"B" is for Boston, "B" is for Butter

Herbs de Provence Crackers

My former academy of French culinary training Le Cordon Bleu had a soup drive a week after the capture of Suspect No. 2 to raise funds for Boston. Here was another chance to "pass it forward," as Atlanta's own Gena Berry says (she works with the annual hunger initiative Taste of the NFL). I like her twist on "pay it forward," meaning the good we do is like food on a tray and needs to go around.

I didn't know if the old school would let me in the kitchen (but I wore the cravat just in case). Those herbed crackers I make seemed like they'd go with the soup, so I made some "Bs" and baker shapes and high-tailed it to the school.

It turns out the kitchen was NOT open, and it was clear that the soup drive was well in hand without me. I dropped off the crackers, bought a quart of tortilla soup, hugged it out with the great and powerful pastry chef Joe Jacques, and returned home to ponder "what now" with all that energy that wanted to serve somebody.

Give me butter and I will find something to do. In this case, it was time to check out the Lemon-Lime Basil Shortbread Cookies from Bon Appetit. They're part of a cookie series the magazine did on Cookie Jar Favorites for the Brown Bag Set.

If you make them, and yes, you should, set your oven at 325 and bake for 20 minutes - after you've given the cookie dough a proper chill of about 30 minutes. Those are my tweaks. See the comments section of the link for what others found. All agreed the cookies are delicious and note to self: Double the recipe. When is a yield of 16 cookies EVER enough cookies? Don't be daunted by their apparent green color; they bake off to a normal shortbread style.

I'll use them in tomorrow's ice cream and gelato class.

It was obvious I still had butter, so I wandered into Dorie Greenspan's "Around My French Table." I wanted to practice because I signed up to do the Food Revolution Day and needed to find the recipe I want to make for May 17. It's another opportunity to cook something for somebody; check it out. I'd been curious about Greenspan's "Salted Butter Break-Ups" so started there.

Oh dear me goodness. J'adore, j'adore. The big cookie was so salty, buttery and comforting, I gave it a red poppy in gratitude. My one tweak, and it's purely optional, is to sprinkle a fine quality salt like the Murray Hill pink flakes gently over the top before baking.

And there was still more butter left, so on to Greenspan's Visitandine, a demure white cake with a springy spongy crumb, and since the canning/preserving class I'm teaching needs something to hold the lime curd up, this looked like the path to follow. The cake is now cooling; the house smells like someone's been in the butter and sugar.

I'm not through, but it's time to interview a contest winner with a formula for doughnut muffins. Sounds like more good times with butter to me.

A beautiful recipe like Salted Butter Break-Ups deserves a flower.

And now, a refresher on those herbed crackers.

Homemade Crackers

2 cups buttermilk
1 cup oil
2 and 1/2 tablespoons Herbs de Provence
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, with more for the counter
Finishing salt such as Fleur de Sel or Salish smoked salt (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the buttermilk and oil, then the Herbs de Provence, salt, baking soda and flour. Mix on low speed until incorporated. The batter should be thick enough to pull off a golf-ball-size dough piece and round it.

On a lightly floured counter top, place a piece of dough (the size of a golf ball) and roll out into an oblong shape, a stroke or two up and down with the rolling pin. Place cracker on baking sheet. Crackers won't spread, so you should get about 4 crackers on a sheet.

Lightly sprinkle crackers with finishing salt, bake 9-10 minutes. Flip crackers over, finish baking about 9-10 minutes more.

Crackers last several days in an airtight container, room temp.