River Cottage Pita Bread

Many things have converged lately to make me want to try my hand at pita bread.

At the moment, I'm reading "A Year in the Village of Eternity", a memoir by a British woman who lived for a year in a remote mountainous village in Italy. She learns the traditional, seasonal way of eating, which involves a lot of homegrown vegetables and olive oil. This diet, coupled with a lot of physical activity, leads to an extremely healthy population, and the village has a high percentage of centenarians and actively aging elders.

Also, I just finished the Hunger Games trilogy, and all that talk about "Peeta" made me crave some flatbread. And maybe some homemade hummus to go with it.

I am currently making my way through the wonderfully British "River Cottage" series, including the River Cottage Cookbook, Jam Book, and Bread Book. The books follow a certain English chap (Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall) who buys a farm in the countryside and learns how to raise or make his own... well, everything! Now the farm is also a cooking school and hub of fair food activism.

I found this recipe in "The River Cottage Bread Book" (and made a few changes). Technically, it's called Turkish flatbread, but it sure looked like pita bread to me, so there you go. Whatever you call it, it was the best flat bread I have ever had, and this will not be the last time I make it.

Flat Bread
(Makes about 12)

4 c. bread flour
4 c. whole wheat flour
1 T. active dry yeast
4 tsp. sea salt
1 1/3 c. warm water
1 1/3 c. plain low-fat yogurt, warmed
2 T. good olive oil

To use a food mixer: fit the dough hook and add the flours, yeast, salt, water and yogurt to the mixer bowl. Mix on low speed until combined, then add the oil and leave to knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and silky. Shape the dough into a round, then place in a clean oiled bowl. Leave to rise, covered with a plastic bag, in a warm place until doubled in size.

Deflate the dough, then if you have time, leave to rise a second, third, even a fourth time (this improves the dough but is by no means essential). Tear off pieces the size of small lemons. One at a time, shape into a round, then using plenty of flour, roll out to a 1/8" thickness and leave to rest for 5 minutes or so; this improves the finished bread dramatically.

Meanwhile, heat a large cast-iron skillet over the highest heat and set the oven to broil. When the pan is super-hot, lay the first bread in it. After a minute or possibly less the bread should be puffy and starting to char on the bottom Slide the pan under the broiler, and watch your creation balloon magnificently. Remove the bread when it starts to char on the top, drizzle with olive oil, and feed your awestruck friends.

P.S. This bread was awesome with my homemade hummus. I'm going to stuff the rest with homemade falafel!

Hello, Homemade Hummus!

The reign of the mighty Ranch dressing is a thing of the past for many health-conscious eaters, who are seeking out less fattening and more nourishing alternative ways to dress up veggies. I am a particularly huge fan of hummus, particularly this roasted red pepper version by Sabra.

Thus, my eyes bulged when I spied a simple recipe for said favorite condiment in the latest issue of Cooking Light. I already had tahini on hand from that one time we made falafel from scratch, and the rest I had on hand in my pantry. I found it difficult to mimic the perfectly smooth texture of commercially prepared hummus with a home food processor, but the product tasted great so I didn't mind terribly.

Break out the bell peppers, tomatoes, carrots, and cucumbers, or spread hummus on a sandwich, and you'll find the Mediterranean diet to be quite enjoyable.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Courtesy of Cooking Light

1/3 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup chopped bottled roasted red bell peppers, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Preparation:

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor; process until smooth.

Tabbouleh - Or, a Heat-Free Dinner in July

I recently signed up for weekly e-mails from The Splendid Table (brought to America by Public Radio). So once a week, I now receive an interesting, usually ethnic-inspired recipe developed by one Lynne Rossetto Kasper. Tonight, I made a fabulous Tabbouleh (cracked wheat salad). It was flavorful, meatless, a riot of colors, and required no use of either oven or stove. Now that the weather has soared to 100 degrees nearly daily in Sacramento, the latter virtue alone was enticing enough for me to have a go at it, and I loved the results. Leftovers made a great lunch the next day - you've got your grain, veggie, fruit, and protein all in one dish.

