A good cracker is hard to find. I steer clear of many of the mass-produced brands. Many of the artisan types can be expensive and heavy on flavorings - black pepper, rosemary, etc. Inevitably, when I pop into a store to stock up, the more neutral flavors that I like to serve with certain wines or cheeses are sold out. My theory? The key to a good and reliable cracker supply is zeroing in on a good cracker recipe. Once you lock onto a solid cracker-making technique, like the one I'm going to highlight today, making crackers is a breeze. Thank you Patricia Wells.

I have in my possession Patricia's new book, Vegetable Harvest: Vegetables at the Center of the Plate. I have most (all?) of her books and prize them for their direct, accessible, and inspiring recipes - I wrote about her Honey Ice Cream from The Paris Cookbook a couple years back. Looking at her new book, it took me a looong time to figure out which recipe to try first, eventually deciding on her crackers. Because of the focus of the book, I thought about going for one of the more veg-centric recipes, but the crackers eventually won me over.

I went for the crackers in part because I was curious about the polenta-based dough, and also because I've had numerous conversations about making crackers in the past two weeks. It seems as if crackers are in the air - one friend was telling me about making the worlds best crackers for a wedding she catered with a friend. Another friend was telling me about a class taught by Peter Reinhart where they apparently made the ultimate crackers from whole-grain flour (and various seeds, if my memory serves me correctly). Peter's book should be out relatively soon, so I'll see if he'll hook us up with that cracker recipe to celebrate the occasion when the time comes.

So, in the end, cracker curiosity won me over - and this turned out to be a good thing because I was absolutely delighted with Patricia's recipe. I loved the unique polenta/flour blend for the cracker, the polenta sucks the buttermilk right up and makes the dough extremely easy to deal with once you've let it sit for a few minutes. Rolling it out extremely thin is no problem whatsoever. As far as cracker design goes, you can cut the crackers any shape you like. Next time I'm going to do long slab-like strips. This version has a touch of cayenne, but you could easily do a more neutral version. I can imagine many many variations on this cracker incorporating different spice blends and add-ins (or not) - whatever you end up doing just be sure nothing is too chunky, you'll run into trouble rolling out the dough.

In addition to this recipe, Vegetable Harvest is overflowing with ideas. I've earmarked more recipes than I'll ever get around to making - and it's clear, Patricia's love of chickpeas rivals my own. I counted seven recipes featuring them. Others recipes from the book that caught my attention:

• Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Hazelnut Oil
• Warm Goat Cheese and Artichoke Cannelloni
• Golden Cauliflower and Rice Pilaf
• Lamb's Lettuce Puree
• Pumpkin Gratin with Pistachios and Pistachio Oil
• Goat Cheese "Oreos" with Truffles
• Sheep's Milk Yogurt Sorbet

Also worth noting, the 300+ page book includes lots of ingredient-based photographs (vs. recipe illustrating photographs). Separately, while the emphasis of this book is on vegetables taking center stage, Patricia does incorporate fish & shellfish, meat & poultry chapters. Enjoy!

I've been hearing about my friend Lanha's madeleine recipe for years now - no exaggeration. Madeleines are her go-to cookie - she makes them for parties, she makes them as gifts, she makes them when people stop by her house to visit, she makes them when the wind changes direction. She will talk your ear off about the delicious scent of the browning butter, she frets about the appropriate amount of lemon zest in each batch, and she will expound on the merits of traditional metal madeleine pans versus newer silicon molds in the quest for the perfect golden scalloped cookie. I was visiting LA this weekend and it was baking school time for me as Lanha showed me first hand how she makes the magic happen (in her famous Dwell-worthy kitchen!)....

I had to ask her, why madeleines? Of all the cookies recipes in the world, why these? She tells me, "I enjoy making madeleines for Silvio (her French husband) because they remind him of his life in France. I was tired of paying $5 for a couple of cookies in boutique delis and decided to try my sister Kaly's fail-safe recipe. Now that I've made the cookies so much, I can whip out several dozen in less than an hour (the recipe may seem daunting at first, but I promise you, it's easy). Madeleines stacked in a tin make great gifts and also, I've never met a person that didn't absolutely love them!"

I second all of Lanha's sentiments - I made a batch on my own after my hands-on lesson, and her madeleine recipe came together beautifully. And a big thanks to her sister Kaly for originally passing down the recipe to Lanha. I've made a few changes/tweaks to the instructions for clarity.

My madeleine pan makes tiny, baby madeleines, it was another flea market find for those of you wanting one like it I found one very similar here. I've flipped the madeleines in the photo at the top so you can see their pretty scalloped bellies.

Madeleine Recipe

Lanha and I both prefer metal pans to the newer silicon molds. My metal pan brings a beautiful golden hue to the cookies, and to be honest I don't like the looks of the silicon molds - all those zany colors. Madeleines look better baking in metal, I promise.

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (6 ounces)
2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter (for greasing pan)
3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
a pinch fine-grain sea salt
2/3 cups sugar
zest of one large lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
powdered sugar

a bit of extra flour for dusting baking pan

Special equipment: A madeleine baking pan, regular or small

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Melt the 1 1/2 sticks of butter in a small pot over medium heat until it's brown and gives off a deliciously nutty aroma, roughly 20 minutes. Strain (using a paper towel over a mesh strainer) - you want to leave the solids behind. Cool the butter to room temperature. By doing the butter first you can complete the rest of the steps while it is cooling.

While the melted butter is cooling, use the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to grease the madeleine molds - get in there and make sure you get in all the ridges. Dust with flour and invert the pan tapping out any excess flour. Lanha uses "cooking spray" with flour to simplify this part.

Put the eggs with the salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until thick - you are looking for the eggs to roughly double or triple in volume - approximately 3 minutes. Continuing to mix on high speed, slowly add the sugar in a steady stream. Whip for 2 minutes or until mixture is thick and ribbony. Now with a spatula fold in the lemon zest and vanilla (just until mixed).

Sprinkle the flour on top of the egg batter, and gently fold in. Now fold in the butter mixture. Only stirring enough to bring everything together.

Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each mold 2/3 –3/4 full. I use a small cup filled with batter to keep things clean and manageable, it is easier than using a spoon.

Bake the madeleines for 12 - 14 minutes (7-10 minutes for smaller cookies), or until the edges of the madeleines are golden brown. Remove from oven and unmold immediately. Cool on racks and dust with powdered sugar.

Makes 2 -3 dozen regular madeleines.