"By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; Through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures."~ "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing"~ "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy."~ "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."~

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Crisp Seeded Mega-Crackers

I love all sorts of crackers and I recently came across a cracker recipe that caught my attention....A Mega-cracker?! Wow...I was thrilled to try it! The following recipe makes crisp large sized crackers that look lovely as an addition to any bread basket. They go wonderfully well with dips , soft cheeses, hummus or even with eggplant dip. So here goes...

Dough
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2/3 toasted sesame seeds or a blend of your favorite small seeds) I used sesame (I used untoasted) and poppy seeds
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 TBS olive oil
1 cup cool water
In a medium size bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, seeds, and pepper. Stir in the olive oil, mixing thoroughly, then add the water, tossing with a fork until the dough becomes cohesive.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead and turn it over a few times to smooth it out. Divide the dough into eight pieces and allow to rest , covered , for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 450 deg.
If you have a baking stone be sure to use it (that is what I used). Just preheat the stone as well. It will make the crispiest crackers. (If you do not have a baking stone, bake these on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet set on the middle rack of your oven. Just increase your baking time by a couple more minutes on each side).
Roll one or two pieces of dough ( as many as will fit on your baking stone at once) as thin as possible; you'll make make rounds 8 to 9 inches across. Using a peel or giant spatula, transfer the rounds to the stone and bake them for about 4 minutes(mine took about 5-6 min), then flip them over and bake about 2 minutes(mine took an additional 3 min.).
Just make sure they are golden brown on both sides.
Remove the crackers from the oven as soon as they are brown and transfer to a rack to cool. Store crackers airtight.

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