Cold House, Warm Oven and a Chicken

My freezing house inspires a lot of baking and cooking. Today I am dreaming about chicken the way K made it at the community supper. But I don't have bread crumbs. . . . I have bread, and cornmeal and all the ingredients anyone could want to make a breaded chicken dish.

I’ve talked about making homemade breadcrumbs before. I save all my bread ends in the freezer, and when I need breadcrumbs, I use my blender to turn them into fresh crumbs. If I need them to be dry, I toast them until the moisture is out before I put them in the blender. I’ll often add my own seasonings like salt, pepper, garlic powder or Parmesan cheese. I use my judgment for what seems appropriate for the dish I’m making.

Last night, I needed Italian seasoned breadcrumbs for a recipe, and I wanted something a little more specific than just adding garlic and oregano. After a quick search, I found a recipe that seemed to be just what I needed.

To each cup of homemade fresh or dried breadcrumbs, add the following dried herbs and spices:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon basil
I put all the dried spices right into the blender with the breadcrumbs and whirled it around a bit to get it mixed up thoroughly.

Many jarred spices start to lose their flavor after six months, but most of us keep them for much longer than that. Using them up to make things like seasoned breadcrumbs or taco seasoning instead of buying pre-made versions of these makes a lot of sense.

You could also add these spices to store-bought plain breadcrumbs, but really you need to start saving your bread ends in a container in the freezer. It's so easy to make your own, saves you money, and there's no packaging to throw out.