Well, if you missed Friday’s Pop-Up Lunch at The Culinary Center of Kansas City, you missed a delicious meal. Chef Sergio wow-ed the crowd with a grilled salmon salad with pickled red onions, strawberries and spiced pecans over fresh greens dressed in a white balsamic vinaigrette), Homemade Herb Crackers and Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing. Yum! The lunch was a success, and we’re looking at the calendar to work out a date for another Pop-Up Lunch. Watch for that… coming soon.
We had requests for recipes from the lunch, so here are a couple to try out at home. Enjoy!
CCKC’s Homemade Crackers
- Oil, for baking sheet
- 2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for rolling
- ½ teaspoon salt plus more for sprinkling
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- Seasonings to taste (your choice, see below)
- 4 tablespoons butter, chilled, unsalted, cut into small pieces
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup milk
- Olive oil, as needed
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a baking sheet and set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl add the flour, ½ teaspoon salt and baking powder along with any dry seasonings. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients. Whisk together the egg and the milk. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring with a fork until a soft dough is formed. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly.
Divide the dough into 4 to 6 pieces and roll out each piece until quite thin (1/16-inch or so) A pasta machine works well for this. Transfer the rolled out pieces of dough to an oiled baking sheet. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place in the oven to bake until golden and crisp. Let the crackers cool and break into pieces.
Seasoning ideas:
- Minced garlic, parsley and lemon zest
- Minced fresh herbs such as sage, basil, rosemary, etc.
- Ground fennel seed and saffron (dissolve the saffron in a tablespoon of hot water and add with the liquid—reduce milk by 1 tablespoon)
- Various spices such as curry powder, cumin, garam masala, etc.
- Dill and lemon zest
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Carrot Cake Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 4 whole eggs
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/3 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 cups raw ground carrots
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cupcake pan or add liners.
Mix sugar, vegetable oil and eggs in large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Fold dry ingredients into wet in the large mixing bowl. Blend well. Add carrots.
Pour batter about 2/3 full into cupcake baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until done. Makes one dozen.
Cream Cheese Icing
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the frosting, in an electric mixer bowl, add the butter and cream cheese. Cream together until smooth. Stir in the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla to combine. Spread frosting over top of cooled cakes.