Panera Bread Workshop with Tom Gumpel.

bread!...About a month ago, I had the chance to take part in a Bread workshop at George Brown College.  This was an event run by Panera Bread to celebrate the opening of their new down town Toronto Bakery/ Cafe @ Yonge and Edward that opened on January 24, 2012.  I received an invitation to come to this workshop to try their food and also to learn about bread/ baking from Culinary chef Tom Gumpel.  I had honestly never heard of him before, but he has a loaded culinary resume- Captain of the World Cup of Baking winning 1999 U.S. Baking Team and named America's Top Ten Bread Bakers by Dessert Professional Magazine.  This was the first time I had heard of these accomplishments, but the most impressive title to me was that he referred to himself as Panera's Chief of Bread (his official title is Panera's Vice President of Bakery Development)!

I was super excited to check out the workshop, especially with promises of great lunch and a chance to sample some of Tom's bread recipes, while learning about bread from a true pro. I headed to George Brown on the day of, and there were about 10 other bloggers/ food writers attending the events. We all helped ourselves to a prepared lunch of sandwiches, breads, cake, salad- all of which were menu items at Panera Bread stores.  I had a chance to try their BRAVO sandwich, which consisted of smoked turkey breast, bacon, smoked gouda cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, some sauce on tomato basil bread.  I was told this was one of their most popular items and it was definitely tasty! The bread was really fresh as expected and once I heard smoked gouda cheese, I had to grab this sandwich.  I also tried their Fuji Apple Chicken salad, which had little apple chips in it!

After stuffing my face with the the lunch provided, Panera Chief of Bread, Tom Gumpel began his workshop, where he talked about the history and many uses of bread in today's society.  To start the workshop off, we each ripped off a giant piece of french bread, just to touch, smell and feel. I learned some pretty cool stuff about bread.. did you know that french bread is shaped after a walking stick and ciabatta after a slipper?!! There were 2 recipes he also showed us, and more importantly let us taste! haha.  The first was an Asiago Strata, a savoury bread pudding, that although not a Panera menu item, pretty much anybody could make at home. People often use stale/ left over bread for bread puddings, but Tom advised that fresh is the best! He had thinly sliced pieces of Asiago bread and basically layered it along with Asiago Cheese in a pan.  This was followed by pouring a creamy mixture of eggs, cream and pepper and finally baking the whole thing.  This was delicious, with no real overpowering flavours and hints of cheese throughout.
The recipe is below if you want to try making it yourself at home (taken from Toronto Star Food Editor Jennifer Bain, who also attended the event):

Panera Bread/ Tom Gumpel's Asiago Strata

Ingredients:

• Softened butter, at room temperature
• 2-1/2 cups (675 mL) half and half cream
• 2 large eggs
• Pinch cracked black pepper
• About 1-lb (450-g) loaf asiago bread, cut in 1/4-inch (1/2 cm) slices
• 1 cup (250 mL) shredded asiago or other hard cheese

Generously rub sides and bottom of 8-inch (20-cm) square baking dish with butter.

In large mixing bowl, whisk cream, eggs and pepper.

To assemble, place layer of bread in prepared pan, cutting pieces as needed. Sprinkle with cheese. After 3 layers, pour about 1/3 of cream mixture. Repeat, leaving 1/4-inch (1 mL) space at top of dish and finishing with remaining cream mixture. (Reserve any remaining bread for another use.) Let stand 15 minutes.

Place dish on baking sheet. Bake in centre of preheated 425F (220C) oven 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F (180C) and bake until richly dark and slightly puffed, about 30 minutes. (It will settle back after being removed from the oven.) Run knife around edges. Let stand 15 minutes.

Place large plate over top of pan, in one slow motion, flip plate and pan together. Place on counter. Let strata fall from pan onto plate. Cut into 2-inch (5-cm) squares, or as desired.

Serve hot or warm.

Makes 16 small servings.

In addition to the bread pudding, Tom also made an Autumn Harvest Panzanella recipe.  This was a cooked bread salad made with fresh vegetables that he picked out at nearby St. Lawrence Market that morning.  It was quite interesting as I've never had a cooked salad before, let alone with bread! The new down town Panera Bread is the 4th location in the GTA.  If you're like me and had heard of Panera, but never tasted their breads, it's probably because they have over 1000 locations across the US. I had a great time learning the ins and outs of the bread industry in north america and would like to thank Tom Gumpel, Panera Bread and Diana Conconi, for organizing and running this tasty event!  They even gave me a some free swag to take home!

Panera Bread (Downtown Toronto)

322 Yonge Street

Toronto, Ontario

M5B 1R8

(416) 205-9371