Friday, March 12, 2010

Flatbread (and cheese)

Since making cheese earlier this week, everything on our menu is followed by '(with cheese)'. I don't want it to go bad, and it doesn't last a real long time, so we're having cheese with everything. Cheese with eggs and toast in the morning, cheese and apples for snack, cheese sandwiches, turkey tetrazini - with cheese.

Note to self: we do not need two pounds of fresh cheese at a time.

In an effort to find other interesting ways to serve fresh goat cheese, I attempted this recipe for flatbread crackers.

Seriously yummy.

Addicting, even.

And, bonus: they're easy! Not quick... it took somewhere close to an hour to make them, but we managed a math lesson and snack time in that hour since a lot of it is resting time. The girls liked the part where we used scissors to cut apart the dough, and rolling it in the pasta machine. (It could be done with a rolling pin as well, but would be hard on the shoulders after a bit.)

My alterations: I used regular white sesame seeds because it's what we keep on hand. My dough felt too try, so I added a couple splashes of extra water. I didn't use parchment paper because we never have any, I just put the flat breads right on the hot stone. And I baked them about 7 minutes each because 4 minutes left them soft and chewy still.

Definitely give these a try. You might never buy store-bought crackers again.

And if you have half a pound of farmer's cheese sitting around, try this dip with your flat bread:

1/2 lb farmer's cheese, smooshed up a bit (or cream cheese)
1/4 cup Vegenaise (or mayo)
1/4 cup grated parmesan
a sprinkling of Worcestershire (maybe a couple of teaspoons?)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder, or a clove minced
1 green onion, finely sliced

Use a fork or a pastry blender to mix ingredients very thoroughly. It should be a creamy mixture when you're done with it.

Use a rubber spatula to form a 'dome' shape on a plate. Sprinkle the outside liberally with dried oregano, refrigerate for a couple of hours, then serve. Or if you're impatient, don't refrigerate it. I won't tell.


5 comments:

Jan said...

Julie...guess what will be in my oven this afternoon! I can't wait.

One thought. I just happened to have all the ingredients on hand, something that never seems to happen. I am always curious, though...one day when you have nothing else to blog about (I know, that will happen when donkeys fly), talk about what things you keep in your pantry.

I know you grow much of your food, and your meat is from Andrew's hunting trips, but what are the things you buy to keep on hand?

I love seeing what you are doing! Thanks for sharing,

Jan

Julie said...

Ooh, great idea, Jan. Nice to see you, by the way. I miss your blogs, can't wait till you update again and let the world know what's going on in your life. :o)
How did your flatbreads turn out? Hope you liked them as much as we did!

Wendy said...

This sounds like a delicious combo!

Anonymous said...

Your recipe is just in time for Passover! I'm going to try it, and if it works, you just saved us about $25 this month-- thanks!!!

Anonymous said...

To clarify: I don't question whether your recipe will work-- only whether it will work w/ my ingredients-- Hugs!