" Sam Sidawi started making artisan bread in 1999 and six years later he started publishing instructional DVD’s on how to make different types of the bread. Today he has ten DVD’s out including “Baguettes & Traditional French Bread,” Ciabatta & Rustic Italian Bread,” and “Whole Grain, Multi-Grain & Seeds.”

In this book, “My Rustic Sandwiches- Great Recipes to Savor Artisan Bread,” Sidawi does present us with some recipes for bread itself but the bulk of the book provides us with a plethora of mouth-watering sandwich ideas. Sidawi believes that while you can make artisan bread from a recipe in a book, it is truly an art and is best learned by visually watching the process. Therefore he recommends watching one of his DVD’s to truly learn the craft.

However, I did make one of the artisan bread recipes in the book and that was the one for Focaccia. I found that making artisan bread is a very slow process but it is a rewarding one once you taste the end result. The reason that I chose to actually make the bread myself instead of purchasing it at a bakery was because I wanted to make one of the Stuffed Focaccia recipes at the end of the book and those recipes involve sealing ingredients inside of the dough before baking. I had a hard time picking one to start with as there are so many that sound good! Some of the different varieties are “Greek Feta, Spinach and Nutmeg” and “Salami, Mortadella, Prosciutto and Mozzarella Cheese.” I chose to make one that was stuffed with “Olive, Italian Herbs and Fresh Basil” and it was absolutely delicious!

There are a large number of recipes in Sidawi’s book that I can’t wait to try! The photographs are beautifully artistic and make each and every sandwich look delicious! Once I get a couple of more ripe tomatoes out of my garden, the “Feta Cheese, Tomato, Cucumber and Olive Oil on French Loaf Bread” is definitely at the top of the list. “My Rustic Sandwiches- Great Recipes to Savor Artisan Bread” will be a book that will be a much used resource in my collection for years to come!"
Kam Aures, RebeccasReads.com