Pita bread

One of the things the Witch love about making bread is how versatile it is. For the most part, bread recipes tend to be the same: flour, yeast, salt, water. Its in the skilled hands of the cook that these humble ingredients change from flour and yeast into bread; chewy, crunchy delicious bread. And many varieties of bread, too. The same basic recipe can make white bread, french bread or pita bread, same basic ingredients, its in how you handle them that it morphs.

Let's take pita bread for example. It should be soft, puffy, chewy and hollow inside. It is very similar to a flat bread, but to be considered a real pita it needs that puffy hollow inside. How in the world do you get it to puff, when the ingredients are pretty much the same as pizza dough or flat bread dough??

Simple. The answer is moisture. Keeping the dough nice & moist is key to the puff. As the bread cooks, the water evaporates and causes steam, which puffs the bread. Getting your dough damp enough to puff, yet not so wet that its gluey is the key. I learned a tip from Deb from the Smitten Kitchen, she spritzed her pita rounds with water & let them rest for 10 minutes. This additional moisture was just enough to really get a good puff and yielded perfect pitas.

The pitas bake in a very hot oven and take only 3 minutes each. I'm so glad I decided to try my own pitas, the ones from the store are usually stale, filled with unpronounceable ingredients and cost more than I'm willing to spend on stale bread. Homemade pita is perfect for beginning bread makers, too; the dough is made in a stand mixer, no need to kneed and it rises in the fridge overnight, allowing the flavors to develop slowly giving a depth of flavor usually found in artisan breads. Even if you're new to bread making please give these a try. You'll be happy you did!

Pita Bread
source: Smitten Kitchen
makes 12-16 pita breads
3 1/4 c AP flour
2 t instant yeast
2 t kosher salt
2 T olive oil
1 1/4 c water

Mix all the ingredients in the work bowl of a stand mixer. Attach the dough hook and kneed for 10 minutes on medium speed. Dough will be soft, slightly sticky and not sticking to the bottom of the bowl. Add a touch more flour if too wet or water if too dry.

Put kneaded dough ball into a lightly oiled large bowl and cover with plastic wrap that's been sprayed with nonstick spray. Put covered bowl in the fridge and allow to rise slowly overnight (or up to 3 days). If dough rises too rapidly punch it back down & recover. The long slow rise develops the flavor of the dough and the cold of the fridge slows down the yeast production giving you a nice artisan flavor and excellent crumb texture.

When ready to bake pitas place a pizza stone in the lowest rack of your oven (If you don't have a pizza stone a cast iron pan will work too) and preheat oven to 475F. Allow oven to heat for 1 hour.

While oven is heating remove the dough from the fridge. Divide dough into 12-16 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball then lightly press it out to a thickish disk, about 4-5 inches diameter. Place discs on a lightly oiled sheet pan, cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and rest for 20 minutes.



Once discs have rested lightly flour counter tops and a rolling pin. Roll each disc into a thin flat, about 1/8-1/4 inch thick. Spritz each round with water and allow to rest for another 10-15 minutes, covered with plastic or a damp towel.



Now its time to cook the pitas. Place 3 rounds on the hot pizza stone and bake for 3 minutes. The pitas will puff as they cook. There is no need to flip these breads. The tops will not have any browning, this is ok. The bottoms will be slightly browned and crispy.



Allow the oven to recover temperature for 5 minutes between batches of pitas.

~*~Kitchen Witch Tip: If the pitas don't puff spritz the rounds with water and allow to rest again. The water is the key to the puff, you need the dough adequately hydrated to produce the pitas signature puff pocket. If they don't puff, don't dispare, they're still delicious and are perfect for dipping in hummus or any dip of your choosing.~*~



Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople recipe calculator
Amount Per Serving
Calories 107.4
Total Fat 2.0 g
Saturated Fat 0.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.3 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 120.5 mg
Potassium 27.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate 19.4 g
Dietary Fiber 0.7 g
Sugars 0.1 g
Protein 2.6 g

Molasses Bread

I created this recipe for molasses bread when deciding what would compliment our St. Patricks day meal of corned beef, Brussels sprouts with bacon (recipe to come in another post) and baked potatoes. The bread needed to stand up to these very intense flavors AND it needed to make an awesome sandwich the next day. Rye was the natural choice but I am not a fan of rye bread, much to my husbands dismay. But the idea of a darker bread intrigued me to cast a spell over browned bread.

At first I thought I'd use some Guinness beer, but I didn't have any on hand so that was out. My next thought was molasses. Molasses, the deep intense slightly bitter flavor would be similar to that of a good stout beer. The aroma of fresh baking bread fills the kitchen, its got a rich molasses and yeast scent. This bread will make amazing sandwiches I'm sure of it. As for now I can't wait for dinner to try it, if its half as good as it smells we're in for a treat!

