Sourdough Sesame Crackers for Salmon Burger Sliders

(Warning - don’t try these at home)

We cruise in remote areas along the Pacific Northwest coast, so I often miss joining the monthly baking activity with SourdoughSurprises. Last month we were anchored in Kisameet Bay in the Central Coast region of B.C. on July 20, completely out of cellphone or wi-fi range, and since we don’t have a firm float plan our August 20 whereabouts are uncertain. No matter, I decided to bake away, pre-schedule a post when I found an unexpected wi-fi connection in Ocean Falls, and hope someone can help with a linkup when the time comes.

Oh my yes, this was an interesting sourdough cracker misadventure. Grin. “Interesting” is a useful adjective, it can mean so many things. Read on, shake your head and laugh along with me.

Instead of modifying one of my existing, non-sourdough cracker recipes, I based these crackers on a recipe published in a small 32-page pamphlet I found in a Ketchikan bookstore years ago. Two assumptions led me down a frustrating path. 1. Thinking an Alaskan bookstore would stock only the best in sourdough recipes, I didn’t question the ingredients or ratios. 2. Reasoning that a publisher with a 50-year history and over 200 titles in their Country Wisdom Bulletin series must have solid content. Hmmmm, "maybe" on both counts. Of course, it could have been the cook; another "maybe" on that thought.

Moving on to the actual crackers. These were seriously salty little suckers, tough rather than crisp, more firm like hardtack than brittle like a cracker. Nope, not at all what I expected from a cracker recipe. The dough was stiff, resisted rolling out in one tidy piece, and threw off a lot of sesame seeds as it was rolled. What bad manners from my usually agreeable sourdough starter.

Initial response? Meh. Better taste another one… or two… and soon we noticed that two dozen sesame crackers were gone. There was something about these one-bite nibbles that kept both of us coming back for “just one more.” Something, but certainly not texture.

The sesame seeds gave the recipe a faintly Asian tilt, so I paired the crackers with Asian Salmon Burger Sliders for an unusual appetizer. Slather on some wasabi-flavored cream cheese, add a dollop of Thai sweet chili sauce and top with a tiny salmon burger, done. Each cracker was sturdy enough to support a moist, mini salmon patty and the sesame flavor played well with the ginger, garlic, green onions and Ponzu sauce in the burger for a satisfying mouthful.

The crackers were merely tough on the first day, on day two you had to work hard to nibble away a corner, and I’ll bet by day three you could chip a tooth trying to gnaw a bite. We didn't try any to find out; I fed the few remaining to the seagulls. The recipe below is for information only, not recommended by this galley cook. I still need a good sourdough cracker recipe, so I’m extra eager to see the successes shared by the other SourdoughSurprises bakers.

(Note: we enjoyed a pan of sourdough sticky buns that same morning, the July challenge topic from SourdoughSurprises. They were incredibly tasty, saving the day and my reputation!)

Sourdough Sesame Crackers

Recipe from Baking with Sourdough by Sara Pitzer

Makes 4 dozen bite-sized crackers

½ cup refreshed and active sourdough starter

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 teaspoons salt (I’d use much less next time, if there is a next time)

about 1 cup unbleached AP flour (amount depends on the consistency of your starter)

¼ cup white sesame seeds

Melt the butter and set aside to cool.

Add the salt to the flour and whisk to combine.

Add the cooled butter and as much flour as you can work in.

When the dough is very stiff, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead in the sesame seeds, adding more flour as needed to achieve a stiff dough. (Pitzer suggests resting the dough for a few minutes, covered with a damp tea towel, to make it easier to knead.)

When the dough is very stiff, use a rolling pin to roll it out very very thin, 1/16 inch or less.

Cut the crackers with a sharp knife or a sharp, round cutter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, separated slightly. Use a fork to poke holes in the tops so they don’t puff up as they cook.

Bake in a preheated 400 F oven until the tops brown slightly, roughly 7 to 10 minutes.

Cool the crackers on a wire baking rack. Store them in an airtight container.

An InLinkz Link-up

Cheese Wafers with Lemon and Pepper

Butter, flour, lemon zest -- this starts out sounding like a recipe for shortbread squares (link), but it's not. Add grated cheese instead of sugar and you have a savory treat, a wafer that's more of a cracker than a cookie. Not that I have anything against sweet shortbread cookies, good grief I've devoured pounds of them with enthusiasm, but I do have a weakness for all things savory. This particular batch of cheese wafers lasted roughly 30 hours, until I ate the last few just minutes ago. Yes, that was my 1:30 a.m. snack when I couldn't fall sleep and wandered up to the pilothouse to fire up the computer.

At first bite you can taste cheese with a hint of pepper, then a surprising lemony tang comes through, just strong enough to notice but not overwhelm the tastebuds. Parmesan wafers are excellent nibblies to accompany a cup of tea or a glass of wine. Served plain they are quite delicious, but I love them topped with a dab of Rosemary Flavored Jammy Wine Sauce (link) as well. 

