Four Hour Baguettes and Roasted Radish Toasts

Every Spring my parents reserved a corner of their garden for me. It was totally thrilling to my seven year old self to to tag along to the nursery and flip through the little seed packets and choose a few things to put into my tiny plot of land. Heck it would probably still thrill me, but living in the city makes gardening just a hair tougher.



I remember taking my planting decisions very seriously. Thumbelina carrots or the ghost white ones? Red radishes or purple? The fate of our salads depended on me! The pride I felt when their little green shoots popped up was unbeatable, but when it was time to pull them from the ground and enjoy the fruits of my labor I don't think I ever ate the radishes. I always ended up picking out varieties that were too spicy for my kid palate.

I do remember my dad eating those radishes though. He took them sliced up and sprinkled with salt and as an adult, when I discovered how much I enjoyed their spicy bite I ate them the same way. Then, like a lot of other folks, I discovered how adding a little butter to the equation made them extra special. These toasts are a riff on that idea, pumped up with some fresh herbs, toasty bread, and perfect for a little snack with drinks.

The baguette recipe is from Saveur Magazine's most recent bread-filled issue and for a "quick" baguette they are still really flavorful with a nice crispy crust, a perfect weekend project if you ask me.

Four Hour Baguettes
yield, 3 baguettes
from Saveur Magazine

12 oz warm tap water (115ºF)
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
14 2/3 oz all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
sesame seeds and poppy seeds for sprinkling (optional)

1. Whisk the water and yeast together in a large bowl and let sit until the yeast is foamy, about 10 minutes. Add in the flour and mix with a fork until all of the flour is absorbed, let sit for 20 minutes to let the flour hydrate then add the salt.
2. Transfer dough to a floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. I should note here that I ended up adding quite a bit of flour to my work surface (maybe about 1/2c) because the dough was unbelievably sticky, more like paste than dough really. Transfer the dough to a clean, oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until it is doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
3. Transfer the risen dough to a floured work surface and shape into an 8''x6'' rectangle. Fold the long sides of the dough toward the center, then fold the short sides of the dough towards the center. Return the folded dough to the oiled bowl, seam side down. Cover and let rise until it has doubled in size again, about 1 hour.
4. Place a cast iron skillet on the bottom rack of the oven. Place a baking stone on the rack above the cast iron pan. You will put ice cubes in the cast iron skillet to create steam while the bread is baking. This will help a nice crunchy crust form.
5. Heat oven to 475º and transfer the dough to a floured work surface and divide it into three equal parts. Shape each piece into a 14'' long rope. Flour a sheet of parchment paper and arrange the three ropes on the paper with space in between them. Gently pull up the paper between the loaves and slide in tightly rolled dishtowels to support the loaves. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let the loaves rise until they are doubled in size, about 50 min.
6. Uncover the loaves and remove the dishtowel supports. Using a sharp knife or razor blade, slash the tops of the loaves 4 times. For the seeded loaf pictured above, I lightly brushed one of the loaves with water and sprinkled it with 2t sesame seeds and 2t poppy seeds before slashing. I highly recommend it.
7. Using the parchment paper as a guide, carefully slide the loaves (still on the paper) onto the baking stone. Place 1/2c ice cubes in the hot cast iron skillet below and bake the baguettes until darkly browned and crisp. This only took about 25 minutes in my oven, but the original recipe said it would take 30, so use your good judgement here. When you start to smell toasty bread smell, I would take a little peek in the oven to see what's going on. Cool before serving.

Roasted Radishes

1 bunch radishes, any type
2T olive oil
salt

Preheat oven to 400º

Trim the greens from the radishes and toss with olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. Place on a baking sheet and roast until light golden, 20-25 minutes.

Herbed Butter

4T unsalted butter, softened
2T mixed chopped soft herbs, I like chives, tarragon and parsley so that is what I used here.
pinch salt

Whisk all of the ingredients together until well combined.

To assemble the Toasts

Slice 1/2 of a baguette into 1/4-1/2'' slices and brush lightly with olive oil. Place on a baking sheet and broil for 45-60 seconds per side until the toasts are golden.
Spread a bit of the herbed butter on each toast and top with a warm, sliced roasted radish. Sprinkle with additional salt if desired.

Other options

Top the toasts with herbed goat cheese or ricotta instead of butter and toss a leaf of arugula into the mix, delish.
If you don't feel like roasting, fresh radishes with herbed butter would be great too.

Chocolate Almond Babka and a Trip to the Beach

When Autumn wrote so eloquently about how hard it is to make friends as an adult I nodded my head in agreement and when she quietly questioned the value of blogging and what it has brought to her life I shook it even harder. It's easy to sit back and read other people's words and comment and admire them from afar, but at what point can you consider them friends?

I am someone who likes to have a lot of time to myself. The reason I stayed at my last job long after I should have was that it offered me hours and hours of alone time every afternoon, but now that I've been away from that job for a few months, I find myself with more time than I know what to do with. It's not that I don't enjoy it, but as I've gotten a bit older I've assigned more value to making meaningful connections with other folks. 

