Bread

Sure, fried chicken, potato salad and coleslaw are considered your standard, all-American picnic fare. But the movable feast begs a few modern questions: Is it lean? Is it convenient to make? It's time to take a cue from the French. When heading for a grassy knoll, under a shady tree, they tote along tuna pan bagnat (pronounced "pan ban-YAH"). The name means "soaked bread." The sandwich ingredients are bathed in a vinaigrette. The flavors seep into the bread as it is pressed. To press it, simply place a narrow tray, small skillet or a couple of small plates on top of the sandwich, and then weigh that down with a can from the pantry.

PARIS -- This is a city for lovers, yes? Well, I came prepared with a checklist for my romantic dates in love-soaked Paris. Butter? Check. Small silver knife? Check. Napkins. Check. Plan de Paris (that indispensable book of street maps)? Check. Next, I purchased a carnet, that nifty bundle of 10 train tickets for the Paris Metro, and off I went. Off to consummate my love affair with that most quintessential of all French things -- the baguette. Some people go to Paris to traipse through gardens; to take in magnificent paintings, ancient textiles and other gleaming bits of antiquity; to marvel at cathedrals boasting magnificent windows of colored light.

Father Michael Pastrikos tends his flock at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, then looks after the strays in Greektown cafes. After services, he pops into the kafeneia with bits of holy bread for the no-shows. It is not communion. Unless you're bedridden, you have to come to church for that. But the bread - made at home as an offering, according to a special recipe, and cut into squares - is considered holy. Called antidoro, it is offered after communion, at the end of services. Since Pastrikos came to the parish in August, the bread can also be had in the smoky little cafes where men - and only men - gather to play cards, talk old-country politics and avoid church.

I could live without lettuce, but it is hard for me to imagine life without bacon and tomatoes. love the basic BLT.However, if you find yourself with a lot of ripe tomatoes and a hot charcoal fire on your hands, you might want to try variations of the classic bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.I decided to try putting grilled fish fillets on a BLT. The recipe called for mahi-mahi, a fish with a great name and wonderful texture. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to find in local fish markets.

WE GO for the "good" bread and for the subtle coming together of city and country life. Our Saturday morning farmers market on 33rd Street is a cosmopolitan affair, actually, and a gustatory adventure. The choices are legion: a wedge of homemade cheddar or a thick slice of country ham, a lemon poppy-seed muffin or an elephant's ear from the French baker -- or perhaps a samosa from the Somalian lady in the long batik dress, who hugs her customers as if they were family. A plume of smoke and pungent aroma tells us the goat cheese and mushroom sandwiches are ready, too.Our primary quarry is the bread -- good, we say, because it's a dense Italianate loaf with an al dente crust, maybe slightly burned on the bottom.

In elementary school, Paul A. Weykamp was occasionally ostracized for bringing Nutella, Europe's beloved hazelnut-cocoa spread, in his lunch."It was quasi-embarrassing and at the same time it tasted good, so it was not such a big deal," says Weykamp, 41, the principal attorney for his own downtown Baltimore law office.The Sparks resident grew up with Nutella (pronounced Noo-tella). His parents are from Holland, a brave Nutella world, where the chocolaty wonder leaves peanut butter in the dust.

The loaves of crusty European-style bread were flying off the table as fast as Joe Port could bag them at the Riva Road Farmer's Market when a familiar voice called, "Hi, Joe."Looking up, Port saw his old Naval Academy classmate, newly retired Adm. Charles R. Larson. "I called back, 'Hi Chuck, I see the governor appointed you to head his university task force.' He said, 'I had to have something to do.' "While Larson had just left the academy superintendency in June to take his first nonmilitary step in 40 years, Port, 61, is well into his third career -- bread baker and restaurateur with his &r Brazilian-born, American-educated wife, Vera, 62.The Ports married in the academy chapel the day he graduated '' in 1958 and spent the next 25 years traveling around the United States and abroad during Joe's postings as a Navy pilot.

Anthony Marinelli, the last of the old-time Little Italy bakers who supplied bread to restaurants and several generations of Baltimoreans, died Easter Sunday of complications of diabetes at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was 85.Each day for more than 50 years, Mr. Marinelli baked more than 800 loaves at his Central Avenue bakery in back of the rowhouse where he lived most of his life.Mr. Marinelli ceased taking an active role in the bakery about two years ago, turning over its daily operation to a group of Thais.

* Item: Washington Quality Batters and Breaders* What you get: Enough to coat 3 to 6 pounds of vegetables or seafood* Cost: About $1.89* Preparation time: Just minutes to mix and bread, three to five minutes per item to fry* Review: Washington brand muffin mixes have been staples in many pantries for years. Now the Ellicott City-based company has added four seafood and one vegetable batter to its line. The tempura batter is easy to mix (just add cold water) and offers a great alternative for vegetables.

Tortillas may be the most popular wrapper, but they're not the only one. A tour of local supermarkets will yield a surprising variety of flatbreads and wrappers.Crepes: Thin, French-style pancakes, 8 to 10 inches across. Packages are sold in the produce area of some supermarkets. Crepes are delicate, so use light fillings and serve on a plate with a fork; definitely not finger food.Lavash: Thin, griddle-cooked Lebanese bread rounds similar to pita. The several brands we found vary in thickness; all are about 10 inches across.

