why I don't work in a bakery

Lately, I've been experimenting to find out the answer to the question: "How much CAN you cook in a toaster oven?" The short answer is: quite a bit. But not everything.

Last week I tried a very simple recipe that I naively thought that even I could not mess up. Oh, how wrong I was. But I take comfort in the idea that it wasn't me, it was my toaster oven.

Usually, I ballpark. I'm not only a graduate, but a per diem associate professor of the school of good enough. In toaster oven terms, that means I put as much as will fit on the toaster oven tray. And I eyeball the level of done-ness, usually popping it back inside for a bit.

This did not work for my recipe this week.

Easy Flatbread
(adapted from Food Matters by Mark Bittman)
(and ruined)

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons olive oil (I used significantly less. The toaster oven pan is small)
1/2 large onion, thinly sliced ( I used minced onions from the spice cabinet. I'm lazy that way)
1 tablespoon rosemary

1) Put flour and salt in bowl. Slowly stir in 1 1/2 cups water, mashing it all together with a fork.
2) throw a towel over the bowl and go clean the house.
3) When the house is clean, heat the toaster oven to 450. Or 400, since that is as high as the toaster oven goes.
4) Pour the oil in the toaster oven pan. Pop it inside to get warm. When you can smell the oil,
5) Add the minced onion and rosemary
6) Heat that up for a couple minutes
7) Pout the batter in the toaster oven pan and return it to the oven.
8) bake for 40 minutes
9) No, 50 minutes
10) No, 60 minutes
11) An hour and ten minutes
12) An hour and 20
13) Ok, shut off the heat, but keep the pan inside, so it can continue to cook as the toaster oven cools.

Heat up the awesome crock pot soup you made the day before.
Dip the fresh flatbread into the awesome soup and enjoy.
Decide that the next time you make this, you will use a real oven with a wider pan.