Bread from CSA with thick and hard crust. Need ideas on prep!

[ChristinaLucia]

My CSA also has a bakery and I get a loaf of bread every week.  It is great bread but you can barely get through the crust of it, and two family members have lost fillings from it (bad dental heath a different post ;) ).  Anyway - I don't want to throw out the bread, anyone have ideas on what I can make with it so we use it but aren't spending $$$ on dental bills!

Thanks in advance! 

[artemis33]

I would slice it up and make french toast, bread pudding or an egg strata.  The moisture in any of those dishes should soften the bread.

Another option would be a panzanella salad.  The vinaigrette and the juices from the fresh tomatoes should also soften the bread a little.

If none of those are appealing, you could slice it and let it dry out more, then whirl it up in a food processor to make your own bread crumbs to use as a filler or breading in all sorts of dishes (and you could freeze them if you wouldn't need them right away).

Good luck!  Fresh bread sounds like a lovely addition to a CSA!

[savithny]

French toast or bread pudding are good options.

I'd also try it as the substrate for a welsh rabbit -- good cheese melted with eggs and beer or tomato juice.    Plate it in the kitchen and let it sit a bit and soak up the liquid.

Slices as crouton on top of soup -- slice it, top with cheese and broil until the cheese bubbles, then float it on soup.

Breadcrumbs -- there are lots and lots of traditional dishes that combine breadcrumbs with vegetables -- toppings for gratins, or sauteed greens where you throw breadcrumbs int just before serving.   

As a sop in soup.  We do soup-and-bread dinners fairly often, with thick chunks of homemade sourdough that we dip in teh soup.

Oooh..... mussels.    Steam the mussels in garlic, white wine and herbs, and serve with slices of bread.  Soak the bread in the pan broth until it's chewable.