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Monday, June 27, 2011

Polenta + olive oil crackers / spiced carrot and tofu spread

Broken piece of cracker with carrot stuff


I came across these recipes for crackers by Dan Lepard in the Guardian.  Although S was away this weekend and I therefore had to rein in my cooking tendencies through lack of willing tummies, Sarah from the lab next door had a barbeque on Sunday and I decided this was a good enough opportunity to make some crackers.

I liked the look of both recipes, but decided to go for the olive oil / polenta one, as a) I am quite into polenta right now (and also just cracked open a huge tub of honey I bought for some unknown reason that made sense at the time), b) they are more naturally dairy/egg-free - I'm always using olive oil, marg not so much, and c) it would have been silly to do both... right?


Polenta and olive oil crackers

25g uncooked polenta or coarse cornmeal
1 tsp honey
50ml olive oil
300g plain flour, plus more for rolling
½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt

Pour 75ml boiling water over the polenta, stir and leave to swell for five minutes. Stir in the honey and oil. Tip the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, add the polenta and about 50ml cold water, and mix to a dough. Knead for 10-15 seconds, until smooth, then wrap well and leave for 15 minutes, to make it easier to roll. Pinch off walnut-sized balls of dough (about 30g), roll very thinly into slipper shapes and lay on a tray lined with nonstick paper. Brush with water and bake at 200C (180C fan-assisted)/390F/gas mark 6 for 10-12 minutes, until golden and crisp.  Made about 24 (more than the quoted 15).

They worked like a dream - super simple, dough rolled out really nice, cracky and texturally exciting.  Pleasant, slightly salty taste perfect to eat with cheese or with something else...  Like?  This was the next question - decided I should make something to go with them to take to the BBQ.  Was liking a firm tofu / za'atar mash-up as a combo, so ran with that...


Spiced carrot and tofu spread

Half a pack (~8oz) firm tofu
3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 tbsp za'atar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
pinch cayenne
small piece garlic (~1/5 clove)
salt and pepper
~ 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp honey

Prepare the carrots and put them in a steamer.  Steam for 10-15 min until a fork goes in easily.  Put into a blender with the rest of the ingredients.  Pulse until fairly smooth, but stopping before it is completely homogenised - felt like a slightly lumpy texture would be more appealing.


Crackers and spread both went down well at the party, including with S+C's baby Lenora (who is nearly 1 and has 8 teeth) - confirming the concern I felt when prepping the spread that it was a bit like babyfood (quite yummy babyfood though!).
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