I’ve been baking like a crazy woman lately.
I enjoy the process enormously (obviously!) and it’s a very affordable form of therapy – four kilos of sourdough costs me just $2 in flour. There’s always plenty to share – for example, of the batch above, the loaves and most of the focaccia went to Mum’s neighbours.
No matter how much I give away though, there always seems to be old bread leftover in our kitchen. Lovely Clare asked me recently what I did with it all. The answer is that most of it gets dried – my boys have a great love for “crunchy bread” and snack on it like crisps.
My drying procedure is to slice up stale sourdough and bake it on parchment-lined trays in a 100C oven (non fan forced) for two to three hours. Often I’ll set the timer and go to bed, and Big Boy will turn the heat off for me when it’s ready. The bread then stays in the oven until the following morning. And in case you’re wondering, my electrical engineer husband assures me that this is quite an economical use of the oven (particularly in winter, when it helps to heat the kitchen and dining room as well).
The little baguette crisps are perfect for topping with paté or tapenade. Dried focaccia tends to taste fried because of the higher oil content, and both my sons find it irresistible. Any excess dried bread is blitzed in the food processor to form fine bread crumbs, which are then used to coat flathead fillets on fish and chip nights.
Last night, a handful of the breadcrumbs went into meatballs – these were baked in a chipotle chilli and tomato sauce until tender, then sandwiched in sourdough baguettes with wilted spinach and provolone cheese. After assembling, the rolls were wrapped in foil and heated in the oven to melt the cheese and toast the baguettes. With the addition of another 1998 shiraz uncovered in the recent cellar tidy up, we feasted like royalty!
Dried bread is now as much a staple in our house as fresh sourdough. As long as the slices are bone dry, they’ll store for ages in airtight containers, providing a wonderful alternative to bought crackers. It’s also the perfect thing to make from failed bread experiments – I once made a whole container of nut flavoured crackers from a heavier than expected loaf of walnut bread. It was the perfect accompaniment to cheese.
Best of all, I can continue to bake like a crazy women, knowing that none of the bread will ever get wasted!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 