cornmeal – Ink, Yarn & Beer

Going Crackers

The world is driving me crackers, so I thought I should make some. I have never made any, but figured they should be easy to do, and produce something of some value. If you can roll out a pie crust, you can make crackers. As with pasta, I think the key is to let the dough rest wrapped in plastic for about 30 minutes or more. It is very easy to roll out if you keep your pastry surface lightly floured and flip the dough periodically.

Lately, I have been in a cornmeal mood, meaning cornbread, polenta and so on. I have lot on hand, so I looked up recipes for crackers with cornmeal. The one I settled on is the following:

Parmesan Corn Crackers

1 c. flour
1 c. cornmeal
1/2 c. grated Parmesan
3 T. soft butter
3/4 t. salt (I thought it was too much after tasting the crackers)
3/4 c. cool water
herbs for topping

Preheat oven to 400 F. Use two large cookie sheets.

Mix together the flours and cheese and (optional) salt. Cut the soft butter into the flour mixture, mushing between fingers or using a pastry blender until consistent in texture throughout. Using a fork, slowly mix in the water from the center. When it is ready, you should have a rather soft ball of dough. Knead for about 5 minutes on a lightly floured board.

Cut dough into 2 or 4 pieces (depending on the surface you plan to roll the crackers out upon), and wrap in plastic. Let rest for at least 30 minutes.

On your floured surface, roll out dough until 1/8 inch thick with your rolling pin. Add some powdered herbs to surface and press in with one or two more rolls. Flip the cracker dough routinely to prevent it from sticking to the board, adding extra flour to the board if necessary. Dust your rolling pin, too.

Before cutting, prick with fork. If you forget, and cut the crackers first, go back and prick the crackers. You need this to help them bake properly. You can cut them into about 2×2 inch squares, or rectangles, or whatever your like. Maybe hearts for Valentine’s Day? I used my pizza cutter and all was well.

Using a spatula, remove crackers to cookie sheets. Bake about 10-15 minutes, or more if necessary, depending on thickness of cracker. Check your oven about half way through and change the pans on the racks. (My first batch burned as the heating element is on the bottom, and the crackers are quite thin.) I backed two pans at a time, twice.

Cool on wire racks. Store in container and eat with . . . whatever!

Altogether, it took about two hours to make these.

Cornmeal Biscuits

Instead of the usual corn tortillas to go along with our homemade chili verde, I thought cornmeal biscuits were a good idea. At first, cornbread floated through my mind, and then I thought of biscuits . . . why not combine the ideas together?

Cornmeal Biscuits

Preheat oven to 425 F.

3/4 c. butter, unsalted, finely diced
1 1/2 c. unbleached flour
3/4 c. yellow cornmeal
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 T. white sugar
1/2 c. chopped, fresh sweet pepper (I used pale, green Hungarian)
1/2 c. corn, fresh or frozen
2/3 c. buttermilk (or thin yogurt)

Combine dry ingredients – flour, cornmeal, salt, soda, cream of tartar, and sugar – in a bowl. Blend in, as for pastry, the butter, until combination resembles coarse meal. Stir in the pepper and corn. With a fork, stir in the buttermilk.

Check biscuits for consistency, adding more flour or buttermilk as you think is necessary.

Create a ball out of dough and knead briefly on floured board. Roll out biscuits, about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick, on floured board, using 2.5 inch biscuit cutter.

Place on baking sheet. If you want, brush tops with extra buttermilk. Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on your oven quirks, until lightly golden. Cool on wire rack.

I got a nice baker’s dozen, but YMMV.

Blueberry-Blackberry Cornmeal Scones with Lemon

Scones before topping with kefir and sugar

Sunday morning breakfast – what to make? Blueberry pancakes? Muffins? Go to ‘fridge, no eggs. No one wants to go to the store so . . . scones! And scones it is, as there is butter and everything else you need in the house to make scones. But, I have only 1/2 c. blueberries and about 1/2 c. of blackberries, so this is what we’ll use. The result: A made-up recipe filled with juicy, fresh berries and a slightly crunchy texture. Enjoy!

The Recipe

2 c. flour
1 c. yellow cornmeal
1 T. baking powder
pinch salt
3/4 c. chilled butter (1.5 sticks)
1/2 c. white sugar
grated zest of one lemon
1 c. 1% kefir
1/2 c. blueberries
1/2 c. blackberries

Scone before baking, with kefir and sugar topping

Preheat oven to 425 F. Spray cookie sheet with oil or use parchment paper. Cut butter into chunks. Combine flour, meal, powder, sugar, salt, and lemon peel into mixing bowl. Add butter. Cut butter into flour mixture, or work by rubbing through fingers, until blended and crumbling. Mix berries into flour mixture to coat. Dump kefir into flour-butter-berry mixture and stir up quickly with a fork. Dough will be soft in texture. Flour cutting board very generously. Put dough onto board and work into ball. You may need to add more flour as the dough is wet. Continue until dough will hold a light amount of flour. Cut ball in half. Shape each half into a ball, adding a touch of flour if you need it. Flatten into circle 1″ thick. Cut each into 6 wedges. Place on cookie sheet. Using paper towel tip or pastry brush, coat the top of each scone with extra kefir and then sprinkle lightly with sugar. Bake in top 1/3 of oven for 20 minutes. If you wish to brown the scones a bit, broil them briefly. Yield: 1 dozen scones.