Monday, June 27, 2016

Lavash Herbed Flatbread. This is my version, such as it is, oh and that would be absolutely delicious


My Nana used to bring Lavash flatbread with her when she visited us from Chicago, Winnetka actually.  She and my mom would doctor it up with butter and herbs.  It was delicious.  They'd keep it in cookie tins in the kitchen and I would sneak a hunk every.single.time I'd walk by.

I need to get hold of my sister and see if she has such delicious memories of it.

I have used Lavash as a wrap, it's super thin flatbread, similar to a gigantic tortilla but without the fat so based on that alone, I call it diet food.  I try not to pay attention to the aioli that I usually slather it in.  All natural equals healthy enough for me and since *I* make the aioli and the bread, my committee has no problems whatsoever eating it regularly.

I had a hankering the other day for the crispy, doctored up version my mom and Nana used to make.  I got hold of mum and she shared the secret herb blend, ahhhhhhh the memories of my youth. 

This is the easiest bread on earth to make, truly.  It's soft if you under cook it, crisp if you cook it longer, and crazy, shatteringly crisp and buttery and herby if you slather it and cover it liberally after you've cooked it, a quick 2 minutes back in a screaming hot oven will result in the most delicious, crispy, crunchy flavorful pile of shrapnel that goes with any gathering. 

Try this, trust me on this one: 

TRACY'S HERBED LAVASH FLATBREAD RECIPE


INGREDIENTS


This makes 8 GIGANTIC breads to cook and break up.  The pictures below are a half recipe in case you'd thought you'd lost your minds.  So, if you just want a small batch, you can easily half this recipe. 

For 8 flatbreads

3 cups a/p flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup hottest tap water
splash of olive oil (optional)

Topping:

Melted butter OR olive oil

Herbs:

Any combination of herbs that you like.  I don't share MY herb blend because I sell the bread and I sell the herbs separately too.

You can combine any herbs that you love, some suggestions are maybe:

parsley
sage
rosemary
thyme
herbs de provence

I know my mom has snuck garlic powder in on her blend but I prefer it without because of my need for flavors of my childhood. 

INSTRUCTIONS 

and play by play pictures.  (*these pictures are of a half recipe)


Combine in a kitchenaid with a hook and mix/knead until smooth.  About 3 minutes.  
OR
Combine in a bowl, mix and knead by hand till smooth.  About 5 minutes.  For these pics, I did a half recipe and refuse to haul out 'big red' for a cup and a half of flour

   

    

   


See?  No kitchenaid is no reason not to make this.  (how many negatives can I get into one sentence?)

Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, roll into balls.  Place on in a heavily floured plate, flour the balls and place into a plastic bag.   Leave to rest 40 minutes. 

Mix herbs/spices
Melt 6+ TB butter

Preheat oven, with pizza stone OR inverted cookie sheet to 500 degrees.  This cooks hot and it cooks fast.  Life's too short to wait for culinary delight. 

I roll one piece of the dough on a floured piece of parchment paper.  You can reuse it for the whole recipe to cook all 8.  You want to roll it paper thin, thinner than that, you want to about see through it, it should roll out to a 12 or 13 inch circle.  Seriously.  Use flour as needed and brush it off before it goes into the oven.

    


    


  


Slide the parchment onto a peel and put it on the screaming hot stone or sheet pan.  Bake 3 minutes.  Spin if your oven is a little uneven.  Mine is so I spin and remove the parchment at 2 minutes done, which is easy to remove from under the flatbread, for the last minute.. 

Remove from oven with tongs and put it between kitchen towels.  I spray water on the top towel.  It keeps the bread supple if you want.

    


When they're all cooked, spread each with melted butter (OR you can use olive oil!) and sprinkle your herb mix on liberally.  Slip back into the oven, straight on the stone or pan, for 2 minutes.  Remove to a rack to cool and become shatteringly crisp.

    


    


    



Break into shards and keep in a tin.  Mine doesn't really last long enough to require a tin but I'm forever hopeful I'll eventually be able to fill a tin and not eat it all...

Here's just some random beauty shots


   

You'll love this and it'll be your new goto party piece to take along. 

Trust me, you'l love it. 

/enjoy
Tracy