Pita Bread

Servings: 12 pita 6 inches in diameter

1 Tablespoon. (1 pkg.) yeast dissolved in 1/2 cup tepid water
About 1 lb. (450 g) of flour as follows:
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour, unbleached recommended
3/4 cup plain bleached cake flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon. olive oil or tasteless salad or cooking oil
1 cup tepid water; droplets more as necessary

Equipment: Best, a tile or stoneware baking surface to fit your oven
rack; second best, an aluminum baking sheet. A wooden sliding board,
shingle, or peel. A long-handled pancake turner. A cake rack or racks for
cooling baked pita. A rolling pin.

When yeast is thoroughly dissolved, combine it with the ingredients listed,
kneading in enough of the water to make a moderately firm dough. When well
blended, let rest for 2 minutes, then knead vigorously until dough is
smooth and elastic and does not stick to your hands - 5 minutes or more.
Place in a clean, fairly straight-sided 4 quart bowl, cover and let rise at
75 F to 80 F degrees until slightly more than doubled in bulk - 2 hours or
so. Deflate by pulling dough inward from sides of bowl, cover, and let rise
again to slightly more than double - about 1- 1/2 hours. *(Second rise may
be completed in the refrigerator, and when risen, you may punch down dough,
cover with a weight to keep it down, and leave for 24 hours - or you may
freeze it.)
Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and lengthen it by rolling it
back and forth under the palms of your hands, forming a thick sausage shape
about 16 inches long. Cut even portions all the same size by halving the
dough crosswise, halving the 2 halves, then cutting each of these 4 pieces
into thirds. Then, to make the pancake shape more even, first form a
cushion out of each piece of dough by bringing the 4 corners together and
pinching to seal them, then turn seal side down and roll under the palm of
one hand to make a ball; set each aside, as you form it, on a floured
corner of your work surface, and cover with a lightly floured sheet of
plastic. These balls of dough are now to be rolled into pancake-size disks
which are to rest either on a floured wooden surface or on floured towels
for 20 minutes or so while the oven heats. Proceed as follows: one at a
time, with a rolling pin on a quite heavily floured surface, roll each ball
into a disk 1/4 inch thick and 6 inches across. Place disk on prepared
resting surface, cover with a floured plastic and continue with the rest.
Set quarry tiles, griddle, or baking sheet in lower middle level of oven,
and preheat to 500 F - 550 F degrees highest heat! When oven is ready,
lightly flour the sliding board, place on it 2 or 3 pita, and slide them
onto the hot baking surface. In about 1 minute, large bubbles will appear
on surface of the pita and they will then quickly and dramatically puff up
like pillows, reach their maximum, and subside slightly. Leave for a
moment (baking should take about 2 minutes in all) and remove with a
pancake turner before they have time to color or harden. Continue with
remaining pita. Let cool completely; they will gradually collapse.
*(Leave on rack for an hour or two, then stack together, pressing out air,
and store in a plastic bag; refrigerate for 2 to 3 days, or freeze.)
Notes:
You may find, as I did, that although pita are easy to make, it does take a
session or two to perfect your techniques. It seems important to watch
that the dough is fairly firm, since if it is too soft thedisks are sticky
to roll and limp to handle. They must be smooth, unwrinkled, and at least
1/4 inch thick, too, or the pita may not puff up into the proper pillow
shape.
Pizza:
Roll the pita dough to any size you wish, but the 6 inch is just right for
individual servings. When oven is ready, place 3 or 4 dough disks on
lightly floured sliding board, rapidly garnish with the pizza topping of
your choice, and slide onto hot baking surface in oven, exactly as though
you were baking pita. Topping will prevent dough from puffing, and when
bottom is lightly browned, in about 5 minutes, the pizza is done.
Notes on Freezing:
You can roll out the dough into disks, flour the disks, stack each between
sheets of plastic wrap, and freeze in a bunch. You can then take them
singly from freezer to oven; although they will bake into pita, they do not
puff quite as much as when fresh - and whether you bake a pita solidly
frozen or thawed seems to make little difference. I find the frozen disks
just fine for pizza, however, either frozen or thawed before baking.
Serving Suggestions:
Pita pocket sandwiches: Cut the baked pita in half crosswise, gently pull
the two halves apart, and fill with any kind of sandwich mixture, such as a
salad, hamburger and trimmings, scrambled eggs, a cooked eggplant and
tomato mixture, and so forth. Or make your filling and bake it in the pita
pocket.
Toasted pita triangles: Split the pita breads - it is often easiest to cut
all around the circumference with scissors to make an even split - and cut
into triangles of whatever size you wish. Brush with melted butter and, if
you wish, a sprinkling of mixed dried herbs and/or grated Parmesan cheese.
Arrange buttered side up on a baking sheet and place for a few minutes in a
preheated 350 F degrees oven to crisp and brown lightly. Serve with soups,
salads, cheese, or with drinks.

Source: Julia Child & Company
by Julia Child



Source: rec.food.recipes