Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Crackers - The First Attempt

A few weeks ago, my coworker brought in some Cracked Black Pepper and Olive Oil Triscuit crackers.  They were unbelievably good. That sent me to my cookbooks and the Web for recipes! I started with Rosemary-Parmesan Icebox Crackers from Williams-Sonoma.

Now for some reason, I didn't take enough "making of" shots or either I accidentally deleted them.  However, the recipe is easy so have no fear. In the food processor, combine flour, salt, pepper and rosemary. Now, you know I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I reduced the cheese and amped up the rosemary and black pepper.  I used kosher salt instead of table salt.  Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal.  Add the cheese and pulse twice.

*Imagine shot of mixture in food processor bowl here*

Roll the dough into a log on a lightly floured surface.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least three hours.


The rest is easy -- just slice and bake!  I need more practice with making even thin slices.  I added an extra sprinkle of black pepper before baking.  The first batch was baked on a sheet pan with a Silpat.


They came out okay. They were a little soft and not as dry as I would have liked.


I baked the next two batches directly on a baking stone.  I used a fish spatula to remove the crackers because they were a bit delicate when they were warm.


I liked these much better, but I suspect it's the cheese that's keeping me from getting that dry, crumbly cracker texture.



I tried some different shapes too.



These had a lot of flavor, but too much salt, even with me cutting back on the Parm.  I'll be more careful with my kosher-table salt swap next time.  I'd make these again, but they didn't sastisfy my black pepper Triscuit goal.

Tools of the trade:

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