Make the Bread, Buy the Butter - Jennifer Reese [108]
Make it or buy it? Make it.
Hassle: Even cutting them isn’t that bad.
Cost comparison: Homemade: $0.32 per ounce. Store-bought: $0.39 per ounce.
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
¼ pound extra-sharp orange cheddar, grated (about 1 cup)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1. Put the butter, cheese, salt, white pepper, and cayenne in a food processor and pulse until the butter is broken up into bits and the mixture forms small curds, like cottage cheese. Add the flour and pulse until well combined. It will now look more like wet couscous. Add the Worcestershire sauce and pulse again. The dough should be moist and come together in your hands.
2. Turn the dough onto a work surface and knead it once or twice until it forms a ball. Pat it into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill for at least an hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
4. Roll the dough out a scant ¼ inch thick. (If the dough seems sticky, flour the work surface, though you probably won’t need to.) Using a fluted wheel cutter (if you have one; if not, a knife is fine) and a ruler, cut the dough into long 1-inch-wide strips, and then cut the strips into 1-inch squares. Gather and reroll the scraps and continue cutting.
5. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. The crackers won’t expand, so you can fit them fairly tightly. Make a small hole in the center of each cracker with a skewer or the stem of an instant-read thermometer. A toothpick isn’t quite big enough.
6. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the crackers darken just a bit. Cool completely on a rack and store in a cookie tin for up to a week.
Makes 70 to 80 crackers
WHITE PEPPERCORNS
Until I bought white peppercorns for the first time quite recently, I assumed the difference between white and black pepper was strictly cosmetic. After all, the white peppercorn is simply a pepper berry that has been allowed to ripen and had its husk removed. But something dramatic happens when you remove that husk. White pepper has less up-front bite and a long, more complex finish. While I’ve never been a big fan of black pepper, I love white pepper. Just one more reason to buy a spice grinder and find a good ethnic market: A 1-ounce jar of McCormick ground white pepper costs $6.15. I can buy an equivalent amount of white peppercorns from a Middle Eastern market and grind them fresh at home for $1.50.
A LTERNATIVES TO COSTCO
Even though it’s delicious, I will never buy a Costco lasagna. I spent too many years rolling my eyes at my mother’s dedication to the $12 casserole. But all of the following three dishes are good for parties, because you can make them ahead of time.
OLIVE PASTA
This recipe, and the following, is adapted from We Called It Macaroni by Nancy Verde Barr, a fabulous cookbook and one of the first I ever bought as an adult.
Make it or buy a Costco lasagna? Make it.
Hassle: Easy
Cost comparison: $2.50 per serving versus $1.00 per serving for a Costco lasagna.
½ cup olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 garlic cloves, minced
One 15-ounce can chopped tomatoes, drained
1 cup drained oil-cured or brine-cured olives, black or green, or a mixture, pitted
2 tablespoons capers
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons dried oregano
Pinch of sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound fusilli
1 cup grated Parmesan or pecorino
1. Heat the oil, onion, red pepper flakes, and garlic in a large skillet or Dutch oven and cook until the onion is softened but not browned, about 8 minutes.
2. Stir in the tomatoes, olives, capers, vinegar, oregano, and sugar. Simmer for 15 minutes over low heat. At this point you can leave the sauce, covered, on the stove until you are ready to eat. When