Simple Bread Pairings
There have been few things in the past year that my wife and I have enjoyed eating more than fresh bread paired with simple foods. This idea of simple bread centric light meals has inspired me to start a food cart based on the same principal. Bread pairings with a fresh loaf that makes it irresistable to eat before it cools.
Some of our favorites have been
Bread and oil
-olive oil, parmesan cheese (kraft) red pepper flakes, fresh cracked black pepper and sometimes garlic powder
Bread and fruit
-grapes specifically float my boat, but pears and any other fruit that drips when you bite into it
Bread and cheese
- havarti, Vermont cheddar, fresh cheese curds ,sharp cheddar
Bread and creamy soups
-squash soup (blended) potatoe etc.,
What about you? give me some ideas that you'd love to see on a street. Or what simple things do you put with your lean breads that make them disappear like magic?
Soup and fresh bread with cheese melted on it - what more do you need for a meal? We like a hearty borscht with a slice of dark rye bread and melted caraway gouda on top of the bread. Another favorite is lamb stew (lamb, carrots, fresh fennel, leeks, cabbage and whatever else you like) along with a seedy whole wheat bread with melted monterey jack cheese.
These are a few of my favorite things ----
Linda
bread and a thick chunky stew :)
I commented to my husband just yesterday that we eat half a loaf of bread on the day that it is baked, and then it takes us another three or four days to finish it. Obviously freshly baked bread is much better, no matter how it is eaten. Even one day old is not the same, although it is still very good. Until I began baking my own bread on a regular basis I never really understood the term "day old bread". Supermarket bread is always "old" bread.
Unfortunately we will never have freshly baked bread for our main meal because of my baking schedule. We eat at mid-day, and I bake in the afternoon. However, my favorite combination of a meal and bread is with a soup made of legumes.
I'm hoping people catch on to our discovery when I'm selling on the street. I'm hoping I can sell my bread at the very most 3hrs after it is "born" but we'll see. Do you have a favorite legumish soup recipie that you'd like to link?
I make my own mix from what is available in WalMart when I go to refill the canister. It usually contains equal weights of baby lima beans, large lima beans, red kidney beans, black beans, black-eyed peas, pinto beans, garbanzo beans, small red beans, navy beans, great northern beans, lentils, and split green peas. I put 2 cups of dried beans to soak overnight in 4 pints of water, with 1 tsp whole black peppercorns. In the morning, I cut up 1 can of SPAM into chunks and cook over a low heat until the beans are meltingly tender and the soup is thick. This takes several hours. If it starts to scorch, a little BBQ sauce will cover that flavor, but I usually catch it before it gets to that stage. For variety, you can also add 1 tablespoon Herbs de Provence. Bacon is acceptable for flavoring instead of the SPAM, but I found the result a little disappointing. The bacon was mostly salt and fat, with some shreds of gristly meat that got caught between my teeth.
Don't use whey instead of water for the soaking. The acidic nature of the whey toughens the bean skins. This option probably would not occur to most people, but I use whey in a lot of my cooking so I tried it. The whey is left over from making quark from my cultured kefir and I use it in any way that I can.
If you can find a way to retard your shaped bread you can take it out of the retarding container and put it in your hated oven. A used refridgerater and a plug in thermostat from a brewery supplier cankeep the temperature you need. There is good book on bread and pastry that gives several ways to schedule for your time constraints. I'm sorry I don't remember the author but I'm sure someone on TFL will. I'm not at home and can't check.
Just mention the words "potted meat" and you'll send most Americans into hiding–almost worse than asking a dog if he wants to take a bath.
The French, however, make a high art of potted meat and serve it with slices of bread.
They're called rillettes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rillettes
I just sold my copy of James Peterson's Glorious French Food (something I'm sure to regret), but it has a number of really fantastic recipes for rilletes.
Lots of different pictures of rillettes here: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Rillettes&f=hp
(I wouldn't call them "potted meat" on the menu, though, at least not if you want to sell any.)
I've been wanting to try it with smoked rabbit or other smoked meats but I'll check out your info thanks
I love smearing toasted bread with nut butters, like peanut butter, almond butter or hazelnut butter. Sprinkle with sugar (or not) and you have a simple, sweet snack.
I, too, like peanut butter on fresh bread. Just for the sake of correctness, though, I should point out that peanuts are legumes rather than nuts. Peanut butter is essentially a sweetened bean paste. I find the process by which the peanuts are formed to be fascinating. The fertilized flower starts to form a pod like any other legume, but then the stem curves down and the developing pod is thrust underground. The seeds are planted even as they grow.
Clams or mussels cooked in their own broth with butter, garlic, herbs, wine . . .
Also, a warm baguette spread with dark chocolate and sprinkled with a little fleur de sel . . . heaven. I posted awhile back about a dark chocolate spread called Nuscos. Of course, you can make your own but if you want simple, Nusco's is it.
Nothing inspires like the scent of fresh bread! (my first attempt at croissants are cooling as I type). My husband and I LOVE grilled cheese---toasted bread, with cheddar slices, tomato slices, and lettuce or alfalfa sprouts inside. A good schmear for bread (especially toasted bagels) is cream cheese mixed with garlic powder and celery seed. Another idea is a sandwich that my husband came up with: croissant sandwich with alfalfa sprouts, cream cheese, chopped olives, chopped mushroom, and chopped onion. Another option is a quick "french toast" : toast with butter spread on it, sprinkled with cinnamon and white sugar.
If you have a way of toasting slices of bread, I highly recommend adding that as an option. Personally, I don't mind day-old bread if it is toasted.
May GOD bless your endeavors---sounds tasty!