MORE USES FOR ODD SCRAPS OF BREAD

New Zealand Listener, Volume 13, Issue 313, 22 June 1945, Page 22

MORE USES FOR ODD SCRAPS OF BREAD

: ORE ideas for using up odd scraps of bread keep coming in all the time. The stale crust at the end of the loaf, the outside slice which has got dry since: the loaf was cut yesterday, the odd half-slice which somebody has left on the bread-board, are all eagerly waited for now, baked in the oven (when it is being used for cooking dinner) and crushed into crumbs with the rolling-pin, or put through the mincer. With a couple of glass jars of these crisp breadcrumbs as a standby, the housekeeper has the makings of lots of dishes, sweet or savoury, Bread Plum Pudding (no eggs) © Gather up your pieces of stale bread, or take about 3, teacupfuls of baked breadcrumbs, and soak in sufficient milk to be all absorbed. Add a teacup of brown sugar (or a good tablespoon of warmed golden syrup), 2 cupfuls of mixed fruit (including dates, if possible), a teaspoon of grated nutmeg, or mixed spices, a little essence of lemon, ¥2 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in a little cold water, and about 2 tablespoons melted butter. Turn into greased basin, cover with kitchen paper, and steam for 142 hours, or longer if possible, Serve hot with custard sauce; also very nice eaten cold. Curried Bread Savoury Put Yelb, breadcrumbs into a basin and pour over a teacup of hot milk in which is stirred a dessertspoon curry powder and a dessertspoon of sugar, When soaked, beat up with a fork, and add a cupful of minced cooked meat (any left-over!), a finely chopped apple, pepper and salt to taste, anda little chutney. Adda beaten egg and beat the mixture thoroughly. Bake in greased piedish and serve with brown gravy and either a green vegetable, or with a lettuce and onion salad. Bread Crump Puffs (using stale brown bread) Soak 1 cup brown breadcrumbs (fine) in one cup hot milk until soft; then beat till yery smooth, Add 1 dessertspoon melted butter, 1 desertspoon sugar, a pinch of salt, and the yolks of 2 eggs. Beat well, then add 42 cup flour sifted with 1 teaspoon baking powder. Now fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites, Drop in small spoonfuls on a hot girdle, or hot electric plate, and cook until a nice brown on both sides. Eat hot, buttered. Mock Patty Cases Thick slices of stale bread cut into rounds with a cutter. Hollow out the centre slightly with a sharp knife. Dip into hot milk, then into baked breadcrumbs. Fry in butter or good fat till golden brown. Fill with any appropriate mixture. Fillings (a) Left-over fish flaked with white sauce and .seasoned with grated cheese, onion, etc. (b) Left-over scraps of meat or ham, minced and seasoned to taste. (¢) Grated cheese put in when nearly cooked, so that it is

toasted. (d) Sweet filling made of minced prunes, and sultanas, spices to taste, lemon juice, and moistened with hot golden syrup. Scrambled Eggs with Croutons Three-quarters cup small pieces of diced bread; 2 tablespoons butter or bacon fat, or sausage fat 4 eggs, 1-3 cup milk, ¥ teaspoon salt, % teaspoon pepper, Fry the bread croutons golden in the fat. Beat the eggs a little, and add the milk and seasoning. Pour this over the fried croutons, and scramble all over a low heat, scraping up the mixture as it solidifies, Serve plain, or with fried or grilled tomatoes, or fried onions. Californian Omelet Soak 4% cup breadcrumbs in ¥% cup milk for 15 minutes. Then season with pepper and salt. Separate the whites from the yolks of 4 eggs, and beat each well, Add the yolks to the bread and milk, and then lightly cut in the whites, Pour all into hot buttered pan, and cook on low flame tijl delicately brown and set. Can be finished in oven if liked, Fold and turn out on hot dish. Baked Left-over Fish Grease a piedish and put a layer of breadcrumbs at the bottom. Then put alternate layers of fish and slices of tomato, seasoning the layers with salt, pepper, mace apd a dash of lemon juice (or vinegar). Cover with a thick layer of breadcrumbs, dot with butter, and bake about 20 minutes, Prepare the day before.