Poppy Seed Crackers

 

There is this show called Eureka that my husband and I have been watching lately. It is about this town in Oregon called Eureka that was founded to house the smartest minds in America. They are constantly making new scientific discoveries and creating new inventions. Everything is always going wrong and they are always on the brink of ending the world or blowing up the town and they always save the day at the last minute. It is pretty funny show and many of the characters are quite endearing. One of them is Vincent the owner and culinary genius of Café Diem and at Café Diem there is no menu. You can order anything you want. He can make anything and there are always exotic mouth watering foods there. He has a walk in freezer that is miles long and contains every ingredient known to man. I wish a place like that really existed. I wish I could just walk into a restaurant and say, “I would like thinly sliced Portobellos layered with scented vegetables, fresh herbs and a cashew blue cheese drizzled with homemade primavera sauce, a slice of dulce de leche cheesecake, some French fries, and a black current lemonade.” And the best part of Café Diem: its all free! What would you order if you could get any food in the world for free? Well, if you were thinking about ordering Poppy Seed Crackers, you don’t need to go all the way to Café Diem. Look no further. Here is a recipe for some yummy poppy seed crackers (but if you want a fancy French truffle soup to serve with them, you might have to head over to Café Diem.)

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 C. flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 TBSP. butter and extra for greasing
• 1 TBSP. black poppy seeds
• 1 1/2 TBSP. half and half
• 5 to 6 TBSP. water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 F. Grease 2 large baking sheets.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a big bowl. Cut up the butter into smaller pieces and use a fork or a pastry cutter to blend the butter. Or just use your fingers (after you wash them). Stir in the poppy seeds. Work in the half and half and water  (you may not need it all) with a fork for a firm dough. Less water makes a crisper cracker.

3. Roll out (very thinly- less than half a centimeter) on a lightly floured board with a floured rolling pin. Prick all over with a fork to stop it from puffing when cooking. Cut into cracker shapes. A pizza cutter or a bench scraper work well for this.

4. Cook on baking sheets for 25 to 30 minutes or till crisp and only just colored. Cool on a rack and store in an air tight container.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recipe adapted from Get Cooking by Sam Stern