A Sweet Spoonful

I failed geometry in high school. Literally failed. Had to take it over the next year. And I was a really good student so this was shocking (well really, I wasn’t all that shocked at all when it came right down to it). I doodled on my Converse in class and wrote moody poetry. Numbers have never been my thing. Words, yes. But not their more logical cousins. So it’s been a bit of an uphill struggle these past few weeks getting the financial statements and tax stuff all squared away for Marge. I’m slowly learning Quickbooks and have some nice people helping me out (thanks Mariane and Carol!) but it’s still a lot of accounting jargon. I feel like I need flash cards. Instead, I make snacks.

These are very simple little sweet toasts that are perfect for evenings when you’re stuck with your calculator dreaming of being somewhere else. They’ll take you there momentarily. Use your favorite crusty baguette and a good quality bittersweet chocolate (I like Scharffen Berger’s 72%). While I’ve been making these later in the evening with tea, I think they’d be darn fine in the morning, too.

Chocolate, Olive Oil and Sea Salt Toasts
Slightly adapted from: The Essential New York Times Cookbook
This is one of those funny recipes that’s a little less a recipe than four ingredients that work magic together. I like to add a bit of Meyer lemon zest underneath the layer of bittersweet chocolate. Try it this way if you’re a lemon fan. Either way, simplicity rules here. The chocolate obviously melts so don’t obsess to much on getting perfect square of chocolate–I just chopped off uneven chunks.

Ingredients:
Four 1/4-inch thick baguette slices
Zest of one meyer lemon
4 thin 1-inch squares bittersweet chocolate
Extra virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lay the bread slices on a baking sheet and sprinkle lemon zest on top. Lay a chocolate square on each and sprinkle with a little olive oil and sea salt.

2. Bake until the chocolate looks gooey and melted but not seeping all the way through the bread, about 5 minutes. The bread should be crisp. Out of the oven, sprinkle with a little more sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil.

Serves: 1 slightly exhausted small business owner

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