A Mediterranean Feast

Joe and I were on the rooftop of the Met cerca 5 30pm when I threw out hummus as a dinner plan.  Then, the dinner menu turned into the pages of a children's book.  Because if you tempt Joe with hummus, he's going to want a pita to go along with it.  And if you suggest baking pita, he'll remember that he also fancies babaganoush on pita bread.  And with tabbouleh on the side.

And so, that is the beginning of a two hour journey to a Mediterranean Feast (Printable Recipes): Whole Wheat Pita, Lemon-Garlic Hummus, Babaganoush, and Tabbouleh.

Whole Wheat Pocketless but Puffy Pita Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
Yields 8-10 pitas

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 1/2 teaspoons honey
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat bran
3/4 cup garbanzo flour
1 1/4 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons vital wheat gluten

Combine the yeast, water, and honey.  Allow the yeast 10 minutes to bubble.  During this time, measure and mix the dry ingredients (except for the salt) in a large mixing bowl.  Then, add the salt and olive oil to the yeast.  Mix together slowly.  If it becomes to tough to stir, turn out onto a lightly floured countertop and knead gently.  I added about another 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour as I kneaded.  Place it into a oiled bowl and turn to coat evenly.  Let it be for about 50 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
Punch the dough down and divide it into 8-10 pieces.  Preheat the oven and baking stone to 475°F and roll the dough into disks no thicker than 1/4 inch.  Let them rest for 5-10 minutes and then bake for about 12 minutes until puffed and golden brown.  Remove from the oven and cover with a dish towel to help them deflate.


Lemon-Garlic Hummus
Prep time about 20 minutes if you are skinning the peas
Yields about 12 healthy servings

1 can chick peas
1/2 cup tahini
1/3 can of reserved chick pea water or tap water
Juice of one lemon
2 tablespoons garbanzo flour
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2-4 cloves of garlic
salt and parsley to taste

Remove the skins and rinse the chick peas*.
Blend it all together.  Serve garnished with parsley.
*The skins are the part that make you fart.  So, removing them makes your digestive system quieter and the hummus creamier.  If you like the farting or just want to save time, leave them on.


Babaganoush
Or babagannouj
Or roasted eggplant dip
Total prep time about an hour and a half
Yields about 10 servings

1 medium sized eggplant
1/4 cup tahini
juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons water
3 cloves roasted garlic
1 clove raw garlic
salt, pepper, and parsley to taste

Quarter the eggplant and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast the eggplant and whole garlic cloves for about 30 minutes.  Let it cool for at least 15 minutes.  Plop it all into the blender along with tahini, water, a little more oil, a raw clove of garlic and some parsley.  Blend until smooth.


Tabbouleh
Traditionally I've had tabbouleh with cous cous but in doing some light reading it is usually served with bulgar and lots of mint.  So, turns out what we made is a variation of a tabbouleh, but I can assure you that it was delicious nonetheless.  Without the grain, this dish is more of an Israeli salad and awesome.  Options include: diced red pepper, a clove of garlic, dash of cinnamon, coriander and mint.

1 cup (uncooked) quinoa
1 large cucumber
1 large (home grown) tomato
1/4 of your favorite type of onion
as much parsley as you can handle
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Start the quinoa in 2 cups of water.  Some leave the quinoa out until the water comes to a boil, some throw it in from the get go.  Either way, when your water is boiling and your quinoa is in there, turn down the heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and let it cook for about 20 minutes or until all the water is gone.  It cooks very similarly to rice.
While the quinoa is cooking, chop your vegetables and juice your lemon.  Put everything into a big bowl.
Make sure the quinoa is cool before you stir it into the vegetables.  Season and serve!

And so that is how we got from 5 30pm at the Met to 9pm eating a Mediterranean feast!

I have some research to do on Pita pockets... I'll get back to you on that one.  With shakshuka and falafel and stuffed grape leaves.  Mediterranean feast round two is definitely on the to do list.  But first we need a break so that we don't turn into garbanzos.
- Sarah

Homemade Matzah: Flatbread Not Cardboard!

On Passover, Jews do not eat bread (or anything that rises for that matter).  Long story short, we do this because indecisive Pharaoh released the Jews (only after all the convincing of the 10 plagues) and they high-tailed it out of there.  In their haste, they whipped up a crude dough but they did not have time to allow it to rise.  Jim Lahey's no-knead technique was a no-go.  And it's a good thing they didn't wait around -- Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his men after the Jews.  Then, the miraculous scene we all know with the Red Sea parting, allowing the Jews to run to safety and (spill some wine) swallowing up the Egyptians chasing after them.  For thousands and thousands of years thereafter, all Jews everywhere would suffer through eating cardboard-esque Matzah, or flatbread typically consumed on the Jewish holiday of Passover.

As a Jew with a bread blog and Pesach fast approaching, I was both relieved and excited to try Mark Bittman's recipe for Olive Oil Matzah.  We modified the recipe a bit by using white whole wheat flour and adjusting the liquid slightly to compensate.  

