Bread Machine Pita Bread

The easiest way to knead dough is to have someone else do it for you. For this recipe I used a bread machine that typically spews out 1-lb loaves of squarely-shaped bread. Like most people reading/doing a recipe for the first time, things don't always come out in uniform shapes nor is the dough cut into equal-sized pieces. The flour used for this attempt is a mix between all-purpose unbleached flour and whole wheat all-purpose flour because I only have one container large enough to store 5+ lbs of flour and I bought whole wheat by accident the last time I was at the store. Anyhow...

A 500 degree F oven is very hot and was the perfect complement to the start of the rainy season in the NW. I was concerned that the dough wouldn't rise properly after it'd been cut and rolled out to form pita-like shapes (roundish) from the apparent humidity and cooler weather. The most awesome thing to see was the pitas being baked. They swelled up like little balloons in the oven. Taking them out was a challenge. Hot oven = hot pita bread. I'd advise against using tongs because they ripped through a few of the pitas. Only half way through the batch I realized that a metal spatula worked much better.

This is an average pita recipe which you can find just about anywhere on the Net. The bread machine not only kneads the dough, but provides a nice, warm enclosed space for the dough to rise properly. I also misread the original recipe and cut the dough into 12 pieces instead of 8. No wonder why I couldn't roll them out into 6" diameter circles.

Ingredients

1 1/8 c. warm water (110 degrees F)
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1. Put all the ingredients into bread machine and select the Dough setting.

2. Once risen (in the machine), turn dough out onto a floured surface. Gently roll and stretch it into a 12" rope. Divide dough into equal pieces. Set aside to rise for 30 minutes or until puffy.

I used lightly floured parchment sheets for this step so that the pitas wouldn't stick together.

3. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Place a few pitas directly onto the oven rack and bake pitas for up to 5 minutes. If they turn golden brown, you've cooked them for too long.

4. Remove puffed up pitas from the oven and place in a large paper bag lined with a kitchen towel. Look, I don't know why this step works better than say, laying them out on a cooling rack, but it does.

5. Store pitas in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to a week; or store in freezer for 1-2 months.

These pair well with the baba ganoush recipe.

Pitas Baking in the Oven

Finished Pitas Cooling in a Paper Bag

Baba Ganoush (eggplant dip)

This recipe is surprisingly easy and has a total prep/cook time of an hour. You'll need a large European eggplant, not the long, thin Japanese eggplant. There are two parts to this recipe, the eggplant and the tahini (sesame paste).

Tahini Ingredients

2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 c. warm water, scant

Eggplant Dip Ingredients

1 large eggplant
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. tahini
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp sesame seeds

1 1/2 tsp olive oil (optional)
dash of paprika (optional)

Directions

1. In a food prep (large enough to accommodate 3 cups), combine 2 tbsp sesame seeds, sesame oil, and sea salt. Grind by adding a little water at a time until a smooth paste forms.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

3. Take eggplant and slice in half. Putting the cut side down onto a lightly oiled baking dish, say a 9" x 13" glass or ceramic baking dish. It is not necessary to turn the eggplant while it bakes, nor be concerned if the skin starts to char.

4. Bake the eggplant for 40 minutes, until soft. Remove from oven and scoop out the eggplant flesh into the food prep where the tahini is already. Add minced garlic and lemon juice. Blend until smooth. View pic.

5. Remove eggplant dip to a container and let chill in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.

6. When serving, add olive oil on top of the spread and sprinkle with paprika.

Makes almost 2 cups.

Note: Trader Joe's now carries 2.4 oz bottles of raw white sesame seeds for $1.99. It's in their spice section.

Fresh Blueberry Scones

It'll be blueberry season through September and I'll probably go to Majestic Farms either this weekend or on Labor Day weekend for more blueberries. I'd say that fresh blueberries have a shelf life of about 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator after they've been washed, dried, and put into an airtight container. I'd like to make blueberry crepes before the season is over and need more fresh blueberries for that. Sure, I have already picked 11.5 pounds of blueberries, most of which are in the freezer or have been eaten or made into something. There's just no beating the fresh taste of blueberries.

Ingredients

2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tbsp granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp sea salt
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 c. fresh blueberries
1 tsp grated lemon zest (optional)
1/3 c. heavy cream
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a bowl, sift flour, 3 tbsp sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Cut in butter.

3. Using a fork, whisk egg and cream together in a cup. Pour into the center of the dry ingredients. Stir lightly until the dough comes together.

