Who does not love freshly baked, well-done bread, especially the kind that comes from master bakers?
Pastry chef Buddy Trinidad, owner of Park Avenue Desserts, recently added to his menu an item called “croguette,” a cross between a croissant and a baguette. The hybrid offers the best of both breads.
Once heated, it is a flaky croissant on the exterior, with a soft baguette-like center.
The character of the bread makes it a wonderful carrier for all sorts of sandwich fillings. No matter how creamy, the bread does not turn soggy.
Buttery, the croguette adds another layer of flavor, the kind that makes a good sandwich even tastier.
Here are some sandwich fillings that will go perfectly well with the croguette.
Leftover Steak Sandwich by Mark Isidro of Mad Mark’s
Slice an onion into half, then sauté in a little oil. Add 3-4 pieces sliced shiitake mushrooms. Add a dash of soy sauce and mirin. Add thinly sliced leftover beef (150-200 g steak or roast beef). Turn off heat. Slice and arrange beef on croguette. Add thinly sliced green bell pepper and grated pepper jack cheese. Warm bread in oven toaster until cheese melts.
Crab & Apple Sandwich Spread by Caren Kwong-Basilio of K Café
In a bowl, combine: 1 kilo male crab, steamed and flaked; 1 red apple, chopped; ½ – 1 cup mayonnaise; 2 tablespoons onion, minced; 1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1 teaspoon mustard; juice of ½ – 1 lemon; salt and fresh black pepper. Mix well. Warm bread, slice and fill with spread.
Egg Salad with Yuzu by Imelda Go of Magic Kitchen
4 hard boiled eggs, separate whites and chop. Mash the yolks. Combine whites and yolks and add mayonnaise, adjust quantity to desired creaminess. Add a teaspoon of yuzu juice, salt, pepper, sugar to taste. Mix to combine. Warm bread, slice and fill with spread.
Chicken Sandwich by Jecelle Tycangco of Saporito Salted Egg Potato Chips
Boil 1 chicken breast, cut into cubes. Peel 1 green apple and cut same size as chicken. Combine chicken and apples in a bowl. Add mayonnaise (adjust quantity to desired creaminess) and little mustard to taste. Add coarsely crushed candied walnut. Season with salt and pepper. Mix to combine. Warm bread, slice and fill with spread.
My Egg Salad with Truffle Cream
In a bowl, put 4 large hard boiled eggs, coarsely chopped. Add mayonnaise, adjust quantity to desired creaminess. Add 2 tsp chopped white onion, 2 tsp chives, salt, pinch of pepper, 1 tsp sugar. Add 1 ½ tsp truffle cream or oil. Mix to combine. Adjust seasoning. Warm bread, slice and fill with spread. Add a leaf of lettuce if desired.
Park Avenue Desserts’ current best seller is the Grilled Ensaimada Ice Cream Sandwich. It is Trinidad’s own sinful Queso de Bola Ensaimada—
warmed, then filled as you wish, with the bakeshop’s very own ice cream: dulce de leche, ube, vanilla or mango.
Park Avenue Desserts, G/F Maga Center, Paseo de Magallanes, Makati.
Chef Bubbles Lerias’ Bubbka
I was gifted with a loaf of Bubbka by Nana Nadal for my birthday. It was delicious!
The humongous loaf was decadent—chocolatey, soft, moist, rich, sweetened and spiced just right.
“Bubbka,” as Nana baptized the loaf, is a swirled roll of soft, buttery bread with large patches of gooey chocolate with a light crunchy cinnamon streusel topping.
Chef Bubbles explained: “‘Babka’ means grandmother in Yiddish. It is also the name of a bread that grandmothers were said to have made on Shabbat. They would roll out leftover trimmings of challah, add nuts, dried fruits and seeds, and bake it into a new bread. This was a practical way of ensuring food would not get wasted.”
Bubbles’ friend, chef Pauline Lagdameo, had introduced her to the Jewish concoction and later inspired her to formulate a similar recipe to cater to the Filipino palate.
The Bubbka comes in two variants, Original Chocolate and Chocolate with Walnuts. A large loaf is 600 grams and the junior size is 300 grams.
This bread is perfect with a cup of coffee.
Call 09274776261.