My Great Aunty Rata is a beautiful lady who at 86 years old is still a grand host and a fantastic cook. She has had a big influence on my love for eating… as well as cooking. Aunty Rata would create sweet treats that would only be served to me and my brother, like Wobbly Man…. malt biscuit and chocolate fudge base with fluffy pink marshmallow topped with finely shredded coconut, that would have to be one of the main food memories I have as a child. She wouldn’t even make it for our cousins when they requested it, insisting that it would only be baked for us…. Oh bless you Aunty, that always made us feel so special!!
Years of cooking for her family and shearers on her and Uncle Bills sheep farm meant she could easily feed a crowd on a shoe string, there was never waste and always plenty of food for seconds!!
This is her basic but yummy homemade cheese spread recipe with my thyme and duck fat crackers.
– Cheese spread
180 – 200 gm aged cheddar cheese, grated (refer notes)
1 C milk, full fat
1 small finely diced shallot or pickling onion
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp colmans powdered mustard
Flaky sea salt and pepper, to taste
Smoked paprika, optional garnish
– Thyme and duck fat cracker
1/4 C milk, warmed
1 cup high grade flour
1/2 tsp dry yeast
1/2 tsp flaky sea salt, plus extra for sprinkling
2 tsp honey
Handful fresh thyme leaves, chopped
3 Tbs duck fat, softened
– For cheese spread
Place milk, diced onion, mustard and cayenne pepper into a saucepan. Heat until it almost simmers, remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Add cheese, salt and pepper, mix until cheese has melted. If milk is too hot cheese may split when it begins to cool. Place in the fridge, occasionally whisking as it cools. Pour into ramekins or serving dishes and continue to refrigerate, for at least 3 hours, overnight is best. Sift smoked paprika on top to suit your own taste before devouring.
– For crackers
Whisk yeast and honey into warmed milk, allow to stand for 5 minutes until yeast actives. Mix in 1 Tbs of the softened duck fat. In a bowl combine flour and salt, add wet ingredients and work into a dough add chopped thyme leaves. Knead for a couple of minutes then place into an oiled bowl, cover and prove for 1 hr and 1/2 in a warm spot. You won’t get much rise, but dough will become soft.
Preheat oven to 180 C
Place 2 baking trays in the oven to heat. You will reuse these a couple of times for this cracker recipe.
I use a pasta machine to roll out the crackers as I want them to be long and thin, that and I’m way to lazy to get the consistency with a rolling pin. Be sure to use a sprinkling of extra flour on the bench and dough before rolling. I cook the dough is strips so when I’m ready to serve I break them into jagged rustic shapes. No cookie cutter or fancy pants knife skill required to make these funky crispy crackers.
Bake till golden brown, approximately 8 minutes. Flipping crackers over half way through cooking. Once they come out of the oven use a pastry brush to paint the crackers with remaining duck fat and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.cools. Pour into serving ramekins or dishes and refrigerate till serving, at least 3 hours but overnight is best. Sift smoked paprika on top to suit your taste buds before devouring.
Notes – For the duck fat crackers you can use the same measure of water instead of milk, pictured in the above photo. For cheese spread – any firm cheese can be used, I often use whatever cheese ends are floating around the bottom of the fridge – coby or blue, you can mix different cheeses or add other flavours once the spread has cooled to jazz it up… like 2 Tbs homemade caramelised onion, this goes beautifully blended with aged cheddar!.
