Fresh Bread Crumbs Recipes

Steps:

• Working in two batches, pulse bread cubes in a food processor to fine crumbs; transfer to a medium bowl.
• To make plain breadcrumbs, stir in 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt and season with pepper. To make lemon-sage breadcrumbs, stir in 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt, lemon zest, and sage; season with pepper. To make parmesan-oregano breadcrumbs, stir in 1 tablespoon salt, oregano, and parmesan cheese; season with pepper. To make garlic-parsley breadcrumbs, stir in 1 1/2 tablespoons salt, parsley, and garlic; season with pepper.

Steps:

• There is a real advantage to making bread crumbs instead of using pre-packaged ones, with their unpleasant preserved taste. Full tasting bread, like a sourdough or herbed bread makes for delicious crumbs. When made from fresh bread the crumbs absorb less fat or liquid than a dry crumb, making them ideal for topping off gratins, or breading meat and fish when frying. Dry crumbs are better suited for stuffings since they absorb moisture just like a sponge. Most breads can be turned into bread crumbs by simply grinding them in a food processor. Trimming crusts makes for a more delicate crumb and for very fine crumbs, strain them through a fine-mesh sieve. Store bread crumbs in a tightly sealed plastic bag in the freezer.

Steps:

• To make fresh breadcrumbs, tear the bread into pieces and drop into a food processor fitted with a blade attachment. Pulse until you have breadcrumbs of the size you want. If you want to make very even breadcrumbs, push them through a coarse sieve. Will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
• To make dried breadcrumbs, tear the bread into pieces and bake in a low oven until the pieces are completely dried out. Pulse in a food processor as before. Will keep chilled for up to two months, or frozen for six months.

Steps:

• Heat the broiler to 500 degrees (or its highest setting). On your oven's highest rack, broil all the bread slices on a baking sheet for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden and crisp but not burned. Flip all the slices over and broil for another 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the broiler off and allow the bread to crisp in the oven until totally dry, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Remove the bread from the oven and let cool. Using a box grater or rolling pin, coarsely grate and crush the bread slices into bread crumbs (or, pulse them in a food processor). The crumbs should look and feel like sand; you should get about 4 cups. Set the bread crumbs aside.
• In a large cast-iron skillet, melt the butter over high heat. Once the butter is melted, add the onion and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes.
• Pour the butter and onion into a large bowl. Whisk the flour into the melted butter and onion, then slowly whisk in the milk to make a creamy sauce. Once the sauce is smooth, whisk in the eggs, lemon juice, vinegar and mace.
• Add the crab meat to the cream sauce and mix lightly with a fork; don't break up the pieces of crab meat. Gently fold in just enough of the bread crumbs so that the mixture holds together (about 2 1/2 cups). Divide the crab mixture into 12 equal portions, setting them on a baking sheet as you go. They should be thick rounds - about the size of the palm of your hand, and roughly 1 1/2 inches thick.
• Using your hand, take a scoop of the toasted bread crumbs and coat each crab cake.
• Wipe out the skillet and heat the oil over high. Once the oil is hot, place a few of the crab cakes in the skillet. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 3 to 5 minutes on each side, or until browned and cooked through. Place the cooked crab cakes on a paper towel to drain. Working in batches, cook the remaining crab cakes, adding more oil as needed.
• Serve crab cakes immediately, or set aside in a warm oven (see Tip) while you cook the remaining crab cakes.

Steps:

• Use a food processor or blender to crumb the bread evenly.
• Crumbs should not be like sand.
• Leave some texture-don't overprocess.
• Melt butter in a large pan and add crumbs and salt and pepper.
• Stir until evenly coated.
• Continue stirring over medium heat until the crumbs sound like sand when they hit the bottom of the pan.
• Cool thoroughly.
• Then store in heavy duty plastic bags with zipper seals.
• Don't put them in the refrigerator-they won't keep.
• Store them in a cabinet for up to six months.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
• Using tongs, place bread slices directly on oven racks. Leave in oven until hard and golden brown, about 30 minutes; darker if you prefer. Remove and cool on wire rack.
• Crumble slices into a large bowl until reduced to fine crumbs, or place in bowl of food processor and process until fine.