Chef Clinton E Elliott from Baltimore Md said:
Preventing food waste is essential to the preservation of our wonderful environment and is also cost effective... More
Garlic and bread soup
This is a good way of using up a special loaf, such as rye, spelt or sourdough, that’s got a bit stale. Keep stale dry bread in a metal tin, taking care to ensure that it is moisture free. This can be done by putting it on a plate and leaving it overnight on a radiator.
Ingredients show imperial units
Serves 4
- 1.5 litres chicken stock
Stocks
Made from your meat and fish bones.
Frozen in ice cubes for gravies, risotto and cooking rice. Once frozen, remove from the ice trays and pack into freezer bags. Use stock powder or cubes if you do not have any home made available.
- 200g stale uncut bread, cut into cubes or sticks
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
Salt
Consider tablesalt, sea salt or crystals.
Sea salt’s pronounced and salty flavour means less is required to season food.
- 8 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
- A handful of chopped parsley
Herbs
Ideal for seasoning pastas.
To keep cut parsley or coriander, put in a hole free polythene bag with a couple of tablespoons of cold water, give the bag a good shake and keep in the salad drawer of the fridge. Herbs should keep for a week like this.
- Black pepper
Black peppercorns
Best used as a condiment.
They can be lightly crushed and used to spice up a creamy sauce or to coat fillet steak or chicken breasts.- Although it might seem odd, grinding black pepper over a bowl of strawberries enhances the flavour of the fruit.
- Pepper that is pre-ground is not fresh tasting and often has other ingredients mixed in.
- Choose the type of mill that suits you, and if you want coarser pepper you can loosen the screw on the top of the mill or crush the seeds in a pestle and mortar
- 25g grated parmesan cheese
Cheese
Add to eggs for omelettes, grate onto soups or salads.
- Parmesan often goes rock hard or becomes horribly sweaty. Ideally, all cheese should be stored in a cool, airy place at a temperature of 46-50F/8-10C. However, most of us put it straight into the fridge. This is fine providing the cheese is kept loosely wrapped in its own airtight container so it isn’t tainted by other foods.
- Store it in the salad drawer, which is not quite as cold as the rest of the fridge and use a micro plane for grating.
- Extra virgin olive oil
Olive oil
Usually the darker green the oil, the richer the flavour.
- Extra virgin olive oil is good for drizzling on salads and should never be heated as this destroys the fine properties
- Lighter olive oil is good for adding to bread, or to flavour a salad or marinade for chicken, meat, fish or vegetables. Lighter olive oil can be gently heated and added to marinades and baking.
Instructions
- In a large 3-litre saucepan, heat up the chicken stock and add the stale bread, salt and garlic.
- Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the parsley and black pepper.
- Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and top with a generous sprinkling of cheese and a swirl of virgin olive oil.
Comments on this recipe
This recipe is absolutely delicious! I used a sundried tomato bread that wasn't quite stale but was definitely past it's best, and I also added in some macaroni pasta and a red onion to give it a little more body - made a really hearty, filling moreish tea on a winter's night. I also just used whatever cheese I had in the fridge, so not having parmesan to hand really doesn't matter. Give this one a go - the garlic is much sweeter than when fried so not as scary as it sounds!
Comments on this recipe