Do you remember the café press? They were all the rage about ten years ago, when we lauded their ability to turn bread and antipasto into dinner in ten minutes flat.
I remember many dinners of Turkish bread stuffed with prosciutto and fancy cheeses, served with a simple salad. And then, all of a sudden, they went out of vogue. Which is a shame, as they really did make the worknight dinner a simple affair.
These days, ours is only ever dragged out to make crackers.
As I’ve mentioned before, we bake all our own bread at home, with the exception of Lebanese pita bread.
I’m sure I could make it at home, but with the Baalbek bakery just a few minutes down the road turning out hundreds of fresh rounds daily (at 20c each), it seems a bit redundant to do so. And I’m pretty happy with the ingredients they use too – “wheat flour, water, salt, sugar and yeast”. Can’t argue with that!
Whenever a packet of Lebanese bread gets a little stale, I turn them into crackers, by simply toasting them in the café press. It only takes a couple of minutes per slice, and the end result is a dry, crisp cracker that keeps well for several days in an airtight container. It’s the perfect accompaniment to cheeses, an antipasto plate, or dips. We keep a packet of Lebanese bread in the freezer specifically for this purpose, and now no longer buy water crackers or crispbreads when we’re preparing a cheese plate.
Today, all the ingredients came together for a fattoush salad.
As the chooks were ready for their next rotation, Pete cleared all the continental parsley from the incumbent bed, and brought it in along with a large bunch of purslane.
- 1 round Lebanese bread, toasted until crisp and broken into shards
- 5 – 6 radishes, washed and sliced
- 3 Lebanese cucumbers, washed and sliced
- 4 tomatoes, chopped
- 10 spring onions, chopped
- 1 cup purslane, washed and chopped – you can just use the leaves, or include the stems as well, like I did
- 1 cup flat-leaf parsley
- 1 cup mint leaves
These are the quantities listed in the original recipe, taken from Abla’s Lebanese Kitchen, by Abla Amad. I used more bread and fewer cucumbers, but the salad was still delicious. Abla recommends splitting the pita bread and toasting it in the oven for 4 – 5 minutes until dry and crisp – I, of course, used the café press.
To dress the salad, combine the following ingredients, pour over and toss through. I used less salt than the 1 teaspoon specified – personal preference on my part.
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 teaspoons ground sumac
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt (original recipe called for 1 teaspoon salt)
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 100ml lemon juice
- 100ml olive oil
We served our salad with more pita bread crackers and hommus, for an easy and delicious Saturday lunch!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Love the sumac–and so glad to see others using it. Such a bright yet also complex flavor. It’s still so late-summery in your part of the world. Makes me hope mine might go that way some day–despite the four inches of snow we got yesterday.
Mark, it’s so gorgeously lemony – we love it, although Big Boy is less of a fan. This salad has gone some way to converting him, though! Hope the sun comes soon – can’t believe it’s still snowing over there!
Looks so good!
I just had a shwarma pizza and falafel with hummus and baba ganoush yesterday! I could eat Lebanese food everyday and be perfectly happy! :)
Heidi, you and me both! I love all the flavours of Lebanese food!
In over 16 years of living in the Middle East I’ve never tired of fattoush. I’ve never tasted purslane – it looks a bit like coriander (cilantro) or is it more like parsley?
Sally, purslane is a type of succulent. It grows wild in my yard. It’s what Barbara at Harkola and the Lebanese ladies at the markets told me to use in fattoush. I wrote a bit more about it here:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/01/22/unusual-garden-edibles/
Yum yum yum – I’ve been to Baalbek, ruinous place. So relieved to hear that you buy bread from time to time! I love the way that chook rotation time is another time for a food challenge too :)
I’ve just been reading one of those jokes…
a naan, a chapati and a pitta walk into a bar….
