Salads Sunday and Cheddar Cheese Crackers

Salad Sunday, what fun! After announcing the simple dinner menu, Red and DH were cheering me on as I started into the kitchen, like I was some kind of chef or culinary expert. [big eye roll] What they didn’t know was that I had already prepared the seafood salad, the pimento cheese spread, and the egg salad earlier in the day. I was going to try something new, cheddar cheese crackers. I should say this is new to me. Anyway, that was what all the hoopla was about, home made crackers. [another eye roll]

First I made the seafood salad. I used that imitation stuff made from haddock. Yes I know some may say it’s not really seafood salad but the guys loved it and funds allowed it so it’s all good!

Seafood Salad
1 lb seafood
1 green onion
1 stalk celery
¾ cup red bell pepper
¼ cup mayo + 1 tbsp
¼ cup sour cream
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
4-6 fresh lime basil leaves
1/8 tsp old bay seasoning
Salt to taste
6-8 turns pepper grinder

Shred the seafood block. Add the chopped onion, celery, red pepper and mix well. Process the ¼ cup mayo, sour cream, vinegars, fresh basil, and old bay seasoning until dressing is creamy and fresh basil is cut fine. Pour over seafood; add salt, pepper and the remaining tablespoon of mayo. Mix well and refrigerate about an hour. I served this on Cuban bread with lettuce and tomato. We topped those cheddar crackers with the left over seafood salad as a late night snack.

KitchenAid? 7-Cup Food Processor with Mini Bowl


Next I made the pimento cheese spread. You can find that recipe posted here. Finally I made traditional egg salad with dill pickle relish for Red. No sweet salads for him, or seafood salad for that matter. There aren’t many things he won’t eat and the egg salad was easy enough to whip up, problem solved.

Lastly, I started on to the first time task of preparing the cheddar crackers. I have to say I was a bit worried. I’m not too fond of baking and don’t do it very well. I have no idea why that is, it just is.

Cheddar Cheese Cracker Recipe
1 Stick of Butter – at room temperature
2 Cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Preheat your oven to 325° and get out your food processor.
2. Throw all of those ingredients into the food processor and pulse until well mixed, about 10 times.
3. Dump the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and use your hands to bring it together forming a ball of dough.
4. If the consistency allows, roll the dough out into a very thin layer, maybe 1/8 inch thick. If the dough is too loose to roll, toss it into the fridge for 15 minutes.
5. Once rolled out, cut the crackers. You can use cookie cutters here if you would like fancy shapes, but I just used a pizza cutter for basic crackers. It’s your call.
6. Place the crackers onto a cookie sheet covered with foil, parchment paper, greased wax paper, or even better, a Silpat baking mat.
7. Bake for 11 minutes or until the crackers start to get just golden on the edges.
8. Place on a cooling rack until the crackers are no longer warm.
(http://www.eatingcleveland.com/2008/06/25/cheese-crackers-recipe/)

Well, this mix was really crumbly and never did come together to form a dough. I pressed it into a log about 14” long and 2” high and sliced it. I pressed each slice to the thickness of a cracker. They had to bake for 20 minutes.

The end result was good. Red told me and DH that he can’t eat Cheese-It crackers now, they don’t taste like cheese!

♥