Pita Patter

Having tried the oil included recipe for Pita bread yesterday I was hungry (pardon the pun) to try an oil free version, something I was more familiar with from my childhood days. Along with the rich smokey smell of rotisserie chickens on the side of the road and the sticky sweetness of mishmish leather, I remember hummus and arabic bread - khubz (pita)الخبز العربي.

So I went trawling the internet for recipes for pita - it's a bit like baklava and the arguments for it being arabic or turkish.......pita, is it middle eastern or mediterranean.....? (Is that where the olive oil difference is most visible?). To be honest, I don't think it really matters, a number of countries have their take on the flatbreads and we are all the more culinarily richer for it :)

So here I find myself, adapting the middle eastern recipe from Saad Fayed and producing some tasty reminders of my childhood in the form of Pita/Arabic Bread.

Oh.....this is it..............fresh bread in a basket...............just fantastic. I might make myself a little hummus to go with it tonight but right now, straight out of the oven, unadulterated and as they are is blissful :)

My Pita Recipe
1 1/2 Cups Plain flour or a mixture of plain and wholemeal
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp honey
1 tsp dried active yeast (such as Edmonds)
3/4 Cup warm water

Sieve the flour and salt into a mixing bowl
In another bowl pour in the warm water, sprinkle over the yeast and stir in the honey - put to one side and leave for approx. 10-15minutes until nice and frothy.
Make a well in the flour and pour in the yeast mixture.
Stir in to mix and then combine with your hands.
Move to a lightly floured surface and knead for approx. 7 minutes or until the dough feels more smooth and silky, not sticky and begins to bounce back or resist you poking it's surface.
Form a ball with the dough.
Put into a bowl sprayed with oil, make sure all of the dough is lightly covered in oil too.
Cover and leave to one side for about 2 hours or until it has doubled in size.
Press out the ball on a lightly floured surface(knock back).
Divide into golf ball size spheres and lay to one side, cover again and leave to rest for about 20 minutes.
When rested, take each piece and on a lightly floured surfaceroll out with a pin to approx 1/4 inch depth pieces.
I don't worry too much about shape as these are snack size for small hands and the variability in shapes makes for a more interesting presentation.
If the dough is not stretchy when rolling out, leave them to rest further.

In a preheated oven (highest temperature it will go say 200-250 degrees Celsius) - using a baking stone if you have one or a good baking sheet - place pieces ,well spaced out (you may have to do in batches) and cook in the oven for about 4 minutes before flipping over and doing for another approx. 2 minutes.

This bread can be frozen and stored but in my opinion should be fresh each time you eat it (so make every day you want some).......

Wet and windy.....

....means we need something comforting, warming, just a little bit naughty.....Pancakes!

So it was a morning for my American Style Breakfast Pancakes. The kind hubby and I remember from some of our holidays in the USA, and the kind that his mum used to bake with blueberries (fresh or warmed and thickened up with arrowroot) and whipped cream. However, my hubby is still partial to breakfast pancakes with crispy bacon and maple syrup....yum......

My wee ones love these two. For a change from blueberries we had them with fresh kiwifruit and a dash of maple syrup this morning. Tiny wee one shared some of hers with the dogs - they are ever so grateful and her very best friends at meal times.

There is just something about maple syrup dripping over the edge of the pancakes and the butter melting and sliding down the side onto your plate that gets those taste buds working overtime...........

And then there is the layer upon layer of spongey, creamy softness of the pancake that slides down with the sweet, oaky syrup.....the kiwifruit was a nod at being healthy!

Wet and windy also meant cuddling up cosy and tonight we had homemade pita bread thanks to Bubbalino's blog reference to BrownEyedBaker, and the scrumptious Pumpkin and Quinoa recipe from the guys at Organic Naturally:

Pumpkin and Quinoa Soup

1 onion roughly chopped
Ceres Organic Olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1kg pumpkin – roughly chopped into cubes
1 cup white quinoa (rinsed well in cold water)
2 litres of liquid/stock (Use whatever stock you have available - fresh chicken stock or water and bouillon powder or cubes)
Salt and pepper

Cook the chopped onion in a dash of olive oil till translucent.
Add the washed quinoa, chopped pumpkin, cumin.
Stir and cover with the liquid.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
Check pumpkin and quinoa is cooked, season to taste.
Mash with potato masher and enjoy, for a less chunky texture puree with a stick mixer.

I used our homegrown Butternut Pumpkins and black instead of white quinoa, and a dash more cumin - the wee cherubs LOVED it. Tiny cherub had her pita broken up into the soup and we let it soak up a little to make it easier for her to eat solo. I made the pita smaller again for the wee ones' hands and we had a very warming dinner time.

 

 

 

1Cup Plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp caster sugar
pinch of salt
2 eggs - separated into yolks and whites
1/4 Cup melted, unsalted butter
1Cup milk

Put all dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Sift or stir with a balloon whisk. Stir in the egg yolks, add the melted butter, the milk and mix to a batter.
Beat the egg whites in a clean bowl to form stiff peaks. Now fold these into the batter gently.
Place spoonfuls of batter onto an oiled griddle or frying pan at a medium heat. Cook on first side, when bubbles appear on the surface turn it over and cook for a few minutes more. Place on kitchen towel whilst making the batch so that excess cooking oil can be absorbed away.

Enough for 4 without over doing it!