Savour The Moment

Yay it’s Daring Bakers time again! Not only was this month different because it’s the first savoury challenge I’ve completed as a Daring Baker but the challenge was also partly gluten free and vegan.  It had been hosted by Natalie from Gluten A Go Go, and co-host Shel, of Musings From the Fishbowl neither of which are (I confess) blogs I’ve looked at before but I don’t know how I managed to miss them as they’re excellent.

I was sure making something vegan and suitable for a gluten free diet wouldn’t be that difficult, especially with the challenge being simply crackers (Lavash to be precise) and dips. How hard could it really be? Very if I didn’t want to spend a fortune, which I certainly didn’t – I didn’t want to stock my pantry with ingredients I’d never use again. That coupled with my having a rotten chest infection at the moment put ultra creativity out the window, so please excuse the fact that the dips are a little unimaginative; in fact just excuse me if I’m making absolutely no sense at all, thank you

Lavash is common throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa although it goes by different names (obviously) and serves different purposes in different areas/with different foods, an example of this would be the Turkish Yufka which although very similar in the making to lavash is served warm while soft and supple, perfect for wrapping around meat or vegetables.

The lavash was so simple to make, in fact, I couldn’t believe how easy it was. I thought I was going to run into problems rolling out the dough, getting it thin enough I mean but it was easy.  I used strong bread flour containing gluten as I didn’t have very much gluten free flour left and I needed to save that for Murphy’s biscuits.  The dough was scattered with za’atar spice blend before being baked as I wanted to follow through with Middle Eastern character of the breads, and because I love za’atar it’s so fresh and vibrant without being too overpowering. The za’atar recipe comes from Arabic Bites, a fabulous blog run by Meedo & Zainab.

Raw Dough

Cooked Sheet of Lavash

I served the crackers with three dips – beetroot hummus, regular chickpea hummus and lemon tahina sauce. The hummus recipe came from here but to make it into beetroot hummus I simple boiled two beets until tender and blitzed them in the food processor until a rough/smooth texture was achieved before folding through a couple of tablespoons of the hummus mix and some fresh finely chopped coriander.  As for the tahina sauce well all that was blend one cup of tahina paste with 1/4 cup of water, 1/4 cup of lemon juice and one clove of grated garlic. 

Beetroot Hummus

Chickpea Hummus

Tahina Sauce

I also served them alongside a vegetarian (although not vegan) Moroccan soup, the recipe for which can be found here. I used some of the tahina sauce here too, but spiced it up with a teaspoon of harissa paste too and spooned on top of the soup before serving. They were perfect with both the dips and soup, being crisp and crunchy against the soft and creamy dips, whilst softening pleasantly under the heat of the soup.

I did scatter with soup almonds too which doesn’t meet the gluten free specifications of the challenge (or at least I don’t think they’re gluten free but then again I can’t read Hebrew) but this was done as an after thought and I suppose it doesn’t interfere with the lavash or dips.  They’re too good to miss out on though.

The Recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour or gluten free flour blend (If you use a blend without xanthan gum, add 1 tsp xanthan or guar gum to the recipe)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
• agave syrup or sugar
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup water, at room temperature
• Topping of your choice such as spice blends, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or kosher salt

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, agave, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball.  You may not need the full 1/2 cup of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed. 
2. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough:  Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter.  Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed.  The dough should pass the windowpane test (see http://www.wikihow.com/Determine-if-Bre … ong-Enough for a discription of this) and register 77 degrees to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled.  Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Or for Gluten Free Cracker Dough:  The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), and slightly tacky. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
3. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).
4. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough:  Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter.  Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour.  Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches.  You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax.  At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down.  Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes.  When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes.  Line a sheet pan with baking parchment.  Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment.  If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors. Or For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Lay out two sheets of parchment paper.  Divide the cracker dough in half and then sandwich the dough between the two sheets of parchment.  Roll out the dough until it is a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches.  Slowly peel away the top layer of parchment paper.  Then set the bottom layer of parchment paper with the cracker dough on it onto a baking sheet. 
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack on the middle shelf.  Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough (such as alternating rows of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher or pretzel salt, etc.)  Be careful with spices and salt – a little goes a long way. If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough.  You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking.  If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first. 
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).
7. When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.  You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.