Going Crackers

Having a flexible summer schedule can wreak a little havoc with the use of some more inflexible objects, such as desk-top computers. I’ve been away from my desk, so to speak, for quite some time, so if you’ve been bored enough to look for something new to read here, I’m sorry that there has been no such thing. I hope to get some extra posts in over the next week or so, so that my June 2010 archives don’t look quite so bare.

First of all, I thought I’d get back to that olive oil flatbread that I made with fresh thyme from my container garden to go with Asparagus and Goat Cheese Dip so long ago. Really, it’s a sort of rustic cracker broken into irregular shards that beg to be dipped in or spread with something thick and creamy. I bumped up the WFQ* from the original recipe by switching out some of the all purpose flour for whole wheat pastry flour, and that turned out to be a great mix with the thyme and olive oil.

This dough is quite simple to make. You just mix flour and oil and water and herbs until they come together into a ball that you only need to knead a few times, just to keep it in line a little better. You could use any herbs you like (I used the thyme to match that in the Asparagus and Goat Cheese Dip) or probably any spices. I’d also like to try some flours from other grains (especially rice flour) and perhaps add some finely ground nuts or seeds such as sunflower or sesame. Oh, the possibilities!

The tricky thing about this stuff is that you really do need to roll out the dough onto parchment paper if you want to have any chance of turning it into anything beyond dough. It isn’t gooey or particularly messy, but it would adhere rather hopelessly to a counter or table, so use the parchment.

The hardest part of making these rustic crackers is getting the rolled-out dough into the oven. I baked it on a preheated pizza baking stone and transferred it there using a wooden peel, but you could invert a baking sheet on the oven rack and slide the dough and parchment onto that. If you don’t have a peel, try using the back of another baking sheet or a rimless cookie sheet.

Really, the chances are that you’re more physically coordinated than I am anyway, and won’t need the years of pizza-baking experience I’ve had just to get a dough like this into the oven without maiming yourself. If you’re not exactly a culinary acrobat, I say give it a chance, and perhaps practice baking these crackers before your next dinner party. You’ll probably really impress your friends by making your own crackers, especially ones as delicious as these. Then again, depending on your friends, they may just think you’ve gone insane.

Rustic Homemade Crackers with Thyme
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 cup all purpose flour
¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
½ cup water
1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for brushing
additional salt for sprinkling (this would be a good place to use a flaky sea salt)

1. Preheat oven to 450 F with a baking stone or an inverted baking sheet on the rack in the middle of the oven.

2. Combine all purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, ¾ teaspoon salt and thyme in a medium size bowl. Whisk together until well combined.

3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the water and 1/3 cup olive oil. Stir into the flour mixture until all is just moistened. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead 5 to 8 times, or until it has all come together into a ball.

4. Divide the dough ball into three pieces. Set aside two of the pieces and cover them with plastic wrap or a clean towel. Spread a piece of parchment paper out on your work surface. On the parchment paper, roll one piece of dough out into a roughly 10-inch round. The shape is not important, but the dough should be very thin.

5. Lightly brush the surface of the rolled dough with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Gently press the salt into the dough with your hands. Using a wooden peel or the back of a baking pan or cookie sheet, slide the dough, still on the parchment paper, into the oven on the preheated baking stone or inverted baking sheet.

6. Bake for 8 to10 minutes or until it is crisp and golden brown and has a few darker brown spots. Carefully remove from the oven and cool on a rack. Repeat with remaining two pieces of dough. When the crackers are cool enough to handle, remove from the parchment and break into rustic shards. These will keep for a day or two in an airtight container.


*WFQ: Whole Food Quotient

One Year Ago: No-Knead bread

Expanding My Dip-ertoire

Each year, when I get this lovely asparagus in our CSA box, I can hardly decide what to do with it. To me, it seems to be great in anything, on anything and with anything, so I probably can’t go wrong. With that no-fail attitude I faced a new recipe recently, one for an asparagus and goat cheese spread or dip.

Even thought I hadn’t tried them together myself, I’d seen enough recipes that paired asparagus and goat cheese to be fairly confident that they would work and play well with each other. Sure, it’s all a matter of taste, but a combination wouldn’t be repeated in the literature so many times if it wasn’t a good one, would it? (Okay, I’ve seen beets with blue cheese plenty of times, too, so maybe this line of thinking doesn’t quite extend to infinity.)

