Whole Wheat Oat Crackers with Flax

I developed this recipe in the mid 2000’s and for a brief second I thought I would take it to market, but I blinked and lost my window of opportunity when I noticed other gourmet flatbread/crackers selling for $9.00 a box! Damn. Anyway, I’m going to share it with you again because I’ve modified it over the years. It’s really so easy to make and takes such little time and effort that I basically throw it together on the day that I need it. You can leave them flat and break the crisp flatbread by hand to give it more of an artisan look; for this photo I cut them with a pizza cutter, just eye-balling and cutting directly on my cookie sheets before baking (don’t cut on non-stick cookie sheets, you don’t want to damage the surface).

Makes enough for 4 people for cocktails

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup oatmeal
• 1/4 cup ground and whole flax seeds (a mix 2/3-1/3 is nice)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup black and white sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup warm water (plus)

Flavourings: add as desired (not all of them)(pictured recipe has no flavourings other than sesame seeds)

• 2 tbsp paprika (smoked is good), or
• 2 tbsp cumin, or
• 2 tbsp curry, or
• 1/4 cup dehydrated onion flakes ground finely (not onion salt), or
• 1/4 cup dehydrated garlic flakes ground finely (not garlic powder or garlic salt).

Directions:

1. Pre heat oven to 177° C or 350° F.
2. Sift all dry ingredients (including flavorings of your choice) together into heavy duty mixer with a dough hook.
3. Add the oatmeal and mix. Slowly add the water with the mixer on low and mix until the result is a nice smooth ball of dough
4. Generously dust your rolling surface with flour. Cut about 1 cm (1/2 inch) thick chunks of dough and roll out with a wooden rolling pin until the dough is thin enough to go through the largest gap in your pasta maker. Run this dough through gently until your desired thickness is achieved (I go to #4, it makes a very nice thin but not too delicate cracker).
5. Cut into triangles (like I did on this batch) or simply bake in the sheets that come out of the pasta maker and roughly break into smaller pieces when done.
6. Bake for about 10 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Cool and enjoy!

These thin crackers can hold a lot of dip without breaking.

Tasty treats.

Notes:

• I use my Kitchenaid Pasta roller attachment because it makes all the crackers the same even thickness and I am able to whip up a batch in less than 30 minutes baking included!
• Make sure you run the dough through a couple of times on each thickness so that the larger seeds get gently flattened so they don’t clog the machine and tear the dough.

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A slightly healthier Whole Wheat Cheez-itz

I need a little gift to take to dinner at friends tonight so I’ve been searching my beloved blogs to see what’s out there. I’ve been following Dara on Generation Y Foodie since Ann at Cooking Healthy for Me reviewed her self published cookbook. Dara generally cooks on the healthier side so when I saw this recipe originally posted by Ann, with a little twist, I knew I had to try it. What Dara did was change out the white flour for whole wheat and she added a bit of texture with some ground flax seeds! Brilliant, if you ask me. These little cheese nibbles are a family favourite now, thanks to Ann (my niece and nephew devoured an entire batch in 25 minutes last weekend!) and as I’m always looking to make things a bit healthier…I jumped on these.

They still have the same cheesy taste, but they have a bit of texture from the whole wheat and the flax, and they also have a touch of earthiness too. We gave it a good thumbs up. Thanks Dara for this lovely treat, I will be making it again and again.

Yummy little cheesy nibbles

Whole Wheat Cheez-Itz

You know you want one!

Ingredients:

• 8oz sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated (I had to add a bit of mozzarella as I had run out of the cheddar)
• 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed
• 2+ tbsp ice water
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• Pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425° F
2. Add the cheese, flour, flax, sea salt and cayenne into a food processor. Process a couple of times to mix everything together.
3. Add the olive oil at once as you are processing the mixture, adding in the ice water one table spoon at a time until the dough sticks together nicely.
4. Refrigerate for 30+ minutes (but to be honest, I never have time for this, please see my tip below).
5. Place a sheet of parchment below and on top of the ball and roll out to about 1/8″ (2mm) thickness.
6. Cut using your favourite cookie cutter (mine is a 1″ (2.5cm) square with scalloped edge. It’s a perfect size because they do shrink in the oven.
7. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until they have a golden bottom (this is the perfect crunch).
8. Cool and enjoy.

Tip:

I store my grated cheese in a zip-lock bag in the freezer. I virtually never remember to defrost it in advance, but using the ice cold cheese in this recipe allows me to skip the step of chilling the dough. Time saved on both counts!

