Sometimes when you’re making something new, you run into a snag or two. This Daring Bakers Challenge was one of those times. It was an evening of crushed hopes and disappointment, tempered with elation and extreme satisfaction. How is that possible, you ask? Let me tell you.
After coming off a very long hiatus from participation is the Daring Bakers, I decided that I’d dive back in this month when I heard that the challenge was to make crackers and a topping. I may not be much of a baker, but crackers definitely seemed to be up my alley. The biggest challenge for me was that the topping had to be both gluten free and vegan. Definitely a challenge for a cook who still has bacon grease neatly stored in his ice box just waiting for the next time he makes potatoes or collard greens.
I’d chosen to make the regular glutenous crackers, because I have no need of gluten free ingredients, which would summarily go to waste. The experiment started off well enough. I followed the instructions for the dough with a bit of help with substitutions from fellow Daring Bakers. All went together smoothly, the dough smelled wonderful, rose nicely, rolled perfectly and went into the oven with a sprinkle of paprika and a bit of salt as a topper. All was fine until it was time to pull out the crackers.
They weren’t done. Not even close. According to the instructions, I was to “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).” but at 20 minutes the dough was still soft and had not browned at all. At 30 minutes it had browned just a tiny bit, and was pulled anyway. It was also as hard as a rock and completely inedible, though perhaps useful as a croûton in soup.
I don’t know if it was my oven, if I overworked the dough, or if my skills at noticing “browning” are not up to par. Whatever the reason, I cannot comment on the crackers because mine failed. As a matter of fact, I did nothing special at all with them, so I’m not even going to post a recipe here. Just go check out the Daring Bakers blogroll for a few people that actually got them to work!
NOTE: My wife just told me I was full of it. She loves these crackers. As a matter of fact, she’s munching them right now. Apparently it has more to do with my dental work than my baking skills. YAY!
The topping was a different story altogether. After having read this post by my friend Jenn, I knew I had to do something with the three sisters again. My roots are Native American and the combination of corn, beans and squash is something that I grew up on, but one I have not had in some time. It sounded like the perfect combination for a spread, and it oh, but it was! The result was creamy and crunchy, sweet and bitter, just a bit spicy and perfect for anything from crackers to lamb. Give it a shot, I think you’ll like it!
So, dear readers, I give you both triumph and failure today, but the triumph is worth it.
"Three Sisters" Salsa Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
24 Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 60Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 20mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 2g
What I would have done differently had I thought of it at the time:
I’m really not sure what happened with the lavash crackers. I’ll have to give them another try in the future, but for now, I’m thinking it was my skills as a baker that caused the failure. More to come on that later.
As for the salsa… It’s just about perfect. Give it a shot, you’ll be addicted before you know it.
Links to other recipes like this:
And don’t forget to visit this month’s challenge hosts, Natalie of Gluten A Go Go and Shel of Musings From The Fishbowl. It’ll be worth your while!
Your lavash look fine. Was your oven hot enough (180 degrees C) before you popped them in? I discovered the longer you leave them in the oven (at a lower temperature to prevent too-fast browning), the harder they get (in my vain attempt to get some of them crispier).
The salsa recipe looks delicious.
I’m with you on the bacon – not something I want to give up either.
Argus,
They apparently ARE fine. My wife is loving them and to be honest, they’re better the second day. As far as I know the oven was definitely preheated, of course it’s not calibrated, so I don’t know exactly how hot it really is when it says 350.
Brilliant ‘3 sisters’ salsa & great looking crackers. I can almost hear the crunch!! Guess what? Even mine were no way near done at 15-20 minutes but I still took ’em out in the hope that they would harden. Of course nothing like that happened. So I pulled them apart, & put them back in on the rack for 10 minutes more. Crisp & delicious…& now history! Cheers
Your lavash probably turned out exactly how it was supposed to. It did take a little lonmger in the oven depending on how thick it was I suppose. I tried to get mine as thin as possible.
The salsa looks fantastic — and it’s probably delicious with store-bought lavash, too!
your salsa and lavosh look great!
i just bought an acorn squash and was wondering what to do with it. I think i’ll try making your salsa!
Mmmmm….that dip. Love the combo of flavors. Kind of like a less complicated version of that Non-Cowboy stuff I made not too long ago. As far as your crackers go, I set mine for 10 min initially since I thought that no way could they handle 20 minutes. But only the very thin edges were getting really brown — no kidding at 1/16 an inch! Anyhoo, I’m learning there are side effects to eating non-gluten flour. Oh. My. Intestines…Tasty, tho!
Your lavash turned out perfectly. Mine took longer to bake too. That salsa looks just wonderful! Well done!
Great job dear fellow DB :-) Your salsa look really yummy, great naming ;-)
Cheers
Man, that salsa looks wonderful! I’ll be making that very soon. I think your lavash look great! I took my first batch out right at 20 minutes, and they were too soft, but my oven seems a little on the cool side. So I added about 5 minutes to baking time, and they came out nice and crispy. I just need to practice rolling them thinner. It was a nice dough to work with.
Your “three sisters” salsa looks really good. Might have to try that. Your lavash looked great.
To everyone: Thanks for all the great responses! Yes, the salsa really is as good as it looks! I’ll be doing the lavash again as well, since my wife loves, loves LOVES it. The salsa is now on my top ten favorite recipes for the year list.
As for the name of the salsa, Native Americans referred to beans, corn and squash as the three sisters. corn was planted first, beans were planted once the stalks had gotten large enough, and the squash was planted alongside. The beans provide nitrogen to the soil, which helps the corn and squash grow. The squash creates a ton of shade, inhibiting weeds and keeping predatory animals at bay (they didn’t much like squash, but were crazy for corn.) The Three Sisters is the staple food of native American cultures from the East Coast to the Midwest. (California native peoples used acorns and fish as their staples)
This surely beats the boring potato and corn chips with salsa any day. I’ll definitely recommend this at http://www.Homemade-Salsa-Recipes.com.