A Happy Home Crumbing

By Ann Ogden

Breadcrumbs are one of those useful kitchen staples that most people think about only when they make stuffing at Thanksgiving. That short, seasonal focus is so wrong. Fresh breadcrumbs are a boon to the health-conscious cook in a myriad of ways. They bulk out burgers, meatballs and meatloaf, make a crispy topping for gratins, and give oven baked fish and chicken the satisfying crunch that usually only comes with deep frying.

If you eat bread, and have a food processor, blender, or coffee grinder in your kitchen, breadcrumbs are something you don’t need to buy. Anytime you have leftover heels of your wholegrain loaves, or if you have a loaf or a baguette that has gone a bit stale, you have breadcrumbs waiting to happen. Just dice the leftovers and grind them on a coarse setting in the food processor, then pop them into a Ziplock bag. Bread freezes really well, so store your homemade breadcrumbs in the freezer for future use. If you make a habit of doing this, and keep topping up your frozen stash, you will never be without.  If you like, get fancy and keep one bag for whole-wheat crumbs and another for white.