Crunchy Chipotle Cheese Crackers

 Ah, the cheese cracker. Right up there with chips and cheese puffs in the list of America's favorite snacks - but unlike chips and cheese puffs, these are amazingly easy to make at home to suit your tastes. They're crunchy, spicy, cheesy, and contain a nice wallop of butter to help balance out that beer (as I learned in Chemistry class, the best way to prevent hangovers is to eat a stick of butter with your beer. Somehow that never caught on....)
This recipe is great to make ahead, since the dough is refrigerated and can be rolled out and baked in under 30 minutes. And it's easy to customize - try sprinkling a little sea salt or parmesan on top before you bake them, or drizzling a little sriracha into the dough.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour (white is fine if you prefer)
1 t smoked paprika
1/4-1/2 t chipotle chili powder (1/4 t = just detectable; 1/2 = stronger kick)
dash of cayenne
1/4 t salt
4 T butter (1/2 stick, in pieces)
4 oz cheddar cheese, grated (pick a good one)
1 egg yolk

Directions

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the flour and spices a couple of times until combined. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is sandy. Add the cheese and pulse until well incorporated. Add the egg yolk, and pulse until a dough comes together.
Form the dough into a round disk about 2 inches thick, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least one hour, up to overnight.
When you are ready to make the crackers, heat the oven to 400 F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Place the entire rectangle on your baking sheet, and use a pizza cutter to slice triangle or square cracker shapes. It's OK if the cutter only goes partway through the crackers - after baking, they will break apart along the cut lines. You can also use cookie-cutter shapes if desired, although this should be done before placing the dough on the baking sheet.
Bake at 400 F for about 13 minutes, or until edges are slightly brown and the centers are set.
Remove from the oven and let cook on the mat, then break up the crackers.
These are best eaten fresh the day of cooking, but will keep for a few days in airtight storage - they just lose some of the crispiness.

Cheddar Gougeres with Anchovies

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup 2% milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan or romano cheese
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 anchovy fillets, diced
• dash of cayenne 

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat.
• Make the choux pastry. 
• Melt butter in a small pan, then add milk and salt. Bring the mixture to a simmer.
•  Add the flour, and stir and stir until the mixture is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
• Add one egg, and beat until smooth. Add the second egg, and beat until fully incorporated. 

• Mix in cheese, thyme, pepper, anchovies, and cayenne.

• Place heaping teaspoonfuls on the baking sheet. Bake for about 30 min until golden brown.
• Consume with beer.

 

Sichuan Cucumbers

Sichuan Cucumbers

Ex-boyfriends.  I'm sure we all have traces of ex-boyfriends lingering in our lives. An old sweatshirt, some pictures shoved into the edges of a box, a birthday or christmas present.  Some extremely normal people might even have a collection of memorabilia. I am such a person, and my collection is childhood recipes. I have one from each ex-boyfriend, filed neatly away in my recipe box by name - as in, 'Mike's mom's spaghetti sauce' or 'Owen's mom's soup.' My introduction to Sichuan cucumbers came thanks to an ex-boyfriend's mom. They are light and crunchy and cold and delicious. This is not the original recipe, since Sichuan peppercorns weren't terribly common in California at the time. But it retains all of the tasty crispy goodness for summertime munching.

Ingredients

about 2 medium cucumbers (3-4 cups chopped)
1/2 t salt

2 T olive oil
1 T sesame oil
3 cloves of garlic
1 t whole Sichuan peppercorns
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1/4 c rice vinegar
1 t sugar
1 t sesame seeds

Directions

Slice cucumbers in half lengthwise, and remove seeds if they are seedy.  Cut into spears about 1 inch long. Toss in a bowl with the salt and let sit for about 30 min.

Meanwhile, mince the garlic and saute in olive and sesame oil over medium heat until fragrant, about 2-3 min. Add Sichuan peppercorns and continue to saute for another 2-3 min. Add red pepper flakes, vinegar, and sugar, and bring to a simmer.

Rinse cucumbers in a colander. Return to a bowl, squeezing out any excess water with your hands. Pour the piping-hot vinegar/oil mixture over the cucumbers and mix well. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Stick in the fridge for at least an hour to chill.

Garlic Sriracha Almonds

Sriracha Garlic Almonds

This recipe is inspired by one of our favorite pubs in San Diego, True North Tavern in North Park. We were won over on the first visit when they had Dogfish Head 90 min IPA on tap and super crispy tater tots to munch. We made regular return trips, and while the Dogfish Head turned out not to be a regular offering, they always have a great beer selection and the crunchy munchies were worth the trip. At some point along the way, these delectable Sriracha-garlic chicken wings appeared on the menu, and were readily consumed on a regular basis.

Then...along came Baby S, putting a serious damper on our forays to this 21-and-over establishment. Damper, as in I haven't been there once in the year since she was born (B.S., indeed). I'm pretty sure C. sneaks in periodically to get a fix, but he knows better than to flaunt it.

So there I was, getting ready to make some spiced almonds for the holidays, and I thought - you know what someone should really put on almonds? That Sriracha-crack sauce. And you know what would go really well with spicy-garlic-crack-almonds? Beer.  And we all know that the holidays could use more beer.
And so these Holiday-Garlic-Crack-Sriracha-Beer-Nuts were born. You're welcome.

Ingredients

2 T Sriracha chili sauce
1 t olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 t salt
1 t brown sugar
generous dash of cayenne

2 c almonds
salt & pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
Mix the Sriracha, olive oil, garlic, 1/4 t salt, brown sugar, and cayenne in a small bowl. Add the almonds and mix thoroughly to coat the almonds.
Spread the almonds in a single layer on the sheet pan, and sprinkle with additional salt & pepper to taste.
Roast for about 20 minutes, stirring once after 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely, then chow down.