levain roundup: ideas for that bread!

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hi friends!!!

levain bakery, one of my favorite bakeries (the one that’s famous for their ginormous mounds of gooey chocolate chip cookies) in new york recently sent over a few loaves of their bread for me to devour (thank you aisha!!). to be honest, i wasn’t aware that levain made bread, and was so glad to hear that i have another great boulangerie within arms reach with their new location in williamsburg. they have almost everything under the sun that a bread queen would want: traditional baguettes, ciabattas, whole wheat raisin loaves, country boules, and whole grain loaves.

i’m pretty sure that you’ve all become masters by now at dressing up your quarantine sourdough in different ways - be it for breakfast toast, sandwiches, croutons, or just to simply munch on because you’re snacking out of boredom.

i’ve been trying to limit how much bread i eat in a day, and my solution for that has been to slice a loaf up into thinner slices. as a self professed bread queen, i simply cannot cut bread out of my life.

i wanted to share how i’ve been enjoying these “thinner” slices of bread during this summer of quarantining. the summer where i’ve come to understand how impressive it was for my mom to prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a family a family of six every. single, freaking. day. and the summer where i’ve adapted how i eat by preparing more “practical” breakfasts, lunches, and #snacks, but... keeping things juuust exciting enough to keep the love alive in my kitchen.

hope you enjoy!

xo, christine

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breakfast: lox tartine

ingredients

must haves

sliced whole wheat raisin walnut loaf + a little butter or oil

a slatherable cream: crème fraîche, greek yogurt, farmers cheese, sour cream, or softened cream cheese

lox/smoked salmon

topping ideas (optional - go nuts!)

pickled capers

pickled or thinly sliced onions

sliced avocado

sliced cucumbers

notes

  1. toasting the bread: toast sliced bread using some butter or oil on a skillet (medium-low flame is best) until both sides are golden brown. cool bread down until it’s cool enough to touch with your hands. otherwise, if your toast is still hot, you’ll end up with melted cream in the next step!

  2. assembly: slather on that “slatherable” cream and then top with lox and other topping ideas!

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lunch: fresh herb tuna salad tartine

to nibble: raisin walnut crisps

ingredients

must haves

thinly sliced raisin walnut loaf (approx.. 3/4 cm thick)

olive oil

coarse sugar

notes

prep

preheat your oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit

line a baking sheet with parchment paper

  1. slice loaf to approximately 3/4 inch thick and transfer to your baking sheet.

  2. using a pastry brush, lightly dab oil and sprinkle coarse sugar on top of each piece. flip and repeat for the other side.

  3. bake in the oven for a total of 20-25 minutes (about 10 for each side). enjoy!

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to nibble: ricotta jam toast

ingredients

must haves

sliced ciabatta + a little butter or oil

ricotta cheese

jam of your choice! (i chose black cherry :O)

optional

honey

sea salt or maldon

poppy seeds

notes

  1. toast both sides of your sliced ciabatta on a pan using a little butter or oil over a medium-low flame. cool it down so that it doesn’t melt down your ricotta cheese :O

  2. using the back of a spoon, spread a layer of ricotta cheese and raise the edges of the ricotta a bit taller than the middle section. scoop on a dollop of jam in the middle.

  3. optional: drizzle on a little honey, sprinkle with sea salt/maldon salt and poppy seeds!

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egg yolk jam toast

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poppy fennel seed crackers