Me? I decided Super Bowl Sunday was the perfect time to learn to make pita.
Although Mexican food remains my favorite cross-border cuisine, Middle Eastern everything is climbing the ranks. I credit both Yotam Ottolenghi's beautiful cookbooks and some very dear friends (hey Stefani!) for this. This isn't surprising - most of the best things in my life seemed to have arrived here by a well-worn path entailing 1) a realization that the cool food/book/music/essential oil/pomegranate seed extraction technique exists, usually brought about by a well-known media figure, and more importantly 2) amazing people in my life confirming that, yes, that cool thing is as good as it sounds; here, try some...
In the case of Middle Eastern food (which I realize is such a broad swath of culinary diversity, I don't even pretend to think that pita encompasses even a pinkie full of its breadth and depth), I've never had the pleasure of visiting that area of the world and even restaurants with this kind of food have been hard to come by in my travels, with the exception of some AMAZING gyro and falafel shops during a stint in Switzerland. However, plain yogurt, tahini, lemon and olive oil are mainstays in my kitchen, and with those basic ingredients, you can cover some ground. After all, yogurt sauce and tahini sauce are basically the same concoction: just use either yogurt or tahini as a base, add in lemon juice, olive oil, crushed garlic, and a pinch of salt and ta-da! Sauciness. Add some cucumber to the yogurt sauce and you've got tzatziki. Add some falafel and that, my friend, makes for some tasty game day eats.
But I had never attempted my own pita, procuring it only occasionally at local supermarkets - always pre-packaged, sometimes frozen, usually too dry. So I was surprised that making pita isn't only easy; it's kinda fun. Even my four-year-old got in on the action, helping roll out the soft floury balls of dough into floppy little rounds. Bake for five minutes and then tear into them, still warm from the oven, dipped in a cool lemony yogurt dip with maybe a swirl of dill mixed in. That's a bit of heaven that even my preschooler can dig.
Pita Bread
Adapted from the adorable Breakfast for Dinner cookbook by Lindsay Landis. Makes 10 to 12 pitas.
1 package (2 and 1/4 tsp) instant yeast
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 and 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
Place 1 and 1/2 cups lukewarm water in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle yeast over water along with a pinch of sugar, letting yeast dissolve. Let sit for 5 minutes or until foamy. If your yeast mixture doesn't foam, try it over again - you want to make sure your yeast is active. Then add flour, salt, and sugar and stir until dough comes together. Turn out dough and knead for 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking.
Place dough in large bowl coated with thin layer of olive oil; turn dough to coat it in oil. Loosely cover and let rise in a warm spot for 1 to 2 hours or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Place a baking stone or large baking sheet on a rack in the bottom third of your oven.
Divide dough into 10 to 12 equal pieces; flatten each piece slightly with your hands and arrange in a single layer on a floured baking sheet. Cover with clean dishcloth and let sit for 10 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece of dought into 5" or 6" circles approx. 1/4" thick. Place 2 rounds at a time onto the preheated baking stone; bake for about 4 minutes or until the bread balloons (if it doesn't balloon, don't worry, it doesn't always do that but it'll still taste good). Using a spatula or tongs, flip and bake for 2 more minutes or until lightly golden.
Transfer to a cooling rack, then place in a plastic storage bag or wrap with a clean kitchen towel to keep the bread soft. Store in a zip-top bag in the fridge for a week or freezer for up to a month.
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