cracker bread

[Andrea Wood]

Does anyone have a recipe for the cracker bread served at Brio's Italian Restaurant in Newport, KY? I believe this Brio's is a chain so it may be located elsewhere. The bread is wafer-thin and topped with rosemary, flax seed and parmesan cheese. It is loaded with flavor. I did a "search" for cracker bread but don't believe that what came up is the recipe I'm looking for. This stuff is great and I think it would be great just with salad. Thank you.

Andrea

[funnybone]

Bumping this one up.

[ande]

PARCHMENT CRACKER BREAD
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, plus about 2 cups additional for dusting
1/2 cup semolina flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup warm water

Preheat oven for 45 minutes, to 450 degrees. If you plan to use a baking stone or quarry tilesin the oven, cut out and reserve several sheets of heavy parchment paper to fit the baking stone.

Combine flours and salt in a large bowl, and stir in the water a little at a time until a thick, somewhat stiff dough is formed. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead gently for a minute or two.

Form the dough into a log and divide it into four equal pieces. Cover three pieces with plastic wrap and set aside. Divide the remaining piece into three parts. Let them rest for a moment, to slightly relax the gluten in the flour and make rolling a little easier.

On a well-floured board, flour both sides of one of the dough pieces. Roll it out using a heavy rolling pin, working center to top and then center to bottom. Flip the dough over, make a quarter turn, dust it again with flour and roll it out, again working center to top and then center to bottom. Continue flipping and turning, and then flouring and rolling the dough until you have a roundish sheet thin enough to see your hand through it (1/16 inch or less).

Repeat this process, cutting each of the original four logs into three pieces, flouring, rolling, and turning. There will be excess flour on the breads. Don't worry about that or the shape; the irregularity of the breads adds to their charm and their obvious made-from-scratchness. As each sheet is rolled, place it on one of the parchment pieces, if using the quarry tile method, or on an ungreased baking sheet. Place only as many sheets as will fit without overlapping (usually 2).

As your parchment or sheets fill up, place the parchment on the tiles or stone, or the baking sheet in the oven, and bake the breads for 3-4 minutes or until they are bubbled and beginning to brown lightly. Turn each flatbread over with tongs and continue to bake, watching carefully, until the bread is lightly browned on both sides, 2-3 minutes more. Transfer immediately to a rack to cool. Repeat with the remaining breads, using a new sheet of paper each time if you're using that method. Once cool, these may be stored for a day or two in an airtight container.

Note: There are a couple of secrets to this recipe. Expect to get a little rough and tough with the dough when rolling it out; at that phase, it likes to be beaten up a little.

For Herb-Parmesan Parchments: Moisten the undivided dough with just a little extra water, and stretch it out a bit. Sprinkle the dough heavily with herbs (she uses oregano, thyme, basil and crushed red pepper), and knead them into the dough along with two or three tablespoons dry, very finely grated Parmesan cheese. Then proceed as above.

[yorkshirepud]

Andrew, try looking for recipes called Lavash. You might have better luck. It sounds very similar.

Good luck!

[Andrea Wood]

Thank you for taking the time to answer. Looks like I'll be busy.

Andrea