Bread & Butter Read online

  And what lovely company it keeps in the pages ahead … it’s all here! Let’s get to it.

  caesar dressing MAYONNAISE kale artichoke dip

  BUTTER hummus BÉCHAMEL SAUCE

  caesar dressing

  A girl cannot live on vinaigrette alone, and I wouldn’t offend you by assuming you are without your own faithful oil-and-vinegar concoction already. Instead I’m including this lo-fi Caesar, in part because it is perfect to use as a segue into your own renditions of all kinds of cream-based dressings. As you begin to swap out or add new herbs and ingredients to your liking, you’ll quickly discover that even the slightest modification makes all the difference. Your first stop should be using this recipe on the salad you place on top of the Pizza with a Salad on Top.

  makes 1 cup

  4 tablespoons (56 GRAMS) Mayonnaise

  2 teaspoons spicy mustard

  2 garlic cloves

  1 teaspoon salt

  ⅔ cup (140 GRAMS) olive oil

  1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (20 GRAMS) fresh lemon juice

  Freshly cracked black pepper

  In a blender, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, garlic, and salt and pulse until the garlic is minced. With the blender running on a medium setting, add the olive oil and lemon juice and blend for 30 seconds. Pour the dressing in a bowl and season with pepper. The dressing will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 7 days.

  mayonnaise

  I eat a lot of Vegenaise, and I feel just okay about it. It has a great flavor and brings necessary moisture to ingredients that, as we all know, can lead to dry meals. But in the end, I got sick of paying for it, so I created my own. I think you’re really going to like this and find a lot of uses for it! You can use your imagination, but turning it into salad dressing is one really simple and obvious way. I often do a number on it for Caesar Dressing

  makes 3¼ cups

  ¾ cup (170 GRAMS) rice milk

  ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar

  ½ teaspoon agave nectar

  2 teaspoons sunflower lecithin granules

  1½ teaspoons salt

  ¼ teaspoon dry mustard

  2¼ cups (540 GRAMS) olive oil

  1½ tablespoons (22.5 GRAMS) fresh lemon juice

  In a food processor, combine the rice milk, vinegar, agave nectar, lecithin, salt, and dry mustard, and blend well. With the processor running, slowly add 1 cup of the oil and 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice. Then add the remaining 1¼ cups oil and the remaining ½ tablespoon lemon juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Pour the mayonnaise into an airtight container and chill for 2 hours before serving. The mayonnaise will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 7 days.

  kale artichoke dip

  It’s all fun and games as everyone forks away spastically at a dish of sizzling, gooey artichoke dip. But then, as it quickly cools, the fat congeals inside the dish for all to see. The grease shimmers, and in it the reflections of six concerned souls. Shame rears its hideous face. “What did I even just eat?” “I didn’t have too much, right?” “Is there a gym nearby?” “Will I have a heart attack tonight in my sleep?” My intention here is to show you that it is unnecessary to dose artichoke dip with ladles full of mayo and monstrous globules of cheese. This recipe may not help you lose weight, but it’s also not going to fast-track you to the ER. If you feel very strongly about honoring this recipe’s legacy of overwhelming creaminess, I can respect that: Add three tablespoons of the Mayonnaise and you’ll get there quick. Serve this with very simple bread or unsalted crackers to offset the caloric intensity!

  serves 6

  2 tablespoons (28 GRAMS) melted unscented coconut oil or olive oil

  ¼ small yellow onion, chopped

  2 cups (135 GRAMS) kale, stemmed and roughly chopped

  4 scallions, thinly sliced

  1 garlic clove, minced

  1 (12-OUNCE; 340-GRAM) bag frozen artichokes (or canned if you absolutely must), thawed

  ¼ cup (28 GRAMS) shredded vegan gluten-free cheese (optional)

  1 tablespoon (15 GRAMS) fresh lemon juice

  2 tablespoons (28 GRAMS) coconut milk

  2 teaspoons (10 GRAMS) salt

  ¼ teaspoon (1 GRAM) ground nutmeg

  Freshly ground black pepper

  Preheat the oven to 350°F.

  Heat the oil in a wide skillet set over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the kale, scallions, and garlic, and cook until the kale softens, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool for 20 minutes.

  Transfer the kale mixture to a food processor and add the artichokes, vegan cheese (if using), lemon juice, coconut milk, salt, and nutmeg, and season with pepper. Pulse the mixture until it is semi-smooth. Pour the mixture into a baking dish.

  Bake until the top is golden brown, 30 minutes. Let the dip cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

  butter

  I’ve always thought that the BabyCakes frosting tasted faintly like a sweet butter, but I was never so delusional as to think I could cook savory recipes with it. To manipulate it from its happy state as a cake-topper, I first omitted the agave nectar, hoping it would take us somewhere joyful. It was atrocious. So I decided to switch out the emulsifier, which was when I discovered sunflower lecithin (conveniently soy-free!). It took a long while after that to perfect it, but I eventually lowered the eyebrows of even my most butter-loving Francophile pals. At the bakery, we use a regular loaf pan to set the butter, but feel free to use any mold you like.

  makes 3½ cups

  1½ cups (336 GRAMS) melted unscented coconut oil

  1 cup (224 GRAMS) canola oil

  ¾ cup (224 GRAMS) rice milk

  ¼ cup (56 GRAMS) coconut milk

  1 teaspoon agave nectar

  2 tablespoons (18 GRAMS) granular sunflower lecithin

  1 tablespoon (18 GRAMS) salt

  2 teaspoons xanthan gum

  1 tablespoon (15 GRAMS) fresh lemon juice

  Line a shallow pan, such as a loaf pan, with parchment paper and set aside.

