Poco-Cocoa

Last week I was asked to bring bread to a dinner at Chad and Lindsay’s. Rather than buying a specialty loaf from Central Market or Whole Foods, I decided to make my own. I used to bake bread once a week, usually using this recipe from the original Laurel’s Kitchen.

I bought this little paperback wonder years and years ago for fifty cents at a library book sale. I fell in love with Laurel and her hippie ways, her sprouts and breads and beans. I read the first chapter over and over again, especially the part where Carol Flinders describes the lunch that Laurel prepares for her husband…a big wicker basket filled with sandwiches (“thick slices of dark rye around an egg salad sparked with sweet red peppers and parsley”), a thermos of barley soup with a tiny packet of grated cheese, a salad of lettuce and cherry tomatoes with a tiny bottle of herb dressing, half a cantaloupe with zigzag edges filled with cottage cheese and toasted sunflower seeds, peanut butter-seed cookies, a scored orange, a thermos of decaf coffee, and a thermos of hot malted milk spiked with a protein supplement.

Oh my! I was in love with the idea of eating whole foods, and lots of them. I wanted to bake my own bread and boil my own beans, grow my own vegetables and cook with love. I remember the first few weeks post-Laurel, with lunches of my own egg salad on homemade bread, pasta salads, fruit…Justin and I would sit together in his car and share lunch in between my hectic summer school classes. It was lovely.

Since then, I’ve mellowed out a bit, but I still love the idea of cooking with love. I really believe you can taste the difference between food that’s been prepared haphazardly or in a rush, following a rigid recipe or while multitasking, and food that has been lovingly washed, sliced, and cooked, slowly and with care. This Thursday we’ll be watching Like Water for Chocolate (one of my favorite food flicks) with some friends, and I look forward to revisiting the images of how emotions can be shared through food.

So anyway, the bread. This is Laurel’s most basic recipe, and my favorite by far. I love that there are so few ingredients…the simplicity of the recipe really lets you appreciate the flavor of the bread. I’ve also kneaded in sunflower seeds or herbs, rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes or onion flakes…feel free to add whatever sounds good to you. The loaves generally end up being shorter and denser because of the whole wheat flour, but it’s still heavenly.

Whole-Wheat Bread

• 2 1/2 cups warm water (I use hot tap water)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 6 cups whole wheat flour

Pour the warm water into a large bowl. Add the sugar and sprinkle the yeast on top of the water. In a few minutes, when the yeast comes bubbling to the top, stir in half the flour and beat very well, until the dough ceases to be grainy and becomes smooth and stretchy.

Add the salt and remaining flour cup by cup, mixing well. Knead it in the bowl until it is no longer sticky, then turn it out onto a floured board.

As the dough gets gets stiffer and harder to knead, sprinkle the remaining flour a little at a time on the board and knead the dough on top of it. Knead, push, and fold until the dough is soft and springy to the touch (usually at least 8 to 10 minutes…set at timer so you don’t stop too early). Spray the bowl with cooking spray, then plop the dough in, turning to coat both sides. Place the dough round side-up. Cover the bowl snugly with plastic wrap or a dish towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (usually 45 minutes to an hour).

Punch dough down; let stand 5 minutes. Spray two loaf pans with cooking spray. Divide dough in half; roll each half into a rectangle, then roll up the dough, jelly-roll style, pinching the edges to seal. (Roll the dough tightly to avoid air pockets.) Place the loaves into the pans, cover, and let rise once more, until doubled in bulk (usually about 45 minutes).

Toward the end of this rising period, preheat the oven to 375ËšF. When the bread is rounded just above the rim, bake it for about 40 minutes. When you remove it from the pan and tap the sides or bottom, it should sound slightly hollow. The color should be a rich golden brown. Allow the bread to cool, then slice and serve.

Makes 2 loaves.

Source: Laurel’s Kitchen.

So I’ve fallen in love with Japanese craft books. I’ve been wanting to buy a few for ages, but navigating Japanese websites is a bit difficult. I finally found YesAsia, which is much easier to use than amazon.com.jp, but in a final attempt to avoid shipping costs, I drove my little blue car all around Austin today, visiting Oriental markets.

