Ah the poor. How is it that the starving, unwashed masses always manage to make such delicious food even with all that poverty and oppression? I’m pretty sure that the salivary glands aren’t supposed to rev at the thought of old bread and salt water. That’s more like a Turkish prison that a scrumptious weekend meal.
I blame the French. Panade. It sounds French. It’s supposedly a precursor to french onion soup and that’s definitely French. It doesn’t have peanut butter and we all know how the French don’t eat peanut butter. French or not though, it’s real tasty.
I’ve never had a panade that I didn’t make. I hear that it’s supposed to be a soup or a casserole or a savory paste or silky gruel or hearty stew. Luckily for me, I don’t care. I just made it like I thought it would taste good. It’s real easy. Caramelize the hell out of a bunch of onions. Then take a dish- round, rectangle, oval, whatever- and put down a thin layer of bread or bread cubes. Cover with onions and then cheese and then more bread. Repeat until you run out of vertical real estate (be warned though, it will rise about an inch). Then pour in enough salt water to come almost to the top. How salty you ask? You’re the one that’s eating it, start there and work back. Finally, top off the whole mess with cheese. Cover and bake for an hour at 350 F, then uncover it and bake another half hour or so. If at any time it looks too dry, add more water. Just remember- it was pioneered by oppressed peasants- it’s not tricky.
The whole thing was golden brown with a soft light interior and an alternating crisp and cheesy top. The baking caramelized onions filled the whole kitchen with rich earthy aroma. I couldn’t resist fancying it up with some garlic mushrooms and a nice spinach sauce (yum). 
This is one of those dishes that’s so simple and straight forward that it begs for improv. You could fill it with practically anything. You could top it with anything. You could slap on any sauce. Think “cleaning out the fridge” food. It’s definitely worth a try. Happy Panading!
L. Pants