  In a liquid measuring cup, combine the coconut oil and canola oil, stir gently, and set aside.

  In a blender or food processor, combine the rice milk, coconut milk, agave nectar, sunflower lecithin, salt, and xanthan gum and blend for 1 minute. Very slowly add half of the oil mixture, followed by the lemon juice, and then the remaining oil mixture. Blend for 1 more minute.

  Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and refrigerate until solid, about 3½ hours. Chop the butter into 1-inch cubes and store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.

  hummus

  I’ll go out on a limb and say hummus is the most universally loved food to have come to America in the last couple of decades. I know it has been here longer, living a glorious existence among the hippies and health crazies, and that it’s existed for two trillion years before that or whatever. But I’m talking about its newfound widespread acceptance. My two-year-old daughter loves it, and my eighty-three-year-old dad loves it. Neither of them likes baba ghanoush, so I rest my case! This recipe is for every day, and for any occasion.

  makes 3 cups

  2 (15.5-OUNCE; 440-GRAM) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained

  2 garlic cloves

  ¼ cup (56 GRAMS) olive oil

  ¼ cup (57 GRAMS) tahini

  2 tablespoons (30 GRAMS) fresh lemon juice

  ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

  ½ teaspoon salt

  In a food processor, combine the chickpeas and garlic, and pulse. Add the oil, tahini, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and salt and pulse a few additional times. If the hummus is too thick, add water 1 tablespoon at a time until the hummus reaches the desired thickness. The hummus will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days.

  béchamel sauce

  This recipe is to show off. It is for “occasions.” It is not the recipe you should turn to daily, or even weekly, if you hope to continue living in the short denim
shorts you are wearing right now. But once you’ve made it, your mind will race with possibilities: Alfredo sauce? Creamed spinach? Lasagna? These are all within reach.

  makes 3½ cups

  ¼ cup (56 GRAMS) Butter

  2 tablespoons (20 GRAMS) minced onion

  2 garlic cloves, minced

  3 tablespoons (22 GRAMS) arrowroot

  1½ cups (339 GRAMS) rice or almond milk

  ½ cup (120 GRAMS) coconut milk

  1 tablespoon (15 GRAMS) fresh lemon juice

  3 tablespoons (27 GRAMS) nutritional yeast

  ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

  Salt and freshly ground black pepper

  Heat the butter in a wide skillet set over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 more minute. Whisk in the arrowroot and reduce the heat to low. Whisk in the milks, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and nutmeg, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the sauce thickens, about 5 more minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

  bread reborn

  Try as we all might to force-feed both ourselves and those we love, there will be leftovers. Accept it as a blessing, but be prepared to handle those things you can’t eat in the first round with care if you want to have a second go at them.

  At the bakery, it isn’t too often that there are (a) things left over and (b) enough time to experiment with leftovers even if there were any. It is both a godsend (I’m so lucky!) and a sadness (I wanna experiment more!). To be honest, it is partly why I enjoy doing these books so much: Creating recipes lifts me away from my desk duties and puts me back into the test kitchen, where leftovers are invaluable. Often, it is with a single bite of a leftover that you can learn the most. This chapter includes a few of my absolute favorite ways of repurposing baked goods.

  For the recipes in this chapter, I used the Sandwich Bread, mostly for its ability to adapt to and assume the flavors of the other ingredients. By no means is this a rule: If you have a bread on hand and you want to use it in one of these recipes, I support that fully.

  bruschetta GARLIC BREAD bread salad

  STUFFING croutons

  bruschetta

  Tomato-salad toast: What could possibly be better? There are two keys to making this recipe shine: Find the most beautiful tomatoes in the land, and be very careful not to slice the bread too thin. You’re going to want the toasted pieces to hold up under the weight of the sweet, sweet salad.

  serves 6

  4 plum tomatoes, chopped

  1 garlic clove, minced

  ¼ cup (56 GRAMS) olive oil

  1 tablespoon (15 GRAMS) fresh lemon juice

  ¼ cup (10 GRAMS) fresh basil leaves, torn

  ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

  ½ teaspoon salt, plus more for sprinkling

  Freshly ground black pepper

  ½ loaf Sandwich Bread, cut into 1-inch-thick slices (2½ CUPS; 185 GRAMS)

  Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

  In a medium bowl, combine the tomatoes, garlic, 2 tablespoons of the oil, the lemon juice, basil, red pepper flakes, and salt, and season with pepper. Toss well and set aside.

  Arrange the slices of bread on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle the tops with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil.

