified girdlecake. The ingredients are: 4% cup of flour, 1144 cups of breadcrumbs, 72 cup of currants, 4% teaspoon of salt, 11% -cups of milk, 2 tablespoons of warmed butter, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, and the grated rind of half a lemon. Sift the flour. and baking powder into a basin, add the salt and breadcrumbs, stir in the milk, and let the mixture stand until the crumbs have soaked up all the moisture. Meanwhile, have the currants warming in the oven; then add them, the butter, and the grated lemonrind to the mixture. Bake in spoonfuls on a hot griddle, or pan, rubbed over with butter, browning them on both sides. Serve hot with honey. Stale Bread and Condensed Milk Sweetened condensed milk is very popular, and I know people who like to eat it by the spoonful. . Here are a few delicious recipes for stale bread and sweetened condensed milk: Midget Doughnuts _ Cut some’ stale,’ white ‘bread in one- inch cubes, and- roll them in sweetened

condensed milk; then fry them in very hot, deep clean lard, or vegetable oil, for one minute, or until golden brown. Cinnamon Sticks Cut stale bread into strips one inch thick and one inch wide. Dip them into sweetened condensed milk mixed with water (two to one), and fry golden brown in butter; then roll them, while

hot, in’ mixed sugar and cinnamon. Excellent for afternoon tea. Cheese Sticks Brown bread is very nice for these. Cut the slices only a quarter of an inch thick, remove the crusts, and cut them into strips. Dip them in sweetened condensed milk, roll them in grated cheese, and bake on a greased tin in a very slow oven till brown. Mother's Bread Pudding Break up all the stale pieces of bread to the amount of half a loaf, into a large bowl. Pour over nearly a. pint of hot milk, and leave to soak for a while. Add ‘lb. of sultanas, 20z. of sugar, 2o0z. of shredded suet, 20z. of flour, loz. of butter, 2 tablespoons of golden syrup, and a pinch of salt. Mix all well, and if you like, add a little candied peel. Then break 2 eggs into the mixture, and beat it well. Bake in a greased pie-dish for one and a-half hours in a hot oven, and serve with custard or sauce. Apple Charlotte (Special) Line a dish with thin slices of stale bread and butter, but no crusts. Spread on as much golden syrup as you like. Make a puree of stewed apples, and

put this into the dish with alternate layers of crumbs, putting a layer of breadcrumbs last. Bake in the oven till a nice brown, and serve with a cream or egg sauce. Bread Plum Pudding Soak 12o0z. of stale bread for a little while, and then squeeze it dry. Put it in a cooking basin, and add 1 good cup of brown sugar, 1 cup of dates, 1 cup of sultanas or raisins, a little lemon peel if liked, 1 teaspoon of essence of lemon, 1 teaspoon of grated nutmeg, a few minced almonds, 1 teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in a little cold water, and 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Put in a greased basin and steam for 4 hours. There are no eggs or flour used in this, and it is nice either hot or cold. Serve with a sauce, or with cream. The bread is best soaked in milk. Orange Bread Pudding Two tablespoons of butter, 142 cups of scalded milk, 2 cups of fine stale breadcrumbs, the grated rind of 1 orange, 3 egg yolks, the juice of 2 oranges, 42 cup of sugar, and 3 egg whites. Add the butter to the scalded milk, and pour it over the breadcrumbs. Stand until the bread is soft, then beat it up. Add the orange rind and juice, the beaten egg yolks, and the sugar. Then fold in the gently beaten egg whites. Put this into a well greased pie dish, and bake for about 20 minutes. Serve hot with cream or sauce. Scrambled Onions Soak 2 breakfast cups of stale breadcrumbs in a pint of boiling milk for a few minutes. Add 4oz. of grated cheese, 4 cooked onions finely chopped, season with pepper and salt, and stir in a beaten egg. This may either be heated in a saucepan and served on buttered toast, or baked for a quarter of an hour in a greased pie-dish. Curried Sayoury Pudding This is a very tasty dish, which uses 14lb. of stale breadcrumbs. Put the breadcrumbs in a basin with quarter of a pint of scalded milk and a dessertspoon of curry powder. Add %lb, of minced cooked meat- any kind — one minced apple, pepper and salt, a little sugar, and a little chutney if you like. Add 1 egg and beat the mixture well; then bake in a greased pie-dish for half an hour in a moderate oven. Serve with a rich brown gravy. Savoury Bread Pudding Soak some stale bread in a pint of boiling milk, and allow to cool, Add 2 tablespoons ‘of oatmeal and 2 of flour, and mix well together. Add a large chopped onion, 2 or 3 trashers of lean bacon, and 2oz. of suet, all well chopped up. Season with pepper and salt and a little mixed herbs, beat up 1 or 2 eggs, and mix all together into a stiff batter. Bake in a flat dish for about half an hour in a hot oven,