Italian Breadcrumbs

Every now and again you stumble onto a recipe that you know will be with you for a very long time…..an absolute piece of pure genius that every time you eat it, you enjoy every single bite and cannot wait to make it again

Well this recipe for Italian Breadcrumbs is one such recipe…..

I love this recipe for many reasons:

- its sheer brilliance and simplicitity
- the diversity of food it goes with – chicken, white fish, salmon steak, courgette, aubergine, halloumi
- the fact that the breadcrumbs keep for up to 1 month in your fridge, means you can have them whenever you want them
- speed of breading and cooking your desired food is really quick & easy
- taste and flavour of the breadcrumbs – they will be the centre point of any meal or great in sandwiches for a snack

With these reasons explained I will now break down to you what the principle is here with these Italian Breadcrumbs

Drying out the bread: You make your breadcrumbs as normal but this time you want to put them into a warm oven (200C) until all the bread becomes toasted….this process will dry out the bread enabling you to use it for up to 1 month if you store it in your fridge

Season the breadcrumbs: After you dry out your breadcrumbs you then blitz them again in your food processor to get the consistency extra fine. It is now you will add your spices, herbs & seasoning to this breadcrumb base. I like to use garlic powder, onion power, dried oregano, cayenne pepper, paprika
sea salt & black pepper. 

Add fresh ingredients: You now have a very tasty breadcrumb base, before you would use them, you could now add a small amount of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano  or fresh chopped herbs to give that extra flavour kick. (Do not store the breadcrumbs with these fresh ingredients as their shelf life is short) 

Breadcrumbs keep for up to 1 month in your fridge in a sealed Zip-lock bag. Let go completly cool before placing in bag to avoid the breadcrumbs going moldy.
WARNING: Every time you open your fridge you will hear the breadcrumbs saying....make me again!!!

You can have these breadcrumbs with many different ingredients. Such as: 
-  Chicken Breast (see method below)
-  Salmon Steak 
-  Cod or any white fish (see bottom)
-  Courgette (see bottom)
-  Aubergine
-  Halloumi
-  Tiger Prawns
-  Pork Steak

This will make enough breadcrumbs for 14-16 servings that will keep in your fridge for up to a month to use at your own leisure.

Ingredients

Loaf of 1 day old bread (use a seeded deluxe type for extra flavour)

3 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1 tsp sea salt & black pepper 

Cooking utensils
Food Processor
Large oven dish
Greaseproof paper
 

Preparation

- Make breadcrumbs from all your bread (crusts and all)
 

 - Preheat your oven to 200C and place your breadcrumbs in an oven dish on top of greaseproof paper
 

- Let cook until the bread is completely dried out or toasted – for this amount of bread it will take up to 20 minutes. Check every 5 minutes and re-arrange as they can burn quite quickly if unwatched.
 

- When breadcrumbs are finished let cook and then transfer back to food processor and blitz again to make super fine.
 

 - Now add all your spices & seasoning and stir – you can now taste the breadcrumbs and season more if you so wish

I will now walk thru how to bread and fry some chicken breast - the same method can be taken on the other ingredients I mentioned above

Ingredients
 

Chicken Breast
2 Tbsp White flour
Black Pepper
1 egg
Small amount of your Italian breadcrumb mixture
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1-2 tbspn)
Fresh coriander – finely chopped
Sunflower oil

Cooking utensils
Frying pan
Sharp Knife
3 shallow plates to bread the chicken

Preparation 

 - Cut the chicken – cut evenly in half (all the chicken should be the same thickness so it cooks at the same timing)

- You now need 3 shallow plates to bread up your chicken

Flour with black pepper

 1 beaten egg

1 amount of Italian Breadcrumbs with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano & chopped Coriander

- To bread your chicken follow these steps:
Coat the chicken completely in flour and then transfer to the egg – make sure the chicken is completely coated in egg before the final step of coating it in breadcrumbs – turn the chicken twice in the breadcrumbs to ensure it is sufficiently coated.

- Double-Dip? After breading your chicken put it back in the egg again and then back into the breadcrumbs if you like that extra breaded texture

- Place 1 inch of sunflower oil into a frying pan and turn on heat to medium high – when oil is hot enough place your chicken into it

Tip: to find out if oil is hot enough take a piece of bread and drop it into the oil - it is sizzles and floats it is hot enough

- Turn Chicken every minute until cooked – it should take you 4-5 minutes to cook the chicken 

- When cooked dry on some kitchen paper. Tonight we ate the chicken with some new potatoes and a light salad
 
ENJOY!!! 

Breaded Tilapia & Courgette

I made this last night again but this time I used a white fish, this time Tilapia & Courgette. 

 Delicious!!!