Somehow we always have more bread than we need. This was never a problem when our beloved black Labrador was still alive — Scooby ate any proffered thing, including those from my more unfortunate forays into baking. These days I like to think I have a better grasp of breadmaking, yet it seems I’m throwing away more.
“Freeze them,” Jenny advises. She loves bread too, and has recently turned me on to Suisse Cottage’s pale but tasty tuna de leche, a half-pack of which I ditched yesterday (it was growing molds). “They will last longer that way.”
I never think that far. Oh, I always think, we’ll eat those soon enough. Then we don’t, see. I would be making more sandwiches (or pudding) if my folks were into them. So when I discovered we still had several packs of focaccia way past their use-by date — they were tucked neatly (as in hidden) in the bottom crisper compartment of the refrigerator — I could only sigh. These people! On the verge of chucking them into the trash — the bread, not my parents — I gave them a once-over. They looked fine. Could it be?
*Sniff*
They were!
Long story short, I turned them into biscocho. With its airy crumb, focaccia makes for light but crunchy biscocho. Simply slather margarine onto sliced bread, sprinkle with sugar, and bake in a preheated oven at lowest setting for 2 hours, then turn off heat, leaving biscuits inside to cool. Sweet yet savory, with that touch of rosemary, these go well with ice-cold Coke (just sayin’).
The rest I made into croutons. It was the most obvious choice, as focaccia already has enough olive oil and salt in it, so there really is no need to add more (I did, anyway). Bake as you would biscocho, then keep in ziplock bag, remove as much air as possible, and store in the freezer until ready to use. There mine sit now, awaiting a stroke of inspiration. I do so miss Scooby.
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