Red Chili,Cheddar Diamonds and Seedy Crisps

The crunch of a cracker is a happy thing, whether it lifts up a gooey blue cheese or floats atop tomato soup or is eaten right out of the box. With the endless varieties competing on store shelves, from your favourite well-known brands to small-batch artisan flatbreads, there's no need even to consider making crackers yourself, right? Except that when you serve up a batch of crisp crackers you've made, the reward will be in your guests' faces and in watching them disappear. Chef Chester Hastings, author of The Cheesemonger's Kitchen (Chronicle Books), compares the satisfaction of cracker-making to that of its flour-based cousin. "It's like bread -- why make bread at home?" says Hastings, cheesemonger of Joan's on Third in LA. "There's something about making it at home, and controlling the flavour and texture and saltiness of things, that is so rewarding." "It's also about the smell of baked things in the oven," he says. But crackers are much easier to make than bread; if you bake cookies, you can make crackers. Hastings includes three cracker recipes in his book, all tempting, but we fell in love with red chili and cheddar diamonds -- fiery, addicting little bites. "The cheddar diamond thing came about from a bar snack perspective," says Hastings. "When I started playing with it, I couldn't stop making them. Good quality cheddar when it cooks is mesmerizing." And that's a key tip in making crackers. Because the ingredients are so few and the technique simple, you'll want to use the best quality. A cracker of a different strip, a seed-studded flatbread from Alton Brown of Food Network's Good Eats, provides a nutty flavour that will stand on its own or cozy up to cheeses or soups or dips. RECIPES Red Chili and Cheddar Diamonds Prep: 25 minutes Chill: 1 hour Bake: 12 minutes Makes: About 180 small crackers 1 cup flour 3/4 tsp. salt 1 tsp. crushed red chilies 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, chilled, diced 8 oz. aged cheddar cheese, grated 3 to 4 Tbsps. water Whisk the flour, salt and chilies together in a bowl. Place in a food processor along with the butter; pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the cheese; pulse to combine. Add 3 Tbsps. water, a tablespoon at a time, pulsing until the mixture comes together in a ball. Pulse in an additional Tbsp. water if needed to get the dough to hold together. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; chill, 1 hour. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thick Cut the dough into 1/2-inch diamonds (or other shape) using a cookie cutter, sharp knife or fluted pastry cutter. Place in freezer, 15 minutes. Spread out the cut pieces onto parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving just enough room so that they are not touching. Bake until deep golden brown and crunchy, 12 minutes. Cool completely before serving. Note: In The Cheesemonger's Kitchen, Chester Hastings calls for rolling the dough 1/8-inch thick and cutting the crackers just 1/2-inch wide. The bitty bites were devoured by tasters, but we also found success with a slightly larger version, 1-inch wide and 1/4-inch thick. It's very important to keep the dough cold, Hastings says. We found that chilling the rolled out dough 15 minutes in the freezer helped them puff up when baked. Using a quality aged cheddar is key. Store crackers in an airtight container up to 1 week. Serve with wine, beer or cocktails. Nutrition information per serving: 10 calories, 1 g fat, 0.4 g saturated fat, 2 mg cholesterol, 1 g carbohydrates, 0 g protein, 18 mg sodium, 0 g fibre. Seedy Crisps Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 6 minutes per batch Makes: 10 servings 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 cup all purpose flour 1/3 cup flax seeds 1/3 cup sesame seeds 11/2 tsps. salt 11/2 tsps. baking powder 3 Tbsps. olive oil 6 1/2 oz. water Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Whisk together both flours, the seeds, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Add the oil; stir until combined. Stir in the water until the dough just comes together. Knead dough four or five times on a floured surface. Divide into eight equal pieces; cover with a kitchen towel. Rest, 15 minutes. For a thin snacking cracker: Roll out one piece of the dough to 1/16 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. If there is room on the pan, repeat with a second piece of dough. Bake on the middle rack, 4 minutes. Flip the cracker(s); bake until golden brown, 2-3 minutes. Place on cooling rack; when cool, break into desired pieces. Repeat with remaining dough. For a thicker dipping cracker: Roll out the dough as above, but to 1/8 inch thick. Bake, 6 minutes. Flip the crackers; bake 4-6 minutes. Cool and break up crackers as before. Repeat with remaining dough. Note: From Good Eats 3: The Later Years, by Alton Brown (Stewart, Tabori & Chang). Brown calls for poppy seeds, but we're subbing with flax seeds, which we like better. The crackers store in an airtight container up to 2 weeks.