Jan 22, 2017

Cheese in Cracker - An Aline Recipe

Cheese in Cracker, hmmmm, that is something that you can buy in limitless variation and quality in any supermarket. Looking at the list of ingredients also doesn't give any indication for something special. Oh well, let's get started:

Part 1: The Crackers

Proof yeast with water and sugar, then mix the dough in the food processor. The rising of the dough is done in my combination oven, which has a dedicated program for just that. After 30 minutes the dough has risen nicely and gets to rest in the fridge overnight. The next morning we take it out. We form a ball out of one quarter of the dough. The other three quarters? According to the book, we "save them for another use". Really, is that necessary? The dough gets rolled out, cut into little squares and baked for a couple of minutes. Surprisingly, this works out well, the squares puff nicely in the middle. Although it did take a good deal longer than the 6 minutes the recipe calls for.



Part 2: Cheddar Cheese Sauce

A little product background: Cheddar cheese is indeed available in good, in this case it comes from the UK, is called "aged cheddar" and costs as much as any other decent cheese. No, the slices in plastic that Kraft produces are not, what we are using here

We grate the cheese and mix it with hot milk, some sugar and salt. Then we blend the mixture, until, if I am honest, we have a mass that reminds me both in look and taste pretty much of the aforementioned slices.


Part 3: Assemble and Serve

Assembly is not difficult, but tedious. We Die Zusammensetzung ist nicht schwer, aber aufwendig. We drill a little hole in each cracker and inject the cheese filling.


The result? cheese crackers. Really. Not bad cheese crackers. But then again, nothing more. Not the best cheese cracker. Frankly, if those were from the supermarket, I would tray another variety the next time. Somehow I don't get the recipe. It neither fits with the surrounding courses (Beef with Elements of Root Beer before, Goose with blood orange and sage thereafter), nor can I find anything even remotely special here. Very strange.

Part 4: The Recipe

Material
  • plastic syringe (50cc)
Equipment
  • Precision Scale
  • Stand mixer
  • Pasta machine or rolling pin
Crackers
215 ml warm water
13 g fresh yeast
4 g sugar
4 g salt
470g all-purpose flour (type 405)
55g melted butter
Fleur de Sel

Consider using half the amount of ingredients!

In bowl of stand mixer, combine water, sugar and yeast. Let yeast proof for 5 minutes. Then add flour, salt and butter. Using dough hook, beat on low speed until a ball forms (about 6 minutes). Remove bowl from mixer, cover with damp towel and let rise for 25 minutes in warm place. Refrigerate overnight.

The following day, transfer bowl to warm place, divide into 4 parts, use only one part. Preheat oven to 230º C. Line sheet tray with parchment. Roll dough about 2mm thick using pasta machine or rolling pin. Cut into squares 2.5 cm wide and transfer to sheet tray. Sprinkle with fleur de sel and bake in oven until golden brown (about 6 minutes). Let cool to room temperature. 

Using needle or syringe, punch 1 hole that tips the tip of the syringe in each cracker. Each all crackers that break. Reserve in airtight container.

Cheddar Cheese Sauce
150 g high quality aged cheddar cheese
150 g milk
6 g salt
3 g sugar

Grate cheese coarsely. Transfer to blender, add sugar and salt. In small saucepan, bring milk to a simmer. Pour in blender. Blend on high speed until cheese has melted and liquid is very smooth. Pass through coarse chinois into small container. Cover and reserve in warm place.

Assemble and Serve
Fill syringe with cheese sauce. Inject sauce into cracker. Do not overfill.

Bald geht's wieder los:  Project Olav