Kate's Crackers

No, not mine.  My friend, Kate from Diethood.  Rosemary and garlic.  It doesn't get much better than that.  I've always wanted to try making my own crackers.  Now, I had a recipe that totally captivated me AND cheese that was going to be perfect with them.  Connie and I bought some garlic herb brie at Whole Foods.  We'd gone there on a hunt for Kimberley Chardonnay vinegar.  It said on their website that that's where I could find it.  Wrong.  But, we did wander the store and tried all the goodies set out for tasting.  Come to think of it, that was pretty much breakfast that Saturday!  

The garlic herb brie was fantastic.  Connie was anxious to dig into it.  I told him no, it was reserved for appetizers when his brother was here.  Can you say really sad face?  I know, I'm such a mean one.  But, he waited patiently.  Saturday evening arrived and it was time for the brie.  And, time to make crackers.

What did we think?  Not a bad job for my first foray.  The flavor was fantastic.  I should've made them a tiny bit thinner.  As it was they had to bake for almost double the time to lose their doughy taste.  The edge ones were the best.  This is a recipe I'm going to master because once the family tastes it, they'll want some at every family party. 

Kate has a bunch of wonderful recipes at Diethood.  I hope you'll take a couple of minutes and head over to her blog:  Diethood

Kate's Rosemary Garlic Crackers

Ingredients:

2 c all purpose flour
1 t baking powder
4 t dried, crushed rosemary
1 t sea salt
1/3 c olive oil
2/3 warm water
garlic powder

Directions:

Spray two baking sheets with non-stick spray and preheat your oven to 400. 

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. 

Pour the water into a measuring cup.  Add the oil. 

Pour that mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until your dough is smooth.  Divide into two dough balls. 

Using your fingertips, squish the dough into two squares.  You want the dough to be really thin! 

Sprinkle the crackers with garlic powder.  Cut them into 60-72 squares with a pizza cutter.  Bake for 12-14 minutes.  When they're golden. they're done.  Remove the pans from the oven and allow the crackers to cool on the pans for 10 minutes.

Vinegars and Oils

Ok, I have a confession to make.  It's no wonder I have such limited counter space.  I just counted the oil and vinegar bottles tucked into a corner of my kitchen.  33, yup, you read that correctly, THIRTY-THREE bottles of various oils and vinegars.  And, I use them all. 

A couple of years ago on a visit to Phoenix, Connie and I went on a tour at Queen Creek Olives.  Talk about yummy stuff.  Their olives and olive oils are just about the best I've ever had.  I've ordered the regular olive oil and the lemon - plus, of course, lots of their olives.  Recently, though, we found a company in Indiana that sells flavored oils and vinegars.  It's called the Olive Branch.  We bought lemon oil, white truffle oil and tuscan herb oil.  Then, when it came to the vinegars we had a far tougher choice to make.  We wound up with dark chocolate balsamic and strawberry balsamic.  YUM!

In the Kraft Food and Family magazine, I found an idea for an appetizer that'd allow me to really show off the strawberry balsamic.  The recipe called for the regular stuff but I figured kicking it up a notch wouldn't be a bad idea.  Fortunately, I was right.

Strawberry Crackers

8 oz block of cream cheese (regular or low-fat)
3 sprigs fresh tarragon
Black pepper and olive oil Triscuits
pint of strawberries
1-2 T strawberry balsamic vinegar or regular balsamic vinegar

Whip the cream cheese and the tarragon until fluffy.  Smear a little on each cracker.  Hull and halve the strawberries.  Top each cracker with a strawberry half and drizzle with vinegar.