Tabbouleh

1-1/2 cups bulgur wheat

1 medium-large tomato, diced

1 medium cucumber or 2 pickling cucumbers, peeled and diced

1/2 cup diced red onion

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

A few pinches each of cinnamon, allspice, and cayenne

1 large clove garlic, minced

One 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained (or 1 cup cooked)

1/3 cup lightly toasted pine nuts

1/3 cup currants, soaked in water for 10 minutes and drained

1/3 cup chopped fresh spearmint

1/3 cup minced fresh parsley

Put the bulgur in a large bowl and add 1-1/2 cups boiling water. Stir, cover, and let stand for 30 minutes to 1 hour. If necessary, drain excess water from the bulgur.

In a small bowl, combine the oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and garlic and whisk together.

Add the tomato, cucumber, onion, garbanzos, pine nuts, and currants to the bulgur. Sprinkle with the mint and parsley. Drizzle the dressing over the tabbouleh and toss well. Let the salad stand for about 30 minutes before serving and taste again for seasoning; you may need a little more oil, lemon juice, salt, or pepper.

The salad can be prepared in advance and kept at cool room temperature, or if refrigerated, allowed to come to room temperature before serving.

How to Make the Best Falafel

One of the favorite new food discoveries I made on our recent LA trip was falafel. Last week, we made it at home, and it wasn’t as complicated as I had anticipated. At first, it seemed time consuming, but when you break it down, it’s not too bad.

For example, You can make the tahini sauce ahead of time. (In case you didn’t know: Tahini is made of ground sesame seeds, is smooth and liquid, and has a slightly nutty flavor.) The night before you made this dish, just soak the beans, then for dinner that night you grind them up with the spices, make little balls, and fry them. Serve on pita bread with tomato, sprouts, and drizzle your tahini sauce over it, and bam- you’ve found Mediterranean bliss. Once again, this recipe is based on the version I tried in the Moishe’s stall at the LA Farmer’s Market.

Moishe’s Falafel

For the tahini sauce:

1/2 cup tahini

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup water

Juice of 1 lemon

2 garlic cloves, minced

Pinch of kosher salt

For the falafel:

1 cup dried chickpeas, picked through and rinsed

1/2 cup peeled and split dried fava beans, picked through and rinsed

1 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 small green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Canola or other vegetable oil for frying

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

6 whole wheat pita breads, warmed

Alfalfa sprouts and sliced tomatoes for serving

Make the tahini sauce:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender. Process on high speed to make a smooth and creamy sauce. If it gets too thick as it sits, mix in a little bit more water or lemon juice to thin it before serving.

Make the falafel:

1. Put the dried chickpeas and fava beans in separate bowls and add cool water to cover by 2 inches. Soak the beans in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours or up to 1 day; they will swell to double their original size. Drain and rinse separately.
2. Put the soaked chickpeas in a food processor and process until well ground (about the consistency of cornmeal). Scrape the chickpeas into a large bowl. Process the fava beans in the same way and add them to the bowl with the chickpeas.
3. Add the onion, bell pepper, parsley, garlic powder, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Mix thoroughly by hand until the ingredients are well combined. Refrigerate while heating the oil; this should take about 15 minutes.
4. Pour oil into a cast-iron skillet, or deep, heavy-bottomed pot to a depth of about 3 inches and heat to medium high heat.
5. Add the baking powder to the falafel mixture and toss with your hands to blend. Roll the falafel mixture into 16 balls (about the size of Ping-Pong balls), then press and pat each ball with your fingers to flatten them slightly. Carefully slip a few falafel at a time into the hot oil, using a slotted spoon to make sure they don’t stick to the bottom. Fry, turning as needed, until the falafel are crisp and golden on all sides, about 2 minutes per batch. As they are finished, transfer the falafel to a platter lined with paper towels to drain.
6. To serve, cut your pita bread in half and open one half, filling it with a couple of falafel, sprouts, tomato slices, and drizzling all liberally with tahini sauce.