Lavash Crackers & Avocado Salsa – Daring Bakers Challenge

The hosts for this month’s Daring Bakers challenge are Natalie @ Gluten a Go Go & Shel @ Musings From The Fish Bowl. They are both making history at the Daring Bakers due to the torch being handed over for the first time to Alternative – Daring Bakers! - Well done ladies!! They certainly stepped up to the plate with a most wonderful challenge this month of Lavash crackers (with a choice of gluten free or non gluten free), and our own choice of toppings/dip/salsa/relish or spreads.

What are Lavash crackers? They are an Armenian style cracker and similar to the many other Middle Eastern and North African flatbreads, known by different names such as, mankoush or mannaeesh (Lebanese), barbari (Iranian), Khoubiz or Khobz (Arabian). Aiysh (Egyptian) kesret and mella (Tunisian), pide or pita (Turkish) and pideh (Armenian). The main difference between these breads is how thick or thin the dough is rolled and how it is baked. Many of these breads would be cooked on stones or red hot pans. The key element to a good crisp lavash is to ensure the dough is rolled paper thin. The sheet of dough can be cut into shapes before baking or broken into shards after baking.

I have never heard let alone attempted to bake these delicious crackers before, but I must admit they are spectacular and I will certainly be baking these again! The Daring Bakers wanted us to use our imaginations and creativity with various toppings for the crackers; it’s always great to be able to add one’s own touches to a bake. The toppings I used in my crackers are; sweet smoked paprika, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, Maldon sea salt, mixed dried herbs & cayenne pepper and I adore the rustic finish of broken shards to these crackers. To accompany the crackers, I selected an Avocado Salsa but the margins here were endless for salsa etc, just as long as it was vegan and gluten free.

I really have enjoyed this month’s challenge it’s been a blast! I felt like an Armenian mamma lifting the dough from the work surface and waving it in the air to place it down again to relax before re-rolling once again until paper thin.

The recipe for the Lavash crackers was sourced from: The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread, by Peter Reinhart.

Here is the recipe for the Lavash crackers

For The Avocado Salsa

Ingredients
1 small ripe avocado
½ small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbps fresh coriander, chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped very finely
½ red chilli chopped into tiny pieces or add more if you prefer it hotter
Pinch of sugar
Salt & pepper
Garnish with either sprigs of coriander or flat leaf parsley.

Method

Stone, peel and dice the avocado, then mix with the onion, lime juice, coriander, garlic, red chilli and sugar. Season to taste and place into a serving bowl and wrap in cling film and set aside for 10 minutes for the flavours to mingle before eating. Garnish with coriander or flat leaf parsley.