THE COW!

I just couldn't help it -- this month's Daring Baker's Challenge made me think of a couple of lines from Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail. Remember when some castle starts launching cows over the castle walls and one comes flying through the air towards the knights? One of the knights starts yelling,

"La vache! La vache!"

The other nights look confused, and he shouts again,

"THE COW!"

Then Patsy gets squashed??

Well, when the challenge for baking lavash ("la vache!") came out, that's all I could think of. :)

Despite the silliness, I managed to make lavash, as well as a vegan and gluten-free dip, per the challenge instructions:

I followed the challenge recipe as written, subbing whole wheat bread flour (and a little extra vital wheat gluten) for the white bread flour. We were given great liberties in the dip directions -- we could make whatever we wanted, as long as it was vegan and gluten free! I found a very easy baba ganoush recipe on VegWeb, and gave it a go. (I figured it was about time I made and ate baba ganoush! Totally yum, by the way.)

Here's a shot of my two sheets of lavash:

(Darn small oven -- had to bake in two batches.)

And a close-up:

Lavash topped with wheat germ and kosher salt on the left, and topped with cracked black pepper and kosher salt on the right. Both were crispy, toasted, and delicious!

This month's challenge was much less difficult than the eclairs, in my opinion, and much more versatile -- I can easily see myself making batches of this simple, rustic cracker for parties, snacks, or meals -- Dan and I ate some of the lavash and baba with veggies, feta, and olives for dinner one rainy Sunday night earlier this month. Mmmmmmm!!!!!