Today’s post is one hundred
percent inspired by my favorite local bakery.
If you live in the Kansas City Metropolitan area and you have never been
to Ibis, you need to make a point to visit soon. Their breads are some of the best I have ever
had…if not the best. Likewise, their pastries, sweets and
laminated doughs are fantastic. I don’t
know why I was so surprised that the items on their limited little breakfast
and lunch menus would be so delicious too…but they are.
I mentioned the avocado toast
that my friends ordered at my first outing to the new Ibis location in my grain bowl post. What I didn’t say in that
post was how perfect the toast itself was…which may seem like a strange thing
to make note of. “Toast”—meaning a knife
and fork little plate with a slice of toast topped with something (hopefully)
delicious—has become a thing. You can
get them everywhere…and they are easy to make yourself since basically decent
artisanal-style bread is widely available.
The thing is, delicious as these “toasts” can be, often eating them is a
bit of a wrestling match. The toasting
process hardens the crust (which usually has the “chew” desirable in
artisanal-style breads) into something that is quite difficult to cut through
and eat with any semblance of the grace appropriate for polite dining. We put up with this, I suppose, because the
toppings are delicious…and the bread is delicious…but it is at the very least
an inconvenience. I’ll be honest…I really
don’t like to fight with my food. And I
don’t like to worry that it might fly off the plate during the battle.
Anyway, the toast portion of that avocado toast was, as I said, perfect: It had substance…but was easy to cut. You may recall from my earlier post that I didn’t order the avocado toast, but one of my friends who did drew my attention to the perfection of the toast (that is, the bread portion). So, the next time I ate there, I ordered a “toast” (with house made pastrami…which was truly excellent as well). And the toasted bread was, as my friend had pointed out, extraordinary: flavorful, with a beautiful golden browned and crisped surface (it’s toast, after all)—and substantial enough to absorb the flavors of the toppings without disintegrating. The whole thing did require the use of a knife and fork…but it was yielding enough that it wasn’t a fight. Perfect.
I began to wonder how they
achieved this balance. Did they have a
better toaster than I did? Had they aged
the bread a bit…then soaked it in something?
I really don’t know. What was
obvious to me though, was that in the process of toasting the bread, they still
managed to conserve the moisture of the bread.
So, I set about figuring out how I could do the same thing in my own kitchen.
The first thing I did was ditch
the toaster. It occurred to me that well
buttered bread, fried in a skillet, was more likely to be uniformly crisped and
golden while still maintaining a bit of interior softness than bread that was
subjected to the dry heat of the toaster. (If you have ever made croutons by sautéing
them in a skillet as opposed to tossing them in oil and toasting them in an
oven, you know exactly what I mean.) But
even this isn’t enough to keep those wonderful artisanal crusts from becoming
unmanageably hard. I decided that a
little bit of steam might do the trick…so I tried covering the skillet while I
toasted the bread, thinking the moisture still inherent in the bread would be captured by a lid. I’m happy
to report that this did the trick.
As I said…I have no idea how they
are doing it at Ibis, but thanks to the inspiration of their perfect toasts, I
am now much happier with the toasts that come out of my kitchen and appear on
my table. And I have been putting my new
found skill to work…
in an avocado toast (of course)…
and recently for a toast smeared
with labneh, topped with a sautéed mushrooms and squash, finished with fontina
and then run under the broiler…
Obviously the possibilities are
without limit.
I don’t know if it was the fact
that I associate toast with Ibis. Or the
fact that I brought home a loaf of their wonderful bread on the same day I
sampled a Moroccan carrot salad in their café that I just had to recreate at
home (it was that good). But ultimately
I ended up turning my take on their Moroccan salad into a “toast”.
The original Moroccan carrot
salad at Ibis was a delicious green salad with little baby carrots scattered
throughout (which surprised me…when I think of Moroccan carrot salads, I think
of a salad of mostly carrots). The
greens were a mix of finely cut arugula, claytonia and baby red veined
sorrel. I didn’t have the sorrel in my
pantry, but I did have the arugula and—surprisingly—the claytonia. I had purchased some at the farmers’ market
and had been wondering how I was going to use it. This…along with the fact that I had also
picked up some sweet little baby carrots at the market…played into my
desire to recreate Ibis’s wonderful salad.
