levain roundup: ideas for that bread!
hi friends!!!
levain bakery, one of my favorite bakeries (the one that’s famous for their ginormous mounds of gooey chocolate chip cookies) in new york recently sent over a few loaves of their bread for me to devour (thank you aisha!!). to be honest, i wasn’t aware that levain made bread, and was so glad to hear that i have another great boulangerie within arms reach with their new location in williamsburg. they have almost everything under the sun that a bread queen would want: traditional baguettes, ciabattas, whole wheat raisin loaves, country boules, and whole grain loaves.
i’m pretty sure that you’ve all become masters by now at dressing up your quarantine sourdough in different ways - be it for breakfast toast, sandwiches, croutons, or just to simply munch on because you’re snacking out of boredom.
i’ve been trying to limit how much bread i eat in a day, and my solution for that has been to slice a loaf up into thinner slices. as a self professed bread queen, i simply cannot cut bread out of my life.
i wanted to share how i’ve been enjoying these “thinner” slices of bread during this summer of quarantining. the summer where i’ve come to understand how impressive it was for my mom to prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a family a family of six every. single, freaking. day. and the summer where i’ve adapted how i eat by preparing more “practical” breakfasts, lunches, and #snacks, but... keeping things juuust exciting enough to keep the love alive in my kitchen.
hope you enjoy!
xo, christine
breakfast: lox tartine
ingredients
must haves
sliced whole wheat raisin walnut loaf + a little butter or oil
a slatherable cream: crème fraîche, greek yogurt, farmers cheese, sour cream, or softened cream cheese
lox/smoked salmon
topping ideas (optional - go nuts!)
pickled capers
pickled or thinly sliced onions
sliced avocado
sliced cucumbers
notes
toasting the bread: toast sliced bread using some butter or oil on a skillet (medium-low flame is best) until both sides are golden brown. cool bread down until it’s cool enough to touch with your hands. otherwise, if your toast is still hot, you’ll end up with melted cream in the next step!
assembly: slather on that “slatherable” cream and then top with lox and other topping ideas!
lunch: fresh herb tuna salad tartine
to nibble: raisin walnut crisps
ingredients
must haves
thinly sliced raisin walnut loaf (approx.. 3/4 cm thick)
olive oil
coarse sugar
notes
prep
preheat your oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit
line a baking sheet with parchment paper
slice loaf to approximately 3/4 inch thick and transfer to your baking sheet.
using a pastry brush, lightly dab oil and sprinkle coarse sugar on top of each piece. flip and repeat for the other side.
bake in the oven for a total of 20-25 minutes (about 10 for each side). enjoy!
to nibble: ricotta jam toast
ingredients
must haves
sliced ciabatta + a little butter or oil
ricotta cheese
jam of your choice! (i chose black cherry :O)
optional
honey
sea salt or maldon
poppy seeds
notes
toast both sides of your sliced ciabatta on a pan using a little butter or oil over a medium-low flame. cool it down so that it doesn’t melt down your ricotta cheese :O
using the back of a spoon, spread a layer of ricotta cheese and raise the edges of the ricotta a bit taller than the middle section. scoop on a dollop of jam in the middle.
optional: drizzle on a little honey, sprinkle with sea salt/maldon salt and poppy seeds!