Pita Bread – What’s in Your Pocket?

There are many baked products that you could make at home, but because of time, effort, and quality issues, probably shouldn’t. Fortunately, pita bread is not on that list. The dough is easy to make, and much like the flour tortillas we did, the taste and texture of the freshly made product is far superior to anything that comes with a twist tie.

The method is very straightforward, but I wanted to take a moment to talk about production. As you’ll see in the clip, after you roll the pita dough out, you’ll need to let it rest for 5 minutes before grilling. Since each one takes about 5-6 minutes in the pan, while one is cooking, you’ll want to roll the next, so it’s rested and ready to puff.

Speaking of “puff,” don’t be too upset if yours don’t go full balloon. Sometimes they all puff, sometimes some, and sometimes none. This is the way of the pita. But the good news is, even if they don’t fully puff, you should still get some sort of internal pocket with which to stuff. Even if you don’t, it’s okay…you’ll just call them “flatbread” instead! I hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 8 pita breads:

For the sponge mix:

1 pkg dry active yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

1 cup warm water (about 90-100 degrees F.)

1 cup (4.5 oz by weight) all-purpose flour

Then:

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1 3/4 to 2 cups all-purpose flour, or until a soft, slightly sticky dough forms (about 8-9 oz by weight)

*Let rise about 2 hours, or until doubled in size. Form 8 small, round loaves, let rise 30 minutes. Roll out and let rest 5 minutes before grilling.

View the complete recipe

Mary Had a Little Lamb Pita, It's Tahini Sauce was Not Quite as White as Snow

Can you imagine someone not familiar with a certain nursery rhyme, trying to figure out this post's title? This video recipe for a Shawarma-Style Lamb Pita was made especially with home cooks in mind. Real Shawarma (which means "turn"), is barbecued slowly on a large rotisserie, and the meat is shaved off as it cooks. This version uses the slightly more common frying pan.

Another compromise is the pita bread we stuff the spiced lamb into. The real deal is rolled up in flatbread. If you look hard enough, you can find soft, fresh flatbread at the higher-end grocery stores (tip: look for parking lots with lots of imports). But, the pita bread works fine, and is very easy to find.

I also show you how to make a simple tahini dressing in the clip, which is a very nice thing to have around. It's exotic, nutty goodness makes it a great "secret" ingredient for salad dressings, as well as a quick condiment for other grilled meats. So, next time you're craving something easy, exotic, and completely un-authentic, give these Shawarma-style lamb pitas a try. Enjoy!
Click here for ingredients and transcript

Baba Ghanoush – The Day After Dip

No matter what you’re grilling this summer, chances are good you’re going to have more hot coals than food to cook on it, which makes baba ghanoush the perfect post-barbecue recipe. Instead of those glowing embers going gently into the sweet night, why not grill up some eggplant, and make one of the world’s best vegetable dips?

You can cook the eggplant any way you want, but charcoal is my favorite. Next best would be cooked over a gas burner, but that can really mess up your stove, so I guess the real next best is baked at 400 F. until they collapse, and get very soft.

As you can see in the clip, this is not a very complicated recipe. As long as this is seasoned thoughtfully, you should be enjoying a wonderfully savory, yet refreshing dip. Just be sure to pay attention to the salt. Eggplant, like almost every vegetable, needs a good amount of salt to bring out the flavor.

The difference between a terrible dip, and a stellar spread can be as little as a half teaspoon of salt. Wait for the mixture to cool completely in the fridge, taste it ice-cold, and adjust with more salt, as needed. Same goes for the lemon, cayenne, and the tahini.

If you grill these after a cookout, but have had too much fun, and don’t feel like doing any more work, you can peel them the next day, and this will work out the same. I hope you give this delicious baba ghanoush a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 6 cups Baba Ghanoush:

3 or 4 large Italian eggplant

2 cloves crushed garlic

2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste

juice from 1 or 2 lemons, or to taste

3 tbsp tahini, or to taste

pinch of cayenne

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt

1 minced fresh mint leaf, optional

2 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

pita chips and vegetables for dipping

Arayes – Did I Invent These Also?

Arayes is one of those things that will have you wondering, “why didn’t I think of that?” Well, I did, sort of. I vaguely remember that a long time ago, probably very late in the evening, I made a cheeseburger by stuffing a pita, and pan-frying it to a...to read the rest of Chef John's article about Arayes please follow this link to become a member.)

Follow this link to get a complete, printable written recipe for Arayes!

And, as always, enjoy!

If you want more information about why the blog format has changed, and why we're now offering complete written recipes, please read all about that here. 

Lose Weight and Live Longer with the New Homemade Bread Diet!

Word on the street is that tomorrow, November 17th, is National Homemade Bread Day, and to celebrate I thought I'd post a few of our most popular, and critically acclaimed videos. By the way, I have this idea for a diet where you get to eat bread, but only if you bake it fresh yourself. 

