Waiting was the hard part...because we’ve been anticipating the explosion of poppy flowers in Antelope Valley since the first down pour of rain back in December. As more rain fell in Southern California, the potential of these flowers to burst and proliferate increased. Our greed for maximum flower power kept us from hastily jumping at the chance to head over the the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve right away. The suspense was killing us! We kept checking the poppy reserves website for the moment of floral truth, the final two words to make us drop everything and race over there like hungry wildflower hounds….PEAK TIME!!
The California Poppy, our state flower, grows wildly all throughout the state, but no where near the density and floral consistency than at the Poppy Reserve. This 1,700 acre preserve of wildflower oasis is nestled unassumingly in the high desert valley of Lancaster, CA. The Mojave desert climate of this region describes the weather perfectly – summers are HOT, but springtime is PERFECT for hiking and photographing desert flowers. But these moments are few and far between and only occur between Mid March through Mid may and only if there’s been a good amount of rainfall.
Today’s visit to the poppies just blew us away! Hah! Watch the video and you’ll experience the full effects of how extreme the weather can get at the Reserve. Regardless of a little breeze, curled poppies, and a bad hair day, the hills were exploding with orange poppies and other wildflowers! The rising hills and valleys below were blanketed in poppy glory and all the months of waiting and the long drive to the Reserve was worth all the effort. Especially lucky were we because we were one of the few visitors of the day and had all the poppies to enjoy all to ourselves!
Video # 6- Todd & Diane’s Video of Poppy Preserve & Parmesan Poppy Seed Crackers
Poppy Seed Crackers & Poppy Reserve- White On Rice Couple from White On Rice Couple on Vimeo.
Parmesan Poppy Seed Crackers
Experiencing poppy saturated scenes like these, it was only appropriate to create a poppy seed dish. With some fantastic Spanish Blue Queso de Valdeon ripening in the fridge, fresh tropical Jackfruit and two bottles of 2004 Chateauneuf du Pape (Perrin, Les Sinards & Domaine du Dieux Telegraphe), the thought of making poppy seed crackers satisfied our mood perfectly! This simple recipe was adapted from a recipe we found on recipezaar by DIB. The interesting use of soy sauce in the recipe caught our attention and it proved to be a stellar, savory addition to the crackers. The only modification we made was to add a little more soy sauce and a little salt. If you’re careful about your sodium count, by all means, eliminate the salt and reduce the amount of soy sauce. The flavors of the baked Parmesan cheese still make the crackers so crispy, flaky and delicious!
This simple recipe was adapted from a recipe we found on recipezaar by DIB. The interesting use of soy sauce in the recipe caught our attention and it proved to be a stellar, savory addition to the crackers. The only modification we made was to add a little more soy sauce, poppy seeds and a little salt. If you’re careful about your sodium count, by all means, eliminate the salt and reduce the amount of soy sauce. The flavors of the baked Parmesan cheese still make the crackers so crispy, flaky and delicious!
Print This RecipeParmesan Poppy Seed Crackers Recipe
Ingredients:1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
4 teaspoons poppy seeds
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grapeseed/vegetable oil
3 teaspoons soy sauce
3 teaspoons ice water (or more as needed)
1. In bowl, add flours, poppy seeds and cheese. Mix dry ingredients thoroughly together.
2. In separate bowl, whisk together oil and soy sauce and add to dry mixture.
3. Continue adding ice water a little at a time as needed until the dry mixture becomes a moist dough ball.
4. Wrap dough ball in plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes.
5. Oil cookie sheet and preheat oven to 325ºF.
6. Break off piece of dough and lay between two plastic wraps. Roll out dough flat or until desired cracker thin-ness . Using plastic wrap will keep the dough from sticking to your rolling pin and your work surface. Occasionally, the plastic wrap will wrinkle in the dough. Remove one of the plastic wrap sheets from the dough and straighten it out again to remove wrinkles.
7. Once dough is rolled out, remove top layer of plastic wrap and cut dough to desired size with a sharp knife or pasta cutter.
