“Sometimes I want to clean up my desk and go out and say, respect me, I’m a respectable grown-up, and other times I just want to jump into a paper bag and shake and bake myself to death.”
Wendy Wasserstein
Rye Cheddar Crackers & Pizza Dough Crisps … with less than little time on hand, I baked myself to death. Literally! I missed the last DB challenge,and this months was a cracker! It’s been yet another busy month, but I snuck a day midweek and had a whale of a time!
It’s a cracking good time to be a Daring Baker. Crackers all the way, something we at home love to love, yet something that tends to get ignored in the baking schedule more often than never. Yet crackers and crisps are right up my street, savoury my choice over sweet!
Sarah from All Our Fingers in the Pie was our February 2013 Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to use our creativity in making our own Crisp Flatbreads and Crackers!
Having missed last months challenge, I was determined not to miss this one, and was quite chuffed when I read the challenge. But time flies as always, work piles up, schedules lag, mismanagement and procrastination galore, I find the panic rising the minute we get past the 15th.
Quite murmurs with fellow DBs…are you done yet? Did you do the challenge. Always looking for the push, the motivation, the ‘get up and go‘ to get up and go! I was quite motivated after we had a potluck at home, and Sangeeta brought some delightful whole wheat crackers.
Up early one Saturday morning, with the kids snoring, I had whole wheat cheddar crackers ruling my head…but alas, no recipe on Sangeeta’s blog. I decided to chart my own path, and thought I’d use the rye in the larder also know as finger millet or sprouted ragi flour locally.
Threw a few things together, garlic and sweet paprika two of my favourites, cheddar because crackers must have some yummy cheese in them {IMHO}, and smoked sea salt because I love the flavours it subtly adds! It was a timid attempt. Was pleased with the outcome, crisp, earthy, flavourful crackers … nom nom nom. Ran one past the boy. “YES! These are nice Mama.” What a relief.
Handed one out to the better half, lavished with some kumquat chili marmalade that Sangeeta made with the kumquats I sent her. What a combination! “Can I have another please”, said Mr Man…and I knew we had some magic in here! I did pester her for her wholewheat cracker recipe, which she parted with large heartedly. That’s next on my list to do.
Then one day I made pizzas…actually Calzones, Pizza Pies & Popovers with lamb & beet greens. All that done, I still had a small ball of dough left. Almost chucked it out, then remembered reading ages ago that someone had made crisps out of leftover pizza dough. Don’t throw out that left over dough!
Such fun. Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment as thin as you possibly can. Give it a brush of extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkling of dried herbs, pepper, sweet paprika, maybe sea salt {though be careful if you dough already has salt in it}. Bake until crisp in a less that medium hot {lower element only} oven. Keep checking as every oven ‘does it’s own thing’. Before you know it, you might have burnt crackers!
I was out at sea for a dip for these and then thought a cheese dip might bring the pizza story together. Eyeballing is always good for dips. Cheddar, olive oil, low fat cream, garlic, dried herbs … and into the microwave. Voila! It was a cheese fondue on the side!
Recipe: Rye Cheddar Crackers
Summary: Crisp, earthy, flavourful crackers with rye flour.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 120g rye / sprouted ragi flour
- 120g plain flour
- 1 tsp smoked sea salt
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
- 50g cheddar, grated
- 30g butter, room temperature
- 100-125ml water {about 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup}
- Sesame seeds {optional}
Method:
- Place rye, plain flour, sea salt, garlic, sweet paprika, cheddar and butter in food processor and whiz till it becomes fine breadcrumbs.
- Gradually add enough water to make a firm, smooth dough.
- Roll out as thin as possible, brush with beaten egg {or milk} and sprinkle over sesame seeds, and cut into rectangles with a fluted pastry cutter.
- Bake at 170C for about 15 minutes, until brown and crisp.
- Cool completely on racks, and store in an airtight box.
- Serve with Kumquat Chili Marmalade and cheese.
Recipe: Pizza Dough Crisps
Summary: Crisp crackers made out of pizza dough. Give it a brush of extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkling of dried herbs, pepper, sweet paprika, maybe sea salt.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 small orange sized ball of pizza dough
- extra virgin olive oil
- Suggested toppings : dried herbs, smoke paprika, sea salt, chili flakes, sumac, freshly ground pepper, sesame seeds, poppy seeds
- Plain flour for rolling
Method:
- Preheat oven to 160-170C, medium low heat.
- Divide the dough into 2, lightly dust with flour, and roll out as thin as possible between two sheets of parchment paper.
- Keep checking the paper to ensure it doesn’t stick on top, and dust a little if required. You will bake on the bottom sheet, so the lower sheet doesn’t matter.
- Brush with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle over your choice of toppings.
- Bake in a medium low oven until crisp. I used just the lower element and kept checking. My oven took about 25 minutes.
- Cool completely, and then break into shards.
- Serve with a dip of your choice.
- A cheese fondue, a fresh salsa, a ranch buttermilk cream cheese dip, or a chili marmalade are great on the side.
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Smothered on a toast the next morning, it had a comforting homey feel! It had all the hints of the green chutney sandwiches my dad often made … beautiful flavours that teased the palette. As I sat in the kitchen, the laundry machine whirring punishingly in the background, I reached out for Baking with Julia! The book is a winner. Read it, bake from it, drool over it, learn from it. I wanted to bake something savoury that morning, and settled for Cheese & Tomato Galette!
The green garlic pesto was a bit spicy / chili for the younger fellow, but hit all the right spots with the daughter and husband who love everything chili! You can find the recipe for the 
