AB Lavash Crackers

After having consumed many boxes of soda crackers, I thought I might try my hand again at making flat bread crackers. Although, these crackers are neither flat nor very hard cracker-like. This has turned out to be more of a soft flat bread than anything. On a humid, rainy day like today, it needs at least 12 minutes in the oven. I also reduced the amount of salt by half and it doesn't seem to have affected the taste since I am eating it with some baba ganoush.

Freshly made lavash crackers

Ingredients

2 1/2 c unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp organic granulated sugar
2/3 c warm water
1 egg
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1-2 tbsp melted butter for brushing

Directions

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together. Gently knead into a ball. Divide dough into thirds or quarters. Cover with a tea towel or the same bowl that the dough was mixed in. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

On a silicon mat that is large/small enough to fit on top of a standard sized baking tray, lightly dust with flour and roll out the dough to as thin as it will go without spilling over the sides of the mat.

Lightly brush the melted butter on top of the dough. If you don't own a baking sheet (rimless) Place silicone mat on an inverted rimmed baking tray (simply flip the tray over so you are baking on its flat side). Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the edges are light golden brown.

This recipe is from Alton Brown. And my crackers look nothing like his. Hmm. 

Asiago Crisps

This recipe originated from the French Laundry cookbook under the guise of "Parmesan Crisps". FL's recipe called for "moist" Parmesan-Reggiano cheese, which doesn't seem to exist to the average consumer. When I look at it, it's a pretty darn hard wedge of cheese. Asiago cheese, while considered a semi-hard cheese, has enough--probably too much--moisture for this recipe; and is as strong-tasting as the goat cheese mousse I put in it.

To make the crisps, simply grate enough cheese. FL calls for a cup of grated cheese. This will make approx six 2" diameter crisps, when using a 2" biscuit cutter (the only round cutter in the kitchen). Using a Silpat mat is better than parchment paper.

Simply place the biscuit cutter on the Silpat and fill it up with a layer of grated cheese. Gently remove the cutter and repeat with more cheese, spacing the rounds of cheese about an inch apart.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

If you just want to eat these flourless cheese "crackers", remove the baked cheese from the Silpat with a spatula and let cool on paper towels. Once cooled, you should remove the cheese from the towels to a plate since the paper will stick to the cheese if you don't.

If you are going a step further and using the cheese crisps as a carrier for another appetizer, say, as a tiny basket for goat cheese mousse, then immediately remove the crisps from the oven and gently stuff into small heat-proof bowls to form the "basket" curve. You can then let these cool while in the bowls until ready to use. Or, once cooled, you can place these into an empty egg carton. Instead of a small prep bowls, you can also use the egg carton to form the baskets.

Do not use a semi-soft cheese like cheddar to make crisps. There is simply too much liquid (high fat content) in the cheese to make them look or taste good.

Kitchen Note: Crackers

This post is part of a series of cracker recipes gone horribly wrong. I've been trying to replicate a style of flatbread crackers that Trader Joe's carries, the multi-seed flatbread crackers, which are very tasty and get eaten too quickly. The ingredients are pretty simple, just flour, water, and salt. Since all my cracker endeavors had been turning out inedible, I thought I'd try this particular recipe which is known to be hardly edible. The flour-water ratio in it is 2:1, unlike matzo dough that is 3:1 and prepared in 18 minutes or less.



2 c. unbleached white flour

1 c. water (with 1-2 tsp salt added to the water)

1. Mix the flour with the salted water until the flour just comes together. You might not even need the entire cup of water.



2. Knead it into a random shape and roll it out to 1/2" thick on parchment paper.



3. Cut into squares, rectangles, dodecahedrons or whatever shape you prefer your crackers to be in. You could probably use cookie cutters too.

4. Use fork tines to prick holes (but don't pierce the dough) across all the crackers. This is to keep the dough from rising.



5. Transfer the parchment paper (with the crackers on top) to a baking sheet.

6. Bake for 40 minutes or until the tops/edges are golden brown. Let cool in oven. The drier the cracker, the more cracker-like it will be.

 

In retrospect, using a pasta machine or rolling the crackers out to a much thinner thickness would be better. Once these crackers really dry out, they are brick-like hard. This is probably why matzo crackers are rolled out to a 1/8" to 1/4" thickness.

Asiago Cheese Crackers

In my attempt to make flat bread crackers, I added grated asiago cheese to the dough and used some on top of the cracker. However, seeing how today is a 100% humidity day (raining), these crackers came out really tough to chew and not crunchy at all. The crackers with cheese on top taste significantly better than the plain ones. I had hoped to use these in place of the multi-seed flatbread crackers I get from Trader Joe's, but alas, this recipe still needs tweaking.

Ingredients

2 c. all-purpose unbleached flour
3 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 c. warm water
1/4 c. grated asiago cheese
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar

Seed topping (on a plate, combine):

grated asiago cheese
black sesame seeds
white sesame seeds

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.


1. In a cup, add butter to warm water until butter has melted.

2. Sift the flour, salt, sugar together.

3. Gradually add the butter/water to the flour mixture and knead until smooth.

4. Place in a clean lidded container and let dough rest for at least an hour in the refrigerator.

5. Take dough out and roll it into a 12" log. Slice in half, and slice the halves in half until there are 30+ pieces.

6. With each piece, flatten dough using the bottom of a 4 oz ramekin or other sturdy flat-bottomed container. It should come to be about a circle, though, it doesn't have to be uniform.

7. Moisten one side of the circle with water and dip into seed topping. Set onto parchment-lined baking tray.

8. Bake for 15 minutes or until bottoms and edges are lightly browned.

9. Let cool on a rack. If the crackers are still soft, place all the crackers on the baking tray and let cool in the oven after the heat has been shut off.

Nut and Cheese Crackers

Ever wonder what marketers were thinking when they advertise a can of whole tomatoes as "wheat free" and "gluten free"? Well, I hope that canned tomatoes don't usually contain flour products because that would just be weird. Well, unlike traditional crackers, these don't require any flour to make. And, all the salt in the recipe is already in the cheese; so there's no added salt either. It's pretty much two main ingredients coarsely ground together (in a food prep) and maybe a salt-free spice blend added for flavor; not saying that hard cheeses or nuts aren't flavorful enough, but something mild enough to bring the entire recipe together. You know? 

Here is the recipe: 

1 c. raw pumpkin seeds 
1/2 c. asiago cheese, freshly grated 
1/2 tsp. spice blend (I used McCormick's no-salt garlic and herb) 
scant 1/8 c. water 

The directions: 

1. In a food prep large enough to accommodate 1 1/2 c., coarsely grind together pumpkin seeds, asiago cheese, and spices. It should look evenly ground but not of flour consistency. 

2. Add almost 1/8 c. water and pulse until just combined. Too much water and it won't bake properly. 

3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

4. Empty mixture onto wax or parchment paper (about 8" x 10"), preferably parchment paper since it can go into the oven. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper. Roll out until the "cracker" is at the desired thickness. 

5. I suppose at this point you could a ravioli wheel or pizza cutter to mark the edges of the crackers; but I just break apart the enormous mass (after baking) into bite-sized pieces. 

6. Bake on a baking sheet for about 5-7 minutes or until the enough water has evaporated and the edges are of a golden brown color. Enjoy. 

This particular ratio of ingredients comes to about 1,080 calories, because... 1 oz asiago cheese = 100 calories 1/4 c. raw pumpkin seeds = 170 calories Other cheeses that work well: Parmesan Romano, Parmigiano Reggiano

Prep and cook time: 15 minutes