I visited one in East Austin, small and clean, with a convenience-store feel. The sales clerk showed me their book section…three Asian cookbooks from the 1970’s. Next I drove to North Austin, where the Asian stores are plenty. The first store I went into reeked of fish…there were whole fish on beds of ice in the back of the store. In my experience, if fish smells fishy, it just isn’t fresh. Anyway, no books.

The next store was larger, with no fish scent. I think this was because their fish section consisted of tanks of live fish, ready to be butchered. I arrived just in time to see a woman choosing between two catfish flopping on the ground, the sales clerk waiting with his net nearby. Now that’s fresh fish! Still, no books.

The Vietnamese video store next door did have a few old Vietnamese romance novels, and the next two stores carried huge Japanese fashion magazines at $29.99 a piece. I’ve never seen a magazine this big before…full of ads, of course, and gorgeous clothing and household goods. I found lots of great plates and bowls, cooking utensils and of course, food, but no Japanese craft books. Shipping charges it is.

Still, I had fun perusing aisle after aisle of Asian goods, having no idea whether the package I was holding contained candy or dried shrimp, and watching other shoppers choose products so decisively…this package of noodles, that can of lychees. It seemed I was in another world for just one afternoon.

On the Asian food front…in an effort to use up some bok choy from the farmer’s market, I created this Asian-inspired dish, which I served with honey-glazed tofu and brown Texmati rice. I tried to pay attention to amounts as I was cooking, but you may need to tweak things a bit.

Gingered Bok Choy

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced ginger (one small piece)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (2 medium cloves)
• 1 head bok choy, sliced, stems and leaves separated
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic and saute 1 to 2 minutes, until garlic is just golden. Add bok choy stems, soy sauce, and water, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until stems are just tender. Add bok choy leaves and cilantro, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more. Serve with tofu and brown rice.

Makes 2 to 3 servings.

Source: poco-cocoa.

Honey-Glazed Tofu

• 1 (12-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, drained, blotted dry, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon sriracha sauce (you may want to add more, mine wasn’t spicy at all)

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu in one layer, and cook without stirring for 4 to 5 minutes, or until bottoms are lightly browned. Flip pieces over and brown at least one other side, about 4 to 5 minutes more.

While tofu is cooking, whisk together remaining ingredients. Once tofu is browned, add honey mixture to the pan. Shake and stir until the tofu is evenly coated, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until the sauce thickens up a bit and glazes the tofu.

Makes 2 to 3 servings.

Source: poco-cocoa.

Do you want to know how wonderful my husband is? He’s had a long, hard work week…coming home at midnight one night, 2:00 a.m. another night, and getting up early to trudge back to work. Life in the advertising field tends to include long hours and tight deadlines, but this week has been ridiculous. Anyway, I’ve felt so bad for him, wishing I could help him finish more quickly, wishing he could have a few more hours of sleep, wishing he could have a break. And what does he do? He comes home with flowers. For me. He thought that since it’s been a rough week, and we haven’t been able to spend much time together, I deserved flowers. I think I melted on the spot. He also remembered my love for daisies. What a man.

To sweeten this post a little more, here’s an idea for a quick chocolate fix. I have my friend Lindsay to thank for this one.

Dark Chocolate Jumbles

• Good quality chocolate chips (I use Guittard)
• Chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans…whatever you like)
• Dried fruit (I prefer dried cherries, though Lindsay has used cranberries before)

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, and stir until smooth. Add enough chopped nuts and/or fruit so that the chocolate evenly coats them, but is no longer runny. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper, and let cool. (If you really need a chocolate fix, you can put these in the refrigerator for 5 or 10 minutes so they’ll harden even faster.)

I think last time I used about 1/2 a bag of chocolate chips, 1 cup of chopped nuts, and 1/2 cup of cherries. If it still looks runny, add more nuts or cherries.

Source: My pal Lindsay.