Friday, January 10, 2014

Paleo Crackers/ pizza crust by Me... as if I have nothing else to do today!

I have been perfecting this cracker/bread/pizza crust for a few months.  And when I say " perfecting," you will see by my measurements that I don't mean "perfect."  Those of you who cook will understand and the rest of you will just have to follow along.   Turn your oven to 375 degrees.  Plan on cleaning  your kitchen as you make the crackers.  If you decide to answer email, water the garden, or even take one step out of the kitchen, you will be sorry.  These things want to burn and will wait until you turn your back to do so.

step 1.  You will use any nuts that are available.  I used a combo of dollar general roasted, salted almonds and some cashews for this. If you want to cut down on the carbs ( which is the whole reason for doing this in the first place ) grab some garbanzo bean flour ( or make your own garbanzo mush ) maybe throw in a little flax seed meal too. 
step 2.  rinse off all the salt on the nuts ( those who are watching salt intake... otherwise, who cares, leave it on ) 
step 3.  Throw the nuts in a blender w a little water to make something that looks like, and is the consistency of cooked oatmeal. Throw in a few cloves of garlic and an egg while you are at it. a dash of olive oil wouldn't hurt and some nice, very sharp, cheddar cheese.
step 4.  dump all that into a big bowl and add some chickpea flour, maybe some Italian spices if you want and some flax seed meal. Add enough water ( or almond milk, soy milk ) to keep that consistency like oat meal. 
Step 5. Now liberally oil a cookie sheet or two.  Sometimes I sprinkle sesame seeds, flax seeds and such on the pan after oiling.  This time around I didn't.
Step 6.  I tilt the pan, use my oiled fingers or an oiled spoon to make sure this gets spread in a very thin sheet all over the pan.

Step 7.  Now is when I added a bit of sesame seeds across the top and sprinkled with oregano
Step 8.  Pop it in the oven  and check after about 5 minutes.  It should be starting to hold up on its own a little.  I pull it out of the oven at this time and cut it into crackers but leave it on the tray and pop it back in the oven for about another 5 minutes.  The sides should start to turn brown a little.
Step 9.  Now pull them out and with a nice steel spatula, flip them all over.  Sprinkle with Parmesan and pop them back in the oven for 5 more minutes or less.  Keep checking .  They are still conspiring to burn on you.
If you are making pizza crust then don't cut it, just pull it out of the oven, slip a spatula under the edges to loosen, flip it over on to your counter and then slide it back onto your tray.  It will now be upside down and ready to put  on your toppings.... now or later.
Step 10.  Sometimes the ones in the middle need a little more time.  Chuck them back in the oven and turn the oven off.  They will crisp up and be ready to eat in no time.  Enjoy!



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