8. Grab the plastic wrap on the bottom of the dough and flip it over on to cookie sheet. Remove last plastic wrap. Carefully separate the cut pieces of dough so that the crackers can have a crispy edge when baked.
9. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden brown. DO NOT OVER BAKE because the Parmesan cheese will burn and become bitter.
10. Serve with cheese or your favorite dip!
- California Poppy Festival
- Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve
- Obey the rules: Do not pick the wildflowers & Stay on the trails! (FYI- Diane found some loose poppy petals on the ground, thus blowing them in the wind and the picture was taken sitting on the trail, not in the patch of poppies).
View all our VIDEOS Here 
Cooking & Exploring !
More appetizers that you might enjoy:
- Thomas Kellers Cornets
- Crispy, curry crusted tofu and basil fresh springrolls
- Salmon and sweet corn cakes
- Roasted klondike rose potatoes with herb goat cheese, thyme
- Vietnamese stuffed squid
- Asian nachos with pork and/or wonton chips/prawn crackers
- Parmesan poppy seed crackers
- Baked walla walla sweet onion dip
- Panko crusted shrimp lollipops
- Zucchini blossoms stuffed with pork
- Purple kohrabi chips
- Tofu frites, fries and mojo’s
- Vietnamese Spring Rolls – Pineapple and pork fresh springrolls
- Roasted nuts with parmesan, black pepper, sea salt
- Vietnamese beef wrapped in wild betal leaves – Bo La Lot
- Turkey and bacon fried springroll
- Vietnamese green mangoes and chili salt dip
Subscribe to White On Rice Couple by RSS
Follow White On Rice Couple - Twitter
Get updates via Facebook
{ 45 comments… read them below or add one }
I love your rolling pin, the use of Caesaria Evora and the crackers, Poppy seeds are under used and I don’t get why.
Bravo Rice 3 -1 =2 Couple!
I was swept away with this post. So refreshing and alive!
I loved the video of the poppy reserve, very pretty…and windy!
Diane, you looked like you were on the Titanic. The flowers on the video looked orangish red, am I seeing things? They don’t look that super bright orange color that I am used to.
Love our CA poppies. Those pics of the poppy crackers and cheese and wine are just begging to jump out of my computer and feed me right now… on a Sunday afternoon at Happy Hour time. I’m off to pop open a bottle of white
I’ve really never seen massive fields of poppies quite like that before – just stunning.
I’m also intrigued by the use of soy in the cracker recipe.
You won the tea, please send me an email with your address.
Look like really fantastic crackers! Love the poppy fields!
I came back with a nasty allergy from a recent wildflower visit
. But they are unbelievably pretty.
gosh, how i miss CA and our home there. that state has it all. loved the video and the recipe.
WHOA!!! Somebody in the blogging world made crackers!!! You guys are teh bomb. They even look so professionally made (I am so giddy that I have that exact pastry wheel– bought at Sur La Table San Francisco, no less)!
Love Diane as the Allergy Med model, hee hee
Kidding!
Poppies are my favorite flowers, they are so fragile, but their beauty is breathtaking. Love the crackers AND the blue cheese. Lovely post.
oh my! gorgeous! and the parmesan chips! forget sore throat, i can eat tons of those hehehe
first of all, i think we have the same rolling pin. awesome.
secondly, the minds behind wheat thins and triscuits and saltines have nothing on your mad cracker-making skills. they’re perfect!
finally, why is the poppy seed so neglected? it’s a shame, a crying shame.
Hey you two, any chance those crackers are headed my way?
NAh? eh? Alright, I shall just attempt to make them on my own then.
Great tips in the video, that I shall keep in mind- when the day comes when I WILL yes will make my own crackers.
Diane and Todd, your videos just keep getting better and better! (I love the outtakes at the end, too.) I never really think about baking crackers, but now I’m inspired!
All of the poppies is one of the few things I miss about California. It’s just so beautiful
And the crakers sound (and look!) great!
Whoohoo just look at those beautiful California. poppies!!
