The truth? I've lost seem and motivation for blogging. I'm not on the computer much. Life is full. We eat super simply these days. I'm in a horrible cooking rut without much creativity. Maybe its time for Market to Meal to move to just a great online cookbook with no new content. I don't know. I toy with putting it all into print, but the reality is I don't have much extra energy for it. I'm trying to answer questions like these. Maybe Market to Meal should evolve into something more than just food. While good food is still a big deal to us, so is simplicity, family, school, community, exercise and racing. Thriving in this expat life involves a lot more than just making our favorite foods. Big thoughts and questions I don't have answers to. But here I am, and I still have a recipe or two I've started using that is totally worth sharing. Enter this flatbread recipe. Its really simple to make. It puts my homemade pitas to shame--its soft and chewy, just right really. Wish I could share a gyro or shawarma with each of you and just talk about it all.
Pan-Grilled Flatbread
1 1/2 Tbs instant yeast
4 tsp sugar
2 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs salt
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (can omit and use extra bread flour)
~ 5 cups bread flour*
Begin by placing yeast, sugar, and warm water in a bowl. Allow to sit just until you see the yeast is activated (this is actually the method for active dry yeast, instant yeast can just be mixed directly in if you are confident with using yeast--I find, however, that even with using instant yeast this is a simple way to know your hot water is the right temperature and that your yeast is activated.)
Mix yogurt, oil, salt, wheat flour, and 3 cups bread flour into the yeast mixture. Stir until well blended. Add flour a cup at a time and knead until you have a smooth, slightly tacky dough--about 8-10 minutes.
Grease a bowl with about a teaspoon of oil and place the dough into the bowl. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and allow to rise until double in a warm place.
Once dough has doubled in size, punch it down and put out onto clean surface. You can flour it slightly if dough is sticking. Divide dough into 16 equal portions and cover with a towel.
Heat a heavy skillet over high heat. Once hot, begin rolling one dough piece at a time into about an 8-inch diameter circle and place it on the hot skillet. Once it is nice and bubbly, flip it over--just like you are cooking tortillas. You should have some nice dark spots and the dough will be cooked through. If cooking too fast, turn heat down slightly. If you aren't getting the brown spots you can turn the heat up. Continue with remaining dough pieces.
Serve with middle eastern dishes like gyros, shish taouk, falafel, or shawarmas. Eat with hummus. Fill it with a chicken salad. Or use like naan with Indian curries. This makes a flat bread that you wrap, not a puffed pita pocket to stuff. It is soft and chewy and amazing! Freeze any extras for later use! Recipe adapted from here.
*Bread flour in China is sold as High Gluten Flour. If this type of flour is unavailable, you can also use vital wheat gluten to create your own--add about 2 tsp per cup of all purpose flour. The bread flour is what "makes" this bread what it is.
Pan-Grilled Flatbread
1 1/2 Tbs instant yeast
4 tsp sugar
2 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs salt
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (can omit and use extra bread flour)
~ 5 cups bread flour*
Begin by placing yeast, sugar, and warm water in a bowl. Allow to sit just until you see the yeast is activated (this is actually the method for active dry yeast, instant yeast can just be mixed directly in if you are confident with using yeast--I find, however, that even with using instant yeast this is a simple way to know your hot water is the right temperature and that your yeast is activated.)
Mix yogurt, oil, salt, wheat flour, and 3 cups bread flour into the yeast mixture. Stir until well blended. Add flour a cup at a time and knead until you have a smooth, slightly tacky dough--about 8-10 minutes.
Grease a bowl with about a teaspoon of oil and place the dough into the bowl. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and allow to rise until double in a warm place.
Once dough has doubled in size, punch it down and put out onto clean surface. You can flour it slightly if dough is sticking. Divide dough into 16 equal portions and cover with a towel.
Heat a heavy skillet over high heat. Once hot, begin rolling one dough piece at a time into about an 8-inch diameter circle and place it on the hot skillet. Once it is nice and bubbly, flip it over--just like you are cooking tortillas. You should have some nice dark spots and the dough will be cooked through. If cooking too fast, turn heat down slightly. If you aren't getting the brown spots you can turn the heat up. Continue with remaining dough pieces.
Serve with middle eastern dishes like gyros, shish taouk, falafel, or shawarmas. Eat with hummus. Fill it with a chicken salad. Or use like naan with Indian curries. This makes a flat bread that you wrap, not a puffed pita pocket to stuff. It is soft and chewy and amazing! Freeze any extras for later use! Recipe adapted from here.
*Bread flour in China is sold as High Gluten Flour. If this type of flour is unavailable, you can also use vital wheat gluten to create your own--add about 2 tsp per cup of all purpose flour. The bread flour is what "makes" this bread what it is.
Love your blog and your recipes!! Can't wait to try this one out.
ReplyDeleteThis cookbook has been and continues to be a huge help to me in South Asia. I use it 3-4 times a week. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI learned how to make these a couple years ago. I like them better than making pita bread because they don't have to be as pretty and round :). If you use a pastry bush (or shao kao brush) to smear a little butter on the sides then they will get the buttery almost blackened spots like you see in some restaurants. However, butter is a precious commodity and it's nice to know you can skip it.
ReplyDelete