The Forgotten Starch

The best thing that has happened to food in the last 20 years is the return of robust, flavorful bread. Serious bakers, dedicated to the old-fashioned methods of bread baking, have spread across the country, which means the true “staff of life” is now available to most of us.

For years we have used spongy, white slices of bread to carry our sandwich fillings, sop up our sauces and make wimpy toast. When the ‘20s brought mass-produced, machine-made bread to the home, it was received with enthusiasm. Touted as being pure and digestible because it was snow-white and light as a feather, it was considered a giant step forward in bread making.

It wasn’t. It was actually the product of impatience. The reason commercially made bread is airy and light is because it is made quickly, using dough conditioners and plenty of yeast. Americans, notoriously impatient, use more yeast in their bread than is used in any other country in the world--it speeds up the rise and hastens the process.

“A technological triumph factory bread may be. Taste it has none. Should it be called bread?” That is writer Elizabeth David on the subject of machine-made bread. When she speaks of baking bread at home, David says, “All that bread needs is time and warmth. But it doesn’t need your time. It can be trusted alone in the house.”

But today you don’t have to bake your own to get great bread. Suddenly, nutritious healthy bread comes in all styles and colors. To capture the qualities of the breads of yesteryear, many bakers make their own yeast, use flour that is stone-ground and allow time for the long, slow rise that develops flavor. Many of them hand-form the loaves, and all of them bake in small batches.

Bread this good deserves to do more than just sit on the table with butter. In many dishes, respectable bread works well as a substitute for potatoes, rice or pasta. I recently had a braised breast of chicken served on a thick slice of farm bread. Surrounded with curly endive and sliced Mission figs, it was exceptionally good: The bread had caught all the flavorful juices from the chicken.

The point of the following dishes is that each relies on good homey bread to bring out the best in the ingredients. The theater steak is ideal for a hurried supper; it is a perfect small meal all in one dish. Be sure to use sturdy bread, as it will have to hold up under the moistness of the steak juices and the mushrooms. Smoked salmon on toast is another great bread-based dish that always seems right for a light supper. Followed by a dessert of fresh figs topped with a little squeeze of orange juice, it makes quite an elegant little meal.

THEATER STEAK

5 tablespoons butter

2 large onions, cut into thin rings

1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced

2 (8-ounce) fillets of beefsteak (about 1 1/4-inch thick), cut in half, lengthwise

Salt, pepper

4 thick slices white bread, preferably homemade

2 bunches watercress, washed, dried, stems removed

Melt butter in large skillet. When hot, add onions and mushrooms and cook about 2 minutes or just until tender, stirring constantly. Remove vegetables to warm plate.

Season each side of steak to taste with salt and pepper. Fry quickly on medium-high heat until desired doneness. Remove steak from skillet and keep warm with vegetables. Quickly put bread into skillet and fry, turning over once, so all pan juices are sopped up.

To assemble, place bread on each plate. Divide and arrange onions and mushrooms on bread. Pile some watercress on top and steak on watercress. Gently press down on steak with spatula so some warm juices drip down. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

SMOKED SALMON

TOAST

4 slices rye toast 3/4 cup soft cream cheese

1 tablespoon lemon juice

8 thin slices smoked salmon

1 teaspoon chopped dill, optional

4 hard-cooked eggs

Salt

Coarse black pepper

Butter rye toast. Spread cream cheese on each slice. Drizzle little less than 1 teaspoon lemon juice over cheese and place enough smoked salmon to cover toast. Sprinkle bit of dill as garnish.

Slice each hard-cooked egg in half, lengthwise, and place on plate. Season to taste with salt and grind some coarse black pepper on top. Makes 4 servings.