Any chance of a few of those crackers coming my way at all ?? *Giggle*
Great Vid guys and mouth watering crackers
Rosie x
You take the most beautiful photographs! The poppies are great! We’re still waiting for spring to arrive – it snowed yesterday in Seattle! Today is not much better either! So it’s a good day to stay inside and cook. I made a version of your sweet onion dip – omitted the mayo as the mister hates it – and it was good but I’m certain it wasn’t as good as yours. Thanks for the recipe – I’ll make it the “correct way” when he leaves town. By the way, did you ever get the aprons? I mailed them in a manilla envelope and I’ve worried that it was ripped open or something. And, I don’t think you could EVER have a bad hair day! Nan
Great vid once again you guys. The crackers look amazing, especially with that blue cheese. I absolutely love stinky, funky cheese!
what a beauiful experience that must hv been
Great piece, you two! Love the finished photo!!
Lovely shots, Todd & Diane. The crackers look like they’d go perfectly with your stinky cheese
absolutely gorgeous!!!! and those crackers look awesome — i’m bookmarking the recipe!
Awesome stuff guys. Danika and I were just talking about making crackers actually – our son loves them, however most that you buy are filled up with salt.
I think we will try this!
Ta
Matt
Making crackers! You guys are amazing.
Is it wrong that whenever I’m here I get a little jealous.
Of the weather.
Foooood.
Pictures.
Your hair, Diane.
Fields of flowers…how come you have all these pretty fields to play in!?!
*sigh*
Alright, I need to go write a list & remember why it’s nice to be a NYer.
Those crackers look delicious! Your poppy photos make me miss home.
Wow, even though they’re all curled, the color of those poppies (damnit, I keep on typing “poopies”) is just amazing! I’m really loving your videos. Just like the tofu frites, this one made me actually create something from your recipe. Didn’t turn out quite as good as yours (pretty crude-looking, actually, lol!), but it was an interesting first try.
Haha, clothes and hair malfunction in the wind…
Oh your photos always make me wish I was there! Perfect parmesan poppy seed crackers
those crackers are so adorable, very thin and must be crunchy!
Wow…..lovely pics of the fields and crackers! Truly refreshing.
Did you remove the video? There is a white blank under the title “Video # 6- Todd & Diane’s Video of Poppy Preserve & Parmesan Poppy Seed Crackers”. Nevertheless your pictures are awesome and your crackers look so thin and crispy…
Ooooh, poppy seed crackers! My fave! These look perfect.
What a gorgeous place, and tasty crackers!!
I have never made crackers, this simply looks awesome with a glass of wine!
Very professional looking crackers! Mine always end up very “rustic” and irregular
Poppy seeds are so very flavorful yet not utilized enough. Hopefully you will draw attention to the virtues of this little bitty black seed.
Nice! I’m so happy you guys made it out to the poppies. It’s one of my favorite springtime activities in So Cal and yeah, the winds…
Glad Diane didn’t get blown away there. Your crackers look delicious. Who knew they could be so simple?! Next time: guest appearance by the puppers?!? 
Those flowers are so beautiful!
Simply beautiful! I was in SF this last weekend and everything (including poppies) was blooming. Did my heart good.
Now I want one of those little rolly things to make my own crackers. (I took a bunch of photos of useless gadgets in Sur La Table at the Ferry Building yesterday … post upcoming!)
Oh, and I don’t think I said how much I enjoyed your vacation video. Really great stuff.
The field of flowers is so beautiful! I love poppies and wish I could get them to grow in my yard.
Beautiful video. Thanks for letting me know.
What a great video and treat to find poppies! It’s been a while for me, obviously, or this video would not me a little giddy! The parmesan crackers are gorgeous!
Seriously, I love your videos. And may I jut say that I am more than a little jealous of your adventerous lifestyle.
How lucky can you be to live amidst all of that natural beauty! The poppy field is spectacular and you captured it so beautifully!
I’m really feeling those crackers. They look crispy, crunchy and delicious!