Fig Tapenade with Walnut Crackers
Inspiration struck today. As did its friend creativity. The sun was bright for the third day in a row over here in Colorado and my faith in all things good returned. Whatever had a hold of me --seasonal affect disorder, Mercury in retrograde, who knows, who cares --it's gone! I took a long slow walk and saw the last patches of melting snow, flowers popping up through mud and upon arriving home, I observed sap running down the maples in my front yard.
Spring, glorious spring. Even if it's a taste, or just a tease, how it does brighten one's outlook! In celebration of this beautiful weather I made a raw recipe that was unusual, yet delicious. I think this gluten-free fig and olive tapenade would make a fantastic hors d'eoeuvre for a dinner or cocktail party and goes nicely with these walnut crackers.
1 cup dried figs
½ cup water
1 cup kalamata olives
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
- Place figs in a food processor and pulse for 30 seconds, until well chopped
- Add water and pulse to create a paste
- Add olives and pulse until incorporated
- Add olive oil, vinegar and thyme; pulse again for 30 seconds until tapenade is smooth
- Serve over crackers
Although I have several different cracker flavors in my repertoire, I created these walnut crackers today to accompany the fig tapenade. They complement each other nicely.
3 cups blanched almond flour
1½ teaspoons celtic sea salt
1 cup walnuts, chopped
2 eggs, whisked until frothy
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together almond flour, salt, walnuts, eggs and oil until well blended
- Separate dough into two halves
- Line two large (12 x 16) stainless steel baking sheets with parchment paper
- Place one half of the dough in the center of each lined sheet
- Cut another piece of parchment paper
and place it over one of the balls of dough
- Roll dough out between the two pieces of parchment paper
- Cut the dough with a knife or pizza cutter into 2 inch squares
- Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown
- Cool and serve
The lovely Anina, who I had the pleasure of meeting at the Valentine's cooking class I held in February, gave me the idea for this recipe. She told me about it during the class and then emailed me the epicurious.com version, which includes goat cheese, stewing the figs and a couple of other steps that I omitted in my quest to keep things simple. Especially with the warm weather approaching, I wanted to make this complex, sweet-savory dish raw and light.
I hope you like it. Please write up a comment if you have other suggestions as to good "vehicles" for delivering the tapenade --i.e., what would you serve it on?
Posted on February 28, 2008 in snacks by Elana
other entries you may like: Sesame Crackers
or Rosemary Fig Crackers
or Rosemary Crackers
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Before you leave a comment...
"Check out Elana's FAQ page for info on substitutions -- there are just too many possibilities so she can't answer all of these : ) But the Forums are an excellent resource and I highly recommend posting your substitution questions there; everyone is friendly and helpful." -Katie
This looks amazing. I will definitely have to try this soon!
Hi Elana;
I notice you use almond flour almost exclusively. The only source I can find charges close to $16 for a one pound bag, and that makes me cringe! Can you recommend another flour that would work out nicely in your recipes?
The tapenade looks amazing. A very good Italian deli in my neighborhood makes a fig tapenade with toasted pecans instead of olives. It is yummy. It is a good option for a change!
Thanks for all you do.
Diane-
If you take a look on the sidebar of my site and go to the "purchase" section, there is a link to almond flour for $6 per pound.
In terms of recommending a substitute for almond flour, I use almond flour almost exclusively as, like many with celiac disease, I have issues metabolizing high glycemic foods, which other gluten-free flours typically are.
If you are looking for recipes that do not use almond flour, I would recommend checking out bookofyum.com, glutenfreebay.com or glutenfreehippie.com.
Here are some detailed answers to your thoughtful questions.
How funny you should mention Mercury in Retrograde!! Whenever things go screwy, I usually check to see if Mercury is in Retrograde, and it's almost always the culprit, especially with the electronics in my life. I've always thought the nightly news should give warnings when it's happening.
Tracee,
Couldn't agree with you more.
Elana
Hi Elana,
So glad to find your website. I never use almond flour and coconut flour; your recipes and the blog has been an inspiration to me.
I wonder if you would develop some recipes on savory crackers / biscuit and cake.
Thanks,
PT
PT,
This recipe and my walnut crackers recipe are what I consider savory cracker recipes. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you though; did you have something else in mind? Not exactly sure what a savory cake would be...
Elana
Hi Elana,
Sorry if I have confused you. The reason for asking some savory recipes because I am on Candida Diet and need to limit any form of sugar and gluten. I tried your banana cake and it taste really good but my eczema got worsen afterward. I consider using stevia but I don't know the amount to use in baking/cooking plus I dislike the after taste. For the thought of savory cake, it was because I tried a daikon root cake and taro root cake at a chinese restaurant, they are tasty but are using some kind of rice flour, so I wonder if you would be interested in developing some savory cake recipes?
Thanks again.
