7 French Bread Recipes

Saving money is also about not wasting food.  I bought a loaf of French bread the other day and I’m working my way through how to use every last bit of it.  Here’s what I came up with on my French bread frenzy.

Grilled cheese

 

I use gruyere or white cheddar – butter one side of each piece of bread, put cheese on non-buttered side and grill until golden brown.

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Croutons

Cut French bread into small cubes.  Combine some olive oil, melted butter, garlic, parmesan cheese, parsley, basil, oregano and pinch of salt in a bowl.  Toss in bread crumbs and gently stir to coat bread cubes.  Arrange cubes on cookie sheet and bake at 300 degress 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.  The smell alone is worth making homemade croutons.

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French Toast

Cut French bread in desired slice sizes.  In a bowl whisk a couple of eggs, milk and cinnamon.  Melt butter in skillet.  Dredge bread slices in egg mixture and fry until golden brown.  Top with powdered sugar and syrup.  

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Eggs in a Nest

Cut a slice of French bread.  Crack the egg into a bowl, add a pinch of salt and pepper and set aside.  Use a cookie cutter or small glass to cut a hole in the piece of bread.  Melt some butter in a frying pan.  Place the bread in the pan and fry it lightly on one side.  Flip the bread over and reduce the heat.  Carefully pour the egg into the cut out hole.  Cover the pan for about 3 minutes.

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Bread Pudding

Cut 4 or 5 slices of French bread and tear in small cubes.  Combine 3 eggs, 2 cups of milk, bread cubes and ½ pound brown sugar into a 1 quart baking dish.  Dot with butter and bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes until firm and brown.

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Stuffed French Bread

Cut off one end of French bread loaf (about ¼ of loaf) and scoop out the middle, leaving about an inch inside all around (you can use the scooped out middle for crutons or bread pudding btw).  Take about ½ pound of hamburger or ground steak, add desired amount of canned tomatoes, diced onion and salt and pepper and brown in a skillet.  If consistency is watery add some bread crumbs.  When browned, stuff in bread shell.  Using butter, butter the sides and top of loaf and bake in 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

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Bruschetta

In a bowl, combine a couple seeded and diced medium tomatoes, about ½ of a diced onion, a clove of minced garlic, salt, pepper and extra-virgin olive oil to taste.  Place bowl in fridge.  Cut French bread into desired bruschetta size and broil in oven.  Once bread is browned to your liking remove from oven and to with tomato mixture from fridge and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.