In addition to the fine little
greens and baby carrots, their salad included golden raisins and candied
sunflower seeds. Everything was tossed
in a lemony, harissa-spiced vinaigrette.
The whole effect was vibrant and delicious.
I recreated the salad for dinner
with my arugula and claytonia and baby carrots.
I have been in the habit of keeping harissa on hand, so I dressed the
cooked baby carrots with some of that (if you have never dressed cooked carrots
with nothing but a little olive oil and harissa, you should definitely give it
a try…it makes a wonderful little side dish…served hot or cold). Instead of golden raisins and sunflower
seeds, I added strips of Medjool dates and toasted pistachios. I tossed the whole thing with a simple sherry
vinaigrette. And since I wanted to make
my salad slightly more substantial, I added some blobs of labneh and served it
with a slice of Ibis bread. It was
fantastic.
The very next day, I turned it
into a “toast” for lunch. Instead of
dolloping the labneh all over the salad and serving it with bread, I made toast
(using my covered skillet method) and smeared it with a generous quantity of
labneh and piled the salad on top. I no
longer had any baby carrots, but plain old, full-grown carrots, peeled, cut
into fat quills and roasted (using my favorite method) were a perfect stand
in…and also something I always have on hand.
And this is a good thing, because I will be making this particular “toast”
again and again.
Moroccan Carrot Salad Toast
The Carrots:
Trim and peel the carrots. Cut the carrots on a diagonal about 1/3-inch
thick. Cut the slices in two or three
pieces length-wise. Your carrots pieces
should look about like a piece of penne pasta.
Toss the carrots with olive oil to coat and season with salt and pepper. Place the carrots in a baking dish that is just large enough to hold them in a snug single layer. Add a splash of water (just enough to barely film the bottom of the pan). Cover the pan tightly with foil and place in a 375° to 400° oven. After 20 minutes, uncover the pan and give the carrots a stir. Return the pan (uncovered) to the oven and continue to cook until the carrots are tender to the tip of a knife—10 to 20 minutes more. Add a bit of harissa and toss to coat.
Serve hot or room temperature. You can add as much or as little harissa as you like. For me, a heaped tablespoon per pound (pre-trim weight) of carrots is about right. A pound of carrots will make enough carrots for 4 or 5 servings of Moroccan Carrot Salad Toast.
Toss the carrots with olive oil to coat and season with salt and pepper. Place the carrots in a baking dish that is just large enough to hold them in a snug single layer. Add a splash of water (just enough to barely film the bottom of the pan). Cover the pan tightly with foil and place in a 375° to 400° oven. After 20 minutes, uncover the pan and give the carrots a stir. Return the pan (uncovered) to the oven and continue to cook until the carrots are tender to the tip of a knife—10 to 20 minutes more. Add a bit of harissa and toss to coat.
Serve hot or room temperature. You can add as much or as little harissa as you like. For me, a heaped tablespoon per pound (pre-trim weight) of carrots is about right. A pound of carrots will make enough carrots for 4 or 5 servings of Moroccan Carrot Salad Toast.
The Toast:
For each toast, you’ll need a
thick (about 3/4-inch) slice of a hearty artisanal-style bread. Something wide is best. If your loaf is narrow, maybe cut a slice on
a diagonal. Put a cast iron pan over a
moderately high heat. Spread both sides
of the bread generously with soft butter.
Place the bread in the skillet. You should hear a quiet sizzle. Cover the pan with a lid. (The lid for my cast iron skillet does not fit tightly, so you may find that you may need to put a tight fitting lid on so that it is slightly ajar. Or perhaps not. It’s hard to say. If you find your bread is too soft when covered tightly—leave the lid ajar…if it is too crunchy when the lid is ajar—cover it tightly. You should make it work for you.) After about a minute, check the bread—if it looks dry, add a bit of butter to the pan…if it’s cooking too quickly (burning in spots) lower the heat. Adjust the position of the bread if you pan/burner has hot/cold spots. After about 2 minutes, the bread should be golden and crisp. Flip it over and cook it the same way (covered) on the second side.