PT
Wow! Thank you for being water on dry ground. Most allergy cookbooks or recipes for those of us with allergies are unpalatable-not your stuff. I wish every allergist or nutritionist who worked with allergies knew about you and told their patients about your site.
I think it would be a great addition if you could work your magic on a recipe for lemon bars. Thank you.
PT -I'll keep that in mind :-)
Pearl -Thanks for your super nice comment, I really appreciate it :-) I will have a gluten-free, dairy-free lemon bar recipe in my forthcoming book from Ten Speed Press, to be published in early fall 2009. Meanwhile, you might enjoy my almond butter blondies, same bar type concept, different flavors. Thanks!
I am having problems with this dough but don't want to give up, so if anyone has advice, please share...
I followed the recipe exactly and the dough seems oily and is cracking all over and around the edges. I cannot roll it out at all. I tried putting it in the fridge for a while to set up but it's still cracking. Too much flour, not enough flour...? Any thoughts? Thanks!
Jess -What brand of almond flour are you using?
I'm using Honeyville - this is my first cooking with almond flour and waited to get this in the mail to try a recipe.
PS How do you know if the almond flour is bad?
Thanks for your help!
Jess -this is a great recipe to try in your first venture into almond flour cooking because it is so easy. All that I can think of is that possibly your oil measurements were off. The way to remedy this would be to add more almond flour until the dough is workable. Hope this helps!
I never know how obnoxious it is to rave about one of your recipes and then follow with the list of changes I made to it.
So apologies in advance...these crackers are terrific!! I left out the walnuts and just added more flour - plus a pinch or two of smoked paprika.
Delish!! ;)
Laura, not obnoxious at all. I love hearing about people's changes and modifications to my recipes and yours sound delectable. Thanks for your comment :-)
I just discovered your website and immediately tried this recipe last night. That tapenade was fabulous and the crackers were great!
I made the crackers and fig tapenade this weekend. A neighbor popped in for a visit just as I was finishing. We both sampled the results and were delighted. Wonderful flavors. I will be taking this to a Halloween party Friday.
Hey Elana!
This tapenade looks amazing! and the crackers too! I'll have to try them out soooon.. Thanks for linking to my blog in your comment! <3
Hello Elana, Per our discussions on facebook, I have added one of your recipes to my website to share this wonderful creation with my customers. I have mentioned in press releases and my social media. I have also added links to your site in my references. The recipe is located at: http://allergiesandme.com/_webapp_2692888/Fig_Tapenade_with_Walnut_Crackers. Thank you for participating and please let me know if you have other favorites you would like to share. Happy holidays. Jamie
This sounds delicious. I'm allergic to walnuts, so would probably substitute hazelnuts for the crackers. But another vehicle for the tapenade would be to spread it inside of chicken breasts (possibly paired with goat cheese), roll them up, secure with a toothpick, and bake at about 350 or so until the chicken is done. I've done this with great success with various tapenades, and with pesto, and I bet the figs would make it extra delicious. Maybe also good with pork? Sounds good to me, anyway. :)
Your fabulous tapenade is in my fridge at all times. It is delicious on your crackers and just as delicious on a spoon! Thank you for your creativity in the kitchen.
Tonight was my first foray into crackers and I must say, these are incredible, and some of the best crackers I've ever had. Savory and nutty, the flavor is outstanding. But where this recipe is the most fun, is how surprisingly easy it is to make them. Rolling them out with parchment couldn't be easier. I've never had more fun with baking than since I discovered your blog, book and almond flour. Keep up the great work.
I made the crackers today. Instead of the walnuts I used a combo of walnuts and pumpkin seeds and went ahead and pulsed them into a flour as well. I used about 1 cup of almond flour and 1/2 cup of the other mixture. I halved the recipe. I also used olive oil instead of grapeseed oil, and I added about 1 tbsp of maple syrup to give it that sweet and salty taste. I topped with some canned smoked sardines and a half of a kalamata olive each. I think these would be good with some crushed carmelized garlic on top or in it and some fresh parmesan too. YUM! Did you have to grease your pan? I had a hard time getting them off the pan when they were done. I even used a non stick pan. I figured between all the nut flours and olive oil it wouldn't need greasing. Let me know!
I would love to try these crackers they sound amazing! I don't have any almond flour though. Think I could sub coconut flour instead? Thank you for sharing all your wonderful creations with us :)
Sorry! Just read the FAQs on substitutions.
your recipes are exallent.it is very tasety
I love the idea of figs in a tapenade. Inspired.
Dried figs: did you use fresh figs and dehydrate them or are dried figs commonly sold at health food stores in the bulk bins? I don't think I've ever seen them there... Thanks! I can't wait to try this gorgeous-looking recipe!!
My 8 year old daughter loves these crackers so much, she got up at 5:30am with me this morning so we could have the oven on and off before the heat of the day. Thanks so much for sharing your recipes with us!!!