Sourdough crackers

                                         

Ten more days and I'd be counting two months absence from blogging. Lots of things happened in the meantime... we moved to a new appartment finally, and above all it took ages to have the phone line installed and connected... and that not being enough, the day after we got the phone line back, the computer broke and it got repaired just a day or two before we left for Christmas holidays.
It was also a strange Christmas from baking point of view, I've never baked less as back in time as I can remember. Although most of the stuff has been in it's place, it's still often difficult to find things. And I kind of wasn't in the right mood.
But one thing that couldn't be forgetten is my "baby", my sourdough starter. It needs to get fed regularly, and now that it's really in great shape I couldn't let it sit and die. Of course not. The first thing I baked in my new house was bread, and then bread again and again.
But I managed to squeeze in some crackers and sweet buns as well.
The lovely book I mentioned in one of my previous posts is full of beautiful recipes and ideas, and these crackers were adapted from there, too.
I really liked them and can't wait to make them again.


                                         

Scented (sourdough) crackers
(adapted from Pane, dolci & fantasia, by Sara Papa)

* 500 g all purpose flour
* 250 g water
* 150 g sourdough starter (or 20 g fresh yeast)
* 20 g acacia honey
* 90 g extra virgin olive oil
* 12 g salt
* crushed pink pepper or dried herbs (e.g. rosemary) for topping
for brushing:
* 25 g water
* 25 g extra virgin olive oil
* 5 g salt

Refresh your sourdough starter and take the necessary quantity.
Tear it into pieces and leave in a mixing bowl with all 250 g of water. Let it soften for 20-30 minutes and then mix it with a hand trying to dissolve it.
Add the honey and oil, and then mix in the flour. Add the salt in the end and knead the dough until smooth.
Shape the dough into a ball and place it on a floured kneading board and cover with a large bowl or a clean cotton cloth. Let it rise until it's doubled in volume.
Take 1/4 of the dough and roll it out on a piece of baking paper to 3 mm thick. Punch the dough with a fork. Using a pizza wheel, cut the dough into little squares.
Put the oil, the water and salt into a small jar with a lid. Shake well for all the ingredients to mix, then brush the mixture all over the dough.
Sprinkle some crushed pink pepper or dried herbs over and let the crackers rest for 30 minutes.
Repeat with the remaining dough.
Bake the crackers in an oven preheated to 200°C until golden brown.
Once they are cold you can store them in zip lock bags for a week or freeze for up to a month.


                                         

Cracker profumati (con LM)
(adattato da Pane, dolci & fantasia, di Sara Papa)

* 500 g di farina "00"
* 250 g di acqua
* 150 g di lievito madre (o 20 g di lievito di birra fresco)
* 20 g di miele di acacia
* 90 g di olio extra vergine di oliva
* 12 g sale
* pepe rosa o erbe aromatiche secche (per esempio, rosmarino) per guarnire
salamoia:
* 25 g di acqua
* 25 g di olio extra vergine di oliva
* 5 g sale

Rinfrescate il lievito madre e poi prelevate la quantità che serve.
Spezzettatelo e mettete in una ciotola con 250 g di acqua. Lasciatelo ammorbidire per 20-30 minuti e poi mescolate con le mani cercando di farlo sciogliere.
Aggiungete il miele e l'olio, poi la farina e infine il sale.
Impastate bene, formate una palla e lasciate lievitare sulla spianatoia coperto con un canovaccio o la ciotola a campana fino al raddoppio del volume.
Prelevate 1/4 del impasto lievitato e con l'aiuto di un mattarello stendetelo allo spessore di 3 mm direttamente su un foglio di carta da forno. Bucherellate la pasta con una forchetta e ritagliatela con la rotellina per la pizza in quadratini.
Mettete l'acqua, l'olio e i il sala per la salamoia in una bottiglietta o vasetto con il coperchio e scuotete energicamente per emulsionare bene. Spennellate poi la salamoia sulla superficie dei crackers. Cospargete con il pepe leggermente pestato o le erbe secche. Lasciateli lievitare per 30 minuti e poi infornateli a 200°C finché diventino dorati.
Una volta raffreddati, conservateli nei sacchettini di plastica (per 1 settimana) oppure congelateli (per 1 mese).




                                           

Mirisni krekeri (s kiselim tijestom)

Tijesto:
* 500 g brašna
* 250 g vode
* 150 g kvasa/kiselog tijesta (ili 20 g kvasca)
* 20 g meda
* 90 g ekstra djevičanskog maslinovog ulja
* 12 g soli
* ružičasti (ili drugi) papar, suho mirisno bilje (ružmarin, i sl.) za posipanje
za premazivanje:
* 25 g vode
* 25 g ekstradjevičanskog maslinovog ulja
* 5 g soli

Kvas prethodno nahranite/osvježite pa odvojite potrebnu količinu.
Nakidajte ga na komadiće i stavite u zdjelu s vodom (250 g). Ostavite 20-30 minuta da odmekne, a zatim ga rukom izmiješajte da se što je moguće više otopi.
Dodajte med i ulje, a zatim i brašno. Dodajte sol tek pred kraj i dalje dobro izmijesite da tijesto postane glatko.
Stavite ga na pobrašnjenu dasku/radnu površinu i pokrijte preokrenutom zdjelom ili čistom pamučnom krpom. Ostavite tijesto da se diže dok se ne udvostruči.
Uzmite 1/4 tijesta i razvaljajte ga izravno na komadu papira za pečenje veličine velikog pleha na debljinu od 3 mm.
Nabockajte vilicom cijelu površinu, a zatim kotačićem za pizzu narežite na kvadratiće željene veličine.
Stavite ulje, vodu i sol u bočicu s poklopcem i energično protresite da se dobro pomiješaju.
Premažite ovom smjesom uz pomoć kista krekere.
Pospite ih grubo izmrvljenim paprom ili mirisnim biljem po želji.
Ostavite krekere da se dižu 30 minuta, a zatim ih stavite peći na 200°C dok ne dobiju zlatno smeđu boju.
*Ohlađene krekere čuvajte do tjedan dana u plastičnoj vrećici, a možete ih i zamrznuti do mjesec dana.