Thank you, darling, I know I really should make my own pita, and I’ve been very inspired by yours and Sally’s pita breads, but I’m just too lazy… :)
A naan, a chapati and a pitta walk into a bar…
…the naan says, “who’s buying? Does anyone have any bread?”
…and the pitta replies, “don’t look at me, I’m flat broke..”
:)
.. they stayed for a couple of drinks but after a while the pitta got up to leave.
“Stay for just one more, pitta?” said the others
“I can’t lie around here all day”, said pitta, “I’m having a filling this afternoon” :)
“It won’t be the same without you..” said chapati..
“oh, you’re always trying to curry favour…” said, naan… :)
Yummo with the sumac Celia!
We call our cafe press the Sqishy Machine, and use it for everything. Great idea to make the crackers on it too, and 20cents each? Why would you make your own for that price and with those great ingredients, lucky you!
Becca, and they’re sooo fresh too! Sometimes they’re still warm in the bag! Yes, 20c each, we use homemade crackers for all our dips, and Small Man loves them smeared with Vegemite!
Looks all wonderful for a fresh lunchtime break!
I don’t have one of these cafè presses…what a shame! I resort to the oven and each pitta, drizzled with olive oil and rock salt usually. Your salad looks delicious and I love the added ingredient of fresh radishes. Have a great Sunday! x
Yvette, thank you! I did have a great Sunday, hope yours was wonderful too!
I love Fattoush – it is such a quick and tasty meal and can be varied endlessly.
I still haven’t overcome my love of the cafe press, though, and use it several times a week for lunches.
Amanda, apart from the pitta bread, we still occasionally use it for baked bean sandwiches, which the boys love. Part of the problem though with baking sourdough is that the bread is often full of holes! ;-)
There’s such simple beauty in a jug of freshly picked herbs isn’t there and your salad looks so fresh and inviting. We have an abundance of basil at the moment which I am reluctant to clear because I love being able to squish and brush it while I’m in the garden – makes me feel like a gardener!
Jan, our basil is just thriving at the moment, so I understand completely where you’re coming from! We’re still getting big leaves, even after the plants have flowered!
Yum!
(no need for more words!)
Shelley, thanks! :)
Hmm, I was wondering what to have for dinner, I think the old sandwich press might get a little dust off tonight…
How brilliant to do the Lebanese bread in it too. The Monkeys are always hankering for crackers to dunk into their houmus. Thanks Celia!
Saves a fortune, Brydie! And the fresh pitta bread keeps quite well in the fridge for several days, or it can be frozen for ages. We often make a batch of crackers and store them in an airtight container – they don’t last long, but only because everyone eats them! :)
You can make interesting pancakes in a sandwich press – ripple soled. But don’t try frying an egg.
Cosmo, our cafe press has a flat top and bottom, so we have actually put an egg inside a sandwich. It did make a mess when it was squished, though.. :)
I was a tuckshop convenor for five years in a high school. If I never see another cafe press, grill press or whatever you want to call them, it won’t be too soon. I think years of preparing toasties for the schoolkids cured me for life.
I do love your salad though. Have made many a version myself over the years. I usually add red capsicum and red onion. Interesting to see the radish in yours. Lovely post Celia.
Mariana, you made me laugh out loud! I’ll bet you don’t want to see another cafe press again after five years on the tuckshop! Good on you for doing it though – no-one else ever wants to! :)
Thanks for the suggestion – red caps and Spanish onions would be a lovely addition!
YUM one of my fave salads! Lemon salt and parsley make it for me. OH YUM! When I have stale lebanese bread…I spead it with black olive pesto and toss it into the oven, break up and serve with dip too.
Sounds delicious, Mrs Bok! Love black olive pesto! :)
Our sandwich press still gets a regular workout but multi-tasking as a cracker toaster is a great idea. Thanks
I found some purslane when I was weeding today so it will get added to tonight’s salad.
Hope you like the purslane, Liz! I’m a big fan…
I like left over risotto in the press. Guilt-free crunch.
