Poppy Cracker Sandwich with Pickled figs and Reblochon

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This is a great, little fancy snack to serve for afternoon tea: home-made poppy crackers sandwiched together with soft musky french cheese, cranberry sauce and pickled figs. This also makes ideal picnic food with a big glass of sauvignon blanc, however the weather conditions may not be ideal for this time of year, unless you're reading this from the southern hemisphere.

Crackers:
350g plain flour
200g salted butter
50g grated mature cheddar
2 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 egg
50ml cold water

Pickled figs:
12 dried figs
50ml red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic
2 bay leaves
100g sugar
1 tablespoon sea salt
500ml water

Cranberry Sauce:
200g fresh or frozen cranberries
100g sugar
50ml water

200g reblochon de savoie, at room temperature
30g wild rocket leaves

Method:
First make the cracker dough. Place a small pan over medium heat and add mustard and coriander seeds, move around the pan until lightly toasted and fragrant. Put seeds in a mortar and pestle, roughly ground into a powder. In a large bowl add the flour, cheddar, baking powder, salt, pepper and ground spices, and stir together. Cube butter, add to dry mixture and rub together until butter is incorporated into flour, add egg and water, knead into a rough dough. Wrap the cracker dough with a cling film and place in the fridge to rest for an hour.

Next pickle the figs by placing all ingredients into a pot and placing over high heat, bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes until figs are tender. Remove from heat and transfer into container to cool.

For the cranberry sauce, place all ingredients in a small sauce pan and place over medium heat. Once simmering stir for 2-3 minutes to help break down the cranberries, then transfer into a food processor and blend until smooth. Place in a small container and leave to cool.

Once the cracker dough has rested roll out on a lightly floured surface until 5mm thick, using 10cm in diameter round cutter, cut out the crackers. Lay crackers on several baking trays lined with parchment paper, prick each one with a fork several times. You can press and roll the off cuts of dough to create more crackers if you wish. Place crackers in oven set at 180ºC for 12-14 minutes until golden and crisp. Leave the cracks to cool completely before using.

To make the cracker sandwiches, lay a few rocket leaves over the desired amount of crackers followed by a fig torn in half. Tear a knob of reblochon and place on top of the fig then garnish with a small teaspoon of cranberry sauce. Lastly sandwich together with another cracker, you should get about 12 cracker sandwiches from this recipe, with a few extra crackers to spare

Tomato and cheese tart:

Not necessarily the healthiest of tarts (you could use low fat cheeses instead), more of a pizza-pie. As most households won't have a pizza oven or stone brick I've crafted a nifty way round the technique for crispy bottom with a soft tasty topping, combining the uses of a fry pan and the oven this is the best home pizza you'll make.

100g Parmesan

100g buffalo mozzarella

100g Blues cheese

100g Gruyere

3 tomatoes

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon cracked pepper

3 tablespoon olive oil

6 large basil leaves

Dough:

250g strong flour

2 tablespoon sea salt
2 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoon olive oil
200ml warm water

Method:

Firstly make the dough, place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle sugar and yeast onto the water and leave to ferment for 10 minutes, in a larger bowl add the flour and salt. Once the yeast has started to foam pour into the flour and mix together with your hand for 10 seconds then pour in the oil and start to kneed, if the mixture is still quite dry and not combining add a little extra water. Once the dough forms into a ball cover and leave to stand.

To make the tomato sauce dice the onion and crush the garlic, place the olive oil in a sauce pan and put on a medium heat then add onion and garlic, while the onion and garlic is sautéing roughly dice the tomato. When the onion has turned soft and transparent add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and sugar and leave to simmer for 15 minutes stirring periodically, once the tomato sauce has cooked place in a food processor with basil leaves and pulse till smooth.

On a floured surface roll the dough out roughly round 12inch circle, place and fry pan on a high heat with a dash of olive oil once hot put the dough in pan forming higher edges (like a pie) this will help hold the sauce, cook in pan till the bottom browns, remove from pan onto a baking tray. Spoon the sauce into the base and evenly spread round the tart. Grate the Parmesan and Gruyere, thinly slice and break up the mozzarella and brie, spread the Gruyere and mozzarella evenly over the tart followed by the brie and finally the Parmesan. Place the tart in oven heated at 220oC for 10 minutes, once cooked leave to cool for 2minutes before cutting, makes 6 serves.