Thursday, August 1, 2013

A (Virtual) Moveable Blogger Pub Crawl: Bread

Leopold Bloom, possibly anticipating a Dublin pub crawl
(from the Ulysses Seen graphic novel)

It all started with Jill's Bloomsday post. Several of us commented that Ulysses  would never figure into our reading plans, but the idea of a pub crawl certainly sounded appealing. So this week, four bloggers join forces to take you on a tour of beer, wine, cheese, and bread...our own virtual moveable pub crawl. The tour started Tuesday with a post on beer by Kathy of BermudaOnion. Yesterday Jill at Rhapsody in Books tempted us with cheese, and today I'm baking bread. Tomorrow it's all about wine with Sandy at You've GOTTA Read This!

So, bread...

It's a fact, I love bread. Any grain, any flavor, any shape, any texture. I also love to bake, and our recent cooler temperatures inspired me to pull out  my "baking bible" and turn on the oven. For our pub crawl, my focus quickly narrowed to flatbreads, crispbreads, and crackers. There were easily dozens of recipes that would pair well with cheese and a nice glass of wine or a cold craft beer. Eventually I settled on Lavash, an easy-to-make unleavened crispbread.

LAVASH
from King Arthur Flour

3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1 large egg
1 cup milk (I used whole milk)
1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted, or a combination of other small seeds (I used chia seeds)

Method:
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and sugar. Cut in shortening. Beat the egg and milk together and stir into flour mixture, mixing well.The dough will be firm. Cover and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Divide dough into four pieces and roll each to 1/16 inch thickness on the back of a lightly greased sheet pan or on a piece of parchment paper. Brush the lavash with water and sprinkle the tops with seeds. Go over the dough once more, lightly, to press the seeds into the surface.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until browned and crisp. Break into pieces and serve with butter or your favorite spread.



The recipe was simple, but it seemed weird rolling out the dough and baking it on the wrong side of a cookie sheet.


It came out of the oven browned and crisp. 


I served the lavash with a Caprese Salad and chilled chardonnay. I wonder what kind of wine Sandy will be serving tomorrow...



This post will be linked to this Saturday’s Weekend Cooking, hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has a food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. 

30 comments:

  1. Yummy! I might even be able to bake that since it doesn't have yeast in it. I wonder why you were supposed to bake it on the bake of a pan.

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  2. This looks wonderful. I have to try this, because anything from King Arthur's Flour is bound to be good! And it looks like it would go so well with cheese and alcohol! :--) I too however don't get it as to what difference it makes to be in the pan or over the pan....

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  3. Kathy and Jill - Once you roll it out, there is no moving that dough! Using parchment paper and transferring to a sheet was offered as an alternative but, since the diagrams showed the upside down pan, I decided to go that route. Strange, I know...

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  4. Sure wish I had been around when this was planned! :)) Oh well. That's what I get for trying to stay off social media.

    Anything by KAF is a sure-fire win. You could use a peel and bake it on a stone, but this works well -- you don't want sides on the pan because you don't want soft edges.

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    1. Beth F - Ack, I forgot all about my stone! It's at my mother's house now... out of sight, out of mind.

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  5. I don't often bake bread, but when I do I feel all warm and fuzzy and domestic, kinda like I do when I make Italian food! And a little hint for tomorrow...I don't really talk about a particular wine exactly but a really good wine book!

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    1. Sandy - My husband wishes I bake bread more often, but I'm still a little afraid of yeast and I have absolutely no will-power when it comes to warm bread. Can't wait to hear about the wine book!

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  6. Y'all have done such a fantastic job with this. Loved your post and the others I've read so far! :)

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  7. what a cool idea! I'm looking forward to checking out the other posts.

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    1. Audrey - If you have a weakness for cheese, beware of Jill's post ;-)

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  8. The bread looks and sounds delicious! I bet the seeds on top were yummy.

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    1. Diane - My daughters clued me in on the health benefits of chia seeds, but they taste really good, too!

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  9. We bake bread a lot, but I've never made lavash. I am definitely going to try this soon!

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    1. Col - If you have one, I like the idea of baking this on a stone.

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  10. That's a bread even I might be able to do!

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    1. Peggy Ann - Bread baking doesn't get much easier than this!

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  11. I love making flatbreads, but haven't tried lavash...yet. This looks yummy. The weather is cooler here too, this would be fabulous with a salad.

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  12. I have never made lavash, but yours looks so yummy. and I would love it with Caprese salad and chardonnay. Thanks for sharing.

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  13. I've never tried lavash, in fact I didn't even know what it was. I love bread and love anything crispy, so you really have me wanting to try it.
    Here's My Weekend Cooking

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  14. Flatbread is something I've never tackled. I'm completely at ease with yeast breads. I guess we need to switch around. As you said, this does look easy. I need to get out of my comfoirt zone and give flatbread a try. Lovely post and a great idea I like the idea of the pub crawl.

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  15. This looks delicious! I like your virtual pub crawl idea too!

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  16. Now, where I live, a pub crawl means lots of drinking and silly behaviour - student type stuff! I like your version better!

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  17. oh, that looks excellent...copying..it ....down...right ....now

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  18. These look so good. I never think to make crackers even though I love baking bread.

    I'm reading the bread chapter of Michael Pollan's Cooked right now and it's making me want to learn even more about bread making.

    Joy's Book Blog

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  19. Oh my goodness, what time shall I be over?! What a great meal :-)

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  20. Oh my, we love lavosh but I never thought to try to make my own. It's expensive to buy but seems easy enough to make...except for the part where anything that needs to be rolled out always stymies me. Does it roll out without sticking too much?

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    1. Lisa - This was the simplest bread I've ever made. Just a tiny bit of flour on the rolling pin was all it took to get rid of the stickiness.

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  21. Never tried any sort of cracker. Interesting. I love to make bread. Shall I try this? Yes, I think I will.

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  22. Yum! this looks lovely and not too difficult to make! This is a cool post and concept you ladies came up with!!!

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