Food Bloggers of the World Unite! You Have Nothing To Lose But Your Grains!

The Michigan Daily, my school's student newspaper, ran an article today on the joys of food blogging. The money line: "People do read them, and they can grow more powerful than our wildest imaginations."

Keep up the good work you Food Stories warriors!

Three *Oui* Baguettes

It was chocolate bread last week. This week, I went for French baguettes. I was a little nervous, but they turned out beautifully! I must brag -- Steve seemed thoroughly impressed :). The recipe is very simple, only four ingredients were needed. Try it for yourself!

Baguettes

4 cups flour
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1-2 teaspoons salt
2 cups warm water
Oil for bowl

Mix together flour and salt. In another bowl, combine yeast and warm water. Then add half the flour/salt mixture to the yeast mixture. Mix by hand until it forms a sort of wet dough. Cover and let rise for 3 hours at room temperature. It should triple in size.

Incorporate the rest of the flour/salt mixture by hand. Knead for 10 minutes. Lightly oil a bowl. Place dough in bowl, cover and let rise for one hour. It should double in size. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Knead dough again. Cut dough into 3 parts. Shape each into a long baguette. Place on baking sheet. Let sit for at least 20 minutes. Place bowl of water in oven. Bake baguettes for 25 minutes (maybe less!). Remove bowl of water after 15 minutes.

The Perfect Food: Chocolate Bread

My weekly stress-release/relaxation therapy is baking something. The two things I love most about baking is that it is a creative process and that it results in a finished product within (usually) a few hours. I get to feel like an artist while creating something sweet and comforting. Not many forms of creative release will result in a product that can be enjoyed for days afterward.

Last week, I made chocolate bread. I found the recipe on the NPR website. This bread doesn't result in a finished loaf after only a few hours. This is real bread, and it takes kneading, rising, and chilling time, but that just makes the end product all the more rewarding (assuming it turns out, that is). You should definitely plan ahead -- the bread has to chill in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours, so it can't be made in one day.

Chocolate Bread

Dough
1 /2 cup warm water
1 cup warm coffee
2/3 cup + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, divided
2 teaspoons dry yeast
4 1/2 cups bread flour
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 egg, room temperature
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces good quality dark chocolate (the best part!), chopped into 1/2 inch chunks

Egg Glaze
1 egg
1 teaspoon water

In small bowl, combine 1/2 cup warm water with 1 teaspoon of sugar. Sprinkle yeast over the water and set the mixture aside, about 10 minutes, until foamy.

In a large bowl, place flour, 2/3 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, cocoa, and salt. Combine thoroughly.

Add warm coffee and egg to yeast mixture. Add this to the flour mixture. Combine. Add 12 tablespoons of softened butter. (You can knead this in if it's easier that way.) Knead for 2 minutes. Add chocolate chunks, knead until incorporated. Transfer dough to buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap or towel and let rise in warm, draft-free place for 2 hours. The dough should double in size.

After the dough has risen, punch it down to let out some air. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for at least 8 hours or up to 2 days.

Butter two loaf pans. On lightly floured surface, separated the dough into half. Divide each half into 6 equal-sized balls. Place 6 dough balls, two by two at a diagonal, into each loaf pan. Cover and let rise for one hour.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In small bowl, whisk together egg and water. Using pastry brush, brush over tops of loaves. Bake loaves for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks for 15 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on racks for an additional 15 minutes before enjoying.