I have been making graham crackers to accompany my marshmallows for a few months now, so you can imagine that I was a bit incredulous to see Smitten Kitchen's very recent set of posts on the same combo here and here. But, because I am generally a fan of Smitten Kitchen, I decided to give her version a try.
They were delicious but, for three reasons, I will stick with my original recipe.
1. My original recipe actually uses graham flour. I do not think there is much point to graham crackers if you aren’t going to use the named ingredient. That said, I substituted graham flour in the SK version too, so I can’t really say what it would taste like without the graham flour.
2. My original recipe calls for half a stick of butter, this recipe calls for almost a whole stick. To be sure, the butter adds to the richness, but for nearly twice the fat, not worth it.
3. The SK version requires you to refrigerate the dough in advance. This is a pain, especially if you are like me and cannot plan that far in advance.
So, these caveats in mind, here is my previous recipe, taken almost verbatim from here but with a few additions.
Ingredients:
• 4 T (1/2 stick) butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 6 T sugar
• 4 T honey
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 2 t water. I found that I needed more water the first time because the final product wasn’t sticking together. This was not true the second time. I think it has to do with out “liquidy” the honey is. If you need to add a little more water to get the dough to form, that’s fine, just do it very gradually.
• 3/4 t salt
• 1 1/2 C graham flour
• 3/4 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t vanilla
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Combine the butter, egg and sugar in a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy.
3. Stir in the honey and blend.
4. Dissolve the baking soda in the water and add to the butter mixture.
5. Add the salt, graham flour, all-purpose flour, vanilla, and cinnamon to the mixture and blend thoroughly. The dough should hold together and be manageable.
6. Divide the dough into 4 sections. Keep the sections in the refrigerator when they are not in use.
7. Dust the counter with all-purpose flour. You will need a lot of flour at this stage, especially if you are not rolling the crackers out directly on the sheet where you plan to bake them. Roll the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch.
8. Cut the crackers. If you want squares, you can just use a knife or (as SK does) a pastry wheel. I make them round, and I use the top of a peanut butter jar as my cookie cutter (This really is how we do things on the south side, even though I am only faux south side now).
9. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a lined/grease baking sheet. I tried a plastic spatula, they stuck to it.
10. Bake for 12-15 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven and cool on racks. They will not be crunchy, but that’s fine.
12. Eat with these and a bit of chocolate.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
A Graham Cracker Duel
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
New Kitchen and all the Rest
Yes, 2 posts in one day. I do not want to study. At all. But, this one is short, and it allows people to see the place where I prepare the food that gets posted on this blog. Enjoy.
Asparagus Salad
I love asparagus, and they are in season now. But, I never know quite what to do with them. Turns out, you can do just about anything with them, which includes putting them in a salad. The recipe below is super easy, and not all that original. However, it is post worthy because it taught me a new technique - to boil my vinegar before adding it to salad dressing. The result, according to the original recipe, is that the dressing is less bitter. The result is also that you need less oil AND it doesn't separate as easily. Magic.
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 pounds asparagus, tough ends trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1/3 cup chopped almonds, toasted (recipe originally called for pecans, but I don't like pecans so much).
- Feta cheese to taste
Preparation
1. Boil vinegar in heavy small saucepan over medium heat until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Pour vinegar into large bowl.
2. Whisk in oil, mustard, and garlic. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Cook asparagus in large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, (original recipe said 4 minutes. I think 2 is more like it).
4. Drain asparagus and rinse with cold water. Pat asparagus dry.
5. Toss asparagus, carrots, and pepper with dressing.
6. Sprinkle with nuts and cheese and enjoy.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
A Hold Over Post
I realize that I have made grandiose promises of regular posts and then proceeded to post precisely nothing. I really do plan to share some exciting things with you very soon. But in the mean time, check out this post from a fellow blogger who (I hope) is back from a hiatus.
Type rest of the post here