Seeded Twist Garlic Bread with Baconatta Spread

 

 

The recipe can be done with any Italian bread, I chose the Italian Seeded Twist because of it's complex texture when toasted. It is crunchy on the outside with sesame seeds and doughty on the inside perfect for garlic bread. The Baconatta is something I came up, with I took it from caponatta, which is a mixture with capers and eggplant. I substituted the eggplant with Bacon and to add another layer of flavor I used pancetta which is an Italian version of bacon. Cured goodness. The olives are the substitute of the capers.

 

 

 

SEEDED TWIST GARLIC BREAD

INGREDIENTS

1 Loaf Italian Seeded Twist

1 Cup Minced Garlic

1 Cup of Grated Cheese

1 Stick of Butter

1/4 Cup of Olive Oil

Oregano

Black Pepper

One loaf of Italian Seeded Twist sliced to desired thickness

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place on a cooking sheet (R) and butter generously (L)

 

1/2 a teaspoon of garlic (R) spread on slices (L)

Sprinkle grated cheese (L) drizzle olive Oil (R)

Sprinkle black Pepper (L) Oregano (R)
Place in oven for 20 minutes

Take out and set aside let cool

BACONATA!!!!

 

INGREDIENTS

1 Tablespoon of Garlic

1 Teaspoon of Olive Oil

1 lb Bacon

1/4 lb Slice of Pancetta

1 1/2 to 2 Roasted Peppers

1 Can of Fire Roasted Tomatoes

1 Can of Green Olives(2 Teaspoons of Olive Brine)

At medium high heat put Garlic

and Olive Oil

to brown and stir consistently

 

Take bacon and slice thinly into small strips

 

 

Place sliced bacon over garlic

Mix throughout

 

Take pancetta (R) slice into strips (M) and cube small (R)

Drop into the skillet and mix

keep mixing and you will see the bacon and pancetta release a lot of it's oils.
About 7 to 10 minutes
CAREFULLY spoon out into bowl bacon pancetta garlic mix and discard of hot oil

Put skillet back into the fire

and return mixture to cooktop

Let mixture brown and start to crisp up.
About 5 minutes

 

Slice whole pepper (R) into strips (M) and cube small (L)

Drop pepper into mixture

Mix throughout and cook for About 7 minutes until peppers are tender

Add Fire Roasted Tomatoes



Mix and add Olive Brine
and reduce heat to medium for 15 minutes

Keep mixing to make sure the mixture does not stick to pan
The liquid will start to evaporate

Once the mixture is to your desired consistency (I like liquid as it soaks up the garlic bread)
Add the olives let cook for 2-3 minutes and shut off and take off heat
let it rest for 5 minutes then....
 

PLATE AND ENJOY

Serve either individual or as sandwiches

 

Serve as garlic bread (L) or sandwiches (R)

Spread mixture throughtout

Slices sandwiches in half and serve as bite sized finger sandwiches (R)

Serve as a spread to the garlic bread (R)

 

 

Try it and ENJOY IT
 

Thank you for taking your time to read this. If you have any comments please post them. Questions, suggestions, hate mail, fan mail or anything you can write to me CookingMyBrain@hotmail.com.

See you later

Leo

Cold Cut Platter

Make Your Own and SAVE MONEY

Why would you go to a catering place and pay upwards of $80 when you can do it all for under $40 with a couple of tricks and creativity. I know this has nothing to do with cooking but I will teach you how to make things instead of having to buy them all the time. Plus this lets your inner artist also come out.

PLATTER

The vessel where your creation will be has to be take into consideration when prepping your items. You need to make sure your items are enough to cover the whole base. For our preparation today this plate is 16in diameter. In your mind separate the plate into 8 different sections like a pizza. Treating each slice different for each cold cut.

Each section will handle a cold cut.

CHOICE OF INGREDIENTS

Whenever I choose to make a platter I take into consideration of what the people I am making one for like. Not everyone is going to like ham or salami or roast beef so you want to make sure you make it appealing for everyone.
  

CHEESE
Clockwise Yellow American, White American, Meunster, Mozzarella

MEATS
Clockwise Ham, Mortadella, Roast Beef, Genoa Salami

OLIVES/BREAD
Clockwise Black Kalamata, Green Casteveltrano, Baguette 

INGREDIENTS

All these are full slices of each. I ordered 1/2 Lb of each and ate the rest as they never go to waste here.

6 Slices of Roast Beef

10 Slices of Genoa Salami

8 Slices of Ham

10 Slices of Mortadella

8 thicker Slices of Meunster Cheese

8 thicker Slices of Yellow American

8 thicker Slices of White American

10 Oz Mozzarella Cheese Ciliegine(Cherry) Size

10 Oz Green Casteveltrano Olives

7 Oz Kalama Olives

1 Baguette

START TO PLATE

Don't forget the pizza

**NOTE---Keep all the cheese in the refrigerator as it is easier to handle a cold piece of cheese**

Lay your slice of Roast Beef away from you

Fold in half towards you

Roll loosely from left to right

Place 3 rolls on your "slice"

In descending order stack the rest making a pyramid shape












Fold the Genoa Salami in half

Fold it again to form a fan

If you want a fancier look, roll by holding the middle and it forms a flower shape

 Turn your platter 180 degrees and place the Genoa Salami directly across from the other meat

In the picture I started with 4 quarter fold on the outside and "flowered" the rest until I got to the center.

Make sure you keep a space in the middle

Use this to coordinate the colors of your meat Beef and Salami match, Ham and Mortadella match

Place slice of ham towards you

Fold towards you

Roll loosely from left to right

Turn the platter 90 degrees and place Ham in the slice closest to you

Set three rolls on the outside of your "slice"

Place another three on top and to the front of those

End with two more on top and to the front like pictured on right

**Detailed version of the flower fold**

Fold Mortadella in half

Start to roll loosely from right to left using the center as an axis until you get to the other side

This forms the flower

 Turn your platter 180 degrees

Place your flower as shown starting with four and in descending order until you reach the middle

Always keep in mind to leave a set space in the middle

Take the cheese out of the refrigerator

Using only the Yellow and White American cheese

Place a slice of Yellow forming a square in front of you

Take a slice of White and place it on top of the Yellow forming a diamond

Repeat this until you have stacked all the American Cheese

Take attention to detail in making sure they line up perfectly and that you end up with a White slice of cheese on top this will make a difference in a minute

 Using the Yellow cheese as your guide cut from tip to tip

Repeat and cut to have four equal stacks of cheese

Placing your thumb in the tip of the stack(where the center would be in the cheese) gently push back to fan out the cheese.

Alternate colors by fanning with a different cheese color on top

Place fans on vacant spaces

Stack the Meunster cheese and slice like shown

Use the same technique of fanning on the Meunster

Place the Meunster under the American fan

Place the Mozzarella Cheese in space left in the middle of the platter

Using the Green and Black Olives garnish the voids between the meats and cheeses making a pattern if you like.

(Notice the ball of mozzarella at the end of each Black Olive line)

BE CREATIVE!!!

OH WAIT DID HE FORGET THE BREAD!!!!!

 No I did not just take your sharpest knife much better if it is serrated.
Slice in an angle your loaf in 1/4 in thick pieces.

Place them in a decorative pattern

Plate your bread next to your

 CATERED COLD CUT PLATTER

Serve and ENJOY

Thank you for taking your time to read this. If you have any comments please post them. Questions, suggestions, hate mail, fan mail or anything you can write to me CookingMyBrain@hotmail.com.

See you later

Leo