  Bake for 6 minutes, and then rotate the baking sheet 180 degrees. Bake until golden, 3 minutes. Let the toasts cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes.

  To serve, top the toasts with the tomato mixture, drizzle with the liquid from the bowl, and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

  garlic bread

  It is a timeless technique of youth: Nuke your butter in the microwave, pour in way too much garlic salt, spread it onto slices of bread so thick it looks like a frosted cake, and shove it under the broiler. Nasty, but in a good way, back then. Nowadays garlic salt tastes to me like it was ground in a metallic tank along with aspirin. So instead of using that, I roast actual garlic and pump it up a little bit with some crushed red pepper flakes.

  serves 6

  1 head of garlic

  2 teaspoons (9 GRAMS) melted unscented coconut oil

  1 cup (224 GRAMS) Butter, softened

  1½ teaspoons salt

  1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

  ½ loaf Sandwich Bread

  Preheat the oven to 275°F.

  Trim the tips off the top of the garlic and put it in a small baking dish. Drizzle with the oil. Roast until it becomes soft, 30 minutes. Let it cool for 15 minutes.

  Increase the oven temperature to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

  Squeeze the garlic cloves into a small bowl and discard the husk. Add the butter, salt, and the red pepper flakes and, using a rubber spatula, stir the mixture to form a paste.

  Cut the bread lengthwise down the center. Spread the garlic butter generously on the cut sides and put them on the prepared baking sheet, cut side up.

  Bake for 8 minutes, and then rotate the baking sheet 180 degrees. Bake until golden brown, 5 minutes. Let the garlic bread cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before serving.

  bread salad

  There is an excellent restaurant in San Francisco named Zuni Café. It opened in 1979, and for the longest time had as its chef the recently deceased genius Judy Rodgers, formerly of Chez Panisse, where I did a stint as a bartender long ago. It was at Zuni, in the late 1990s, that I first learned of bread salad. There Chef Rodgers served it as part of a dinner entrée I could neither afford nor consume. But whenever I’d pop in for a drink at the bar I’d notice waiters carrying large plates piled high with something that to me was just staggering: huge, gorgeous chunks of delicately toasted bread tossed among some greens. This truly was a bread salad. Bread first, and then salad, not as an afterthought, exactly, but as an accent. Much to my dismay I have still never eaten Zuni’s version. But this is what I’ve always imagined it would taste like.

  serves 4

  1 tablespoon (15 GRAMS) red wine vinegar

  1 garlic clove, minced

  ¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons (98 GRAMS) olive oil

  ½ loaf Sandwich Bread, cut into 1-inch-thick cubes (2½ CUPS; 185 GRAMS)

  2 large tomatoes, cut into ½-inch cubes

  1 cucumber, shaved into ribbons with a vegetable peeler, core discarded

  1 cup (20 GRAMS) fresh baby arugula or regular arugula

  ½ small red onion, thinly sliced

  4 basil leaves, torn

  Salt and freshly ground black pepper

  In a small bowl, combine the vinegar and garlic. While whisking, slowly drizzle in ¼ cup of the oil. Set aside.

  In a medium bowl, toss the bread cubes with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil.

  In a wide skillet set over medium heat, toast the bread in batches, cooking until the bottom is golden brown, 2 minutes. Flip the bread and toast the second side 2 more minutes. Return the toasted croutons to the bowl that was used to toss the bread and add the tomatoes, cucumber, arugula, red onion, and basil. Add the vinaigrette and season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss the salad gently until everything is distributed evenly throughout the salad. Serve immediately.

  stuffing

  You’ll be excited to hear that this recipe is simpler than the boxed variety your mother-in-law cherishes, and it tastes about one billion times better. Herbs are absolutely a personal preference, so toss in or remove whatever it is you love or hate. Take note, though, that dried herbs tend to blossom in flavor quite a bit as they cook, so keep it conservative when measuring.

  serves 8

  ½ cup (64 GRAMS) chopped walnuts (optional)

  ½ cup (112 GRAMS) Butter

  ½ cup (80 GRAMS) chopped onion

  1 teaspoon minced garlic

  1 loaf Sandwich Bread, cut into ½-inch cubes (5 CUPS; 370 GRAMS)

  1 tablespoon (1 GRAM) chopped fresh sage leaves

  ¼ teaspoon groun
d nutmeg

  Salt and freshly ground black pepper

  In a dry, wide skillet set over medium heat, toast the walnuts (if using) for 1 minute, stir, and toast until fragrant, 30 more seconds. Transfer the walnuts to a dry paper towel.

  Heat the butter in a wide skillet set over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the bread, sage, walnuts, and nutmeg, season with salt and pepper, and toss well. Let the stuffing cool for 10 minutes before serving.

  croutons

  I eat a salad, in one form or another, for every meal. Each and every time, until this recipe, I coasted sadly past the croutons. Historically it has really sucked. But this is the remedy for all that. I even made them a little spicy.

  makes 2½ cups

  ½ loaf Sandwich Bread, cut into roughly ½-inch cubes (2½ CUPS; 185 GRAMS)

  ¼ cup (56 GRAMS) melted Butter or melted unscented coconut oil