Pan Bagnat

I've done this before.  Actually I think it's more my MO than anything apologize-worthy as an aberration.  I have the perfect recipe for you to make two weeks ago.  But maybe you don't use every foreign holiday (in this case Bastille Day) as an excuse to picnic or make some sort of themey dinner, and then really this is the perfect sandwich for you to make all summer.  Already, it has been the ideal hand held meal for 6 (along with salad and dessert)at the bluegrass concert in the park last Sunday, and an entire meal for 3 on the beach a couple Saturdays ago.  Earlier in the month, I halved the recipe for Paul and me, and made a peanut butter sandwich for Desmond to take to free family night at Kidspace.  

Did I tell you about all my picnicking plans this summer?  Our budget will not allow any exciting travels, so picnics are what we are doing.  It seems like there is a concert in the park or an outdoor movie or the lure of a shady table next to a playground to keep us entertained all summer.  And while, I still really want to figure out how to at least swing a little family camping trip before this baby comes, for the moment I'm content with my sandwich.

If you've never had one, a pan bagnat, is a traditional southern French dish that means bathed bread in the local nicoise dialect.  What turns it into a picnic ideal, is that unlike most sandwiches it gets better the longer it sits in your basket.  All the flavors merge and seep into the bread and it just becomes one whole delicious mass.  Normally it's made with tuna, yours has tempeh.  

Vegan Pan Bagnat
Inspired by Florence Fabricant's recipe for pan bagnat sliders in the New York Times, June 9, 2009.

1 baguette (it's fine if it's not super fresh)
1 clove garlic, sliced in half
1/4 cup olive oil
about 3 tablespoons tapenade
2 thin slices sweet onion, halved and pulled apart 
8 basil leaves
3/4 c. tempeh mixture (see recipe below)
1 plump summer tomato, halved and sliced
black pepper

Tear off a peace of foil big enough to securely wrap your sandwich.  Set aside, but within reach!  Cut the baguette in half length-wise, and rub each half with garlic.  Brush with olive oil, then smear with a thin layer of tapenade.  On one half, layer on your onion, basil, tomato, and mold your tempeh mixture on top.  Grind a bit of black pepper over the tempeh mixture, and place other half of bread on top.  Firmly wrap and gently press down on the sandwich as you go.  Now weigh it down with a cutting board topped with cookbooks, or a cast iron griddle works nicely too.  Press your sandwich for about an hour.  Unwrap and slice into pieces to serve.  

Tempeh Mixture for Pan Bagnat

8 ounces tempeh (that's 1 standard package)
braising liquid:
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup white wine
1 teaspoon herbes de provence
water to make 2 cups

Mix ingredients for braising liquid in a glass measuring cup.  Crumble or dice tempeh.  In a medium sauce pan, bring tempeh and braising liquid to a simmer.  Continue to simmer over medium low heat for 30 - 35 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed and cooked off.  Drain any excess liquid.   

You won't use all of the tempeh in your sandwich, but we have been making this sandwich so often, that I find it's nice to have the leftover mixture on hand.  Of course, if you like more variety, I bet it would be equally nice on a salade nicoise.