Pita Bread

Okay. Here goes. I have gotten several requests for some of the middle eastern things we make--like hummus, falafel, and chicken schwarmas. I'm not saying that any of them are really all that good. But I've experimented a bit with flavors and spices and we've come up with a few things are are fairly tasty and at least have authentic flavors in them, even if they don't look like the real thing (Brian wants a tandoor oven before we get an electric gyro/schwarma meat roaster. Ha. Like either will happen!). So. I will start you with the staple. Pita bread! I've actually tried several recipes for this and like this one best.

Pita Bread

3 cups flour + additional for kneading
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs instant yeast
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water (doesn't have to be very warm)
2 Tbs olive oil

Mix 3 cups flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a bowl. Add 1 1/4 cups water and oil, stir well. All of the ingredients should form a ball. If some of the flour is not sticking, add water a bit at a time. Once you have a ball, place on a floured work surface and knead for 8-10 minutes, working in flour as necessary to have a smooth dough (rarely do I knead bread as long as it says). Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. When dough has doubled in size (1-1 1/2 hours), punch down and divide in to 8 equal sized balls.

Allow to rest 20 minutes. Preheat your oven to 450-500F--in other words, hot! Put a baking stone or an upside down cookie sheet in your oven while it preheats. You'll bake your pitas on this preheated surface rather than a cold pan.

 

After 20 minutes. Roll out your pitas on a floured surface. They should be about 6-8 inches in diameter and 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.  Place as many pitas as you can in the oven on your preheated surface. They should be puffy and baked through in 3-5 minutes. If your oven is hot enough you should see them puffing within a minute or two. If your oven is too hot, they will "blister" (brown spots) on the side touching the pan. This doesn't happen as much with a stone. Remove from the oven and wrap in a towel to steam a bit (I just keep stacking and covering them after I take some out). 

Notes: A stone works far better than an upside down pan. I don't actually have a pizza stone, but I use a tile left from the renovation of our kitchen floors! You can probably find one in a building supply market--the best will be an unglazed piece of tile. The upside down pan is sufficient and that's what I used for the first 3 years I made pita! Don't be discouraged if your pitas don't puff--none of us have nice brick ovens and few of us (living overseas) probably have fun sized ovens that regulate temperature well! I have about a 50% complete puff rate on mine! If they don't puff all the way, just make sandwiches in a whole pita and roll like a tortilla! Some I've talked to say their puff better when they make them smaller and thicker. I think the hottest of the oven makes the most difference (and mine puff better on tile than on metal pans). Just play with it! They'll be good whether they puff or not!