Romano Basil Flower Crackers

Happy Monday! and for me, Happy Inspection Day! ......okay, so it's a scary kinda day and I'm just trying to make it feel celebratory. I'm nervous about a professional person walking around my soon-to-be house and telling me everything that's wrong with it. It's good to know, but still less than exciting. Since we're paying him to find flaws, I am doubtful he'll throw in compliments for free. The house is only 86 years old. Psht. What could be wrong with it? Um, everything. The house itself seems incredibly stable and compared to some of the rat traps I toured it's amazing....but the real question is: when in the last 86 years was the electricity, plumbing, roofing, etc, brought up to date? Yesterday I heard that depending on the updates the house might not be able to run a blowdryer. If it can run a fridge can't it run a blowdryer? All these answers and more are coming in just a few hours.

My house related stress eating put me into a sugar coma. I did so much baking this weekend that by the time Saturday night rolled around, I wanted nothing to do with sugar anymore. I loved my parmesan rosemary crackers from last week, so I decided to try again. This time using romano and basil flower buds. Romano is a significantly stronger cheese. Translation: don't add salt. Don't get me wrong, my sugar coma had me one step away from buying a salt-lick, kicking back in my snuggy, and watching a tv show marathon, but for the rest of you who aren't drowning their sorrows in chocolate truffles, you'll most likely be very happy with me for adapting the recipe from my original and incredibly bold attempt.

If you have a basil plantation like me with my 17 basil plants, you have more basil buds than you know what to do with (or how to keep up with pinching). If you're an urban cook with no basil, you're most likely cursing the skies right now. Sorry, but you can't have it all. Oh, snap! I live in DC and have 17 basil plants....yes, you can have it all. Google urban gardening and get on that! DC even has a seed swap and a seedling swap! I'm going next year. I traded seedlings this year and it was fun. Very excited....hmmmm, I feel like I was saying something relevant to the recipe before this.....oh right! You can add basil buds in place of basil in any recipe, and they taste the same as regular basil. The ones I used for these crackers had been vacuum packed and frozen for food storage. Nifty right?

Okay, time to get ready for house inspections! Wish me luck!

Romano Basil Flower Crackers 

1 1/4 cups finely grated Romano cheese or Parmesan Romano blend
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon basil buds
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons water

Combine all ingredients into a food processor. Pulse until it forms a coarse meal.

On a work surface, knead the dough until it is just combined. Form into a log about one inch in diameter. Chill the dough, wrapped in the wax paper, for 1 hour, or until it is firm enough to slice.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cut the dough into rather thin slices, arrange the slices 1 inch apart on wax paper. Cover with a second sheet of wax paper. Using a rolling pin, roll each piece until very thin.

Carefully move to parchment-lined baking sheets, and bake them in batches in the middle of the oven for 8 minutes, or until they are golden around the edges. Remove from heat and allow to cool long enough to be flipped over carefully.

Put the trays back in to the oven for another 5-7 minutes. Allow to cool slightly. Transfer the crackers carefully with a spatula to a rack, let them cool fully.

Lemon Basil Flower Shortbread Cookies

The initial peppery taste of the basil flowers in these cookies quickly gives way to their more subtle sweetness, easily balanced with the lemon to create a sweet and savory shortbread.

Butch and I had a heck of a time this week. Let’s just say that not everything went according to plan. That seems to be the theme in my life lately, and hers too from what I gathered over our dinner conversation.  Without disclosing excessive personal information, well, that wh0le story gets hard to tell.  Geez. Sorry that’s so boring! Um, uh…we’re loved. [Sometimes well, sometimes very very badly. –B.] And hopefully you still love me too after that train wreck of an introduction! Haha! 

Speaking of train wrecks….we also made some ice cream that you’ll notice isn’t in this post. Lemon Verbena Buttermilk ice cream just sounds SO good. It even looked beautiful. Sad thing is it tasted bitter. And even after adding more sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, etc. it was edible, but not postable. I’ll spare you that recipe.  I’m personally inclined to blame the buttermilk base recipe I experimented with. I think I’m going to make a second attempt using my sweet cream recipe. [Lemon verbena is such a delicate flavor it’s easy to overwhelm, and buttermilk isn’t exactly shy and retiring, as dairies go. –B.]

Luckily, however, the shortbread we were going to pair with it turned out beautifully! I love how the green basil remains green despite the baking process. It’s an absolutely beautiful cookie, fresh, refreshing and an excellent munching treat. I took them to Trivia for my friends and they were gobbled up. It also gave me a chance to try out cooking with my basil flowers! Which I am so excited about!

Cooking with the flowers of an herb is simple. Their flowers taste like the herb, only milder. Basil flowers taste like basil, just less dense in flavor. You can replace the basil in any recipe with basil flowers just be prepared to put in a ton more! I’d recommend them as a garnish! 

basil flowers, lemon verbena and lemon basil shortbread cookies

Lemon Basil Shortbread

1 large egg, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 or 2 T. lemon peel (to taste)

2 T. basil flowers or 1 ½ T. fresh basil leaves chopped

10 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/4 sticks), cold and cut into small pieces

To begin to make the shortbread, in a small bowl beat together egg and vanilla extract until yolk is broken up and evenly combined; set aside.

Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add butter and mix until mixture looks like sand. Add egg mixture and mix just until dough comes together. Add lemon zest and basil. Form into a flat, rectangular disk, wrap in plastic, and chill at least 1 hour.

Heat oven to 375°F. Place dough on a 14-inch piece of parchment paper, lightly flour, and roll into a 13-by-8-inch oval, about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer parchment paper with dough to a baking sheet, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate again for 15 minutes.

Cut each cookie into a small circle using either a cookie cutter or the rim of a glass.

Place on a baking sheet and cook until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and let cool.