Leftover Longings and Leftover Bread

 

                                                              Panzanella Salad

One blue-sky autumnal morning last week, I drove out to do some errands. My route took me down a lovely country road, and to my joy, a series of Model T cars appeared, jauntily coming toward me.  I counted a total of twelve cars over a mile or so of the winding road. In each car, sat an older couple, men and women dressed for the occasion in vintage gear and perky hats.

The sight made me think of how much fun Bruce and I would have had, if we could do that!  That was one of the many visions we shared of what we thought we’d like to do in retirement.  I could just see him sitting next to me in a pork-pie hat, rattling down the road!  I also often think of one of our favorite ways to travel, to choose a destination in Northern New England, and book a pet-friendly  inn or cottage and take our dogs with us for an adventure.  We had envisioned making lots of those kind of trips in our “golden years”.  Sometimes I just get into a reverie, wishing we had the chance to do more of those things.  But, here I am, doing the rest of my golden years without him.

My leftover longings will have to wait as I deal with leftover bread!  I love good bread, especially crusty Italian or French baguettes!  But living alone, I cannot finish an entire loaf of bread before it starts to go stale.   I also cannot tolerate what freezing does to bread.  I have followed many “helpful hints” on how to thaw bread to make it come out without being soggy.  No matter what I try, I find the bread is not the same as fresh after freezing. The old Yankee in me hates to see the waste as I discard old loaves.  So instead, I try to use bread that is going stale in a different way.

I am sharing two recipes for making salads out of stale bread, one for a baguette and one for corn bread, which I also like to use as a breakfast bread, grilled with butter.  Trust me, bread salads are delicious!  I have another recipe for a savory bread pudding that includes ham, apples and cheese, which makes a great brunch dish, and  I will share that in another post about breakfast for company.

 

Panzanella Salad

This is a rustic dish of Tuscany, made for centuries by Italian wives who, like Yankee wives, are frugal and hate to waste food!

 

½ loaf of a baguette or crusty Italian bread (about 2 cups)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of good balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1 large, ripe tomato cut into small wedges or small, grape tomatoes cut in half
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
fresh basil and parsley, chopped 

Cut bread into 2 inch slices, butter both sides of each slice and place on hot grill to toast to get grill marks on the bread.  Remove from the grill and cut into cubes.

Mix the olive oil and vinegar, add salt and pepper and chopped garlic.

Place the bread cubes in a salad bowl, add the tomatoes, basil and parsley.

Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well, let sit about 30 minutes before serving to allow the dressing to saturate the bread.

 

Corn Bread Salad

                               

This recipe makes a large bowl full, so I suggest halving the recipe if you plan to use it for a single serving.  I sometimes make this for Christmas dinner or lunch so am sharing the full-size recipe.

3 cups stale cornbread
½ red bell pepper, diced
½ green bell pepper, diced
½ small, red onion, diced
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 chopped scallions
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
5-6 tablespoons of lime juice or juice of 2 fresh limes
hot sauce to taste

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Coarsely crumble corn bread and spread onto a baking sheet, dry bread in the oven for about 1 to 1½ hours, until bread is very crispy and slightly golden, not overly toasted.

In a large salad bowl, mix toasted cornbread, chopped veggies and herbs.

In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, vinegar and lime juice, and dash of hot sauce. Pour dressing over the cornbread mixture, stir well and serve.

(optional – add corn kernels from a left over ear of corn on the cob)