Do you have a baguette that’s as hard as a rock? Old bread? And you’re just going to throw it away?
NO CHEF?
Absolutely not! I was reading an article yesterday that talked about what all the best chefs have in common. One thing is: they use everything! (It’s mostly a ‘there’s no real big profit in food, so let’s minimize our costs’, but for the moment let’s see it altruistically)! lol
Waste not, want not!
You have a couple of ways to go with an old baguette. You can buzz it in the food processors, add some seasonings and use it for bread crumbs.
Or, you can make a nice soup, and throw it into that. Your ‘hard as a rock’ bread becomes instantly soft and really lends a great texture to that soup.
Reminds me of when I was in Firenze (Italy). I’m sorry but I don’t know if you’ve been traveling or not… so I include the country. Anyway, I had dinner at a restaurant and after the meal went back to meet the chef and see if I could cook with him the next morning. And guess what? He said yes! Of course he spoke Italian only, but lucky for me the sous chef spoke Spanish. And I speak Spanish. So that worked out fine.
One of the things that chef taught me is to take bread, tear it up and put it into the soup. Here in America we use flour and all kinds of things to thicken soup. But the easiest, most flavorful way to do it is just the way he taught me!
COOL CHEF!
Yes. Very cool. There are so many things I’ve learned over the years. Simple things. Almost so simple that when I say it you say ‘Yeah. That makes sense. Why didn’t I think of that”? lol
But hey! We’re all playin’ in the same band. I share with you, you share with me.
Next blog? My homemade vegetable soup! It will come in handy this winter!
By the way, how many kinds of mushrooms do you think I use in vegetable soup? Three. Can you guess which ones?
Happy Eating,
Chef Marian