Cornbread Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

I made cornbread the other night. Fresh cornbread, right out of the oven with the butter still slightly bubbly and drizzled with honey is simply a transcendent experience for the taste buds. However, once cornbread is 3 days old, it looses it's excitement. So, the other night I went looking around for what to do with leftover cornbread that wasn't a dessert. I found my answer at smittenkitchen.com (my favorite foodblog that I'm a little scared to share, since it is so incredible and well done). She made croutons out of cornbread and paired it with a buttermilk-lime dressing over a salad. I did my own salad base, but followed her notes on how to crisp the cornbread and dressing. And it turned out as one of the best salads I've ever had.

Ingredients
(for 2)

For the salad:
2 large slices of cornbread, cut into 1 inch cubes.
1 small head green leaf lettuce, washed and ripped into bite size pieces
1 handful dandelion greens, thinly sliced
1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
2 small zucchini or summer squash
1 roasted red bell pepper, thinly sliced

For the dressing:
1/2 cup buttermilk
Juice of two limes
1 tablespoon honey
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tbsp finely minced fresh basil
2 tbsp finely minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tbsp cup finely minced green onions
1/2 teaspoon salt


Directions

Make the croutons:

Preheat the oven to 450F. Spread out the cut pieces of cornbread on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

Make the dressing:
Mix together all of these ingredients. Shake well. Refrigerate until use.

Make the salad:

Over medium high heat, saute the yellow squash, stirring frequently, until the sides are golden, about 10 minutes. While sauteing, assemble the rest of the salad. Add squash on top of the other vegetables. Add croutons. Dress as you like. I used a lot more dressing than normal here. But at the same time, I was so flavor satisfied at the end, that I didn't need to each anything more.

Pain de Campagne

This recipe is very slightly modified from The Bread Baker's Apprentice (the best bread book every if you are learning yeast breads, like I still am). It provides a richer flavor the longer you give the yeast to activate and gas. Because of the whole wheat flour, it doesn't rise and create bubbles the way a traditional country bread would, rather it has a more spongy texture (though I've occasionally gotten it just right to get large holes in the final bread)

Ingredients:

Pate Fermentee
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup whole wheat white flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp yeast (from a package of dry active)
1 cup water, room temperature

Bread
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup whole wheat white flour
3/4 tsp salt
remaining package yeast
1 cup (plus some if needed) warm water (as hot as your sink will make it without steaming).
extra flour for dusting.

Spray bottle of water

Directions:

In a medium bowl, to make the pate fermentee, stir together the flour, salt, and yeast. Add 3/4 cup water and stir until it comes together to make a ball. Add more water by the spoonful if needed. Turn onto a lightly floured counter and knead for 6 minutes. Make sure it is lightly tacky and pliable, but not sticky; your hands should remain clean.

Place in a lightly oiled bowl. turn to coat the ball with oil. Cover with plastic (or a damp towel) and let ferment at room temperature (about 70F) until 1 1/2 the starting size, about one hour. Punch down gently, cover again, let rise a second time, about one hour.

For the bread, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and yeast. Cut the pate fermentee into small peices and add. Add water and stir until everything comes together into a ball. The dough should be soft and pliable, but not sticky. Add more water if needed.

Turn onto a lightly floured counter. Knead for 10 minutes, adding flour as needed to keep it tacky but not sticky. After 10 minutes of kneading, you should be able to stretch the dough so thin that you can see light through it before it breaks.

Oil a large bowl, place dough ball into bowl, turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic or damp towel. Let rise 2 hours until it is double in size.

Gently remove dough and place on a lightly floured counter. Using a pastry scraper or a sharp knife (so as not to degas the dough) cut into 6 pieces. Shape dough delicately into loaves by stretching the tops towards the bottom. Spray with oil. Coat with flour. Cover and let rise for 1 hour until at least 1 1/2 original size.

