BBA SOS: Ciabatta

The next step in the effort to move past the C's in The Bread Baker's Apprentice is the noble ciabatta bread. I adore ciabatta bread, and I'd attempted to make it last summer with Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Bread Bible as my guide. The indicator of great ciabatta is in the great big holes and fabulous texture of the bread. To this end, the dough for ciabatta is very wet and sticky. Last summer I managed a couple of holes, and this past time I managed a couple of holes, but overall the ciabatta still didn't make it close to the ethereal, splintery on the outside, chewy on the inside goodness that I wanted.

On a somewhat related sidenote, my brother was in town for a conference this past week and weekend. On Thursday night we went to Citronelle and tucked into the seven course tasting menu with wine flights. Somehow, in the midst of all of this food and wine (or perhaps because of the wine) I managed to taste the bread, ciabatta, on my plate. It was so insanely good, it may actually have been my favorite part of the meal. Or at least the part that blew my mind the most. The next night, we had people over for cocktails before dinner and I put out the ciabatta with some olive oil. Hank mentioned that he was impressed with the ciabatta. I replied that I wanted to make bread like they serve at Citronelle, and then and there, I had my bubble burst. Apparently that will never happen in a home kitchen . . but a Singelton can dream, right?

Of course, the bread stales pretty quickly, so I made some panzanella with the remaining ciabatta. Panzanella is traditionally made with Tuscan salt-free bread, but I think that ciabatta works just as well. My family loves panzanella, and they eat it all summer long. The recipe that I know comes from Claudia Roden's The Food of Italy: Region by Region. Of course, this book is in Texas, packed up while my parents finish building their house, so I had to think hard to remember the recipe.

Panzanella
loosely adapted from Claudia Roden's The Food of Italy: Region by Region

• 3/4 pound day-old crusty peasant-style bread (such as ciabatta) cut into 1-inch cubes (about 6 cups)
• 2 or 3 large tomatoes (about 1 pound), trimmed and cut in a large dice
  
• 3/4 cup thinly sliced and quartered unwaxed cucumber
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
  
• 1 clove of garlic, finely minced
  
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (or red wine if you prefer)
  
• 10 fresh basil leaves, shredded
• salt and pepper to taste
  

Soak the bread until it’s moist – but not squishy, then crumble it into the bowl – together with the garlic, tomatoes, cucumber, and celery. (If you're squeamish about soaking the bread, I will often just sprinkle the bread with water until it's achieved about the right texture. Many recipes skip this step, but I think that it's a very traditional step in making panzanella.) Add the basil, vinegar, and oil, and mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper.