Use old bread for panzanella

<p>If you're at all like me, you end up with leftover bread — too dry for toast or sandwiches but nowhere near ready for the compost — and often wait too long to use it. But if you can seize just a few minutes, you can preserve the bread as crumbs or as cubes to be used in bread salads and dressings for poultry.</p><p>One of the easiest ways to do this is simply to make a bread salad — or panzanella, as it is known in Italy — before the bread completely dries out. As long it can still be cut with a sharp knife, you're in business. When a Raymond's Bakery baguette I'd gotten at the new Bodega Bay farmers market was nearing its end, I happened to have a favorite salad — diced avocado, diced tomatoes, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil — in the fridge. All I did was cut the baguette into small cubes, toss it with the salad and let it all rest together for about 30 minutes. Yum! It made a perfect lunch and I'll enjoy it again for dinner, with roasted chicken alongside.</p><p>You needn't have bread that must be rescued to make bread salad. You can buy bread specifically for this purpose, but it is best if it is a day or two old. Bread salad is a perfect way to capture late summer and early fall's harvest, especially all the tomatoes that are begging for immediate attention. Tomatoes that are too soft to be sliced and used in a BLT or a composed salad are perfect in bread salad, as the bread will soak up the delicious juices. </p><p>For more bread salad recipes, visit Eat This Now, Seasonal Panty's companion blog, at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.</p><p>I have begun buying avocados only at farmers markets, from a vendor who attends several local ones. They have been consistently excellent, with good texture and flavor. Always taste your bread salad as you make it and make sure that the ingredients release enough moisture to soften the bread. If they don't, add more olive oil and more lemon juice or vinegar to achieve a pleasing texture and delicious balance of flavors.</p><p>Avocado & Tomato Panzanella, with Five Variations</p><p>Makes 4 to 6 servings</p><p>4 ripe heirloom tomatoes, cored and chopped</p><p>2 small to medium firm ripe avocados, in ½- to ¾-inch cubes</p><p>3 to 4 garlic cloves, crushed and minced</p><p>3 green onions, trimmed and thinly sliced</p><p>— Kosher salt</p><p>— Juice of 1 lemon or 2 tablespoons best-quality wine vinegar, plus more as needed</p><p>½ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more as needed</p><p>3 cups cubed rustic hearth bread, such as a Raymond's Bakery baguette, about 2 days old</p><p>3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro</p><p>1 serrano, minced, optional</p><p>— Black pepper in a mill</p><p>Put the tomatoes, avocado, garlic and green onions into a medium bowl, season with salt and toss gently. Add the lemon juice or vinegar and half the olive oil and toss again. Add the bread, cilantro, serrano, if using, and several turns of black pepper and toss again. </p><p>Cover and let rest about 30 minutes. </p><p>Taste a piece of the bread to see how much liquid it has absorbed. If it seems dry and hard, add the remaining olive oil, toss again and let rest 15 minutes more.</p><p>Taste, correct for salt, pepper and acid balance and serve. </p><p>The salad can be refrigerated, covered, for a day or two but should be removed from the refrigerator 30 minutes before servings.</p><p>Variations</p><p>Omit the avocado, green onion and cilantro. Fry 3 or 4 slices of good bacon (my preference is Black Sheep) until crisp, drain, crumble it and toss it with the bread and tomatoes. Serve the salad on a bed of shredded lettuce of choice and drizzle with squiggles of good mayonnaise. Voila! It's a BLT Bread Salad.</p><p>Omit the avocado and cilantro. Add 1 cup thinly sliced cucumbers, 1 cup very thinly sliced celery stalks and 3 tablespoons minced Italian parsley.</p><p>Omit the avocado and cilantro. Add 1 cup roasted and julienned sweet peppers, 1 minced small red onion, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, 8 ounces mozzarella fresca, torn into small pieces, and 8 to 10 shredded basil leaves.</p><p>Omit the avocado and cilantro. Add ½ cup pitted green olives, cut in half, 2 to 3 small julienned zucchini, 1 tablespoon capers, 2 teaspoons brined green peppercorns and 3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley.</p><p>Add 2 cooked and sliced sausages of choice to any of the variations. </p><p>This dish is inspired, in part, by the extraordinary roasted chicken at Zuni Cafe in San Francisco, one of the restaurant's most popular dishes. It is easy to make at home and when you use the best chicken available — something from a local ranch that has not been frozen — it is absolutely delicious. Made with generic, mass-produced chicken, it will be good but not remarkable. </p><p>Roast Chicken with Warm Harvest Bread Salad</p><p>Makes 4 to 6 servings</p><p>1 whole chicken, preferably local and pastured, such as Freestone Ranch or Victorian Farmstead</p><p>— Kosher salt</p><p>— Black pepper in a mill</p><p>8 fresh thyme sprigs</p><p>4½ cups crisp day-old sourdough hearth bread, without crusts (see Note below)</p><p>2 shallots, minced</p><p>2 teaspoons sugar</p><p>2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar</p><p>4 to 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil</p><p>2 tablespoons butter</p><p>2 ripe white peaches or firm-ripe pears</p><p>¾ cup pitted black olives oil choice, halved</p><p>1 cup cherry tomatoes, such as Sungolds, quartered</p><p>3 tablespoon minced fresh Italian parsley</p><p>Rinse the chicken inside and out under cool running water. Drain on a tea towel, being sure to drain water from the cavity and then wrap in a tea towel for 15 to 20 minutes to remove excess water. Season all over with salt and pepper and tuck 5 thyme sprigs into the cavity.</p><p>Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. </p><p>Set the chicken on a ridged pan (cast iron is ideal), set on the middle rack of the oven and cook for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and cook until the chicken is done, from 20 to 40 minutes, depending on its size. To test, insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh and remove from the oven when the temperature reaches 145 degrees. Cover the with a tent of aluminum foil and let rest 15 minutes, during which time the temperature will increase 5 to 10 degrees.</p><p>While the chicken cooks, prepare the salad. </p><p>Put the bread into a large bowl.</p><p>Put the shallots into a small bowl, season with salt, add the sugar and vinegar and agitate the bowl gently to dissolve the sugar. Remove the leaves from the remaining thyme sprigs and add them to the bowl.</p><p>Melt the butter in a medium saute pan.</p><p>Working quickly, cut the peaches, if using, into thick wedges. If using pears, quickly peel and core them and cut them into ¾-inch dice. Saute the fruit, turning it gently with a metal spatula, until it is lightly browned all over. Remove from the heat and add to the bowl with the bread, along with the olives, cherry tomatoes and parsley. Toss very gently. </p><p>Mound the salad on one side of a large serving platter.</p><p>Using a sharp knife, carve the chicken, removing both breasts first and cutting each into 3 diagonal pieces. Cut off the drumsticks, thighs and wings. Arrange the chicken alongside the bread salad and spoon dressing over both the salad and the chicken.</p><p>Serve immediately. </p><p>Note: To prepare the bread, cut a 1-pound loaf in half crosswise. Preheat a broiler. Stand one piece, cut side down, on a work surface and use a sharp bread knife to remove the crusts. Cut the second piece similarly. Brush the bread all over with just a little olive oil and set under the broiler; turn it several times until all surfaces have been lightly toasted. Cool and tear the bread into 2-inch pieces.</p><p><i>Michele Anna Jordan hosts “Mouthful” each Sunday at 7 p.m. on KRCB 90.9 & 91.1 FM. E-mail Jordan at michele@micheleannajordan. com. You'll find her blog, “Eat This Now,” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/</i></p>