Bread Machine (220 page)
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the bread pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Remove from the oven and rub the toasted side lightly with a clove of garlic; it will be absorbed as you rub. Spray each toast with some cooking spray. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 3 minutes. Serve immediately or at room temperature within a few hours.
Makes 48 appetizer shells
Bread pressed into small muffin cups and baked until crisp makes the perfect bite-sized containers for fillings like ratatouille, cold chicken liver mousse, goat cheese and fresh herbs, or chopped, marinated, roasted red peppers. You will need four muffin tins with 1
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-inch cups to bake these all at once. Or you can bake them in batches.
Twelve
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4
-inch-thick slices homemade bread, crusts removed
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cup olive oil or nut oil
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Using a rolling pin on a clean work surface, roll and press each slice of bread until flat. Cut each slice into quarters and trim each quarter-slice to make it an even square, or use a 3-inch decorative cutter (scalloped edges look nice) to cut the bread. Using your fingers, press each piece into one cup of a 1
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-inch-cup muffin tin. The corners of the squares will extend up out of the cups.
With a small pastry brush, brush the inside of each bread cup with some oil. Bake the bread cups until crisp and golden brown at the edges, 7 to 10 minutes. Turn out the crisp cups onto a rack to cool completely before filling.
I love serving food out of an earthy serving vessel like a
croustade de pain de mie,
an edible bowl made of bread. You remove the top and insides of a stale homemade loaf, such as
French Sandwich Pain au Lait
, country bread, or any firm-textured white or wheat loaf. Then you fill the hollow with cheese, dip, creamed chicken, ragoût, or sautéed or creamed vegetables. Croustades may be large or small, depending on the size loaf you begin with.
1 loaf (rectangular, square, or round) day-old white or whole wheat bread
Melted butter, margarine, olive oil, or a butter-flavored or olive oil cooking spray
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Place the loaf on a baking sheet. With the tip of a knife, cut out a round from the top of the loaf, or turn the loaf on its side and slice a 2- to 4-inch slice off the top. Try to keep the round or slice intact, as it will serve as a lid. Pull out the inside of the bread (use it to make bread crumbs, if you wish), leaving at least a 1-inch-thick wall of bread all around. Brush or spray the inside of the hollowed-out loaf and the lid with the butter, oil, or cooking spray.
Bake the hollowed out loaf, with its lid to the side, in the center of the oven until crisp, 20 to 30 minutes, depending on its size. Remove the bread bowl and lid from the oven, and let cool completely before filling. Croustades should be made the day they will be eaten.
Makes 8 large croutons, serves 4
A ragoût is a thick stew, sometimes containing meat or game. Ragoût comes from the French word
ragoûter,
“to stimulate the appetite.” Somehow a ragoût is the perfect vehicle for using the wonderful bounty of dried mushrooms now offered in most supermarket produce departments. I think of this as the type of food served to the well-fed country folk in a Tolstoy novel, earthy and soul satisfying, in a day when gathering mushrooms for sustenance was a commonplace activity. Serve with cheese, fruit, and a simple salad.
1
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cups boiling water 1 ounce dried shiitake mushrooms
1 ounce dried chanterelle mushrooms
1 ounce dried crimini mushrooms
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cups domestic button mushrooms, quartered
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cup dry white wine
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cup cream
1 tomato, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
8
large croutons
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cup minced flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
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cup minced chives, for garnish
Place the water in a bowl and add all the dried mushrooms. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Strain, reserving the liquid.
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic and onion, and sauté until soft. Add the fresh and reconstituted mushrooms. Sauté for 2 minutes. Add the reserved mushroom liquid and the wine. Turn the heat to medium-high and let the liquid reduce by half.
Reduce the heat to low. Add the cream, tomato, and lemon juice. Simmer until thick, about 10 minutes. Season to taste. Place 2 croutons on each plate. Spoon the ragoût over them and sprinkle with parsley and chives. Serve immediately.