White Whole Wheat Matzah
(Printable Recipe)

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1/2 cup water (and a little extra)

1/3  cup extra virgin olive oil

salt

1. Preheat oven to 550°F
2. Stir together flours.
3. Add oil slowly as you mix with a hand blender or food processor.
4. Help dough come together with hands.
5. Divide into 12 equally sized pieces.
6. Roll out as thin as you can.
7. Arrange on baking sheet and either make little holes with a fork, or don't.  
8. Bake for two minutes on first side.
9. Flip, and bake for another minute until golden brown.
10. Let cool and top with haroset, horseradish, or some cream cheese and enjoy!

Leavening Agents:  A short list of culprits on the rise...
Yeast
Lactobacilli bacteria (Sourdough starter)
Baking soda (like in Irish Dairy Bread Buns)

A leavening agent is anything used in a dough or batter that causes it to rise thereby lightening/fluffing the finished product.  In bread, when the water mixes with the flour a matrix supported by gluten is formed in the dough.  This matrix traps the bubbles from yeast/lactobacilli/baking soda leaving behind the beautiful holes we all see in our loaves.  For the eight days of Passover anything that rises is a big a no-no.  My chametz (sourdough starter) is living in the freezer for the time being.

“If that’s moving up then I’m moving out.”

Disclaimer: The kosher-ness of this Matzah is questionable.  From what I understand, to get the little U in a circle you need to finish the cooking process in 18 minutes flat.  Our first batch was out of the oven by then but since we have a tiny oven we had to cook the 3-minute flatbreads in shifts.

Chag Sameach
- Sarah

Naan (Yogurt Flatbread) with Cauliflower Lentil Dal

This is getting serious.  We need a bigger oven.

I had to bake this bread in two shifts because we can only fit one cookie sheet at a time in our oven.

I'd like to introduce The Upper Yeast Side to Flatbread.  Naan, meet The Upper Yeast Side.  UYS, meet Naan.

Naan is a type of flatbread originating from Central Asia.  

How exotic.  It's glutenous, almost like a small, thin pizza crust.
If you've ever gone out to Indian food and wondered how to make that awesome warm, thin bread they served you... Keep reading.  Disclaimer: I hope that I in no way butchered classic naan bread (if so, please email me privately to discuss).  To my melting pot taste buds this bread turned out awesome -- next time I am going to try brushing the top with herbed olive oil and garlic.  

Naan (Yogurt Flatbread) with Cauliflower Lentil Dal
(Printable Recipe)
Prep time: About 1 1/2 hours
Yield: 10 naan breads and a big pot of dal!

For Naan (recipe from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison):
1/4 cup warm water
2 1/2 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast
3/4 cup hot water
3/4 cup plain yogurt (low fat or whole milk)
1/4 cup butter or ghee**
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat bran
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
**I used olive oil because I forgot two things: to replenish our butter and to look for ghee.

For Dal (recipe inspriation from Bitten Blog -- his "Spiced Red Lentil Dal" specifically):
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric or curry powder
4 cups cauliflower florets
Cayenne pepper (optional, but recommended), black pepper and salt to taste
5 tablespoons plain yogurt
Chopped fresh parsley or cilantro for garnish



Game plan:
About 12 hours before you want to embark on this Indian journey, rinse and soak 1 cup of your favorite dried lentils.
Start by proofing the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water.  Give it 10 minutes to bubble.  While you wait, combine all other ingredients EXCEPT the 3 cups of white flour (1.5 bread 1.5 all-purpose) for the naan.  By the time you've measured and combined, the yeast should be bubbly.
Add it to the hot water, yogurt, butter, salt, whole wheat flour, and wheat bran.  Slowly stir in as much white flour as the dough will absorb.  Then, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead in more flour until it feels wet-tacky but doesn't stick to your fingers (this may mean washing said fingers).
Now, your dough needs to rest in an oiled bowl for about an hour.  Turn the dough in the bowl so that the top gets oiled also.

No time to waste -- get going on the dal!  Heat the vegetable oil in a pot.  Add the onion first followed by the ginger and the garlic.  All should be chopped to your liking -- I recommend the onion diced and the ginger and garlic minced.  After about 3 minutes (or once it smells awesome), add the lentils and enough water to bury everything underwater about 1inch.  Add the spices of your choice -- I highly recommend turmeric and coriander (or curry powder which is really the combo of turmeric+coriander+some other spices) and as much cayenne as you can handle.  Simmer for about 20 minutes.
While it's cooking, chop up cauliflower.  Set cauliflower aside and check on your Naan.

The dough should be doubled in bulk by now.  Preheat the oven and a pizza stone (if you have one) or a cookie sheet to 450°F.  Then, dump dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Cut dough into 10-12 equal pieces.  Shape into balls and let it rest, covered with a cotten dishtowel, for 10 minutes.
Take this time to check on the dal.  Pop cauliflower in there.  Stir it up.  Cook until tender until there is little to no water.  Turn off heat and stir in 5 tablespoons of plain yogurt.  Serve garnished with parsley or cilantro.
Flatten the naan with your fingers -- poke it in the shape of a sand dollar with your fingers.  You want a bumpy surface so you achieve the perfect combination of crispy-chewy.  Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

I used flat leaf parsley as a garnish -- Lil thinks cilantro tastes like soap.  

naan naan naan naan hey hey hey goodbye

- Sar

P.S. Add to Wish List: A pizza stone (assuming it would fit in our oven).