https://greenfigsandham.com

Once you start eating these you just can’t stop, they are seriously addictive so beware!

I also just wanted to talk about why so many of my recipes specify kosher salt or sea salt. Kosher salt and sea salt have a much larger grain and tend to be much less salty that regular table salt, they also have a much cleaner less bitter “salt” taste. If you don’t have kosher or sea salt the use of regular table salt will result in a much too salty dish, because of its fine grain a single teaspoon of table salt contains more salt than a tablespoon of kosher or sea salt. If you are interested in reading more foodnetwork.com has a great write up and http://www.saltworks.us has a great guide to all the different types of salts.

4 cups of pecan halves
1.5 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 heaped tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 generous tablespoon of finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon honey or golden syrup
1 tablespoon olive oil

Spread the pecans out on a baking sheet and bake at 350F for 15 minutes. Meanwhile melt the butter and add it to a large bowl with the olive oil and golden syrup or honey. Then in a separate bowl mix together the brown sugar, rosemary, cayenne, salt and blend with a fork. When the pecans are finished in the oven, gently add them to the bowl, throughly coating them with the melted butter, olive oil and syrup/honey mixture. Sprinkle in the brown sugar, rosemary, cayenne, salt mix, mixing as you do to insure even coating and then return the pecans to the baking sheet to roast for an additional 3 to 4 minutes until they smell wonderful – keep an eye on them though you don’t want to over cook them. They taste great right away and they can be store for a one week in an airtight container, although in my house they never last that long! – Melani [print-me] 

A new Ottolenghi favourite of mine. I have never dabbled with cracker making before and these were so simple to do and an absolute hit for a warm tapas style entrée with a dip or just to eat cold as a snack along the way. As it says in the book “you will never need to buy crackers again” or want to for that matter.  The first batch I made I will confess to not even having had a rolling pin for, instead I had to improvise with a wine bottle wrapped in cling-film (saran wrap for those of you in the States); you maybe happy to hear that since I have become a little more refined and invested in one.

Olive oil crackers

[Makes about 25]

250g plain flour (plus extra for dusting)
1 tsp baking powder
115ml water
25ml olive oil (plus extra for brushing)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Simply put all your ingredients into a large bowl and mix together to form a soft dough. I do this by hand, but if you have a mixer with a dough hook then I’m sure it’s much faster. Work the dough until you get a firmer consistency and it holds together, then cover with cling film (saran wrap) and leave to rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour or so.

Heat up your oven to 220C/Gas 7.

Turn the dough out onto a clean, lightly floured work surface (have more flour standing by for dusting as & when needed). With a sharp knife cut off walnut size pieces (roughly 15g each) from the dough and roll out as thinly as possible with your rolling pin; the thinner you can get them the crispier they will go. They should end up looking like long oval shaped tongues.

Place the crackers on a tray lined with baking paper, brush with plenty of olive oil on both sides and sprinkle with the coarse sea salt.

I haven’t had the chance to try it yet, but I am sure they would also work wonderfully with other herbs or spice combinations. I will report back soon – Lorna