Lemon Crackers

Lemon Crackers

Sometimes, you want snack time to be more than just goldfish crackers, you know?  If you have little ones, then you know that snack time at play dates usually hits all the major kid food groups… crackers, juice boxes, and grapes.  While that’s menu gold for the kids, I think the adults deserve something a little more special.

The ingredients

For example, maybe something with parmesan cheese, and butter, and with delicious hints of lemon and pepper.  Now that sounds like a grownup snack worthy of any play date.  Even better, the dough for these crunchy little gems can be made made the night before the get together and baked right before everyone arrives.  So whip together a batch of these crackers and be the star of your next playgroup.  These are so tasty that you might just have to wrestle them away from the kids.

Cracker dough

Lemon Crackers

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups finely grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

3/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

4 tbls cold butter, cut into small cubes

1 1/2 tbls water

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

To Make:

Whisk together the parmesan, flour, lemon zest, and black pepper in a mixing bowl.  Cut the butter into small pieces and toss in the cheese-flour mixture.  Using a pastry blender (or two knives), work the butter into the cheese flour mixture until the result looks like coarse bread crumbs.  Add in the water and lemon juice.  Use a fork to mix thoroughly until a dough ball is formed.  Transfer the dough to a sheet of wax paper.  Handling the wax paper (not the dough), roll the out the dough to a uniform log, about 11 inches long.  Wrap tightly in the wax paper and refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to two days.

Preheat the oven to 375F.  Cut the log into 1/4 inch slices and place on a baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.  Cook only one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes, or until the edges start to turn to a golden color.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To Serve:

These make yummy little vessels for your favorite dip.  Or just eat them plain and enjoy their cheesy, mildly lemon flavor.  Makes about 40 crackers.

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Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joe

 

Sloppy Joes… the name brings back memories of cans of Manwich served on fluffy while hamburger buns.  It is comfort food at its finest.  We have been looking for a good sloppy joe recipe for a while now.  Having jumped off the processed food train a while back, Manwich was no longer on the table for us.  So in the name of research, we have made multiple batches of the slop, tweaking recipes this way and that.  Unfortuntately, none of them have measured up to what we were looking for.  Namely, beef that is flavorful, not to dry but not too saucy, and most importantly, more interesting than hamburger flavored ketchup. 

(starting in top left, going clockwise) The Ingredients, The Blender, The Veggies, and Sloppy Joe himself

 

This recipe has everything we have been looking for.  The sauce is complex, tomato-y with depth from Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, and molasses, and rich with onions, garlic, and pepper.  Hot sauce adds a little spice, feel free to add more if you like it hot, or take it out entirely if you want a mild Joe.  So the next time you get a hankering for a reminder of childhood, ditch the can and try these Sloppy Joes instead. 

Sloppy Joes 

Recipe followed almost exactly from Gourmet Today 

Ingredients: 

 1 1/2 tbls olive oil 

1 medium onion, chopped 

1 celery rib, chopped 

1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped 

2 garlic cloves, minced 

1 lb ground beef 

1 – 14 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes 

1/4 cup ketchup 

1 tbls molasses 

1 tbls cider vinegar 

1 tbls Worcestershire sauce 

1 tsp hot sauce 

To Make: 

Heat the olive oil in the pan over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, celery, red bell pepper, and garlic.  Stir occasionally and cook until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.  Add in the ground beef, breaking up the large lumps with a wooden spoon and cook until the meat is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.  Season the mixture with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. 

Meanwhile, combine the can of tomatoes (with juice), ketchup, molasses, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce in a blender.  Puree until smooth. 

Add the tomato mixture to the ground beef mixture.  Bring the mixture to a simmer, leave it uncovered and let to cook until the thickened, about 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

To Serve: 

You can serve these on a bun, ala traditional Sloppy Joes.  Or, you can divert from tradition and serve the meat over hot buttermilk biscuits.  Serves 4.