You know buckwheat in other preparations: cooked like rice in kasha varnishkes, milled into flour for soba, stuffed into pillows at MUJI.
It wasn't until I was feeling peckish at Brooklyn Kitchen that I even thought to eat toasted buckwheat (I broke the "no nibbling" rule and took a little taste from the bulk bin). It's really fun -- nutty and toasty, with a pop like those flower buds you used to explode with the lightest squeeze.
My version of the Nestle Crunch Bar is simply melted dark chocolate poured over a layer of buckwheat and dried red currants. This is chocolatey and nostalgic, then jammy, then something else. People talk of wine or cheese with a "barnyard" funk, but this has a "grain silo" wholesomeness, a haylike flavor that tastes of golden fields far away from NYC. You must try this. It's so easy and ridiculously good.
Recipe: Oil a non-stick loaf pan and layer bottom with 1/4 cup toasted buckwheat and 3 tablespoons of dried currants. Melt 1 1/2 cups of dark chocolate over a double broiler, pour over buckwheat mixture. Let set in refrigerator on flat surface. When hard, crack and serve. Keeps for weeks.
What other whole grains would you put in this healthy chocolate bar? Leave your comments below!
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