Kitchen Witch Update: The bread, indeed, is as good as it smelled. The sandwiches are incredible, this bread is a new favorite!! The little Witch likes it too, with jelly :-)

Molasses Bread
makes 2 large loaves
4 cups bread flour
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
2 T dry active yeast
3 T brown sugar, divided
1/3 c molasses
3 c water total, divided
3 T butter
1 T kosher salt

Proof yeast with 1 T brown sugar and 1 c warm water. Proofing simply means you're activating the yeast by dissolving it in warm water and a bit of sugar. The yeast will eat the sugar and the solution will foam, indicating to you that your yeast is alive and active and ready to go to work in your bread.

Mix flours, 2T brown sugar and salt together in the work bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter.

Mix the molasses and remaining water together, stirring well to dissolve molasses.

Once the yeast has bubbled and foamed add it to the flour, add 1/2 the water/molasses mix and stir until the liquids are absorbed. Slowly add the remaining liquid, holding off the last 1/2 cup or so. Keep mixing it with the dough hook, dough should be very moist but not sticking to the bowl. If you need to use the last 1/2 c liquid do so, if not toss it.

Allow to kneed in machine for 6 minutes. Remove dough ball to a large bowl that has been coated in oil. Roll ball around in the oil, cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise on the counter until doubled in size.

Once doubled remove plastic and gently push dough down. Remove from bowl onto a floured counter top. Kneed dough, adding flour as needed until you have a smooth ball again.

Put it back into the bowl & recover and allow to rise a second time.

Once its risen the 2nd time, remove from bowl, kneed again with flour as needed, roll into a ball and cut in half. Roll each half into a loaf shape and put into a sprayed loaf pan. Press dough into pan so it fills all sides. Cover loosly with plastic wrap that's been sprayed with oil and allow to double in size again.

Once dough has doubled put the loaf pans into a 400* oven. Spray the loaves liberally with water from a spray bottle. The steam will created a dark golden crust and yield nice chewy bread. Spray the bread liberally every 5-10 minutes until bread is done. Bakes in about 45-50 minutes.

You'll know the bread is done when you tap it and its hollow sounding and the crust is nice & hard and deeply browned.




Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
24 Servings (1 slice ea)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 133.3
Total Fat 2.0 g
Saturated Fat 1.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.5 g
Cholesterol 3.9 mg
Sodium 51.8 mg
Potassium 137.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate 25.4 g
Dietary Fiber 1.5 g
Sugars 0.0 g
Protein 3.8 g

Pizza: Crust and sauce

When looking around the Kitchen Witch headquarters, better know as my kitchen, I discovered a LOT of things that I needed to use up, and quick! Let's take a look at the stellar ingredients I had to work with, shall we?

3/4 of a bag of cherry tomatoes that are just about past their prime. Skins, kinda wrinkly. Great. 1/4 c of Feta cheese in the fridge. A package of Canadian bacon in the freezer. A can of pineapple that's been living in my pantry for far too long. 5, yes 5, smoked sundried tomatoes. Wow. What an odd combination of ingredients, and they all need to be used up TODAY! This is going to take some serious Kitchen Witchcraft to make something edible out of this mess!

I started with the tomatoes. They could be roasted, concentrating their flavor and making peeling easier. What else do I have around here? Garlic, onion, herbs, all pantry staples. Sounds like pizza fixin's if you ask me! Pizza dough, I can make that. Cheese, toppings, check. Its pizza time!

This sauce is one of the better ones I've made. The husband declared it "The best pizza you've made, ever!" Looks like past their prime tomatoes made into a pizza sauce is a hit! This sauce is not saucy like most pizzas, rather its thick and paste like, more of a tomato pesto, which packed an awesome punch of tomato flavor. Crispy crust, generous toppings, yup, it was pizza success! And best of all, I used up a LOT of ingredients that could have otherwise ended up in the trash or compost pile. Brilliant!

Crust
2 1/4 c King Arthur Bread flour
1 1/4 t yeast (1/2 packet)
2 t white sugar
1 1/2 t kosher salt
1-2 T EVOO
1 + 1T c warm water

Proof yeast in small bowl with 1/4 c warm water and 1 t sugar. While yeast proofs mix flour, sugar and salt in the work bowl of your stand mixer. Once yeast is foamy add it to the flour mix along with EVOO and water. Mix with dough hook about 8 min or until you have a smooth tight ball of dough.