Place the bread in the skillet. You should hear a quiet sizzle. Cover the pan with a lid. (The lid for my cast iron skillet does not fit tightly, so you may find that you may need to put a tight fitting lid on so that it is slightly ajar. Or perhaps not. It’s hard to say. If you find your bread is too soft when covered tightly—leave the lid ajar…if it is too crunchy when the lid is ajar—cover it tightly. You should make it work for you.) After about a minute, check the bread—if it looks dry, add a bit of butter to the pan…if it’s cooking too quickly (burning in spots) lower the heat. Adjust the position of the bread if you pan/burner has hot/cold spots. After about 2 minutes, the bread should be golden and crisp. Flip it over and cook it the same way (covered) on the second side.
Labneh:
Labneh is yogurt cheese. You can purchase it…or make your own. I like to make my own with homemade whole milk yogurt (you can make it with purchased yogurt too). Whisk 3/4 t. kosher salt into a quart of
yogurt. Line a strainer suspended over a
bowl with some cheesecloth. Scrape the
yogurt into the cheesecloth and let drain (in the refrigerator). The longer it drains, the thicker it will
be. I usually let it drain for 48 hours
(and since I don’t want my strainer out of commission for that long, I gather
the ends of the cheesecloth together and tie them in a knot and then slide a
wooden spoon through the loop and suspend the bundle over a bowl and let it
drain that way.) But labneh comes in all
kinds of textures. It can be fairly soft
(the texture of Greek yogurt)…or very thick (the texture of firm fresh goat
cheese). The longer it drains, the
thicker it will be. If you only let it
drain for 6 hours or so, it will be soft.
Sometimes, I will make just a small “quick” amount (not even bothering
to salt it and letting it drain for only an hour or two) if I want something soft and tangy to dollop on a grain salad.
For the toasts, I like the really thick stuff (48 hours)…and I have been
in the habit of keeping a jar of it in my fridge. It will keep for about a month. You can also use the whey that drains off…for
baking, cooking, etc. A quick internet search will yield a multitude
of uses. A quart of yogurt will make
about a cup and a half of thick labneh.
The Vinaigrette:
Place 2 T. finely diced shallots
in a small bowl and cover with 2 T. Sherry vinegar. Add a good pinch of salt
and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes (or longer) so the shallots can soften. Add 6 T. olive oil in a thin stream while
whisking constantly. Taste and correct
the seasoning with salt & pepper.
Add more vinegar or olive oil to balance. The dressing should be tangy.
The Salad (one serving):
1 slice of skillet fried bread
3 to 4 T. (or more, to taste)
thick labneh
1 handful fine baby lettuces
(arugula and claytonia, arugula alone, baby lettuces, etc—whatever you can find
that is flavorful and perky), washed and spun dry
1 serving harissa-spiced carrots
(see above)
2 large Medjool dates, halved,
pitted and each half cut into four lengthwise strips
2 T. lightly toasted pistachios,
coarsely chopped
A spoonful or two of sherry
vinaigrette
Salt & pepper
While the toast cooks, place the
greens in a bowl with the carrots, dates, and pistachios.
Smear a generous quantity of
labneh on the toast and place on a plate.
Season the salad with salt and pepper and drizzle sparingly with the vinaigrette. Toss carefully and gently to coat the greens. Add more vinaigrette if the salad seems dry…but don’t add too much, the small tender greens can become soggy very quickly.
Mound the salad on top of the
toast, allowing some of the cheese covered toast to show and allowing the salad
to spill over onto the plate. Drizzle
everything with more vinaigrette and serve with a knife and fork.
Serves 1
 |
| The salad is great with a quesadilla too! |
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