Lee, I never thought of doing that, thanks! I wonder if it works for orzo and rice-shaped pasta as well?
I’ve never heard of one of those. Is it like a panini press? We have one of those and the mencats use it every day to make sandwiches. We got it as a gift from my mother-in-law and I didn’t think we’d use it. I was wrong, they use it every chance they get.
I’ll have to try it as a cracker toaster. ;-)
Maz
Maz, yes, I think it’s what you call a panini press, only with flat plates rather than ridged ones…
Ours came with both kinds of plates. They use the flat plates to sear a parmesan crust on the sliced bread.
Off topic, I experimented with making bread with beer instead of water today. It’s in the oven now. Smells delish. Also made hummus. Time to nosh!
Maz.
We don’t have a Cafe Press, but we do have a jaffle maker in the cupboard – do you remember those? I’m with you, fabulous for a quick, tasty dinner at a moments notice. We love our ‘toasties’ :)
Delicious looking salad too!
Chris, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve toyed with getting a jaffle maker! Problem though is that I now bake all our loaves, and I’ve never managed to make perfectly square bread! :)
Oh Jaffle Irons! Poor neglected thing in our house…only comes out for rare modern camping adventures (we’re too busy camping 17th Century style – all trivets, pots and cauldrons and not a potato in sight!!) If only we had a gas stove, the poor thing would get some more use…
The salad looks great. I always keep lebo bread in the freezer for the odd welsh rarebit or cheat’s pizza. Or toasted til crisp with lemon juice, pepper, salt and olive oil. Mmmm.
Looks delicious! You are so lucky being able to buy good Lebanese bread. I can only buy it here with many scary ingredients added.
Anna, really? That’s interesting – I can’t actually see why they need to do that, since it seems to keep quite well without any additives?
Been tempted many times to add sumac to my spice ‘collection’, but I always fear I’ll only use it infrequently – but if it’s used in a delicious salad, why not? Thanks for the motivation, Celia.
Doc, it’s not a spice we’ve used frequently, although this latest foray into Lebanese cooking will probably make a dent in the packet! :)
Haven’t seen one of those hot presses since I worked at Crowne Plaza, they used it quite a bit there but I do like your use of it, those crackers look a treat. Mmmmm, wonderful fattoush – I cant remember when I last had it.
I remember those cafe presses! Oprah had one on her show and she called it a Breville too and she was fascinated by them. I have to say that I always wanted one but ran out of countertop and shelf space a while back :P
Anna, Lorraine, it’s one of those things, isn’t it? Takes up a huge amount of space, and we use it so infrequently. Luckily it stands on its side and fits quite well into the appliance cupboard.. ;-)
I regularly buy the lebanese bread to specifically to cut into triangles and crisp in the oven (for baba ghanoush and hoummus) just add them to a tray and you are right, as long as they haven’t gone green you can buy ahead and have them on hand to crisp to order!! Kids seem to love using them to dip and the triangle shape is perfect for holding and dipping.
The cafe press is still a prized possession in the Sherrie household I am afraid…a cheese and tomato toasted sandwich was my lazy dinner on Friday night!!
All this talk of Lebanese has me hungry for lunch and it is only 10am!
Kat.
I still have yet to make a fattoush salad and everytime I see one I want to eat it. I will have to rectify this soon!
I love fattoush and the ‘pita’ breads….my kids are cracker fiends. It also makes a great pizza base, with some muhammara (red pepper dip) or Filet American instead of tomato sauce, some fresh mozzarella and dried mint – heaven!
Ah good idea to use the machine thingy to make these. I usually make mine in the oven…but then again, I more often than not can’t be bothered to turn on the oven, wait for it to heat up…etc…so the lebanese bread gets mouldy or gets fed to the chooks and dog. But this cafe press method would be pretty fast and would also give a purpose to said machine who does teeter on the brink of the keep or discard fine line.