Coat dough ball with a drizzle of EVOO, toss around in bowl to coat ball completely and sides of bowl as well. Cover with plastic and set aside in a warm spot to rise. Allow to rise at least 30 min, but can go longer if you have time.

Spread dough out onto a pizza pan. Prick bottom of pizza with tines of a fork, this is called docking. Docking gives the steam a place to escape so the dough doesn't rise and puff there. This will give you less air bubbles on the surface of your pizza and a nice crispy crust.

Sauce
3/4 bag cherry tomatoes, halved
5 smoked sun dried tomatoes
1/2 can diced canned tomatoes, rinsed & drained
2 cloves garlic, smashed (to be removed later)
1 t dry Italian seasoning, divided
1 T onion, fine diced
2-3 T EVOO
S&P
crushed red pepper flakes

Heat oil in a small skillet. I have this super awesome 6 in cast iron skillet that's perfect for this. Add garlic to cold oil, heat on med until garlic is just barely browned on 1st side. Flip garlic, add 3/4 t italian seasoning and 2 dashes pepper flakes & sautee until garlic is golden on 2nd side. Strain off herbs, pepper flakes & garlic, reserve garlic.

Pour hot oil over diced sun dried tomatoes. Add 1/4 t italian seasoning and 1 dash pepper flakes, 2 pinches salt & a few grinds pepper. Stir well & allow to cool while tomatoes roast.

Halve tomatoes & place cut side down on a silpat or parchment paper lined sheet pan (for easy clean up). Roast at 400* for 20 min or until the juices start to brown & the skins are bubbled & browned. Remove skins, run knife thru pulp to puree it essentially.

Drain canned tomatoes. Rinse well with water, this helps remove can flavor. Grab handful (about 1/2 the can), squeeze well to remove most juice, run knife thru as well. Add tomatoes to sundried tomato oil infusion, stir very well. Season w/ S&P as needed.


Toppings (Hawaiian style)
Canadian bacon
1/2 red bell pepper, fine dice
1 T onion, fine dice
1 can pineapple, in own juice, drained well
2 c mozzarella cheese grated
1/4 c Asiago cheese, grated or can use Parmesean
1/4 c Feta cheese


To assemble pizza spread sauce over crust evenly


Top with cheeses and toppings.

Bake a 400* for about 20-30 min or until crust is golden and cheese has melted & started to brown. Please allow to cool for about 5 minutes before you slice & devour this pizza. This rest time allows the cheese to firm up again so your topppings don't just fall off your slice.

Kitchen Witch Basics: White Bread

Today was a good day. We woke up to a fresh layer of snow (6 inches!), schools closed across the city and the hubby decided to stay home & play too! I, not surprisingly, spent the bulk of the morning in the kitchen working some magick in the kitchen.

Bread. The very word can make your mouth water. The aroma of fresh baking bread is quite possibly the best aroma ever.

This simple bread recipe produces great results: tall loaves, crusty brown and light as air. Try this bread - you and the lucky folks that get to enjoy it will be agree: store bought bread with its high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils (HFCS and PHO's)just aren't worth the health risks or the $3 a loaf price tag. Homemade bread is comfort at its finest and the perfect thing for a snowy day.



White Bread
makes 1 loaf

4 c King Arthur Bread flour
4 t white sugar (divided)
2 1/4 t yeast (1 packet)
2 T butter diced
1 1/2 t kosher salt (use 3/4 T of table salt if that's all you have)
2 c warm (110*) water

Proof yeast with 1 t sugar & 1/2 c warm water. Mix dry ingredients together in bowl of stand mixer. Once yeast has bloomed add it along with 1 1/2 c water. Knead dough in KitchenAid with dough hook. Add more water (about 1/4 c to 1/2 c depending on conditions) until all flour is incorporated & dough forms a ball. Knead on medium speed for 8 minutes.

Lightly oil a medium bowl. Form a ball with dough, toss in oil in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap & set aside in a warm spot (the kitchen counter is fine, if drafty cover with a towel) until doubled in size.

Once doubled remove dough from bowl. Knead by hand on counter until dough is smooth and elastic. Form into a loaf shape. Place in a sprayed loaf pan, cover loosly with plastic wrap and allow bread to double in size again.

Once bread has doubled, about 2-3 inches over top of loaf pan, remove plastic wrap and place in a preheated 350* oven.

Spray (or use pastry brush) bread with water every 10 min while baking. This helps the browning and produces a nice thick crusty crust. Believe me, water is all it takes!



Bake about 40-50 min or until internal temp reaches 212*. Allow to cool until you can handle bread then remove pan & allow to cool on a cooking rack. Slice & enjoy!