Thursday, June 18, 2009

Flatbread

As a traveling consultant, I had a pretty sweet life. Life, and meals, on an expense account was pretty rad. Yes, rad. I got to have really great steak in Dallas, fantastically fresh produce and local cuisine in Corvallis (Oregon), great wine in Sacramento (close to Napa), and really badass flatbread in Orlando. Orlando, which is mostly known for being one giant tourist trap with tourist trap food, had some food gems if you scratched the surface and dug a little deeper.


A couple of my favorite restaurants in my entire traveling consultant career were in Orlando. There was Press 101 that had 8 or 9 daily soups, creative sandwiches, and a wide selection of salads. I loved this place. In addition to their soups, they had several flatbreads with creative toppings like shredded duck and caramelized onion, vegetable and cheese, and so many others that I unfortunately cannot remember. Another Orlando hotspot was Seasons 52. Their flatbread was actually better than Press's (though Press 101's soups and casual atmosphere brought me back to their establishment more often). Season 52's focus was on fresh and seasonably available produce that drove the items on their menu. One of the things they were well known for were their flatbreads. They had solid toppings such as vine-ripened tomatoes with basil and parmiggiano reggiano or roasted shrimp and herbs on a cracker thin flatbread. Oh man I miss those days.

Since it is technically summer and about this time a couple of years ago, I was enjoying a glass of wine on the outdoor patio of either Press 101 or Season's 52 with a slice of flatbread, I made some flatbread of my own at home. It's raining today so there will be no sitting on a sunny and hot patio with a glass of wine but I can try and replicate the food at the very least.

I made 2 flatbreads tonight for dinner: caramelized onion and goat cheese and a yellow zucchini with parmesan. The dough I used was thicker than the crisp crackers we had Florida. It was a refrigerated pizza dough. Do you gasp at me? Well, I'm kind of afraid of making bread and I really hate kneading and letting the dough rise so for a Thursday night, I went with the refrigerated dough from the store. Sue me. You can make your own pizza dough or you can roll out your favorite dough purchased from the store or a local pizzeria. Or you can buy the one that is already made AND rolled if it's a weekday night. The toppings are the true star anyway.

Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Flatbread
2 onions, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
3 tbs goat cheese
pizza dough - if you decide to roll your own pizza dough, roll the pizza dough into a 10 inch by 12 inch rectangle and it should be about 1/8 inch thick.

Preheat the oven to 390 degrees F, 200 degrees C. Line a tray cookie sheet with foil and lightly grease the foil. Set aside.

In a saute pan, melt the butter and olive oil together at medium heat. Add the onion slices and saute, stirring occasionally. Add the salt, pepper, and thyme and stir until the onions start to sizzle. Turn the heat down to medium-low and let the onions cook down and caramelize, stirring frequently. The process is a bit slow but after about 15 to 20 minutes the onions will be soft and deep brown. When it reaches that point, add the sugar, saute for another 5 minutes then turn the heat off and let the onions cool.

To assemble the flatbread, lay the prepared and rolled pizza dough (however you see fit to do so) on the greased and foil lined cookie sheet. Take a fork and lightly poke holes throughout the dough. Spread the caramelized onions over the dough leaving a one inch border. Break up the goat cheese into little chunks (sounds pretty, eh?) and spread it evenly around the caramelized onions. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the dough is golden brown.

Remove from the oven, cut with a pizza cutter or knife and serve!


Zucchini and Herb Flatbread
1/2 zucchini, golden or green, cut into very thin rounds. I tried to get them about 1/16th of an inch if possible but it's not rocket science. Just make sure they're even and thin.
1/2 tsp dried oregano - if you can find fresh use fresh, you can use about 1 tsp.
2 tbs grated parmesan, divided
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
pizza dough - if you decide to roll your own pizza dough, roll the pizza dough into a 10 inch by 12 inch rectangle and it should be about 1/8 inch thick.

Preheat the oven to 390 degrees F, 200 degrees C. Line a tray cookie sheet with foil and lightly grease the foil. Set aside.

To assemble the flatbrad, lay the pizza dough on the prepared cookie sheet and poke holes into it with a fork. To the dough, drizzle about a teaspoon of olive oil and spread it around the dough with a pastry brush. Layer the zucchini slices onto the dough, overlapping half of the zucchini slice with another. Drizzle another teaspoon of olive oil over the zucchini slices and distribute it evenly with a pastry brush. Sprinkle the oregano over the zucchini, season the slices with a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of grated parmesan over the vegetables.

Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the dough is golden brown. When it is done, remove the flatbread from the oven and sprinkle with the remaining parmesan, slice and serve.


Crikey, that was a long post! The end.

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