The Cracker Book: Artisanal Crackers for Every Occasion

by Lee E. Cart

The cracker ingredients move well beyond traditional wheat flour crackers to include brown rice, oatmeal, wheat germ and more even gluten-free crackers. As a bonus, recipes for over a dozen delicious and interesting dips and spreads are included as the perfect complement to home-made crackers. "

Genres: Cookbooks

96 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2012

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lee Cart is an interesting character. She and her husband, Jeffrey, live in a post-and-beam house that they designed and built themselves in central Maine. They are off the grid, using solar panels and batteries for electrical power. She cooks and writes about it. She prefaces her work with a trio of brief expositions: on flour, on oil, and on the shape of crackers. She says, "Break out the cookie cutters and make caraway-rye men instead of gingerbread men for Christmas, cheddar cheese stars, lemony-dill ducks, tomato-basil turkeys, or whatever shape cutters you happen to have." Her first recipe, "The Basic Recipe," invites bakers to innovate and attempt combinations previously unknown to the culinary experience. The variety included is impressive: bacon and cornmeal, balsamic vinegar and brown rice, beer and rye, carrot and millet, dried cranberry and Graham crackers, maple and sage, and orange and buckwheat. This small (96 pages) book could be further condensed by combining the instructions, which, for most of the crackers, are identical (sprinkle flour, two-inch circle cutter, ungreased cookie sheet, prick with a fork, bake at 350 degrees F, golden brown on the bottom). The book concludes with an addendum of dips and spreads which go well with crackers: walnut and basil, cilantro and lime, cucumber and dill, curried egg, white bean and chive. Had the book been mine to write, I would have added a wee section of flatbreads, which are almost, but not quite, entirely unlike crackers.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little collection of cracker recipes. Would have liked to see some expansion into flatbreads to switch things up, but still glad to have holiday ideas from this book.

Makes me want to hold a wine tasting with crackers and cheese!