You may have seen Ariele's beautiful wood work or Amélie's clever letterpress baseball cards around the internet. I'll try not to sound like a gushing fan girl here, but when I saw their work for the first time I was so surprised and delighted. Yes, I know that sounds terribly cheesy, but I can't think of any other words to describe how happy I was to see two talented gals busting ass to make their living as artists.



After a few months of internet friendship and lots of commenting back and forth, it was decided that a meeting of the minds was in order, a blind friendship date if you will. We chose a time and I promised to bring the snacks. When I saw a swirled chocolate babka by way of Eating for England I knew I had found the perfect tea time treat. I consulted my bread guy (Peter Reinhart) for his recipe and ended up with this delicately sweet and super chocolatey bread. I packed it up in a tea towel to contain all of the delicious streusel crumbs and made my way to Ariele's incredible studio/apartment. We chatted and drank tea and when I got to see their work in the flesh, it did not disappoint.



We spent the afternoon talking about about all sorts of things and when someone mentioned Dead Horse Bay my ears (probably my whole face too) perked right up. I had heard of the place, but had never been. We decided that the next day's spring-like weather demanded a trip!



This isn't a beach for sunbathing and frisbee tossing. It's the kind of beach that requires sturdy shoes and gloves. You see, Dead Horse Bay is the former site of a horse rendering plant, turned 19th century landfill, turned playground for "junk" loving treasure hunters. The beach is littered with piles and piles of beautiful glass bottles, bits of tiles and Amélie even found an old rusted gun and a toy cowboy boot in close proximity to one another. I came home with some glass bottles to add to my collection and some porcelain light sockets that I repurposed into candle sticks.



As we walked along the beach picking up and kicking up treasures, yelling to each other when we found something exceptionally cool, I felt like I was anywhere but New York. The smell of the sea air was comforting, the sun was shining bright and warm and I was spending time with two awesome ladies I knew from the internet and had only met in person the day before.



I knew immediately that I wanted to go back. I've already planned another trip.

Chocolate Almond Babka
adapted from Peter Reinhart

For the Dough

2T instant yeast
6oz lukewarm milk
3oz room temperature butter
3oz sugar
1oz vegetable oil
1t vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
15oz all purpose flour
.25oz salt
1 egg + 1T water for egg wash

For the Filling

9oz finely chopped bittersweet chocolate
4oz sliced almonds
1t cinnamon
2oz cold butter

For the Topping (optional, but advised)
The original recipe called for 2x this amount of topping, but I could only get about half of it to stick to the bread so if you really want to go for it with the crumbs feel free to double these amounts

1oz butter
.75 oz all purpose flour
.5 oz almond meal
2oz brown sugar
pinch cinnamon
pinch salt

For the Bread

1. Whisk the yeast and milk together. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. I made this entire recipe by hand with a wooden spoon, but you could use a hand or stand mixer instead.
3. Add in the oil and vanilla, then add the egg yolks in one at a time, mixing until each yolk is thoroughly incorporated. Mix for 2 min or until the eggs are light and fluffy.
4. Stop mixing, then add the flour and salt, followed by the milk and yeast mixture. Mix slowly until the dough comes together, if you are mixing by hand, your hands are the best tool for this job.
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead for 2 min. The dough should be soft, supple and golden in color. Place the dough in a well oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap and let rise for 2 1/2hrs or until the dough almost doubles in size. At this point you can finish the bread or let the dough rest in the refrigerator over night. I let mine rest.

For the Filling

Combine the chopped chocolate, almonds and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add the butter and mix with your fingers or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles streusel.

To Assemble the Loaf

1. Grease a 9''x5'' or 10''x5'' loaf pan and line with parchment paper so it hangs over the two long sides. Once the dough has risen, roll it into a 15''x15'' square on a lightly floured surface. The dough should be about 1/4'' thick. Sprinkle the chocolate and almond filling over the dough, leaving a 1/2'' border around the edges.
2. Roll the dough like a jelly roll and place it seam side down on your work surface. Gently roll the dough back and forth until it is about 20'' long.
3. Fold the dough in half to form a "U" shape. Twist the arms of the dough two or three times around each other to form the loaf, then pinch the seams together. This post has a photo of a formed loaf. Place the dough into the prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room until the babka fills the pan, 1-2 hours.

While the loaf is rising

Preheat oven to 350º

Prepare the Streusel and Finish the Loaf

1. Combine all of the streusel ingredients with your hands until the mixture resembles cornmeal.
2. When the loaf has risen completely, brush with egg wash made from 1 egg +1T water and sprinkle the streusel mixture over the top. Use a toothpick to poke a few holes in the top of the loaf which will release any air pockets trapped between the folds of the dough and filling.
3. Place the loaf pan onto a baking sheet and slide into the oven. Bake for 20-25min, then rotate and bake for 20-30 more minutes. The loaf will be deep golden brown on top and sound hollow when the bottom is tapped when finished. You can also use a thermometer to check the internal temperature which will be 185º when the loaf is finished.

