It’s soup season here in the Sonoran Desert, and that’s cause for celebration.
Maybe your soup for supper is a rich and hearty meal-in-a-bowl – split pea or lentil soup, for example, or a stew or chili or a creamy bisque of one sort or another. Or maybe your soup is something brothy that serves as an opener for succeeding dishes – vegetable soup or borscht or something lean.
Either way, some type of simple side will make that soup more memorable.
I have two for you today, one just a little time-consuming, the other dead simple.
There’s a bushel-basket-sized rosemary bush just outside my front door. I think that it’s a terrific culinary variety called Tuscan blue, judging from its sky-blue flowers in spring and summer. Its fragrant needle-like leaves enhance my cooking with their piney-menthol scent several times each week.
Naturally, then, it makes its appearance in these easy garlicky rosemary crackers. The hardest thing about making these crackers is rolling out the dough – and even that’s not terribly tough to do. I like to cut the dough with a wavy-wheel ravioli cutter to dress them up a wee bit.
The second recipe is based on a Southern favorite I learned about when I lived in Alabama. I adapted the original to make use of flavors familiar to our Arizonan palates. Starting with simple saltines or butter crackers, it’s a bake-or-not recipe that imbues the plain crackers with a whole lot of tongue-tingling flavor. I prefer them baked, but if time’s short, you don’t have to do so.
Both store well, and will last a long time – if you can keep your hands off them.
Garlicky rosemary crackers
Makes about 24 crackers
These simple crackers are easy to make. Store them in a zip-top bag or covered container; they’ll last almost indefinitely – if you don’t eat them all up first. Terrific as a side to soup, especially if you spread them with a little creamy cheese, such as brie or Camembert. Use the extra garlicky olive oil as a drizzle for soup, or in a simple vinaigrette.
Ingredients
For the garlicky olive oil:
½ cup olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, sliced
For the crackers:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped
2 tablespoons garlicky olive oil
²⁄³ cup water
Preparation
Make the garlicky olive oil: In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the olive oil. When it is fragrant, add the sliced garlic. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat; allow to cool and strain out the garlic cloves. Set aside.
At baking time, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and fresh rosemary.
Add 2 tablespoons garlicky olive oil and water. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a dough.
Place a piece of parchment paper the size of a baking sheet on the counter, place the dough on the parchment paper, and cover with another piece of parchment paper the same size.
Roll the dough out to ¹⁄8- to 1¼-inch thickness. Remove the top parchment paper and transfer the dough on the parchment paper to a baking sheet. Cut into squares or rectangles about 1½ inches wide by 2 or 3 inches long and prick each cracker several times with a fork.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden. Allow to cool completely before breaking apart and storing.
Arizona fire crackers
Makes about 3 dozen crackers
These fierce little crackers pack a bit of a punch. Serve as a nosh alongside cocktails, or as an accompaniment to soups and stews. No need to use your fancy extra-virgin olive oil here; the flavorings would just overwhelm it.
Ingredients
2 cups olive oil
3 tablespoons hot chile powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano, preferably Mexican
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons (about 2 packages) dry ranch dressing mix
4 sleeves of saltine crackers or butter crackers, such as Ritz
Preparation
Combine olive oil, chile powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, oregano, black pepper, and ranch dressing mix in a gallon-sized zip-top bag. Close the bag securely and knead to combine the seasonings well.
Place the crackers in the bag, re-seal, and gently turn the bag over several times to coat the crackers with the seasoning mixture. Turn the bag several times over the next several hours; it’s OK to leave the crackers at room temperature. Allow the crackers to soak up the flavorings for eight hours or overnight.
The crackers taste great without baking, but they’re a little crisper if you bake them. To do so, preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Lay the crackers out shoulder to shoulder on a baking sheet. Discard remaining seasoning mix. Bake the crackers for about 15 minutes, or until golden.
Allow to cool, and store in a clean zip-top bag or covered container until you want to serve them.
Robin Mather is a longtime food journalist and the author of “The Feast Nearby.” Follow her blog as she writes her third book, “The Feast of the Dove,” at thefeastofthedove.com.
