Bread crumbs

Boum-boum sausages, (named for the twist on the French croque monsieur with bolognese sauce).
Serves 4
Ingredients:
vegetable oil or butter (or a mixture of the two)
200g dried breadcrumbs, 50g of which are for coating the sausages
3-4 tbsp leftover pasta sauce (such as bolognese)
1 English onion, finely chopped
2 rashers of smoked bacon
100g emmental or gruyere cheese, cubed
1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 large eggs (or 3 medium), whisked (set aside about 2 tbsp of whisked egg to use for coating the sausages)
Mix together 150g of the breadcrumbs (save 50g or so in order to coat the sausages) in a bowl with the leftover pasta sauce. Add enough to moisten and set aside for 5 minutes. You may need to add more pasta sauce or a tablespoon of milk. The mixture needs to be moist but not wet.
Fry the onion gently in little olive oil until a golden brown colour. Stir occasionally. This can take anything from 10 to 15 minutes. Don't let them burn!
Grill or fry the bacon (which usually takes 3 to 4 minutes each side, then chop roughly and add to the breadcrumb mixture.
Add the cooked onion, cheese and chopped parsley to the breadcrumb mixture and combine well. Set aside for 10 minutes or so to ensure that the mixture is cool, before adding the whisked egg. (You don't want the mixture to cook the egg at this stage).
Before adding the egg, stir in the mustard and season to taste. Set aside about 2 tablespoons of the egg mixture in order to coat the sausages later. Stir the rest of the egg mixture and make sure that it is mixed well.
If the mixture is too dry add a little milk, but don't let the mixture become too runny. If it is too runny then add more breadcrumbs!
Divide the mixture into about eight balls (although you may get more) and then shape each into a long sausage shape (about 8cm long and 2½cm wide). You will probably need to do this by partially rolling the mixture on a hard clean surface (I use a breadboard) and shaping them to keep them together as they will be a bit fragile and prone to falling apart.
Put the egg mixture in a shallow bowl; put the leftover breadcrumbs on a plate.
Take each sausage and dip it in the egg mixture and then roll in the crumbs.
Chill the sausages in the fridge for about 30 minutes, to firm them up before cooking.
Fry the sausages in the oil or butter. To fry the sausage, heat the butter or oil in the frying pan for 5 minutes, Turn half way through. Turn the heat down and continue to fry for another 3 minutes.
These sausages can be grilled. Drizzle with a little melted butter and grill under a preheated grill until brown on all sides. Be careful when turning them.
Tip: Bind with egg as above, but use it all. Use a beaten egg white to roll the sausages in before coating with breadcrumbs. It helps the breadcrumbs stick effectively and gives a nice crunchy texture.

British bread pudding

This classic pudding seems to have rather fallen out of fashion in recent years. It can be eaten cold as a rather dense, but moist fruit cake. It is absolutely delicious served warm as a pudding with loads of cream or custard. In fact, it actually tastes a bit like Christmas pudding, although to my mind, much nicer. The ingredients are more or less the same, it is just the application of them that makes it different. If you served it with a brandy cream or butter, I think you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference.

Ingredients:
1 loaf of stale bread
300ml milk
300g dried mixed fruit (I used a mixture of currants, raisins, sour cherries and sultanas)
50g mixed peel
1 quince or eating apple, grated (include the skin but not the core or pips)
3 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
2 tbsp plum jam
40g self-raising flour
2 eggs
a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
100g butter, melted
demerera sugar, to sprinkle over
double cream, ice-cream or custard (for serving)
Pre-heat the oven to 170C / gas mark 3.
Grease and line a square cake or roasting (28 x 20 cm) tin.
Firstly, you need to slice up the bread, including the crusts. Break up the bread into small pieces and soak in the milk until softened.
Once the milk has been absorbed (which will take about 10 minutes), beat well with a fork. The bread and crusts will break down and combine with the milk, forming a creamy mush.
Stir in the grated quince, then the rest of the ingredients and only half of the melted butter. Beat well together until combined.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin.
Pour the rest of the melted butter evenly over the surface. (Use a pastry brush to ensure that it is all coated.)
Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 1¼ to 1½ hours.
When baked, sprinkle over a little demerera sugar and serve warm with double cream or custard.
Alternatively allow to cool, and eat as cake.

How about the Spanish panada - a savoury bread pudding with caramelised onions and cheese?

More ideas for bread crumbs here.