Good Eats

Cooking With Christie: Sourdough Cheese Crackers

Finder of Lost ThingsLeave a comment

Inspiration: On a week where the temperatures ventured down into the low 70s for a whole week, I decided to bake….Because, well, frankly, I missed mixing things up! (I also find all the measuring and assembling of ingredients calming.) So whilst baking bread, buns, cookies, and frying tortillas, I had the show Good Eats (the newer episodes) playing in the background. During a lull, my ears perked up when Alton Brown started talking about his take on sourdough cheese crackers.

Now, for whatever reason, I’ve always found sourdough intimidating. You’ve got to start the starter, feed it, and then, after an appropriate amount of time you use it (well, at least the leftover bit). Then there’s the generally slow rise time associated with these breads….And well, the whole sourdough business kinda seemed like a faff.

But I really, really missed baking.

(Summer is not my favorite time of year.)

(Alton Brown’s cookbook which contains the cracker recipe.)

So I decided to give it a go. Whereupon I discovered, much like hummus, constructing a sourdough starter is easier than it looks. You just need a bit of patience because it just takes time.

(How the starter started vs. how the starter looks now.)

So after a week and a day, I was ready to make the sourdough cheddar crackers….Mine aren’t as brightly colored as the one in Alton Brown’s cookbook or show — due mainly to the mild cheddar cheese powder I used rather than the sharp cheesy powder called for in the recipe. (Hey, it’s what I could find at my local grocery store).

Additionally, I didn’t read the recipe as closely as I should have (that’s on me for not wearing my glasses), so I added all the butter listed in the ingredients list rather than only a portion. (As a part is used in the dough while the rest is brushed onto the cracker later.) So, they didn’t rise as well overnight and had an almost greasy feel.

They tasted great. They just looked a bit….special.

In any case, I cannot wait for the mercury to dip back into the low 70s (or, even better, the low 60s) so I can have a do-over on these crackers!

Christie: I can see most of Christie’s main characters eating these at one point or another in their lives and liking them — except perhaps for Hercule Poirot and Mr. Sattersthwaite, who possess far more particular culinary objectives.

My 52 Weeks With Christie: A.Miner©2023

Cooking With Christie: Seaweed

Finder of Lost ThingsLeave a comment

This Week’s Recipe: Wakame Seaweed Salad

Inspiration: Wakame Seaweed Salad is the second recipe Good Eats, the tv show, inspired me to make after my day of furious lemon themed bakes! Unsure of what exactly I was looking for at my local Asian grocery store, I decided to make my first purchase of dried wakame seaweed over the interwebs.

Watching the seaweed rehydrate is a fun to watch as Alton Brown said!

Here’s the thing: This recipe doesn’t contain many moving parts.

As I’d already planned on replacing the radishes the recipe requested (thanks, stupid, stupid allergies), when I realized we’d used the avocado the night before for our taco Tuesday tacos, it didn’t require much effort to pivot the side dish that much further.

Though happily, out of the eleven ingredients used, I only substituted two. So from a numbers standpoint, that’s not bad. Right?

Hopefully, Alton Brown won’t mind.

In any case, in addition to called-for carrots, I chopped up a red bell pepper and part of a zucchini….and it turned out pretty tasty. Though next time, I will reduce the amount of seaweed slightly and increase the veggies so they’re roughly equal. (I like veggies.)

Christie: Colonel Race and Mr. Harley Quin are the only eaters who are adventurous enough to try/eat a seaweed salad regularly. I think. Though if Aziraphale, from Good Omens, can enjoy sushi, Poirot might learn to like seaweed salad…..

My 52 Weeks With Christie: A.Miner©2023

Cooking With Christie: Coffee With A Twist

Finder of Lost ThingsLeave a comment

This Week’s Recipe: Cold Brew With Chicory

Inspiration: Whilst completing all the lemon inspired bakes for my husband’s coworker’s going away party — I had the last two seasons of Good Eats (my favorites) playing in the background. Now I’ve watched all these episodes before. However, this time two very different recipes piqued my interest.

One of which was this coffee and chicory concoction.

Since I’d also purchased the cookbook accompanying these seasons, I located the recipe and got to work…after I bought both chicory and ground coffee. (Neither of which will break the bank, btw.)

It is effortless to make, and if you assemble the main ingredients in the evening, you only need to strain it the following morning….and bam! You’ve got a couple of cups of strong cold-brew coffee!

Seriously, this stuff is as dark as night without being bitter.

This chicory infused cold brew is an excellent morning pick-me-up. Add a dollop of Alton Brown’s homemade sweetener (honey, agave, & blackstrap molasses) and a splash of milk. It’s divine! Especially when paired with kruidnoten. (Last week’s Cooking With Christie recipe.)

Christie: I could honestly see Poirot sipping this on a summer morning when it’s far too warm for sipping piping-hot coffee! Though he might refrain from nibbling a kruidnoten, as they are typically served during the winter holidays.

BTW: I love this cookbook! Not only does Alton Brown’s humor shine through, he also includes all the bit of info he did in the show: tips & tricks, history, trivia, and more. Plus, the recipes themselves are well laid out and easy to follow — an achievement not all cookbooks can claim!

My 52 Weeks With Christie: A.Miner©2023