Manchego Cheese Crackers with Marcona Almonds

My blue theme for snacks on Oscar night only went so far. I made a blueberry crumble tart that I really enjoyed, and I tried a blue cheese and apple hors d’oeuvre that I ended up not loving. The third item I made completely abandoned that theme but was delicious. These manchego cheese crackers with marcona almonds are from The New Spanish Table. I just finished the book after reading it off and on since November when I tried a few tapas from it. There’s a lot of information in there. Anya von Bremzen covers regional preferences, historical facts, and modern takes on Spanish cuisine. There are many interesting side notes with explanations about ingredients and origins of dishes. Some of the recipes are very traditional, some are chefs’ contemporary twists on classics, some are more involved than others, and a few, like these cheese crackers, are simple ideas that she learned from friends. This recipe was given to her by Melissa Clark, and the intro note about how hard the crackers are to resist is definitely true.

To make the dough, softened butter and grated manchego cheese were creamed together in the bowl of a mixer. Flour and salt were added, and the dough was supposed to form itself after a bit more mixing. Mine remained very crumbly and wasn’t sticking together at all, so I dribbled in just a tablespoon or so of milk and let the mixer turn a few more times until it seemed like dough. It was then formed into a log, and I flattened that into more of a long, square-ish shape which was wrapped in plastic and left to rest in the refrigerator for an hour. One quarter inch thick pieces were cut from the dough, and each was brushed with egg wash and topped with a marcona almond before being baked for 15 minutes.

The crackers were crunchy on the edges and a little tender in the middle and full of great manchego flavor. Marcona almonds are pretty addictive all by themselves, and they made the crackers even better than they already were. This was a very basic cracker with just butter, cheese, and almonds for flavor, and I’m not complaining about that at all, but I was thinking about how it might be fun to add a little smoked paprika or a pinch of cayenne next time.

Blueberry Crumble Tart

I always bring a few snacks to an annual Oscars party we attend, and for last Sunday’s party, I wanted to sort of work with a theme. I was certain it was going to be an Avatar-dominated Oscars so I was thinking ‘blue.’ I couldn’t have been more wrong, and obviously, I didn’t do so well with my Oscars betting this year, but at least this blueberry crumble tart was tasty. The recipe is from The Modern Baker, where it’s called a blueberry crumble pie. I wanted the cut pieces to be a simple, square form that would be easy to pick up at the party, so I baked it in a rectangular tart pan. I was also a little worried about how runny and gooey the filling would be, and to make it firmer and easier to handle, I used a little extra cornstarch. That part of my plan came together well. The pieces were easy to cut and easy to pick up without the filling running all over the place. At least that prediction worked out for me.

The tart crust was made from the sweet tart dough recipe in the same book. That dough includes an egg, an egg yolk, and baking powder in addition to the butter, flour, and sugar. It was mixed in a food processor and then wrapped in plastic and left to rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or so. It was more dough than I needed for my rectangular tart pan, so I also made a small, free-form rustic tart to leave at home. The filling was made with frozen blueberries, sugar, a tablespoon more of cornstarch than the four tablespoon suggested, and nutmeg. After cooking and thickening, cold butter was stirred into the blueberry filling mixture. The ample crumb topping was made by combining flour, baking powder, cinnamon, brown sugar, and melted butter. Once folded together, it was left to sit while prepping the tart shell and filling. Often it’s tempting to double the quantity of a crumb topping, but I can tell you this recipe made plenty and doubling it would have been way too much. Once the filling was spooned into the shell and the crumble topping was sprinkled on top, the assembled tart baked for 40 minutes.

The crust was flaky and golden and lovely, and the filling was just firm enough and full of blueberry goodness, but the crumble topping was my favorite part. Those nuggets of buttery, crunchy, fun were a delight on top of the tart. It could have been almost any fruit in the filling because in the end, the blueness of it didn’t matter at all, but I’m glad that concept led me to this tart anyway.

Black Bean and Quinoa Salad

In the December Food and Wine, there was a story about Boston chef Ken Oringer and the tailgate party he hosts on the day he cuts down his Christmas tree. The picnic menu for this party was a really good one, and I have to keep the pages I cut from the magazine because I’d like to recreate the entire thing some day. It included cubano sandwiches, this black bean and quinoa salad, mulled cider, an avocado, grapefruit, and hearts of palm salad, artichoke and spinach dip with spiced pita chips, and caramel pecan bars. Reading that list again just now made me a little hungry. Last week, I wasn’t ready to throw a picnic party and prepare all of that, but I had a plan for jibaritos and thought this salad would fit well with them. As usual, when I cook dried beans, I cook a lot of them at once. I planned ahead, cooked a lot of beans, set aside the amount needed for this recipe, and stored the extra beans in the freezer for future uses. With the black beans already cooked, prepping the salad was quick and easy.

First, the quinoa was cooked and then spread on a sheet pan to cool quickly. A dressing was made by whisking together sherry vinegar, soy sauce, lime juice, and a chopped chipotle chile, and then olive oil was incorporated. Sliced scallions, minced red onion, finely diced yellow pepper, and chopped cilantro were combined with the cooked and cooled black beans and quinoa. The dressing was poured over the mixture, it was tossed to combine, seasoning was checked, and that was it.

The salad is so full of flavor and varied textures you won’t even pause to think about how healthy it is. The chipotle added a little spiciness, and you could increase that and taste as you go while making the dressing. Obviously, you could change the vegetables in the salad, but the ones suggested were a nice mix of colors with the yellow pepper against the black beans and flecks of green cilantro and scallions here and there. This makes a very large quantity of salad, but it stores well in the refrigerator. It’s also great on a bed of arugula and topped with some crumbled feta, so I didn’t mind having a big bowl of it in the refrigerator for a few days.