Another thing that was new to me in this recipe was the use of silken tofu to provide the creamy base of the dip, where I usually might see sour cream or mayonnaise. Now, I often am at least a little bit skeptical of replacing familiar and traditional ingredients with something healthy or trendy or something my dad would think is weird. But I know tofu well enough to know its flavor is pretty neutral and silken tofu is pretty darn smooth and creamy. It should, if figured, help to make a smooth and creamy dip.

Thanks to the food processor, this dip/spread is fairly simple. Just cook the asparagus with some garlic (I did that in the microwave) and puree it with the goat cheese, silken tofu, fresh thyme, salt and pepper. And it tastes good, too, as long as you like asparagus and goat cheese. Their flavors do indeed compliment each other to the point where I would taste and think, “There is the asparagus, no, wait, that was the goat cheese,” and then taste it again and again. I served it with homemade crackers. (Really!…I hope to post that recipe soon.) You could serve it with your favorite dip-ables.

I think this recipe will be a good addition to my spring dip repertoire (or dip-ertoire) and the use of silken tofu in dips is something I’m sure I’ll be repeating. Maybe I’ll even try it out on my dad. If I don’t tell him there’s soy bean curd in his dip, he’ll never know it’s weird. Then again, the man eats peanut butter and cheddar cheese sandwiches, so may not really be qualified to make such a judgment.

Asparagus and Goat Cheese Dip
Based on a recipe in Vegetarian Times magazine

¾ pound asparagus, tough ends removed, chopped
½ teaspoon salt, divided
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons water
6 ounces silken tofu
3 ounces soft goat cheese
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1. Place the asparagus, ¼ teaspoon salt, garlic and water in a microwave-safe container. Cover with plastic wrap and poke a few holes in the wrap. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Carefully remove from the microwave and let stand, covered, for about 10 minutes. Very carefully (there will be steam escaping) remove the plastic wrap. Cool another 10 minutes (or longer. You can refrigerate the asparagus a day ahead.)

2. Remove the asparagus and garlic from the steaming water and place in the bowl of a food processor. Process until a coarse paste is formed. Add the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, tofu, goat cheese, pepper and thyme. Process until very smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the processor bowl if necessary.

3. Chill before serving if you have time. (I didn’t and it was still delicious.)

Makes about 2 cups

Another dip recipe: Roasted Red Pepper, Garlic and Onion Dip

One year ago: Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce and Strawberry Rhubarb Fool

Green Stuff

Our first CSA box, which we picked up on Tuesday, was chock full of green stuff. It looks like I’ve been hunting in the Emerald City and bagged my legal limit. Not only was there lots and lots of lettuce and a giant bunch of spinach (giant!), but also good bundle if cilantro and a nice bunch of asparagus. There were also radishes with their leaves and rhubarb, which are each partly to mostly green, so they count, too.

So, I’ve been eating green salads with various dressings at nearly every meal, and, since I have a bunch of new dressing recipes to try, I doubt I’ll get tired of salad any time soon. The spinach, asparagus, radishes and rhubarb will all find good homes, but I needed a recipe to really feature the cilantro. It seems that people either love the stuff and explore Southeast Asian and Mexican cuisine so they can eat more of it, or hate it and declare that it tastes like soap. I’m firmly in the former group, and if my soap tasted like cilantro, I would eat it.

I decided on a relish/sauce that is mostly cilantro (I used the whole bunch that we received) that I mixed into sautéed green onions and Asian rice stick noodles and topped with chopped peanuts. To the chopped up cilantro, I added lime juice and zest, garlic, ginger, a chile pepper, a little salt, and fish sauce. If you’re not familiar with fish sauce, it’s a kind of funky, super flavorful sauce that you can find in just about any supermarket these days. To me, it’s what makes Thai food taste like Thai food and a little goes a long way. You could probably leave it out of this dish if you don’t like it or if you want to make it strictly vegetarian. I would recommend adding soy sauce instead, just to replace some of the savory-ness, but it won’t be quite the same.

The cilantro “sauce” stays raw, but what would otherwise be harsh flavors are mellowed a bit when tossed with the hot noodles and cooked green onions. You could probably use any noodles you like here, but the rice stick noodles I happened to have on hand were particularly nice. It was fun as well as tasty to slurp up, even though I’m pretty chopstick challenged. I would have liked it to be a little spicier, so I think next time I make it I’ll leave the seeds and ribs in the chile pepper. You can spice yours up to your desire and at your own risk.

