The Ultimate Cookbook on What To Do With Bread
The Ultimate Cookbook on What To Do With Bread
'Bread and How to Eat' It offers fresh takes on familiar recipes as well as some surprising new ones
A new cookbook from Rick Easton of Jersey City, NJ’s Bread and Salt Bakery, and Eater New York editor, Melissa McCart, drops today.
Bread and How to Eat It may look like a baking book, but it very much is not — with only a couple of obligatory baking recipes — and an emphasis on supporting your local bakery.
“Why make your own when you can buy something great from your local bakery, as people have for thousands of years?” says Rick. “Baking bread at home is like riding a bike on bent rims: You can do it, but most of us wouldn’t.”
Read on for a few questions John McDonald asked Rick about his work.
John: How is the life of a baker more unique than a typical chef? Tell me about your daily routine.
Rick: I’m not sure it is. The hours are different: a baker starts their day way earlier. Both jobs require a ton of organization, though you’re focused on different things. I don’t have to concern myself with menus, plating, and guest experience in the same way since I’m always at the oven when customers visit.
John: What was the inspiration to put all of your recipes into a book?
Rick: Melissa McCart, my partner in the book and in life. Also, the recipes in the book are only a fraction of the ones I have.
John: Do you have a favorite item that if you had to just bake one item a day would be it?
Rick: Loaves of bread, served with beans (scroll through to the end for a great beans recipe).
Here are some tips from the book on how to choose a bakery and how to slice and store bread, along with a recipe for beans and greens that’s surprisingly simple to make yet infinitely satisfying to eat.
How to choose a bakery
Can you find good bread at a grocery store? I’d say no, but I’m not going to argue you out of your preferences. Maybe what you can find is fine. If you’re not confident about buying bread, and you’d like to buy better bread, though, I’m here to help you.
When you enter a bakery, look at the bread selection. What is the style? What kinds of breads are displayed? Are they baked on-site? What color are the loaves? You can choose whatever style and color you’d like — but it’s worth paying attention to variety, textures, and flavors to help shape your palate and your preference.
Develop a relationship with your local bakers and ask them questions about how they bake or how they achieve certain characteristics. Shop during both the bakery’s peak and off-peak hours. Go back again and again. Get to know the people who work there. Most places will try to educate employees to answer basic customer questions. If you like bread, a bakery that will help you learn more is a good place to start.
Slicing and storing bread
I’m telling you: Do not buy bread that’s pre-sliced. This dries out the bread. You’re shortening its life cycle.
Whether it’s cheap or expensive, buy a bread knife. Higher-priced knives take longer to go dull, but they will go dull, too. Look for a long blade to cut through larger loaves of bread. When you buy it, pay attention to how the handle feels in your hand. Too flimsy of a blade is dangerous. You want one that’s sharp enough to get through the crust easily without tearing the crumb.
While you can cut a loaf on a variety of surfaces, wood feels more natural to me, but if you use a plastic cutting board, it won’t affect the lifespan of the knife.
Good bread doesn’t go bad. Just store it in a dry place, like on your counter or on a cutting board, cut side down. You’ll be able to slice it for a couple of days; after that, turn leftovers and crumbs into a hearty meal.
Beans and Greens
Serves 2 to 4
I grew up eating greens and beans (or beans and greens depending on proportions and whom you ask). I think of it as a quintessential Pittsburgh food. It has been served in nearly every Italian restaurant in the city for as long as I can remember and I am sure much longer. Everybody has their own take on it: You can use spinach or even kale or a mix of greens instead of escarole, and black-eyed peas or borlotti beans rather than any of the ones I list below. Or serve it with a fried egg or sausage or grated cheese on top.
The combination of greens and beans is a natural one and it can be found in almost all cuisines in the world that involve beans. This version is much closer to the scarola e fagioli of Campania. It is humble, honest, simple food cooked in the home and you are not likely to find it on restaurant menus outside of Pittsburgh or specific types of osterie in Southern Italy. In my view, it is one of the greatest things you could ever eat. For the beans here, I suggest cannellini or controne, or dente di morto if you want to go that extra mile. (You could use Great Northerns in a pinch, but their texture would not be ideal.)
Ingredients
2 or 3 large heads of escarole
Olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 small hot dried red chile pepper, plus seeded/finely chopped chile pepper for serving
Salt
3 cups cooked white beans, with their cooking liquid
Instructions
Escarole is tricky and easily hides gritty dirt or sand in its leaves, so the heads well in a few changes of cold water. Cut just the greenest portion of the escarole leaves to use in this dish. The white and yellow portions brown out when cooking and are incredibly unattractive; eat those parts raw in a salad or on a sandwich.) If your escarole is excessively bitter, blanch it in a large pot with vigorously boiling salted water before proceeding with the recipe. Blanched or not, cut the greens into bite-size pieces.
Use a slotted spoon to transfer about ⅓ of the cooked beans to puree in a food processor or blender, or mash them in a mortar and pestle. Return them to their brethren in the cooking liquid and stir to thicken.
Pour a light film of olive oil into a pot large enough to hold all of the escarole and beans. Add the 2 garlic cloves and the chile pepper, starting the heat on low. The garlic and chile pepper will slowly flavor the oil. Keep stirring and turning the cloves over after the garlic begins to sizzle and turn golden, about 6 minutes.
Add the escarole, salt to taste, and stir, increasing the heat to medium. Saute the greens for about 10 minutes, or until they are wilted and well-flavored with the garlic and chile. Stir in the beans, their now thickened cooking liquid, and a pinch of salt, and bring to a simmer. Cook for at least 15 minutes. If you can do this for longer over lower heat, the dish will be more flavorful. You can do this for up to an hour at a very low temperature, but the escarole will begin to turn brown otherwise. You want to cook it long enough so the flavors are married. Remove the whole chile and the garlic cloves. Check for salt as needed.
Serve the greens and beans in bowls with or on toasted bread with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of chopped chile pepper. I like this thick with the escarole and beans and a shallow pool of broth in the bottom of the bowl. Some people prefer it soupier.
— Recipe from Bread and How to Eat It, from Rick Easton and Melissa McCart, Knopf 2022