D.I.Y. Delicious: Recipes and Ideas for Simple Food From Scratch (20 page)

Let the crackers cool completely and break them into irregular shards of the desired size and shape. Store in an airtight container. They will stay crisp for at least 2 weeks at room temperature.

You won’t believe how easy it is to make your own crackers and you’ll feel great knowing that you can pronounce all of the ingredients. Crunchy cornmeal combined with the umami savoriness of Parmesan makes these true crowd-pleasers. They’re neutral enough to pair well with cheese, but flavorful enough to stand alone. The dough is sturdy and easy to work with. Feel free to experiment by adding spices, herbs, or different types of cheese
.

TIME REQUIRED:
about 15 minutes active; 45 minutes passive excluding butter preparation)

YIELD:
about 14 ounces

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

1 cup cornmeal

½ cup lightly packed finely grated Parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons
Cultured Butter
or store-bought butter, softened

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Salt for topping (use flaky
fleur de sel
or other fancy salt if you have some; otherwise, kosher is fine)

Put the 1 cup flour, cornmeal, ¾ cup cool water, the cheese, butter, and kosher salt in a food processor and process until the mixture forms a ball, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the processor, cover with a towel to prevent drying, and let the dough rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. If you have a pizza stone, preheat that as well. If not, a baking sheet will work fine, but there’s no need to preheat it.

Divide the dough into two equal portions. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough very thinly and evenly, flipping it over and continuing to roll while adding more flour as needed if the dough sticks. Stop rolling just short of
inch thick. Sprinkle the dough lightly with the poppy seeds and flaky salt and continue to roll just to embed the salt and seeds into the dough. Cut into strips about 2 inches wide and poke the strips evenly in several places with the tines of a fork. Using both hands, pick up either end of each strip carefully and lay it down on
the pizza stone. Bake until the crackers begin to brown and become crisp, keeping in mind that the crackers will continue to crisp up as they cool. If they don’t crisp up properly after they cool slightly, you can put them back in the oven for a few minutes. Total baking time takes about 12 minutes on a stone and 15 to 18 minutes on a baking sheet. You will need to bake in two or three batches.

Let the crackers cool completely and break them into irregular shards of the desired size and shape. Store in an airtight container. They will stay crisp for up to 2 weeks at room temperature.

There are many advantages to making your own granola. You’ll use less packaging, you’ll save money, and you can completely customize it to your taste and health needs. You’ll never go back to store-bought. The basic ingredients in granola include grain flakes, dried fruit, nuts and seeds, sweetener, and fat, such as butter or vegetable oil. You can embellish with vanilla, coconut, and spices like cinnamon. What follows is a formula to help you create the granola of your dreams, to enjoy every morning. See the
mix-and-match suggestions
.

TIME REQUIRED:
10 minutes active; 25 minutes passive

YIELD:
2 quarts

to ½ cup butter or vegetable oil (as desired)

to ½ cup sweetener (you will need the lesser amount if using agave syrup or honey)

Vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, or cardamom

4 cups flaked grains, such as oat, kamut, rye

Coconut, wheat germ, nutritional yeast, flax seeds, chia seeds (optional)

2 cups (about 8 ounces) lightly chopped nuts (any proportion)

1 cup chopped dried fruit

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter (or, if using oil, warm it) and add the sweetener along with the vanilla, cinnamon, or other spices you’re using. If using honey for the sweetener, see the variation.

In a large bowl, combine the flaked grains, coconut or wheat germ, seeds, and nuts. Toss to mix. Pour the warmed butter or oil and sweetener over and toss with a large spoon or spatula until evenly and lightly coated.

Transfer the mixture to a large baking sheet and spread out evenly in a thin layer. You may need to use two baking sheets. Bake until evenly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Stop halfway through and stir the ingredients so that they brown evenly. Remove from the oven, add the dried fruit, and toss to combine. Let the granola cool completely on the baking sheet and store at room temperature in an airtight container. It will stay fresh for up to 3 weeks, stored properly. I store mine in mason jars on the counter. It looks nice and keeps the granola fresh and handy.

VARIATION
:
If using honey, there’s no need to heat the oil first, but you still need to melt the butter (if using). Just whisk the fat together with the vanilla or cinnamon and pour it over the flakes, nuts, and extras, and toss and bake as directed. When you remove the granola from the oven, add the dried fruit, and drizzle the honey over it while still warm, toss to coat, and cool and store as directed
.

Note that honey will produce a sticky granola that clumps together. It’s not unpleasant, just more difficult to portion as you can’t pour it, and it’s difficult to scoop
.

Here’s where we play. Mix and match the items below to come up with your own dream granola. You’ll want to change it up depending on the season and your spirit of adventure.

SWEETENER OPTIONS (USE ONE)

• Brown sugar

• Maple syrup

• Honey

• Agave syrup

FAT OPTIONS (USE ONE)

• Butter

• Coconut oil

• Vegetable oil

• Olive oil

FLAKY OPTIONS (USE ONE OR MORE)

• Oat flakes

• Kamut flakes

• Triticale flakes

• Spelt flakes

• Rye flakes

NUT AND SEED OPTIONS (USE ONE OR MORE)

• Chopped or sliced almonds

• Chopped pecans

• Chopped walnuts

• Pumpkin seeds

• Sesame seeds

• Sunflower seeds

DRIED FRUIT (UNSULFURED AND CHOPPED EVENLY IS BEST) OPTIONS (USE ONE OR MORE)

• Apples

• Pears

• Peaches

• Plums

• Cranberries

• Currants

• Raisins

• Cherries

My talented friend Rachel Cole is so devoted to porridge that she’s actually written a multipage porridge manifesto. I was intrigued when I heard about it. Then I tasted one version of her porridge and was smitten. Make that ruined. Never again will I be as enamored with my rolled oats, dried fruit, and brown sugar combo. There is a big, beautiful world of grains out there that can be combined in both mathematically and gastronomically significant permutations.