Well, mama says the loaves in this town are pretty funny looking.
Haha, those are ROCKS, duh. But mama passed them on the street the other day and at a distance they looked good enough to be buttered or toasted.
Mama is on a quest for great bread, of which there are many, many kinds in this part of France. The best is from an open market where two ladies are the bakers, but there’s a close second down the street a bit where they make very thin baguettes with figs or olives in the dough. And yet another where grissini are the specialty.
Here are some nice bread pics and we’ll let you know when the best is found.
See the nice crust and lovely holes in the crumb? The crumb is also shiny, a sign of good bread.
An olive baguette, also good in panzanella (see below).
When you do find a bread you like, this is what you can do with it, especially if it’s getting a bit long in the tooth:
Cut the bread into small cubes, about 3/4-inch square, or simply tear into small pieces.
In a large bowl, mix the cubes with a fresh mozzarella, if you can find one, or any relatively firm cheese you like, cut into small pieces.
Add chopped sweet onion, if you like onion, chopped fresh basil and salt and pepper. Toss with lots of olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon or a scant splash of wine vinegar and serve. This is called a panzanella and it’s one of mama’s favorite bread recipes. You can add canned tuna to make the panzanella heartier, but if you wish to just give the tuna to your kitty, that’s okay, too, haha.
My eyes sort of came out this way while I was laughing…
The mom loves bread and she wishes she was in France to get some of the wonderful breads available to you there. That recipe sounds amazing!
Tell mom that in mama’s book No Need to Knead, you mama can have the most incredible focaccia in less than 1.5 hours and most of that time is just waiting for the rise. Mama guarantees success. Read the reviews from people who have made her breads. Even a child of 5 can make the focaccia. Our grandkids do it for the family all the time. And your mama can email my mama anytime she needs help. All she needs is flour, water, yeast and salt and a spoon. Stir ingredients for 1 minute and wait. Then “pour” the dough onto an olive-oiled baking sheet, non stick preferably, and wait again while the oven heats. When the oven is the hottest it can be, bake the focaccia for 10 minutes. That’s it. The recipe is in my blogs (see Bread Winner) and if you need help, as I said, mama is here for you.
OMC Well LouLou, furst oof all you look adowable. you really do look like your laffin’. MOL Second, OMC lookit all dat bread!!!! We luv bread, and so duz mommy. And hey, we thought da rocks was bread too, so don’t be hard on your mommy. Weez never seen dat much furesh bread any where afur. MeOW yous mommy must be in heaven. And we wuld guess you all wuld laff big time ifin you saw our idea of a good furench bread. After all, it comes in a plastic wrapper labeled Pepperidge farms. MOL It’s purrobly made in sum big factory by machines. Dusn’t hold a candle to what y’all have. Enjoy and have a bite fur us. 🙂
Luv ya’
Dezi and Lexi
Mama’s mama grew up in Ponca City, Oklahoma, so she had even worse bread than Pepperidge Farm, which can be very good if heated. Mama is a professional baker and so she just makes our at home. But those rocks were pretty weird! I’m glad she didn’t BITE one.
OMC Ponca City? Really? Dat’s so amazin’. What a small world it really is. And yes, we are very glad yous mommy didn’t bite one of those rocks. Ouch on da teeth. MOL
Luv ya’
Dezi and Lexi
Watch the mails, Dezi and Lexi…sometimes the stagecoaches are late.
Mmmmm, sounds yummy! You just made Jan hungry again – at bedtime, no less. 🙂
Ah, yes, the midnight snack….mama left some chicken bones out. Maybe she’ll forget.
You fooled me- I thought it was bread and it looked good.
Probably could make bread that looks like rocks. Hmmmm…have to pass that on to the baker around here.
Yummy ! We first thought that the stones were real breads ! Purrs
So did mama until she bit one. Haha