It was a misty morning, and Dale Dugan, baker for the four restaurants and one wine shop in Baltimore's Charleston group, said his bread was giving him a weather report. On days like this one, he said, when there is a lot of moisture in the air, the dough likes to spend a short time in the proofer. Moreover, the bread's "oven spring" its first rise in the oven, will be more ample. Additionally on humid days, you have to watch the crust. "If there is too much water in the air, you can get a hyper-exaggerated crust," he said.

Motivated by the skyrocketing price of groceries, I took a stab at growing my own salad and baking my own bread. My efforts did not go well. The salad, made from spinach plants that I had nursed through the winter, was meager and tough. The leaves did not seem to have many flavors. The bread, which I made using a no-knead recipe, was disappointing. It was dense, flat and the crust tasted of cornmeal. I suspect that future loaves would have been better. Bread making, like essay writing, usually improves with subsequent efforts.

Melinda Watson's New Year's resolution: Spend less. She has always been frugal, but now she's very worried about the economy. Her family cut back on holiday presents. They're traveling less and eating in more. And the Baltimore resident, a 52-year-old homemaker, is in school studying nursing to land a recession-proof job. "We feel like we've really been conscientious about saving and planning, and in spite of that, we're feeling like we're going to have trouble keeping our heads above water," said Watson, who is concerned about retirement, health care costs in particular.

Father Michael Pastrikos tends his flock at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, then looks after the strays in Greektown cafes. After services, he pops into the kafeneia with bits of holy bread for the no-shows. It is not communion. Unless you're bedridden, you have to come to church for that. But the bread - made at home as an offering, according to a special recipe, and cut into squares - is considered holy. Called antidoro, it is offered after communion, at the end of services. Since Pastrikos came to the parish in August, the bread can also be had in the smoky little cafes where men - and only men - gather to play cards, talk old-country politics and avoid church.

PARIS -- This is a city for lovers, yes? Well, I came prepared with a checklist for my romantic dates in love-soaked Paris. Butter? Check. Small silver knife? Check. Napkins. Check. Plan de Paris (that indispensable book of street maps)? Check. Next, I purchased a carnet, that nifty bundle of 10 train tickets for the Paris Metro, and off I went. Off to consummate my love affair with that most quintessential of all French things -- the baguette. Some people go to Paris to traipse through gardens; to take in magnificent paintings, ancient textiles and other gleaming bits of antiquity; to marvel at cathedrals boasting magnificent windows of colored light.

Sure, fried chicken, potato salad and coleslaw are considered your standard, all-American picnic fare. But the movable feast begs a few modern questions: Is it lean? Is it convenient to make? It's time to take a cue from the French. When heading for a grassy knoll, under a shady tree, they tote along tuna pan bagnat (pronounced "pan ban-YAH"). The name means "soaked bread." The sandwich ingredients are bathed in a vinaigrette. The flavors seep into the bread as it is pressed. To press it, simply place a narrow tray, small skillet or a couple of small plates on top of the sandwich, and then weigh that down with a can from the pantry.

Charles E. Hergenroeder Sr., the owner of his family's Belair Road bakery, where he had made breads and rolls since he was 16, died of a brain tumor Monday at his Parkville home. He was 69. Mr. Hergenroeder was one of 12 children raised above the Woodlea Bakery, a Gardenville-area operation founded by his father on April 3, 1943. Born in Hamilton, Mr. Hergenroeder graduated from Towson Catholic High School in 1957. By that time, he was already working for his father, John Hergenroeder.

Ever since the Jews fled ancient Egypt with their unleavened bread, matzo has traveled with them to all corners of the Jewish Diaspora. And just as Jewish life has found fresh expression on new soil and with new generations, so has matzo. As Jews prepare for Passover, the seven-day festival that celebrates the Exodus and begins at sundown Monday, their options for matzo, a staple of the ritual meal made of milled grain and water, are nearly as bountiful as the meal itself. Thick and thin, round and square, plain and gourmet, rolled by hand and machine, matzo has been adapted to meet the needs of Jewish settlements from the Venetian Ghetto to the deep South to Zabar's on New York City's Upper West Side.

Any cuisine that includes bread also has traditional uses for leftover or stale bread. Bread puddings can be sweet or savory and served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. In this savory version, you can substitute other greens, such as spinach, or make a lower-calorie, lower-fat version with light shredded mild cheddar or mozzarella. COLLARD AND GRUYERE BREAD PUDDING Makes 8 servings 4 large eggs 3 cups skim milk 2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese 1 (16-ounce) bag frozen chopped kale or collard greens, thawed pinch nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon thyme 12 ounces crusty bread, cut into 2-inch pieces Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

This sandwich is more than just ingredients between two slices of bread: The muffaletta is actually a hollowed-out bread filled with layers of cooked chicken breast, roast beef and olive salad. Make this at least 30 minutes ahead of time: The flavors meld and blossom as it sits. CHICKEN MUFFALETTA Makes 2 servings 1/3 cup drained chopped green stuffed olives 3 canned artichoke hearts, drained and chopped 2 bottled roasted red peppers, drained and chopped 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil 1 small clove garlic, minced 1 tablespoon drained capers 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 round (8-ounce)