This batch incorporated pre grated parmesan cheese, a Costco purchase that I had stored in the boat freezer. RL prefers a sharp cheddar cheese version of the same recipe. Guests have enjoyed blue cheese wafers topped with mango chutney. Pepper jack with a hit of pimenton is another tempting option. Cheese wafers are versatile and delicious, require few ingredients and come together quickly - so what are you waiting for? Bake a batch soon.

Lemony Peppery Cheese Wafers

1 1/2 cups finely grated fresh Parmesan (about 1/4 pound)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

freshly grated zest of 1 large lemon

3/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper 

juice of 1 large lemon, roughly 2.5 to 3 tablespoons

additional coarsely ground black pepper for sprinkling the crackers (optional)

1. In a bowl of a food processor add the Parmesan, flour, chunks of cold butter, lemon zest and black pepper. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the lemon juice and process until it just forms a dough. 
2. Transfer the dough ball to a sheet of wax paper, and using the wax paper as a guide form it into an 11- by 1 1/2-inch log. Chill the dough, wrapped in the wax paper, for 1 hour, or until it is firm enough to slice. (Or make ahead up to 2 days in advance and keep well-wrapped and chilled.)
3. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cut the dough into  slices, 1/4-inch-thick or thinner. Arrange the slices 1 inch apart on baking sheets, sprinkle them with the additional pepper and bake them in batches in the upper third of the oven for 10 minutes, or until golden around the edges. Transfer the crackers carefully with a spatula to a rack and let them cool. They will firm up a bit as they cool, so don't overbake.

Yield: Makes about 44 crackers

Fruit and Nut Crisps - October SRC

This is my first month participating in The Secret Recipe Club. I was  assigned Katie’s blog, Betchacanteatjustone, to browse through and choose any recipe that appealed to me to make or bake and blog about. Other Group B SRC  participants will post their recipe on the same designated reveal date. Now how fun is that?!

The choice was difficult with so many tempting recipes competing for attention. Savory or sweet? Over-the-top decadent or practical? Quick and easy preparation or complicated? It took the enticing photo of a loaded cheese board displayed in a recent Dean and Deluca e-mail ad to make the decision for me: Katie’s Fruit and Nut Crisps were it for October. 

The cooking technique was similar to biscotti; bake a loaf, thinly slice and rebake to crisp up individual slices. Use the ingredient list as a set of possibilities and substitute other dried fruits, nuts and seeds according to personal preference and pantry supplies.

These crisps were delicious unadorned, but were truly sublime when topped with a creamy ginger apricot Stilton cheese and drizzled with honey… or a paper-thin slice of pear, a bit of chutney and crumble of brie… or manchego and fig jam… or... you get the idea.

This recipe makes two standard size loaves, about 80-90 crisps, but you don’t have to bake them off all at once. I popped one cooled loaf into the freezer to hold until we entertained the following week, and the results were just as tasty. It was actually easier to slice a frozen loaf than a non-frozen one! The husband enjoyed the crisps at breakfast, I loved them mid-morning with a cuppa, guests have enjoyed them as pre-dinner appetizers as well as cheese plate accompaniments, and someone nibbles a few late-night when no one is looking. Guess who. 

Thanks for the recipe, Katie. We love your sweet and savory crackers and I get to feel smug about not spending $7 to $10 dollars for one small package of prepared crisps at the store.

  Fruit and Nut Crisps

Makes approx 8 dozen: my notes in color 

         2 cups AP flour (or other flour mixes of your choice) 

         3 tsp baking soda

         1/2 tsp salt

         2 cups buttermilk (2 cups 2% milk & 2 TBS vinegar)

         1/2 cup raw cane sugar (1/4 cup brown sugar & 1/4 cup honey)

         1/2 cup dried figs, chopped

         1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped

         1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (I forgot to add any nuts!)

         1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

         1/4 cup sunflower seeds

         1 tbsp sesame seeds (white, toasted)

         1/4 cup ground flax seed

         1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

Prepare two 8″X4″ loaf pans by spraying with non stick spray or lining with parchment paper. (I did both for ease of removal, see photo above)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.  Add the buttermilk (mix in the honey here if you’re using it). Stir together by hand. Add the fruits, nuts, seeds and rosemary: stir until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35-40 minutes until the loaves are golden brown and spring back when you gently touch the center.  Remove the pans from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding onto wire racks to cool completely.

Once cool, wrap up the loaves and freeze them until they’re hard.  This will make them MUCH easier to slice. (YES, you really do slice them while frozen.)

Heat the oven to 300 degrees and spray or line cookie sheets.

Slice the loaves as thin as you can (you should be able to get about 7-8 dozen crisps!) and place each piece on the cookie sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes and then flip crisps over and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the crackers have dried out and turned a medium-dark brown and crispy (but not burnt). (Bake the slices on a baking rack and you can skip the flipping; they will crisp up on both sides.)

Katie notes: I found it helpful to leave the pans in the oven with the door cracked open slightly to cool off once they were finished baking with the oven turned off  just to ensure they had dried out 100%

Store in an airtight container.

Now, check out more October posts from other Secret Recipe Club members. (Use the link below)