Lavash Crackers
With holiday parties and family gatherings, snack foods pretty much become their own seasonal food group this time of year. As an avid snacker, this naturally delights me. Somewhere between a flatbread and a cracker, Lavash is a snacking dream. Originating in the Caucasus, this quick, unleavened dough has both chew and crunch, a fantastic cracker to eat plain, or to use as a vehicle for all other manner of dips and spreads. We particularly love Lavash Crackers with beet horseradish hummus. This recipe is adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion.
Yield: 4 large cracker sheets, broken into smaller pieces
Ingredients:
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 egg
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons melted butter (can substitute water) for topping (optional)
- everything seasoning, sesame seeds, dried garlic, fenugreek, or caraway (optional)
Steps:
- Mix the dry ingredients (flour, salt and sugar) together in a large bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the butter, egg and milk until well combined.
- Pour the butter mixture into the large bowl with the dry ingredients and mix to combine with a spatula. I went ahead and used my hands to briefly knead the dough to bring it together. Form the dough into one solid mass.
- Let the dough rest, covered for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- Portion the dough into 4 pieces. Roll out each piece one by one on a flat sheet pan (alternatively, use the back of a rimmed baking sheet). Generously coat each ball and your rolling pin with flour prior to rolling out each piece. You want to roll it to about 1/10 inch thick.
- If using a topping, brush melted butter or water over the top of the dough and sprinkle with the topping of your choice. We used everything seasoning in this batch.
- Bake in the middle rack of your oven for 12-15 minutes, shorter will yield a chewier cracker, longer a golden brown and crisper crust, it is up to your personal preference. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough.
- Serve the lavash broken into pieces as an accompaniment to cheeses or dips. Store cooled lavash crackers in a sealed container for 2-3 days.
Homemade Flour Tortillas
Tortillas are a food we sometimes overlook. We find ourselves too busy focusing on the fillings to pay much attention to the tortilla itself. But we've discovered that a well done flour tortilla (not to be confused with a masa corn tortilla) is a marvelous thing: flaky and tender, with the just the right amount of chew, and a subtle sweet and nutty richness. Tortillas, like any bread product, can be intimidating. But they don't have to be. At heart tortillas are a simple, versatile, and rustic bread that is quick to make and forgiving for newbies. Tortillas don't have to be perfect circles or exactly uniform. Homemade fresh tortillas coming hot off your stove will be miles ahead of their store-bought competition. A recent trip to San Pedro Sula, Honduras re-ignited our passion for making Homemade Flour Tortillas, and we've been making them regularly ever since.
Overnight Sourdough Yeast Waffles
Before I discovered overnight sourdough yeast waffles, I was a frustrated maker of second-rate waffles, with little hope for my waffle making prospects. I had whipped whites, creamed yokes, experimented with pearl sugar, brown sugar, sourdough, bananas, bacon and buttermilk. I had made waffles laced with rosemary, chocolate, cornmeal and cookie dough, all with fairly humdrum results. Finally, after mediocre experiments with funky flavor profiles and new techniques, waffle greatness came to our household by way of Fannie Farmer. It was a winter evening when I first came across this odd sounding waffle process in the highly-regarded retro classic, “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook.” I was intrigued by the unusual, and rather unseemly instructions for the cook to leave, a batter of milk and butter, out overnight. Suspending my disbelief, I whisked up the batter, and the next day will forever be remembered as the day we achieved waffle supremacy!
Dark Chocolate Pretzel Granola Bars
I have a family brimming with athletes; there are triathaloning uncles, cyclist aunts, a few who even go to iron man extremes, there are high jumping cousins, long distance winning boys and record setting girls. This weekend is the Pittsburgh Marathon, where over 30, 000 people will race through our beautiful city, up hills, over bridges and across the three rivers. Paul and I, along with our hounds, will be there to cheer on my sister as she continues the family tradition of athleticism and runs the half-marathon! In the spirit of pre-race carb loading, (and middle of the race snacking for the loyal fans), we offer you these delicious dark chocolate-pretzel granola bars. These granola bars are infinitely more delicious and healthy then their store-bought peers. I like to make a big batch of granola bars and freeze them individually wrapped. So while others race, jump, bike and swim, we will be happily cheering and snacking on these tasty bars!
Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Spread
Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Spread is the result of a food fight, one which resulted in this delicious hybrid dish somewhere between Baba Ganoush and Hummus. Our food disagreement started with a vague plan for a Mediterranean inspired meal, but quickly morphed into a debate about the true king of dips. On the one hand, the dusky sweet flavors of Baba Ganoush appealed to Paul, whereas I had a strong inclination towards classic hummus, a creamy chickpea puree, perked up with garlic and lemon. In the end, we were pretty pleased with our compromise dish, Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Spread, a transcendent dip with an eggplant and chickpea base, infused with roasted garlic and onions, and the smoky spiciness of charred jalapeno.
Apple Walnut Bundt Cake with Caramel Glaze
Thanks for following along with our new adventures! We recently moved from Pittsburgh to Haiti where we are starting a 5 year volunteer assignment with a non-profit relief and development organization. We will be in transition for the next few months as we complete our in-country orientation, language study, spend time living with host families in both the countryside and capital... and lest we forget, have our first baby somewhere in there as well! Please bear with us as we will not have ready access to internet or a kitchen throughout this time. We will continue to share new recipes that we've prepared in advance, and updates on our new life in Haiti as often as we are able.
As much as we love the tropical fruits and Caribbean flavors of our new home in Haiti, we are nostalgic for the apple and spice combination, so classic to this time of year in North America. We love this old-fashioned Apple Walnut Bundt Cake with Caramel Glaze, pungent with cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and ginger, glazed with a salty caramel.
