Oh My Gosh, I Forgot the Lavash!

This last week has been craaaazy, with scholarship applications and a paper that forced me into my first all-nighter in, oh, probably 10 years. I had thought, "Well, once I'm done I can do the Daring Bakers challenge by the end of the month." Too bad it was supposed to be posted today and not Sept. 30th! Sigh. Here, nevertheless, is the recipe.

From Tourism Amenia

Lavash

Makes 1 sheet pan of crackers

* 1 1/2 cups (6.75 oz) unbleached bread flour
* 1/2 tsp (.13 oz) salt
* 1/2 tsp (.055 oz) instant yeast
* 1 Tb (.75 oz) agave syrup or sugar
* 1 Tb (.5 oz) vegetable oil
* 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 Tb (3 to 4 oz) water, at room temperature
* Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or kosher salt for toppings

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 + 2 Tb of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.

2. 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.

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. 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.

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.

Good-Bye to Summer Fruits

I bought a pint of strawberries yesterday, but the variety (and prices!) of other summer berries left much to be desired. A favorite this last summer, which I have never really taken advantage of before, was the blueberry. I had always thought of it as a fruit that disappointed - never sweet enough and not tasting as you think it should.



But I happened to buy a LOT of blueberries this summer from a great source, Jersey Fruit (preferably pronounced "Joisey Fruit!" in a high pitched voice). They were sweet and juicy, and the adorable mascots on the pint labels made me laugh.

Now, what to do with this last pint of strawberries? One of my favorite things to make with fresh strawberries is a British dessert called a "fool." I love British dessert (or "pudding") names: syllabubs, fools, whim whams. Why don't we have names like that?

A fool is simply macerated fruit (that is, fruit softened after being mixed with sugar) swirled into whipped cream - it MUST be homemade whipped cream rather than any non-dairy product. Quite luxurious and simple, and devastatingly bad for you!

But, although I will miss summer's abundance, fall desserts and fruits have a charm all their own.

Here are some apples, baked with dark chocolate at their cores and sprinkled with cinnamon - an idea I got from Martha's site. Definitely autumn comfort food.

The Mid-Autumn Festival

Today is the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, the day of the year when the moon is the fullest. To celebrate, my mom always sends me moon cakes. Here are some of them - they are beauties.

These are pastries filled with different pastes - red bean in the one on the left (you can read it on the molded characters). The characters on the other cake read "yuan yi," wishing the eater prosperity.

Here is a peek at the inside of a larger mooncake:

The filling is lotus seed paste - the taste is reminiscent of sweet pine nuts. At the very center is an egg yolk, baked. It symbolizes the luminous, round moon, brightest on this date.

Mooncakes are very rich and should be eaten with tea while sitting outside at evening, enjoying the full moon. For those less fond of these delicacies (even I can find them a bit cloying sometimes) here's a creative recipe for black sesame panna cotta from Dessert First, in lieu of the festival.

Back to School

It's only Day 3 of the semester and I'm already exhausted. And behind! But at least I have air-conditioning, ice-cream in the fridge, and no classes until Tuesday.

Here are some pics from around campus. It helps me to be more grateful to be here when I look around at the beautiful buildings.

At the side entrance of the main library. Sorta creepy, sorta cool.

Blue skies over the student commons. This building commemorates the Yale men who died in WWI - you can read "Cambrai" and "Argonne" in this picture. The Somme and Ypres are also included on the building.

The Women's Table fountain by Maya Lin (the same woman who designed the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in DC) in front of the main library. The numbers spiraling out are the number of women at Yale in each year of Yale's history. The beginning of the spiral (at the center) is a series of zeroes. The spiral ends when women finally made up half the student body.