Saturday, July 18, 2009

Cracker It



Several weeks ago I had the chance to attend an author event at the wondrous Omnivore Books on Food (I've been on their email list for a while and have missed out on some cool events, so I was happy to finally make it to one). The author was Karen Solomon, and she was talking about her awesome new book,Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it, And Other Cooking Projects. Karen refers to the recipes in the books as “DIY kitchen crafting projects,” which is certainly an apt description for endeavors such as making your own cheese, bacon, and peanut butter cups. The book is jam-packed with intriguing and scrumptious-looking projects, with very detailed instructions (and time commitments) for the various processes. I highly recommend checking it out.



I decided to start with a simple and practical recipe: crackers! I love artisan crackers, but they’re rather expensive, so I am delighted I can now make them at home with ingredients that are always in my pantry. The cracker dough is very easy to work with (I had no problem rolling it before it chilled) and you can vary the mix-ins or toppings to your taste. I used a ruler in an attempt to make straight lines and even crackers– not terribly successful – and sliced them with a pizza cutter. Both times I’ve made these, I’ve used the basic cracker recipe with olive oil rather than canola for a slightly richer cracker and topped them with seeds; I’m also anxious to try the cheese version. You can find a printable version of the recipe HERE. I gave this recipe an 8 for Deliciousness and a 2.5 for Effort, giving it and EDR of 3.2.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your crackers look delicious! I made crackers once and they were just so-so; I'll have to try this recipe next. Thanks for the tip on the book too!

Megan said...

Wow! Very impressive. And tasty looking, too.

I made homemade crackers once (for the Daring Bakers) but never tried again.

JoAnn Freda said...

Your crackers don't even look homemade, they look just like the good, expensive ones you can buy and they look really tasty. I'm guessing the cheese had to be closely guarded during the photo shoot.

vibi said...

Very well done, Margot! Those look super crispy... and I love that you served them directly with the cheese brick!

k.a.r.e.n said...

Im definitely going to try the cracker recipe next.

Unknown said...

I never would have guessed those crackers were homemade! They look just as good (if not better) than the ones you find in the store!