Seeded Bread Crisps

Have you ever had a dish haunt you for years and years? Or perhaps one particular component of a dish? Have you tried repeatedly to reproduce that dish and failed miserably every time? Have you feigned innocence with one after another server to see if you could wheedle out the EXACT instructions for making that elusive something? “This is delicious. What type of bread is it?” “Really? But it’s SO crisp. How long does it bake?” “Parmesan too, eh?”

If so, you will understand why I am elated to share this seemingly simple recipe with you today. I have tried again and again over the years to duplicate the exceedingly light, open-textured, crisp “toast” that was part of one of my favorite restaurant appetizers, Herb-Marinated Chèvre with Olives & Parmesan Toast at the now sadly gone much-lauded restaurant, Higgins in Portland, Oregon.

But no matter what I try (varying oven temperatures, different breads, with and without parmesan, and so forth), until one fortuitous week in 2011, I could not duplicate that elusive texture, which literally shatters in the mouth and dissolves into shards of buttery, toasty goodness. In fact, I had given up.

So in desperation, I noticed a forgotten, 2-day-old seeded baguette on the counter. I turned on the oven, sliced the stale bread as thinly as possible, arranged it on a baking pan, slathered melted butter on both sides, ground sea salt over the bread and shoved the pan into the oven. Within 15 minutes, the photo styling was complete, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, as MauiJim was doing his magic in the photo studio (well okay, combined offices/kitchen/studio crammed with photo equipment, table, props, and other incredibly important junk), I began eating the crisps. Holy Moly!

These are the elusive Higgins bread crisps, without the added parmesan topping. The quest is over. And I will never throw out a stale baguette again.

Yes, you can melt cheese on the crisps and top with the best homemade or store bought jam you have on hand. Warning: You may eat the whole loaf.

Bread crisps are wonderful adjuncts to homemade soup, providing just the right contrast of crunchy, buttery yum. They are also wonderful slathered with homemade jams and jellies or as companions to creamy cheeses (double and triple crèmes, brie, camembert, fresh chèvre). Add an assortment of olives, pickled veggies, and a fruit chutney, and a lovely snack becomes a light dinner.

Technique Note The bread must be stale and firm in order to be able to slice it as thinly as needed here.

1 long, narrow, seeded, open-textured baguette, 2-3 days old
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
sea salt in a grinder

Using a very sharp knife, slice the bread on a diagonal as thinly as possible (1/8-inch or less).
Arrange on an edged baking pan.
Using a pastry brush, brush melted butter on both sides of the bread slices.
Grind salt over the top of the bread.
Bake at 350° for about 15 minutes, until the bread is nicely browned and very crisp.
Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet. (The bread gets even crisper as it cools.)
Store in an airtight container at room temperature. The crisps will keep for several days at least.

Makes a gazillion bread crisps.