Noodles with Cilantro, Green Onions and Peanuts

1 small garlic clove
¾ teaspoon salt, divided
2 cups cilantro leaves and tender stems
1 tablespoon ginger, grated or minced
zest of 1 lime
1 small chile pepper, seeds and ribs removed if desired, minced
½ teaspoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
8 ounces rice stick noodles, or other noodles as you prefer
1 bunch green onions
1 tablespoon canola oil (or other neutral-tasting oil)
½ cup chopped peanuts

1. Finely chop the garlic. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon salt on the garlic. Chop the salt with the garlic a few times. Press and scrape the garlic and salt together with a knife until a coarse paste is formed.

2. Coarsely chop the cilantro. Place the garlic paste, ginger, lime zest and chile pepper on top of the chopped cilantro. Chop everything together until the cilantro is finely minced. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Stir in the fish sauce and lime juice. Set aside while preparing the remaining ingredients.

3. Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain.

4. Cut the green onions in half (or quarters if they are large) and slice diagonally into long, thin pieces.

5. Heat the canola oil in a large skillet or pot (I used the noodle-cooking pot to save on dish-washing) over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt. Sauté about 5 minutes or until tender and beginning to brown.

6. Add the cooked noodles and the cilantro mixture and toss together. Remove from heat and place in a serving bowl if desired. Sprinkle the chopped peanuts on top.

Makes 3 main dish or perhaps 6 side dish servings.

Other recipes like this one: Peanutty Noodles, Cilantro Cream Dipping Sauce

One year ago: Deconstructed Spanakopita Salad

Versatile Rhubarb Compote

When a lady who just had a baby not only offers you rhubarb from her garden, but then goes out and cuts it for you herself, you must, must, do something especially good with it. This describes the good fortune I had recently, and I was determined that this was not the time for agonizing over which recipe among a stack of delicious-looking candidates would provide the best opportunity to feature that perfect rhubarb while it wastes away in the refrigerator, untouched until it’s too late. How do I know that such things can happen? It’s best if we don’t discuss it.

Oh, there were many options in that stack of recipes, but I made a quick decision. I went with something versatile, a rhubarb compote, admittedly similar to the Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce I made last year, but also more sophisticated and, in my opinion, more delicious. It’s basically a big pot of rhubarb cooked with brown sugar and vanilla bean.

I was quite surprised by the difference brown sugar makes in this recipe as compared to the regular white sugar I’ve used with rhubarb before. It brings in caramel notes that go beyond the sweetness rhubarb requires. The vanilla bean (actually half a vanilla bean) is pure luxury. This was the first time I ever used a vanilla bean in my life, and I’m hooked. The bean provides an additional rich, floral and fruity quality that just isn’t present in the vanilla extract we all know and love. I won’t stop using vanilla extract (it’s significantly less expensive as well as more convenient to use) and you may be able to use extract in this dish if you stir some in at the end of cooking. If, however, you’re curious about vanilla beans, or you bought one on a whim, this is a good recipe to try one out. It’s easy to make and the vanilla bean’s influence on the flavor is quite apparent.

After looking more closely at some of the rhubarb recipes I had to pass by, I noticed that many of them begin by cooking the rhubarb into a sauce kind of like this one. That could mean that I could simply substitute this compote into these recipes as needed: pies and tarts, waffles, custard bars and even cheesecake. I already know it’s fabulous on vanilla ice cream (also made with a vanilla bean. Like I said, I’m hooked.) I can’t wait to see what else it can do.


Rhubarb Compote with Brown Sugar and Vanilla Bean
Adaped from Smitten Kitchen, who adapted it from Good to the Grain

I often add lemon juice to rhubarb recipes, because I read that the acid helps keep the final product a nice pink color. You can leave it out if desired.

1 ½ pounds rhubarb, chopped
1 cup brown sugar
½ vanilla bean (cut the whole bean in half crosswise and store the remaining piece)
2 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Place the rhubarb in a medium-sized saucepan. Cut open the skin of the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the fine black seeds on the inside with the tip of a knife. Add the scraped seeds and the rest of the pod to the rhubarb. Add the sugar and lemon juice and stir well.

2. Heat the rhubarb mixture over medium low heat, stirring frequently until it begins to soften and give off some liquid. Cover and cook over medium low heat 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Uncover and cook over medium-low to medium heat 15-17 minutes or until very saucy. Remove the vanilla bean pod.

Serve as desired. (It’s very good with vanilla ice cream.)

Other rhubarb recipes: Rhubarb Sour Cream Muffins, Rhubarb Yogurt Cake, Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce

One year ago: Chickpea and Olive Salad with Greek Flavors