When the Accidental Locavore first saw this recipe in My Paris Kitchen, I knew I had to try it. There were a bunch of oil-cured olives in the fridge, so it was just a matter of finding some whole wheat flour and buttermilk. The buttermilk appeared in the latest butter-making process, and the whole wheat flour is local. This is adapted from My Paris Kitchen, and as David says, requires the use of a good bread knife.
- ½ cup (70g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (70g) whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
- ½ teaspoon sea or kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup (45g) pine nuts, very coarsely chopped
- 1/3 cup (60g) oil cured olives, packed and coarsely chopped (about 20 olives)
Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray a 9″ loaf pan with non-stick spray, or oil it lightly. Line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper.
In a bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, herbes de Provence, salt, baking soda, and pepper. Stir in the buttermilk, mix in the olives and nuts. Pour into the baking pan.
Bake for 30 minutes, until it feels set in the center. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges to loosen it, remove from the pan and set on a wire rack to cool.
Decrease the oven temperature to 325°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Holding the outside edges of the loaf firmly, to keep the edges from crumbling, slice the loaf as thinly as possible, aiming for ¼” thick slices. Lay the slices on the baking sheets. Bake for 30-35 minutes, flipping the slices after 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them during the last few minutes of cooking, you want them to be a deep golden brown, so they’ll crisp up when cooled.
Remove from oven and cool completely on wire racks. The crisps can be stored for up to 1 week in an airtight container. Serve (with some great cheese) and enjoy!
My verdict: The first thing I baked in my new oven, these come together really easily and tasted great! The only difficult thing is cutting them perfectly. I used pine nuts instead of almonds (which were in the original recipe) and it was tough cutting through them. It’s nice to have the crunch of the nuts, but it would be a lot easier cutting cleanly, without them. My only other complaint (and its minor) was that I tossed the leftover crisps in a Ziploc bag and they lost their crispness. Now, there are two solutions: finish them or toss the leftovers in the toaster-you choose. We ate them with a nice chèvre, which was a pretty perfect combination. Try them the next time you’re serving a cheese plate, they make a nice change from the usual baguette or crackers.
These were excellent. I made them with walnuts and goat’s milk whey (3/4 cup). I will definitely make them again and again. I’ll bake for 20-25 minutes for the second baking, but that’s probably because of my oven. I put the slices on cooling racks positioned on baking sheets for the second baking, same as I do for biscotti.
Thanks Andrew, I thought it was just me! I did freeze some of them, defrosted and toasted brought the crispness back.
I’m glad you found these do not keep for a week, as DL suggests. They don’t keep till the next day! They taste good, but the mixture itself is too wet to create anything I would describe as a ‘crisp’. A bit disappointed with DL.
Cookbook club–great idea! I was just at a DeGustibus class that he was teaching and it was terrific! Try the Parisian gnocchi if you want a fabulous take on mac & cheese. I’ve done the Chicken Lady Chicken and the mustard chicken a few times-both delicious!
Hi – My cookbook club (yes – how cool!) is visiting My Paris Kitchen over the next six weeks – trailing recipes for our group dinner. I thought this looked interesting to bring tonight to dinner as a starter – and a trial taste says home run! My olives where not oil cured, but all good. Also it is hard to cut – but tastes so good – no need to get it perfect. I’m betting on no leftovers. Lisa