Olive & Thyme Baguettes / Rossini Overture

 Everyone has their culinary white whale. Until last fall, mine was bread. After an attempt at making rosemary rolls several years ago yielded what can best described as herbed hockey pucks, I'd avoided bread making at all costs. Being at the mercy of yeast - those tiny, fickle living organisms with minds of their own - made the bread making process seem far too unpredictable for my liking.

{Olive & thyme baguette with prosciutto, heirloom tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella}

{Baguettes fresh out of the oven}

Although we received a bread machine as a wedding gift five years ago, it sat around collecting dust for four of them. Last summer, I finally got around to using it. A few satisfactory, machine-assisted loaves later, I'd gained the confidence to try my hand at making bread on my own.

Over the weekend, we had my family over for sandwiches made with freshly baked kalamata olive & thyme baguettes (recipe here). The loaves were loaded with flavor, with a perfectly golden crust.

Because this recipe yields two large baguettes, I chose to fill one with grilled eggplant, roasted red peppers, herbed goat cheese, and basil, and the other with prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella, heirloom tomato, basil, and olive oil/balsamic vinegar.

{even my vegephobe brother proclaimed that "eggplant is good." Success!}

Musical pairing: Rossini's Overture to "La Gazza Ladra." It captures the gleeful victory I felt upon tasting these robust, perfect, hearty loaves. Plus, it's Italian - and boasts that special sprezzatura to which all musicians/chefs/artists aspire; that "easy facility in accomplishing difficult actions which hides the conscious effort that went into them." This version is performed by Gustavo Dudamel, LA's new golden boy, and his remarkable youth orchestra in Venezuela. Enjoy!