Our internet connection is being super-unfriendly this morning. It may take me until about next Thursday to actually load this post, the way things are going.
After a very dry spring, followed by weeks of unsettled weather, both rainy and windy at times, there are signs that summer has finally arrived. One sign was that I actually got into the pool yesterday after making myself hot doing a few housekeeping chores. I think it is possible that I stayed in there for all of 4 seconds – basically the time it took me to get back to the side and leap out before any polar bears lurking in the Arctic conditions got wind of my presence. Toast and Marmalade looked on from the safety of a sun-lounger – I am sure I caught sight of them shaking their furry heads in wonderment at this crazy behaviour.
This week has whizzed by so quickly that I was surprised to find myself in the middle of Friday with no blog posts to show for the week. Must do better.
Our friends got married last Sunday – it was a very relaxed and happy event and the setting was beautiful – you can have a photo just to enjoy the view:
While we were there, I took a shot of our village, which is directly across the lagoon from where the wedding took place. Here we are, looking a little ramshackle to the naked eye – the view is definitely better looking in the other direction!
I am pleased to say the quarry in the photo is now disused. Although we can’t actually see down to it from our house, when the highways authority was dynamiting regularly, to extract stone for the new road, our walls parted company with our ceilings and I nearly parted company with my faculties during a couple of seriously major explosions.
Anyway, enough of this chit-chat, on to the important task of crackers. These are crunchy and delicious, either to serve as part of a cheeseboard, or simply on their own as a healthy snack. If you cut them into strips instead of rounds, they make great scoops with a dip for a simple appetiser. They are even more delicious with a smear of butter, of course, but then tell me something that isn’t! These started life as a Nigel Slater recipe, but I have adapted the recipe a little to suit the ingredients we can get here.
If you don’t want to bake these all at once, just freeze half the dough and let it thaw completely before rolling out and baking).
Crunchy rosemary multi-seed crackers
Makes 36
You will need baking sheets lined with non-stick baking paper.
230g wholemeal flour or a mix of wholemeal and rye
115g semolina
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dried rosemary (I just chopped a sprig of fresh rosemary and left it to dry overnight)
160g mixed seeds (I used sunflower, pumpkin, sesame and Nigella – if using pumpkin, chop them roughly)
1 tablespoon molasses or black treacle (or you could use honey)
55ml vegetable oil
200ml water
Mix the flour(s), semolina, rosemary, seeds and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the water, oil and molasses (or honey).
Stir with a table knife until the dough comes together, then turn on to a floured worktop. Knead for a couple of minutes until the dough has formed a smooth ball:
Leave the dough to rest in the fridge for about half an hour.
Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
Roll out the dough on a floured worktop until you have a thickness of 2 – 3 mm (the thinner they are, the more crunchy they will be). Cut into rounds using a pastry cutter or cut into strips or triangles.
Place the crackers on the lined baking sheets (they don’t spread while baking, so they can be fairly close together). Bake for 18 minutes, then switch off the oven and open the door for about half a minute. Close the door again and leave the crackers in the oven for another 15 minutes.
aviewfrommykitchen.com 