Well, once again I’m far behind … The September Daring Bakers Challenge was supposed to be posted a week and a half ago. I made it on time, but with going out of town for the Biochemistry Retreat last week, I wasn’t able to get it posted on time, but here it is now.

Thanks to Shellyfish for hosting this challenge — Lavash Crackers. This challenge was a lot of fun, and while I’ve enjoyed all the sweets lately, I was really ready for a challenge not topped with buttercream. I’d been wanting to make crackers for awhile, so of course this was the perfect excuse to try it out. We could make this recipe either gluten free or not, and since I didn’t want to buy xanthan gum, I decided to stick with the conventional version. I topped mine with an assortment of seeds and spices, including poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, rosemary, sea salt, cumin seeds, and fennel seeds. I made one batch with stripes of different flavors and one batch with everything mixed together, which I liked better. All of them would’ve worked better if I had pushed them into the dough a little bit, as everything tended to kind of fall off when you bit into the cracker. Overall, I really enjoyed the crackers though, and would definitely make them again. They turned out deliciously crispy and crunchy, and were a great dipping vehicle.

I did also try a sweet version covered with cinnamon sugar. I think these would’ve been good, too, except that they were thicker than the other batch, and so they came out chewy instead of crunchy.

As part of this challenge, we were also supposed to make either a vegan or gluten-free dip to go along. (This was the first “alternative” Daring Bakers challenge.) Unfortunately I forgot about that part when I decided to make a caramelized onion dip. I’m pretty sure it’s gluten free, but definitely not vegan since it contained sour cream. I guess this obeys the letter of the challenge, though probably not the spirit, since I made a gluten-free dip to go with non-gluten free crackers. I’ll try to read more carefully next time. At any rate, I’ll put the recipe for the dip up sometime in the next few days, because it turned out really well.

And don’t forget to check out the Daring Bakers’ Blogroll to see how everyone else fared. You may have to scroll back a few posts since I’m so late, but it’ll be worth it!

If you want the recipe for the crackers, check out Shellyfish’s post.

So anyway, I promise that pimento cheese is much tastier than it might look in the above photo. If you’re not a Southerner, you may not have heard of this spread, which is extremely easy to make, and is a pretty yummy snack. Since we’ve been exercising more, we’ve found the need to keep more quick and easy snacks or meals on hand, so I made a batch last week. We like to use it to fill celery sticks (so you can tell yourself you’re balancing out the healthiness of mixing cheese with mayo), or spread it on sandwiches. If you’re going to put it on a sandwich, I think it’s much, much better if you toast the sandwich (in a toaster oven, already filled with the spread, so the cheese gets gooey and melty), but there are those in my family that disagree and think it’s better without toasting. Either way, you should give it a try, as it takes all of 10 minutes to whip up a batch.

Pimento Cheese

small jar of pimento peppers
1 lb. medium cheddar cheese (Apparently my grandmother always used blocks of American cheese, but I think I probably prefer the sharper taste of cheddar)
sugar
mayonnaise

Chop pimenotos (I use my food processor). Sprinkle with sugar, a couple tablespoons or so. Add very finely grated cheese. (I use my food processor to grate the cheese onto the pimentos, and then, since I don’t have a fine enough chopping blade, I stick the regular blade back in there and chop it up more finely.) Transfer to a bowl, and mix in some mayonnaise, just enough to hold everything together. (This was probably a few tablespoons or so of mayo, I’m not exactly sure). Spread on crackers, celery sticks, or make into sandwiches.

If there’s one person outside my family — which, not to brag, includes numerous excellent cooks — whose cooking I really admire and am inspired by, it would be our good family friend Kelly Branson. She can do everything from comfort food and cookies to fancy party food, always making it look easy and elegant — and everything is always delicious.

When Matt and I got married, Kelly and her daughter Meg, who I’ve been friends with since I was about 8, hosted a Bridesmaids Brunch for me. With the invitations, they enclosed recipe cards for the guests to fill out, so now I have a wonderful box of recipes from my family and friends. Kelly filled out several cards, and one of them was for her baked ziti with these roasted vegetables. Someday I’ll pass along the recipe for the baked ziti, too, which is delicious, but last weekend I just made these roasted vegetables. As Kelly says, “I could eat these roasted veggies all day – spread on crackers, pizza – cold, hot, yummy, yummy, yummy.”

Recipe after the jump….

Kelly’s Roasted Vegetables

2 red and 2 yellow peppers, seeds and pith removed, cut in large chunks
2 sweet onions – quartered or eighthed
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled and crushed
1 package baby bella mushrooms, stemmed
1 eggplant, in 1/2″ slices
2 limes, juiced
1/2 cup + of good olive oil
sea salt

Marinate the vegetables in lime juice, oilve oil, and salt overnight. I usually marinate the vegetables in a gallon sized plastic bag. I add the vegetables to the bag in layers, and shake some sea salt and spread some garlic on top of each layer, then pour the lime juice on top. Usually the vegetables will just barely fit into one bag. You should be pretty generous with the salt, though I have made them too salty. Unfortunately I don’t have a real measurement; after making them a few times I just eyeball it. I then leave the veggies on the counter overnight, turning it over a couple times before I go to bed to redistribute the juice.

Preheat the oven to 375 F and roast the vegetables in a single layer on a cookie sheet for 45 minutes to an hour, until they’re pretty soft but not completely fallen apart. When cool enough to handle, goosh everything together and chop it all up. This makes a bunch, but they’re great in so many ways, I’m sure you won’t mind. Here are some ideas:

• in pasta
• on pizza
• chopped up a little better and served as a spread
• in quiche — I made a delicious one with homemade ricotta (recipe coming!) with the leftovers tonight
• just by themselves, as a side dish or a snack

I’ve had some leftovers from this batch in my fridge for close to a week, and they’re still delicious, so they keep pretty well.

Also from Kelly:

• Butternut Squash Soup