Cheddar Crisps With Roasted Grape Relish Food

CHEDDAR CRISPS WITH ROASTED GRAPE RELISH

Steps:

• Make Cheddar crisps:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.
• Blend Cheddar, flour, and cayenne in a food processor until combined well. Add butter and blend until dough starts to clump, about 30 seconds. Turn out onto work surface and gently knead until combined well. Using palms of your hands, roll dough into a 3/4-inch-thick rope (about 20 inches long). Cut rope into 24 equal pieces and press each piece onto bottom and halfway up side of a muffin cup.
• Bake until golden and slightly puffed in centers, about 10 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then invert onto rack to cool completely. Leave oven on.
• Make grape relish:
• Toss grapes with salt, pepper, and 1 teaspoon oil in a bowl, then roast on a foil-lined baking sheet until shriveled, about 25 minutes. Cool to room temperature on sheet on a rack.
• Toss together grapes, olives, celery, onion, jalapeño, garlic, zest, vinegar, pine nuts, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Spoon relish onto cheese crisps and serve immediately.

ASSORTED CHEDDAR CRISPS

Steps:

• Blend together butter, cheese, and yolk in food processor until smooth. Add flour, dried mustard, and salt and pulse until just combined. Transfer dough to a sheet of wax paper and divide into 3 portions (do not clean processor).
• Return 1 portion to processor, add pepper, and pulse until combined well, then transfer to another sheet of wax paper. Shape into a 7-inch-long log (1 1/2 inches thick), using paper as an aid, then roll up log in paper and twist ends of paper to close. Make 2 more logs on separate sheets of wax paper in same manner, using caraway seeds for second log and nigella seeds for third log (instead of pepper) and cleaning processor in between batches. Chill logs until firm, about 2 hours.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Unwrap 1 log and cut enough thin slices (about 1/8 inch thick) from it to fill baking sheet, arranging slices 1 inch apart. Bake until edges of crackers are golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer on parchment to a rack and cool slightly, about 15 minutes. Make more crackers in batches with remaining dough.
• Serve crackers warm or at room temperature.

HOMEMADE CHEDDAR AND PECAN CRISPS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Coarsely grate the cheddar cheese, and transfer it to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cut the two sticks of butter into sixteen pieces, and scatter the pieces over the cheese. Let the cheese and butter soften. Place the pecans in one layer on a baking sheet, and toast them in the oven until they are a shade darker and fragrant, 7 to 8 minutes. While the nuts are still warm, transfer them to a medium bowl and toss with the remaining tablespoon of butter (the hot nuts will melt the butter) and salt to taste. Cool the nuts completely, then finely chop.
• Add the chopped pecans, flour, a pinch of salt, cayenne, and black pepper to the bowl of the mixer, and beat the ingredients at medium speed until the mixture pulls together into a dough, about 2 minutes.
• Divide the dough into eight pieces. On a sheet of waxed paper, roll each piece of the dough into a log 1 inch in diameter, and wrap the logs tightly in waxed paper and foil. Chill the logs for at least 8 hours and up to 1 week. The dough will keep frozen for 2 months.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Working with one log at a time, cut the log crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices, and arrange the slices 1/2 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake the crisps in batches until they are golden and just firm to the touch, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool the wafers on the baking sheet. Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, the wafers will keep for up to 4 days.