In article >,
Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
>Is the bread supposed to be soggy when the salad is served? Samantha
>Demidavicius made this at the Calgary Cook-In in 2001 and it was
>wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. I'm thinking I'll bring it to a
>meeting on Monday night.
>
>The bread I'm intending to use has a dense crumb.

Hey! My name in lights!

It's supposed to be moistened, not soggy. It does get a bit soggy if it's
held.

With nice juicy summer tomatoes I'd start with only a small bit of the
dressing (quarter to half). Toss after about half an hour and see how
it's doing - add more if you need to. The bread I usually use has a
fairly dense crumb as well.

The leftover dressing is great on other salads (try it on blanched green
beans).

>Panzanella **Bread Salad with Tomatoes, Onions, and Olives
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Recipe By: Charlotte Blackmer, r.f.c. 7-5-1998
>
>2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
>Juice of 1 lemon
>1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
>2 cloves garlic minced or pressed
>2/3 cup olive oil (extra-virgin recommended)
>Salt and freshly ground pepper
>4 cups day-old Italian or country bread in 1" cubes
>2 cups tomatoes (chopped or cherry) (2 to 2 1/2)
>1 small red onion (diced)
>3 Tablespoons Italian parsley (minced)
>1/2 cup kalamata olives pitted and sliced
>Salad greens for serving
>
>(note from CLB: *I tend to use more mustard and more olives because I
>like them a lot - I rarely bother to pit and slice the olives)
>
>Make the dressing by combining the mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, and
>garlic in a bowl. *Whisk the olive oil in. *Add salt and pepper; *add
>a little more mustard or vinegar if you want it a little sharper.
>Put the bread cubes in a large mixing bowl and pour the dressing over
>them. *Toss to coat evenly. *Let sit for 30 minutes or so.
>
>(Note from CLB: if you are using diced tomatoes, you might want to
>keep back a couple of tablespoons of the dressing and add the tomatoes
>shortly after you add the salad dressing to the bread bits. *They exude
>delicious juice and moisten the bread.)
>
>To serve, add the tomatoes, onions, olives, and parsley to the bread
>cubes. Serves 4 (doubles and triples nicely) and toss. *Serve on salad
>greens.
>Variation: *Roasted red bell peppers, diced.
>Variation: *Fry four slices of bacon. *Use 2 Tablespoons bacon fat and
>enough olive oil to make 2/3 cup. *Crumble the bacon in the salad.
>
>Source: Charlotte Blackmer, r.f.c. post 7-5-1998 who got it from
>Michele Anna Jordan, Kitchen Garden magazine

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