Monday, May 31, 2010

Pita Bread

Pita Bread is a staple in the Middle East and is eaten with just about every meal.  Now that Middle Eastern food has made its way into millions of homes through out the world, Pita Bread bread seems to be the number one favorite middle eastern carb.  Pita Bread is so simple to make and does not require much ingredients nor time.
I am going to give you my best Pita Bread recipe ever.

Ingredients:
1 package of yeast, quick rising yeast is ok too.
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
1/3 cup olive oil

Preparation:

In a small bowl add the yeast package, sugar and 1/2 cup warm water.  Mix well together and cover with a dish and let sit for 10 minutes in a warm dry place just until the mixture has foamed and looks frothy.

Next in a large bowl, combine the flour and salt.  Mix the dry ingredients and make a well in the center of the bowl. Now you are ready to slowly pour in the foamed yeast mixture into the flour mixture.  Next you will add in slowly a cup of warm water.  You should use a wooden spoon until the mixture is elastic.  Knead the dough for about 15 minutes.

Next you should have your large glass bowl nicely coated with the olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and be sure the dough is fully covered with the olive oil. This will allow the dough to rise without sticking to the sides. 
Place plastic wrap on top of the bowl and then cover with a clean towel.  Let the dough rise for about 3 hours or until the dough has doubled its size.

Now you should preheat your oven to 500 degrees.

Next you will remove the dough from the bowl and roll out into a large ball. Next pinch off about 10 golf sized balls of dough and return back to the oiled bowl.  Cover once again and let rise for 10 minutes. 

 If you have a baking stone, by all means use it.  If not don't worry any baking pan or cookie sheet is fine. 

Roll one dough ball at a time and be sure to have flour on the board and on the rolling pin. Don't roll out the dough too much otherwise the bread will not rise during baking.  Bake each pita for about 4 minutes and just until you see the dough puff.  Then turn over to bake for another 2 minutes. Remove pita bread from oven and put in an air tight container.  Try not to open the oven too often as the steam will escape from the over when you open it and not allow the bread to puff.