Chocolate Covered Breadsticks: Bread and Chocolate

Bread and Chocolate: How I Survived in Europe on $5 a Day.

Many years ago I traveled throughout Europe with the Europe on Five Dollars a Day guidebook, a Eurail Pass, a baquette (frequently replenished), and bars of chocolate. Today I'm more into the 2-4 Michelin star meals, but back then I had very little money, and there were exceptional crunchy baquettes and high quality French and Belgium chocolate to be had for a song. Filled me up--and delicious!

Today, I recreate those times... taking it up a notch with Chocolate Covered Breadsticks. I use skinny pre-made breadsticks, but if you have the time, you can make your own breadsticks. I use Italian breadsticks. Remember it's all about the quality of the breadsticks and the chocolate!

Want to get creative? After dipping the breadsticks in chocolate, sprinkle with chopped pistachios or kosher salt or sea salt. These chocolate covered breadsticks go great with a cup of coffee or tea. Want to serve them as an hors d'oeuvre? Wrap prosciutto tightly around the breadstick before dipping in chocolate. This works better with fatter, breadier breadsticks, at least for my taste.

CHOCOLATE COVERED BREADSTICKS

Ingredients
2.5 ounces dark chocolate (65-85% cacao)
12-15 very thin breadsticks

Directions
Melt chocolate and dip quickly up 3/4 length of breadsticks.
Let excess chocolate drip off.
Put coated sticks on parchment-lined baking sheet.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes to harden.

Bread and Chocolate

When I travelled around Europe as a college student, my food de jour was bread and chocolate. There was always good crusty bread available--and chocolate was always on hand. I didn't have money for a pain au chocolate or an eclair, but bread.. well a loaf or a roll, depending on funds, was always available.

On Chow recently I saw arecipe for a Grilled chocolate Sandwich. The salty and the sweet, curbs the appetite and fills the stomach. The Chow recipe uses cinnamon. Here's my adaptation without cinnamon. Experiment with different organic fair-trade chocolate with different amounts of cacao.

How easy is this? 15 minutes start to finish!!!

1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (or more/definitely the darker the better for me)
1 (7- to 8-inch) French or Sourdough roll, sliced in half horizontally
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat a gas or charcoal grill to medium (about 350°F) or a grill pan over medium-low heat. (a panini press works well, too)
2. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.
3. Place chocolate inside bread, close, and evenly spread butter on the outside.
4. Grill 5 minutes, pressing frequently with a metal spatula, until grill marks have formed and crust is browned. Flip. Grill the other side until browned and crusty, about 5 to 8 minutes more.
5. Remove from heat