Place a heavy metal pan on the bottom of your oven (or the lowest possible rack). Preheat oven to 500F. Have 1 cup boiling water at hand and ready to pour.

Transfer dough to generously dusted baking sheet or bread stone (the stone would be in the oven already, the baking sheet won't be). Immediately pour the boiling water into pan at bottom of oven. Close oven. 30 seconds later open up of the oven and spray the loaves with water. Close oven. Repeat spraying 3 more times. Lower oven temperature to 450F. Bake for about 15 minutes (turning half way if needed for even baking). The loaves will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom when done.

Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool for 30 minutes before slicing.

Blue Corn Bread

Can't beat the combination of cornbread and black beans. well, you can if you throw in sweet potatoes and mangos. but still. it's always a safe and yummy and hearty way to go. and I don't know why, but I love blue cornbread. not sure if it really tastes different or if it's just that I like the color. This recipe is my modification from the Joy of Cooking.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup blue corn meal
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk (or 1 cup milk, 1 cup plain yogurt, 2 tablespoons cider vinegar)
1/2 cup sugar or honey
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450F.
In large bowl mix together the dry ingredients. Break eggs separate bowl and whisk until frothy. Mix remaining wet ingredients in with eggs (except the oil). Add wet to dry and stir until everything is just moist.
In an iron skillet over medium high, heat the oil until it begins to smoke.
Add the batter all at once.
Place skillet in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Best if served warm.

Challah

This is the first yeast bread I ever successfully made. Not sure why it worked and not others, but I find it to be a very flexible bread; maybe it is the large amount of eggs. It can be made of all whole wheat, but then the amount of yeast needs to almost be doubled, and it then is often a bit dry. I find it works best if half white/white whole wheat and half whole wheat. Stone ground whole wheat is too heavy. I don't believe in slicing this bread - it's designed for ripping off pieces to eat. It's one of my favorites to serve with soup. This is my modified recipe from Joy Of Cooking.

Ingredients:
1 package dry active yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 large egg yokes, lightly beaten
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour (1 cup white/white whole wheat, 1 1/2 cup whole wheat)

(optional)
2 large egg whites
course sea salt, sesame seeds, poppy seeds for garnish


Directions:
Combine yeast and water in bowl. Let sit until yeast dissolves and starts to bubble - about 5 minutes.

Add 1/2 cup flour, eggs, egg yokes, honey, and salt and mix until well blended.

Gradually stir in remaining flour until a dough forms. It should clear the sides of the bowl, but still slightly sticky to the touch (but should not stick to your hands).

Turn dough on to a lightly floured surface and kneed for 8-10 minutes, until it is soft and subtle. Form into ball. Place in lightly oiled bowl. Turn to coat. Cover with plastic or slightly damp kitchen towel. Let rise in warm place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until doubled in size.

Once this rise is complete, you can punch it down, knead slightly and refrigerate overnight. the following day, take it out and let sit in warm place for an hour before working it. I find that this bread doesn't work as well if refrigerated, but when it does work it has a much richer flavor.

If not refrigerated, punch down and kneed for one minute. Oil, cover, and let rise again for 2-4 hours, until doubled in size.

Divide the dough into 3-4 balls (depending on what type of braid you will make), coat lightly with oil, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes.

Take each ball and roll them into long ropes about 1 inch in diameter (think play-do!). they should be 12-16 inches long. Lightly coat each rope with flour. Pinch ends together (I often moisten the ends with a little water to help them stick). Braid. Pinch together and fold tails under. Coat lightly with oil and then dust with flour. If you will use a baking stone, make sure the bread is rising on a well floured surface. If you will bake on a baking sheet, place it on a bed of cornmeal on the baking sheet.

Cover and let rise until not quite doubled, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Once risen you can brush the loaf with egg whites and sprinkle with salt, sesame seeds, or poppy seeds. Bake until golden brown, 30-35 minutes. when done it will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Let cool on rack.