Take a Journey Through Food
One of my favorite things to do when I travel is to explore the different foods in the new area or city. I’ll look for markets, shop the local grocery stores or order the local specialties from restaurants.
Last month I was able to visit family in Louisiana. It was Mardi Gras season so the grocery store parking lots smelled of cinnamon, vanilla and sugar from all of the king cakes they were making. I ate lots of fried seafood but one of my favorite seafood dishes was Crawfish Monica my brother prepared one night. I’ve done some searching on the internet and am anxious to try one of the recipes I found. It will be a nice reminder of that trip.
Another of my favorite travel recipes comes from New York City, where my daughter lives. When I was visiting last year she shared this amazing cookie with me. She buys them from a little retail space in Grand Central Station from a bakery called Bien Cuit. It was the most decadent chocolate cookie I have ever eaten! It’s particularly interesting because they use buckwheat flour. Upon returning to Kansas, I found a recipe for this exact cookie that had been published in Bon Appetit magazine. I’ve made these cookies for my granddaughters and they say they are cookies for grown-ups. I’m not sure if it’s because they’re not too sweet or because of the espresso in them but I love them!
Bien Cuit’s Salted Chocolate Buckwheat Cookies
2 cups buckwheat flour, plus more for surface (I find buckwheat flour in the refrigerated section of health food stores)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 ½ cups lightly packed light brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¼ cups chocolate chips
1 teaspoon strong espresso or strong coffee, room temperature
Powdered sugar, for sprinkling
Sea salt, preferable Maldon, for sprinkling
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk flour, cocoa powder and baking powder in a medium bowl; set aside. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat brown sugar and butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Gradually add dry ingredients and beat on medium-low until no dry spots remain. (Sometimes I find the dough too dry, so I either add a little water or an egg yolk to help it come together.)
Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Shape into a log about 2 inches in diameter and about 10 inches long. Cut crosswise into 12 even pieces. Place cookies on prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with powdered sugar and a little bit of salt. Bake, rotating once halfway through, until cookies are cracked, slightly puffed and baked through (they will still be slightly soft and firm up as they cool), 12-15 minutes. Let cool slightly on baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack (I give them another light dusting of powdered sugar at this point); cool completely.
This makes a dozen fairly big cookies but they are rich so one cookie will suffice. At least I try to limit myself to just one cookie – per day!
Safe Journeys
We can all still travel safely through ebooks, digital audiobooks and digital movies from the library. Reading is one of my favorite ways of exploring new places. Good writers can make you believe you are there with a character. You can also explore new places through cookbooks. I’ve made a list of some digital books that look interesting. Enjoy!