Cool the loaf to room temperature before slicing.

p.s. I recently listened to a TED talk by Susan Cain about the power of introverts, about how our society is built for extroverts to succeed and receive praise. While I don't agree with everything she has to say, I think it is worth a listen.

Edible Holiday Gifts: Spicy Caramel Cashew Corn

Every year around this time I try to take up knitting. I've always wanted to give hand knit hats and scarves and chunky cowls as gifts, but every year I get about 20 rows into the same scarf and give up. Patience for learning new tasks is hard for me to come by these days. The thing is, I really love to give hand made gifts. So after giving up on knitting and purling I inevitably end up in the kitchen stirring boiling hot pots of sugar, rolling out cookie doughs and pulling the sprinkles down from the top shelf to decorate cookie ornaments. Over the years I've built up quite a repertoire of tasty gifts and this caramel corn is one of my favorite snacks to bring to a holiday party. It also looks oh so cute packed up in little jars or bags for party favors. It is salty, sweet with just a hint of heat from the cayenne pepper and it is totally addictive. I use mushroom corn here which is a super fluffy variety of popcorn that is just perfect for holding lots and lots of tasty caramel and can handle the stirring without breaking, but good old fashioned jiffy pop works too.

Spicy Caramel Cashew Corn
yield about 2 quarts of finished caramel corn

3T oil
1/2c popcorn kernels (mushroom corn if you can find it)
2c sugar
3T butter
1T salt
1 1/2t baking soda
1/2t cayenne pepper
1t cinnamon
1/2t freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups salted cashews

To Pop the Corn

Use an air popper OR if you are like me, do it on the stovetop

1. Heat the 3T of oil in a large heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat, drop a few un popped kernels in there while the oil is heating. When the kernels pop, the oil is ready to go.
2. When the oil is hot, toss in the 1/2c of popcorn kernels, put on the lid and shake the pan back and forth a few times to coat all of the kernels with hot oil. As the popcorn pops, shake the pan every 30 seconds or so to prevent the bottom kernels from scorching. Once the time between "pops" slows down to a few seconds, it's done. Immediately turn the popcorn out into a large bowl.
3. When the pop corn is cool, carefully go through and remove all of the un-popped kernels then pour the cashews on top of the popcorn, without stirring them in.

For the Caramel

1. Lightly oil 2 wooden spoons or spatulas (these will be used to stir the caramel into the popcorn) and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or lightly oil it (this will be used to cool the caramel covered corn).
2. In a large heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat add the sugar, butter, salt and 1/2c water. Bring the mixture to a boil (without stirring) and let it boil vigorously until it turns a light golden caramel, 10-14min.
3. Remove the pot from the heat and whisk in the spices and baking soda. The baking soda will make the mixture foam and expand so make sure you are using a large pot. The spices will cause the caramel to darken in color.
4. Immediately and carefully pour the caramel over the popcorn and cashews, grab your oiled spatulas and start gently tossing the mixture together. Keep stirring until the corn and cashews are evenly coated, then turn the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and gently separate the kernels. You don't need to go crazy here, but try to get it in an even layer.

To give as gifts

Package a few cups of the corn in a mason jar, weck jar, or pretty glassine bag tied with a ribbon and a label.

Notes

- To wash all of your caramel covered bowls, spoons, and pots just soak them in really hot water and all of the sugar will just melt off.
-You can buy your own mushroom popcorn kernels here. I've ordered from JustPoppin.com quite a few times and their customer service is great, plus I really like their name.

Chocolate Snack Cake

Hi all! Sorry for the absence around these parts, but I was off in Seattle visiting friends and family and soaking up some of that famous Northwest sunshine. No seriously, it was sunny for two whole days, in a row. So, while I get myself back up to east coast speed I offer you this easy-peasy recipe for a great little snack. This fluffy, chocolaty cake is not too sweet so it's great for breakfast or an afternoon snack for the kiddos in your life. It also does not use any dairy, eggs, or refined sugar so on the dessert scale it is actually pretty virtuous. If you want to fancy it up a bit, serve it with some coconut milk ice cream and fresh strawberries which are coming in to season all over the US right now.

Chocolate Snack Cake

1 3/4c flour
2t baking powder
1t baking soda
1/2t kosher salt
2c soy milk, or other non-dairy milk
3/4c cocoa powder
1/2c canola oil or olive oil
1 1/2 c maple syrup
1/2t distilled white vinegar
1t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 and line a 9'' square baking pan with greased parchment paper

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
2. In a medium saucepan, warm the soy milk until bubbles form around the edges of the pan, whisk in the cocoa powder then remove the mixture from the heat.
3. Combine the oil, maple syrup, vinegar and vanilla in a separate bowl. I usually do this in the measuring cup to save dishes.
4. Add the soy mixture to the oil mixture then pour it all into the flour mixture and stir to combine.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 min or until a toothpick stuck into the cake comes out clean.

To serve, cut into big squares and dust with confectioner's sugar (or not, if you are avoiding refined sugar). Wrap leftovers in plastic wrap and keep at room temp.