Sunday, August 23, 2009

What's for Dinner



I am a contributor on another blog,
What's for Dinner, where members post
recipes and photos, and there are always
lots of good things to eat! It was conceived
by my friend Emily (a fantastic writer) who also
authors Tofu Hunter -- a review of vegetarian/vegan
restaurants or veg. options at restaurants in the
Seattle area. Please do stop by!

This is What Was For Dinner last night:

Pan-bagnat, a sandwich whose origins lie in Nice
(that would be Nice, France). It's basically a deli-type
sandwich, drizzled in vinaigrette, then wrapped tightly
and weighted-down for several hours so all the nice
flavors can infuse. One of the things I especially
like about this is that you use no butter or mayonnaise,
so while the cholesterol hit is reduced, there is no
loss in flavor. (And I can feel less guilty eating salame
and cheese!)

I started with a loaf of ciabatta, sliced it horizontally,
then brushed it with a homemade vinaigrette.
R. was visiting, and he's the Wizard of Sauces and
the Whisk King, so he went to work on the vinaigrette.
I honestly can't say what he does differently from me,
but his vinaigrette is To Die For. (And I don't make
a half-bad vinaigrette!)

After the drizzle, I layered-on lettuce leaves,
provolone, Calabrese salame, sliced tomatoes
and chopped green olives. I topped it with the
other half of the ciabatta, drizzled some more,
wrapped the thing in plastic, then put it in a dish
and weighted it down with four large cans of tomatoes
placed inside another dish.

One thing about weighting the Pan-bagnat down
is that it's easier to eat than your usual overstuffed
deli sandwich -- the fillings don't slip and slide
out of the bread quite so much. And the vinaigrette
gives everything a nice little kick.



I also par-boiled for five minutes some filet green
beans, blanched them in ice water to stop the cooking,
then tossed them with some diced red onion and more
of R.'s vinaigrette. They went into the refrigerator
for more chilling.



And then there was watermelon with lime slices.
If you haven't tried watermelon this way, it's time
you did.



This was a perfect late-August dinner, not too heavy.
(Although we could've eaten more Pan-bagnat than
we did. Not that we needed them, I'm just saying.)

Dee-vine!

10 comments:

  1. Hi T.- The Pan-bagnat looks dee-lish and kinda reminds me of Mufalettas. Your blog is fabulous and your dinner photo is so inviting. Thanks for visiting my blog and adding me as a friend.

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  2. Marguerite -- your blog is great -- my husband pointed me to it. Thanks for stopping by! (And yes, the pan-bagnat is a lot like a Mufaletta.)

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  3. I wish I had read this a little earlier, because I just ate watermelon, and there is a lime in the house.

    Can you describe what is the special thing about lime and watermelon?

    Love, c.

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  4. The watermelon and lime combination sounds delectable; will try that in Summer. Now I'm going to check out that vinaigrette. I've never heard of a Pan-bagnat! Thanks, T.

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  5. Oops, couldn't get in to 'What's For Dinner'.

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  6. Oh, that does sound wonderful. Does the bread not get soggy, though?

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  7. Foxessa, that's a difficult one. I tried when I wrote this, and I asked my son-the-foodie, and we're both stumped. But I'd say that it adds a depth of flavor, another level of taste. (I'm not usually at a loss for words to describe a food, but this one defies description!)

    Sandra -- No, the bread doesn't get soggy. It's important to use a crusty artisan bread, though, and don't go too heavy on the vinaigrette.

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  8. I'm going to give it a try tonight, after dinner. It should go well with carne adovada. Yes, the heat wave's broken!

    Love, C.

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  9. It all looks wonderful, although I don't eat meat, so I'd leave off the salami. I will definitely get some watermelon (I've got 3 limes in the fridge just waiting for a companion).

    Kat

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  10. Beautiful dinner, thanks for posting and thanks for the kind words. It was so nice to hear you ladies laughing last night!

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