Day 8: smoky-nuttiness, or nutty-smokiness?
Well, I’ve managed to dedicate seven out of the past eleven days to cook along to a Nigella recipe and bring some much-needed structure into my daily routine. As I said from the start, the challenge here is not so much in the cookalong itself, but in the self-discipline - to set aside time to do something that I enjoy. To break up the day and focus on something I want to, and not necessarily have to. Picking and choosing recipes has been fun - we’ve tasted things we wouldn’t normally, and, adding new items to the shopping trolley has been a delight too - not that I need much encouragement in the food shopping department as this is already something I take great joy in.
I am right now, and please forgive the crudity, happy as a pig in….well, whatever a pig is happiest rolling about in!
So we now, delightfully, step into the next seven days of our 365-day Nigella cookalong challenge, and are filled with even more excitement than before. Nigella’s new Cook, Eat, Repeat TV show aired this week - that’s Monday nights sorted for the next six or seven weeks! Plus, my pre-ordered signed edition of the book by the same title also arrived - finally! Although, I am saving that for the weekend; when the work week is over, my chores are done and I can escape into a wonderland of food and cooking that Nigella can, so accurately and enthusiastically, put down on paper. I will probably accompany this indulgence further with an espresso martini, or two, and continue to embrace the early festive spirit with a Nigella Christmas Martini.
Nigella’s Triple Chocolate Buckwheat Cookies
A quick cookalong today - Nigella’s Triple Chocolate Buckwheat Cookies.
Another introduction from my time in Poland; buckwheat groats are often eaten as a side-staple - much in place of where your rice, pasta or potatoes would sit. In flour form though, it is not so common. I actually bought a packet of it a few years ago when I was gluten free - now a thing of the past - and never got around to doing anything with it. Recently I made a cake with it, which was earthy, and chewy, and sweet, with notes of savouriness - I loved it. So different for a cake. It therefore made perfect sense to add these cookies to the cookalong.
Dark chocolate is probably my least favourite form of chocolate. I’m not keen on the bitterness, and I like creaminess. But, these cookies taste amazing. Quick and easy to make.
However, I did ruin them slightly as they ended up with a cake-like texture. They are neither crunchy, nor chewy, and are more like dry cake. On research, this could have been caused by overwhipping and adding too much rising ingredient. I think it’s likely I mixed up my half and whole teaspoon measures here! Perhaps, also, I didn’t bake them long enough, but considering this marked my first time making cookies - I was undoubtedly overly cautious. Actually, I lie, this in fact marks my second occasion, with the first yielding rather similar cake-like results, which also probably explains why I’ve waited eight years to try again.
Flavour musings
A delightful bitterness, offset by sweetness from the added sugar. Buckwheat has a wonderful nutty, earthy flavour that really shines through and compliments these cookies. For one batch, I added a sprinkling of smoked salt flakes before baking, which I thought added to their subtle smokiness and brought in that salted-chocolate element, that I happen go be particularly fond of, to the experience.
I will pick this one up again in a few weeks and try to get the texture right that time.
