Eat Some Wear Some
It is 4:04am, only 56 minutes before my alarm will go off because I am back at my old diggs for the summer baking at Levain out in Wainscott (come visit!). It is a great reminder of just how brutal this biz is on the body and its somewhat souring effect on my usually super chipper attitude.
On a beautiful summer day, especially after work, the last thing anyone wants to do is stand in front of a hot stove or slave over a million ingredients. Luckily the summer’s bountiful produce requires little to no effort to prep and that is pretty much what this panzanella recipe is all about.Â
Corn & Tomato Panzanella
Serves:
4-6 side servings
Ingredients
3-4 cups of bread, cubed
1 cup olive oil
4 tbl unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic
1 bunch fresh thyme (a handful or so)
2 tbl dijon mustard
¼ cup white wine vinegar
6 ears of corn, cut off the cob
2 cups tomatoes (1 pint of cherries or a few larger ones)
4 cups greens (any kind you like really)
salt and pepper (lots of it)
Preparation
Heat olive oil, butter, garlic and thyme in a small sauce pan until the butter is melted and the garlic and thyme start to smell fragrant. Turn off the heat and let steep while you prepare the other ingredients (or longer - if longer than 1 hour put into the fridge). Strain before using.
Heat the oven to 400˚F. If the bread is pretty stale give it a good spritz (or even douse) in water then toss in ⅓ - ½ cup of the infused oil. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and toast for about 20 minutes, or until a deep golden brown. Set aside.
Make dressing: Whisk mustard and vinegar together then slowly whisk in the infused olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Toss corn, tomatoes and greens in dressing (using as little or as much as you would like) then add the toasty croutons. Season generously with salt and pepper.