I like making crackers. They are fast and fun and, with the right ingredients, oh so tasty! My little granddaughter was coming over for a few hours the other day and since she loves nothing more than messing with dough, I thought I’d prepare and refrigerate two types of dough and let her inner baker loose on half of each.
Meet the Baker: Nora Verónica Unzón Geraldo
Yes, come with me to the tortillería (tortilla shop) located at Madero and Hidalgo in La Paz, Mexico, and meet Nora, tortillera (tortilla-maker) extraordinaire. I recently spent two weeks in the capital of the State of Baja California Sur working on my spoken Spanish at Se Habla…La Paz, a school founded by Juli Goff, an American expat who managed to turn the derelict old house she bought when she first moved from Arizona into a graceful and efficient place of learning. [Read more…]
Best wishes for the New Year!
In the gardens of the palace at St-Germain
St-Germain-en-Laye, a city to the west of Paris, takes itself seriously in a very bourgeois sort of way. It abounds in artisan shops featuring expensive foodstuff and the clothing stores are markedly upscale. Its castle was one of the principal residences of the kings of France until Versailles was built (Louis XIV was born there). Now housing the Musée d’archéologie nationale, it has retained its stiff look.
Happy Holidays!
Because it is the holidays and the season to be jolly, I am posting a happy picture I took ages ago during a trip to France with our two oldest grandchildren. I have terrific memories of that vacation, especially of these American kids (neither of them a teenager yet) cheerfully eating everything in sight from escargots to saucisson to rillettes without once asking for mac & cheese or pizza.
We drove to the tiny village in southwestern France where my paternal family originates from. We met the person in charge. She opened a humongous century-old register and allowed us to peruse it for our ancestors. It took a while but we found most of them, going back to Napoleonic times. The register didn’t go any further. Probably because earlier records were kept at the church. I can’t remember for sure but I believe she said they had been destroyed during the French Revolution.
Later as we were walking along the only street looking for my great-grandfather’s workshop (he was a ironmonger specializing in horseshoes and in cart repairs and I knew from a previous trip that the faint trace of a cartwheel could still be seen on the wooden door), we were hailed from a first-floor window by a very old man who asked us who we were and what we were doing there. We told him and he invited us in.
As it turned out, he had actually been in school with my dad during the year he spent there with his grandparents while his mother (my grandma) recovered from tuberculosis. He remembered my uncle (who sadly died at 19 from the disease). He told me the whole village had followed my dad’s career with pride and joy. He recalled my great-grandmother and her daughter walking up the hill everyday with a wheelbarrow to tend their vegetable garden. My great-grandfather had died and they relied on that garden for most of their food. They were known in the village as very hard workers. This was new to me. I was awed.
We met his son who brought us tiny cups of coffee and showed us his collection of ancient postcards including one where we could glimpse the old family home. The past coming back to life.
So many people criss-cross our lives. Our past, our present and, hopefully, our future. They contribute to who we are. They are precious.
May your holiday be the stuff of memories…
Chestnut & Sprouted Wheat Canistrelli
One of my favorite food blogs is Chocolate and Zucchini. I love Clotilde’s inventiveness, her spunkiness and her terrific energy (she blogs in French AND English, she has a husband, two small kids, she develops recipes, she writes cookbooks and other food-related books, she criss-crosses Paris -where she lives- for the best market, the best source, the best table, etc.) and last but not least, I love the way she cooks and eats.
Our book club held its last meeting of the year the other day and I was looking for crackers to go with a chunk of smoked Gouda when I happened upon her recipe for chestnut and herb canistrelli. Similar to her Spicy Olive Oil cookies but with an Italian twist. And more Christmassy because of the chestnut flour.
I had leftover chestnut flour (brought back from our trip to France in May). It does add a pleasant sweetness to the canistrelli. If you don’t have any, go for whole wheat (that’s what Clotilde recommends). I did use the chestnut flour but for a slightly different taste (and to feel virtuous when later eating the crackers), I also replaced half of the all-purpose flour with sprouted wheat flour.
I didn’t have on-hand the kind of dried herbs the recipe calls for but I did have za’atar (my go-to herb to season roasting vegetables) and that’s what I used.
The dough came together very quickly. I rolled it to the desired thickness between two pieces of parchment paper, removed the top paper, and used my bench knife to cut intersecting diagonals. Then it was just a matter of transferring the canistrelli onto a waiting sheet pan and baking them. I made a second batch while the first one was in the oven. Easy, peasy. Very tasty (the white wine probably doesn’t hurt.)
In my version the 250 g of flour were divided as follows:
- 90 g chestnut flour
- 80 g all-purpose flour
- 80 g sprouted wheat flour
There is no gluten in chestnut flour, so the recipe should work with other gluten-free flours. I haven’t tried it but chickpea or buckwheat come to mind.
The bottom line is that this is an excellent and convenient recipe à avoir sous le coude (to keep under your elbow) for when you need a little crunchy-crumbly something to go with an appetizer. The canistrelli keep very well in an airtight container or zipped plastic bag and, if you don’t count the baking time, they are faster to make than a trip to the supermarket. Thank you, Clotilde!
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