Off the top of your head, do you know what it says on license plates from Quebec, Canada? It says “Je me souviens.” Ring a bell? Do you have any … more
Off the top of your head, do you know what it says on license plates from Quebec, Canada? It says “Je me souviens.” Ring a bell? Do you have any idea how much of my life was spent assuming that “Je me souviens” meant “Bring me souveniers”? Like, wherever you’re going, bring me back something. Well, it was a lot. And I just finally looked it up, after all t this time. Turns out, it means Remember Me. It’s the official motto of Quebec, Canada. “Remember me.” That’s their motto.
Does my home state, the Empire State, have a motto? Apparently, if this site is to be believed {and I won’t lie – when a site is a .org I tend to give it more credit: it’s a dot-org! What motive could they possibly have for misleading me?!}, New York State’s motto is Excelsior, which apparently means “Ever Upward.” More than likely, that started out as “Ever Up Yours,” which somehow was toned down and cleaned up to say, “Ever Upward.” And then they said it in Latin, since a dead language classes up the joint like none other. And in New York, we’re all about class.
Does your home state have a motto? I’m willing to bet that it does. And while I’m in a betting mood, I’ll wager $10 on the fact that you have no idea what it is. Okay, forget it, let’s make it a gentleman’s bet, since it’s not like I’m made of money {clearly}, and I am sure most of you are better versed in such matters than I am {no doubt}. You’re probably sitting there, reading this on a Monday morning thinking, “What kind of moron thinks that Je me souviens means ‘bring me souveniers’?” This kind of moron. Right here. Me.
I think the ‘bring me souveniers’ nonsense must have been one of those automatic thoughts people have. Do you know what I’m talking about? Do you ever uncover an assumption you made so long ago that you never challenge it – and then think, “how could I ever have assumed that?” I’ve got loads of those. Like:
1. Before having kids, I assumed that I wouldn’t mind changing diapers so long as it was my kid’s poo. {wrong, in my case. so, so wrong}
2. If I were ever walking around with my fly unzipped, someone would tell me. So since no one ever tells me that, my fly must always be zipped.
3. If you’re from New Jersey, you like Bruce Springsteen.
4. Gluten-free food is tasteless, precious, and expensive. Especially gluten-free bread!
5. Sandwiches are not dinner, except if they’re made on freshly baked bread, and freshly baked bread is not an option on a busy weekday.
See where I’m going with this? I was wrong about sandwiches! And about freshly baked bread!
I made focaccia again as a sort of flatbread for these here sandwiches, but you could use any of the other rolled-out yeast bread recipes, like Pizza Dough, or even roll out the White Sandwich Bread recipe from my Cookbook with an extra dusting of flour.
Here’s how it works: You make the dough according to the recipe directions, all the way up to the part where you bake it off. You then wrap it securely in plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator. The yeast will continue to rise, but very, very slowly and not enough to result in its being “overproofed,” which would cause it to rise and then fall in on itself. Then, when you’re ready to bake bread, you break the dough into as many pieces as you would like to make sandwiches, and roll each piece of dough into whatever shape you like. Here, I made the focaccia dough on a Tuesday, and rolled it out for dinner on Friday. I made it into rectangles, baked them off in a hot oven for about 10 minutes – flipping the dough over halfway through – sliced each rectangle in half, filled it, and served. Served with a simple lemon vinaigrette salad, these sandwiches were fresh & filling, and they hit the spot.
- Gluten-free yeast bread dough
- 8 ounces mascarpone cheese (you can sub any other sort of spreadable cheese here, like cream cheese), at room temperature
- large handful fresh basil leaves, chopped
- juice of 1 large lemon
- pinch kosher salt
- 5 plum or 2 beefsteak tomatoes, thickly sliced
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, place the mascarpone, chopped basil, lemon juice, and salt, and whisk until well combined. Set the spread aside.
- Divide the bread dough into 4 or 6 pieces, depending upon how many sandwiches you would like to make. Roll out each piece the bread dough thickly (you don’t want the bread to be fragile) into rectangles or rounds, whichever you prefer.
- Place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven, and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the bread is just beginning to brown. Flip the bread over about halfway through baking. Adjust baking times as necessary to reach desired browning, but take care not to make the bread crisp or it will shatter when you eat it.
- Allow the bread to cool slightly, slice each piece in half, cover each side in spread, place a few tomato slices on on side, and close the sandwich. Repeat with the remaining bread.
- Wrap the bottom half of each sandwich with aluminum foil, to make it easier to handle.
- Serve warm.
What automatic assumptions have you made, about dinner or anything else, without realizing it? How do you react when an assumption is challenged? How about the assumptions you made about eating, cooking and/or baking gluten-free in the beginning? Or maybe you’re right now at the gluten-free beginning — what are your assumptions about it?
Love you. Mean it. Stumble me, would you?
xoxo
Nicole
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