4. Carefully fold in blueberries. I suggest that the bowl you are mixing the flour in be large enough to accommodate all the ingredients because kneading the dough on a floured board just doesn't seem feasible, at least, not to me. And this way it is far less messy. Though, that's not to say you won't make a mess.

5. Turn out dough onto a floured board and pat into a square-like shape, roughly 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut into scone-like shapes (usually triangles, but any shape will do). Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

6. Sprinkle tops of scones with granulated sugar.

7. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on wire racks before eating.

Fresh Blueberry Muffins

I made these for a friend's vegan potluck last weekend. Mostly because I picked the blueberries from a local farm, the blueberries aren't sprayed, and darn it, baked blueberry goods are just tasty. Sure, they aren't exactly vegan, having both eggs and butter in it; but I wasn't about to sub out the eggs for ground flax seeds for the "goo" part and what's wrong with butter?? Those vegans just don't know how to live it up.

This is an ordinary muffin recipe and has been modded to include fresh blueberries.

Ingredients

crumb topping:

1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tbsp light brown sugar
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

muffin batter:

1 3/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 c. olive oil
3/4 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. fresh blueberries, about 5-6 blueberries per muffin

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

For the crumb topping:

In a separate bowl, combine the ingredients together until coarse crumbs form. Set aside.

For the batter:

1. In a bowl sift together dry ingredients. Beat together eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix well with dry ingredients. Batter will be thicker and heavier than pancake batter.

2. Grease with butter or olive oil, or use paper muffin cups, a 12-cup muffin pan. Excess batter can be spooned into 4 oz buttered ramekins.

3. Fill each cup with 1 heaping tbsp batter, add 5-6 fresh blueberries, spoon a little batter on top of the blueberries, then top with some crumb topping. It's a much faster process if you fill all the cups first with batter.

4. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before serving.

Slow roasted roma tomatoes

I'm liking this slow roasting technique a lot. The flavor that comes out from the vegetables is very much like what you'd get at a restaurant so I can see why these foods can command such a menu price.

A 13" x 9" roasting pan doesn't seem like it'd be enough for the tomatoes that are about to be roasted. Most of the romas I halved and put in cut-side-up in the pan. A few of the romas were sliced lengthwise then eighthed, and the rest were cut into slices.

To this, I poured a bit of olive oil on top of the tomatoes then added fresh thyme leaves and garlic cloves.

Preheat oven to 225 degrees F. Bake for 3 hours.

These are intended for sandwiches, for a salad, or eaten as is.

(Peruvian) Quinoa Salad

I put the Peruvian in parathesis in the title because quinoa originally comes from Peru. At least the country is the top exporter in the world, followed by Bolivia and Ecuador. It's like saying American hotdogs or Chinese dim sum. It is neither a grain nor a grass, but rather more like amaranth seeds. And, per cup serving it is also very high in protein (13% per dry weight) and it makes a great complement to other foods. This recipe adaptation is not my own and is one that I got from a potluck this year. This is a perfect summer time dish and is very easy to make.

1 cup dry quinoa = 2 cups cooked quinoa

Ingredients:

1-2 cups dry quinoa
2-4 cups water

For the salad:

1 cucumber, diced
2-3 small tomatoes, diced
1 jalapeño, cut into small pieces (or use 1/2 jalapeno if only making 2 cooked cups of quinoa)
1/4 cup fresh lemon (or lime) juice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
To cook the quinoa, add quinoa to a pot of boiling water (or add the quinoa to a pot of water then bring to a boil, it really doesn't matter). Cook on medium heat until all the water has been absorbed. Remove from heat and let cool before mixing in salad ingredients.

Toss well with cucumber, tomatoes, jalapeño, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Serve.

Roasted Bell Peppers

Roasting bell peppers seems simple enough, so why blog about it? Because tastes are individual and this ratio and process works for my oven. ;) For this recipe I used Himalayan pink salt. Maybe one day I'll try it with Sicillian sea salt which also is in the pantry. Also, when I roasted the peppers the first time, I used parchment paper with a baking sheet; but alas, that did not work so well.

If you're going to use a baking sheet, you need to butter or lightly grease it so that the carmelized peppers do not burn or stick to the sheet.

Materials

An oven-proof glass or ceramic baking pan large enough to accommodate the peppers

Ingredients

Fresh bell peppers, whole or sliced, any variety
Olive oil
Salt, any variety

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Add whole or sliced peppers to baking pan. Drizzle olive oil on top of peppers. Sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, turning the peppers at least once.

Remove from oven and add to other recipes or enjoy as is.