Crispy Toasts!

As you know, I'm on a budget these days, so no more truffled cheese, blinis with caviar or full priced cocktails at over-priced LA bars for me! To deal with my utter culinary sadness (and empty belly) I've been seeking out my favorite food obsessions and figuring out how to make them at home on the cheap.

Challenge #1: Raincoast Crisps

Oh yes, you know these little devils. Beautiful packaging, all natural and lovingly tucked into a peek-a-boo box so you can see the deliciousness inside. Let's be honest, I'm obsessed. Like box-a-week obsessed. Like no-money-in-my-pocket-for-dinner-because-all-I-want-is-crisps obsessed. At anywhere from $6 - $9 a box, this obsession ain't cheap. Luckily I found an amazing recipe to recreate them at home!

From creating this recipe, I now realize why these are so expensive. They are quite laborious and time-consuming, even if most of the time is inactive. First you make the bread mix, chop and add in nuts / fruit / herbs, bake for 30 minutes, then cool, then freeze (oh really) then slice (painful, I'll explain) then toast, turn and toast again. Geez!

Crisp Add-Ins: pecans, sesame seeds, almond meal, rosemary and homemade raisins (from my dehydrator)

Slicing the frozen bread into crisps: not easy! The frozen bread is tough to slice through

Crisps laid out in rows on baking sheet, ready for the oven

Though these were a bit of work, the results are honestly so close to the original I'm never going back. The recipe I used called for pecans, rosemary, raisins and sesame seeds and truly mimicked the real (expensive) thing.

The final product

If you have some extra time (perhaps over the holidays when you won't have any desire to be away from the kitchen anyway) I highly recommend making these. Packed up in an airtight container they will last for weeks, if you don't eat all of them the second they come out of the oven.

I'm making some balsamic jelly (think gelée) to go with some goat cheese on these delightful crisps. I'll report back later on how the combo works out.