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Ricotta and Sausage Pancakes and a new ‘friend’

My latest endeavour was the home made Ricotta from my BB (blogging buddy) John, and it was a huge success; even so, we had left-overs. We’re having our nephew Brian over for Sunday dinner and I thought it would work perfectly in a little hors d’œuvres of whole wheat-flax pan cakes with ricotta and chives and a little lightly pan fried chicken and turkey, spinach feta sausage (another left over from our little brunch on Saturday).

Pass the canapés, please.

Ricotta and Sausage Pancakes

Makes about 14 little pan cakes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Home-made ricotta (or store bought, but the home made is so darn easy)
• 1 tbsp finely chopped chives
• 14 sausage slices, very thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 1/2 cup soda water
• 3 tbsp egg whites
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Mix the chives into the ricotta and set aside.
2. Mix well together WW flour, flax seeds, egg whites, soda and salt. If it’s really runny, set aside for 2-5 minutes (you want a slightly thicker mixture than crèpe batter).
3. Heat a large cast iron pan and spray lightly with a non-stick cooking spray.
4. Drop small spoonfuls of the batter onto the hot pan so that they each form a 5cm or 2 inch little round. Cook both sides until golden. Repeat until the mixture has been all used up.
5. In the same hot pan, spray another little squirt of non-stick cooking spray and sauté each side of the thinly sliced sausage until golden and slightly curled.
6. Top each little pan cake with a dollop of the home-made ricotta and one slice of the sausage.
7. Enjoy with a martini.

Canapé Anyone?

And a new friend…

Meet Brown Squirrel.

As many of you already know, my favourite pet in the whole world was my dearest little bunny, Dustie. Sadly she passed away about 7 years ago at the age of 10, and the impact of her friendship has prevented me from trying to find another pet, any pet. Until I met brown squirrel. The strange thing about brown squirrel is that she is the same golden colouring as my Dustie, and that this type of colouring on squirrels in the Toronto area is not common (we have mainly black, some grey and a couple of white squirrels). Brown squirrel is not really a pet, but she has become a ‘friend’. I wonder if she’s on FB?

Now it’s not just the colouring on Brown Squirrel that makes her special, she is a lot tamer than the other squirrels in the hood. She will come when she is called (she’ll even cross the road when we call out to her; she doesn’t look both ways (she IS a squirrel) but we do!). She responds to munching noises (my Dustie did that too!). She’ll even come right up to you and eat from your hand (although I wouldn’t recommend it, after all, she is still a wild animal). We always have to remember to close the front door because she would follow you in (never happened but I sure wouldn’t want to chance it). Brown Squirrel comes to the house every morning for her treats. I snapped this photo from the dining room window through the screen (hence the weird overall colour); normally we wouldn’t feed her on our front porch, but it was darn chilly at 7:30 that morning, and we only had PJs on!

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Whole Wheat Flax Crèpes

This is a very versatile recipe, fill with your favourite savory or sweet. Pictured is roast chicken with a cheesy mushroom sauce.

Makes two 12-inch crèpes
3 tbsp whole wheat flour
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
1/2 cup soda water
3 tbsp egg whites
Pinch of salt

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
Allow to rest for 15-20 minutes (it should be runny, not thick like pancake batter). If it’s too thick add a bit more soda and blend again.
Pre-heat crèpe pan (mine is cast iron that I picked up in Paris on my first visit – ya, I know, weird souvenir!)
Rub a little olive oil all over hot pan.
Pour 1/2 the batter into the pan and either swirl around the pan to get the batter thin and evenly distributed, or spread out with a crèpe trowel. Cook the first side until the edges curl up a bit, flip carefully and cook until golden. Repeat with the second bit of batter.
Crèpes will shrink a bit.

Fill with you favourite filling and grill both sides with a panini press. Drizzle reserved sauce and garnish with finely chopped green onions. Bon appetite!

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Whole Wheat Flax Crèpes

This is a very versatile recipe, fill with your favourite savory or sweet. Pictured is roast chicken with a cheesy mushroom sauce.

Makes two 12-inch crèpes
3 tbsp whole wheat flour
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
1/2 cup soda water
3 tbsp egg whites
Pinch of salt

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
Allow to rest for 15-20 minutes (it should be runny, not thick like pancake batter). If it’s too thick add a bit more soda and blend again.
Pre-heat crèpe pan (mine is cast iron that I picked up in Paris on my first visit – ya, I know, weird souvenir!)
Rub a little olive oil all over hot pan.
Pour 1/2 the batter into the pan and either swirl around the pan to get the batter thin and evenly distributed, or spread out with a crèpe trowel. Cook the first side until the edges curl up a bit, flip carefully and cook until golden. Repeat with the second bit of batter.
Crèpes will shrink a bit.

Fill with you favourite filling and grill both sides with a panini press. Drizzle reserved sauce and garnish with finely chopped green onions. Bon appetite!

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