BISCUITS WHICH ARE savoury, not sweet, are difficult to find, with the exception of oatcakes and cheese biscuits made by the excellent family firm, Fudges. Better, therefore, to make your own. Our wonderful head chef, Marcello Tully, even makes the water biscuits we serve with cheese here.
Why bother, you may ask? Well, these biscuits are extremely useful for a number of occasions. As summer approaches, they make a welcome and convenient alternative to bread, as an accompaniment to salad main courses (as well as first courses) and soup
s. But they also negate the need for a first course when served with drinks. More substantial than nuts and crisps, they're also convenient in that they can be made several days in advance, but they must be stored in an airtight container. They freeze satisfactorily, but benefit from being given 5 minutes in a moderate oven (180C/350F/Gas Mark 4) once thawed, to freshen them up.
Many people assume a non-sweet biscuit must contain cheese, but as you will see from the following recipes, this is not necessarily the case. My first recipe is for the classic cheese sables, the richest of savoury biscuits. Although easy to make, they can be pretty fragile because of the very high fat content. I have added a coating of finely chopped walnuts to the basic recipe, lending an extra dimension to their texture. You can cut these, and all savoury biscuits, to size according to their purpose.
I have been prompted to write about savoury biscuits following a demonstration I did last year in Devon, where, for lunch, the guests were given savoury biscuits alongside delicious sandwiches. The biscuits vanished long before the sandwiches did!
RICH CHEESE BISCUITS WITH WALNUTSMAKES 16 SMALL BISCUITS, OR 12 LARGER ONES
4oz/110g walnuts, chopped – or crushed with the end of a rolling pin – quite small
1/2 teaspoon salt
4oz/110g plain flour
4oz/110g butter, hard from the fridge and cut into bits
4oz/110g cheese – I use half grated Cheddar and half grated Parmesan, but if you prefer, use just one type of cheese
dash of Tabasco
1 teaspoon English mustard powder
1 egg, beaten well – to brush the biscuits
Put the finely chopped walnuts into a sauté pan with the salt and, over a moderately high heat, stir and fry for several minutes. This refreshes their flavour and slightly toasts them. Cool.
Put the flour, hard bits of butter and grated cheese into a food processor and add the Tabasco and mustard powder. Whiz to a ball of dough.
Sieve a small amount of flour onto a work surface and dust a rolling pin with flour. Roll out the rich cheese dough to a depth of about 1/3 cm and cut into either triangles or rounds.
Lift each disc or triangle onto a non-stick baking sheet. Brush with the beaten egg, then dust with the dry-fried walnuts. Bake in a moderate oven, 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 for 12-15 minutes, or until they are golden brown beneath the walnut coating. Remove from the oven and leave for less than a minute on a baking sheet before carefully lifting them onto a wire cooling rack. When completely cold, store in an airtight container.
ANCHOVY ROULADESThese are biscuits made with puff pastry. They can be made 3-4 days in advance and the roulade kept in the fridge, then sliced and baked at your convenience. If you prefer, instead of anchovy butter use a mixture of Marmite and cream cheese.
MAKES ABOUT 30
2 tablespoons anchovy paste (Gentleman's Relish is ideal for this, but any anchovy paste can be used)
2oz/55g soft butter
1lb/450g puff pastry – I buy Saxby's or Bells, ready rolled out
1 beaten egg
In a small bowl, beat together the anchovy paste and soft butter, beating very thoroughly. Lightly dust a work surface with sieved, plain flour. Put the rolled-out puff pastry on this and roll it a bit thinner.
Spread the anchovy butter evenly over the pastry. Roll the pastry tightly into a long roulade. Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge.
Before baking, unwrap the puff pastry roulade and slice to a thickness of about 1/2 cm. Put these pinwheels onto a non-stick baking sheet. Brush each with beaten egg before baking in a moderate heat, 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 until well puffed up and deeply golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool on the tray, then store in an airtight container. These are better warmed up to serve.
SESAME, LEMON AND THYME BISCUITSMAKES ABOUT 16 SMALL BISCUITS OR 12 LARGER ONES
3oz/85g sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
6oz/170g butter
6oz/170g plain flour
finely grated rind of 1 lemon, well washed and dried before grating
dash of Tabasco
about 1in/2cm sprig of thyme, tiny leaves stripped from the stalk
Put the sesame seeds and salt into a sauté pan over moderately high heat and cook, shaking the pan gently, for several minutes, until the seeds look light brown. Take the pan off the heat and tip the salted seeds onto a plate to cool.
Put the butter, flour, lemon rind, Tabasco and thyme leaves into a food processor and whiz till the mixture forms a ball of dough.
Lightly sieve flour onto a work surface and tip the biscuit dough onto this. Dust a rolling pin with flour and roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1/3 cm and cut the biscuits to the required size. Put these onto a non-stick baking sheet. Brush each with beaten egg, then dust with the toasted sesame seeds. Bake on a sheet in a moderate heat, 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 for 12-15 minutes. Leave the biscuits to cool for half a minute on the baking sheet, before lifting carefully onto a wire cooling tray. When completely cold, store in an airtight container.
The full article contains 999 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