Since most of us are fairly lazy, this would become maybe a once a week thing, which has to be a better alternative than that daily dosage of supermarket, pain d'preservative. It's still in the brainstorming stage, and there's no book deal yet, but I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, go make some homemade bread. Click on the title to see the original post, and as always, enjoy! 

	No-Knead Beer Bread You like beer. You like bread. So, what are you waiting for? Pro Tip: Even though you only need one beer, get a six-pack.
	Perfect French Baguette This is the video French bakers don't want you to see. People don't think they can make bakery-quality loaves at home, but those people are wrong.
	No-Knead Ciabatta One of the most popular Food Wishes videos of all time. If you've never made bread, this is the recipe for you. Warning: The dough is going to be sticky. Don't be afraid.
	Pita Bread What this amazing bread lacks in height, it more than makes up for in stuffability. And yes, that is a word.

How to Make Fancy Crackers – Also Know as Crispy Rosemary Sea Salt Flatbreads

Making your own “fancy” crackers at home is a fairly basic operation, and not only will they be less expensive, but you can customize them anyway you want. Whether those reasons are good enough is for you to decide, but if they are, your efforts will be rewarded… with crackers just as good as the ones from the store.

As I mentioned in the video, there are two types of “crackers;” the crispy, delicate, flaky, biscuit-style; and the flatbread-style we’re making here. These are much more like a fried pita chip, than a saltine, which is perfect for pairing with cheese. There’s nothing worse than trying to cheese a too-brittle cracker, three drinks in, and having it explode in your hand.

The recipe and technique are very simple, but please pay attention to your baking time. My “12-15 minutes,” is just a rough guess, and it will depend on the thickness of your dough. I would start checking at 10 minutes, and go from there. Other than that, not much can go wrong. With prime cheese and cracker season upon us, I really hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 48-60 crackers, depending on the size

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

- Bake at 400 F. for 12-15 minutes, or until browned and crisp.

Homemade Cream Cheese – The Labneh Way

This recipe video is inspired by a Lebanese yogurt cheese spread called Labneh, but I decided to call it homemade cream cheese because my sources deep inside Google tell me that “cream cheese” is searched for more often than “labneh.” In fairness, and with apologies to my Lebanese fans, it really is almost identical in texture and mouthfeel.

Like I say in the video, the taste is a bit bolder and tangier than that stuff from Philly, but when is that ever a bad thing? Michele found some amazing sheep’s milk yogurt at a local farmer’s market, and it was incredible in this, but I've used regular yogurt and it works wonderfully as well.

You can use it as you would any commercial cream cheese, but the honey and pistachio variation I tacked on to the end would make for a memorable holiday brunch addition. On the savory side, you can’t beat simply drizzling over some olive oil and eating as a spread with crispy bread or pita chips.

Most recipes for this say you can eat it after one day, but I really think the two-day “aging” and pressing process does great things. The taste mellows out a bit, and the texture gets even denser and richer feeling. Besides, if you don’t press it, you won’t get those signature, and ultra sexy cheesecloth fabric marks! I hope you give this homemade cream cheese a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about two heaping cups of cream cheese:

1 quart yogurt, try to get something really nice from a dairy, or use Greek-style

1 tsp kosher salt or to taste

cheesecloth
*If needed, use a paper towel to blot off any additional moisture that come to the top during the 2-day pressing in the fridge.

Note: I’ve only made this one way, so I’m not sure what happens if you deviate from the recipe and use low-fat yogurt, etc. Let me know if you try something different!

Last Night We Had a Little Lamb

Once in a while, even though I know it would make a great video, I just can't bring myself to film a meal. Making a video can turn the most enjoyable recipe into a tiring tangle of timers, wires, and angles. I'm forced to use a part of the brain that's in charge of "getting the shot," and artistic expression be damned.

Last night was one of those meals. It was truly delicious, and while I didn't film it, guilt forced me to at least photo it, in hopes of inspiring you next time you're trying to decide what to throw on the grill.

Lamb loins were marinated in garlic, fennel seed, and rosemary. A few hours later, they were grilled over charcoal, to a perfectly rosy medium-rare. Finger-sized carrots were roasted tender in a slow oven with a few drips of olive oil, salt, pepper, and a pinch of brown sugar. Split pita bread was filled with fresh mozzarella, and a squeeze of harissa (a spicy North African tomato/chili sauce). These "hot pockets" were grilled over the coals, while the lamb was resting. The slightly crisp, and smoky exterior was a perfect envelope for the warm, gooey cheese. The cold sauce was a simple plain Greek yogurt, spiked with more harissa, lemon, and fresh mint. Enjoy!

American Gyros – Mystery Meat Demystified

If you’re from Greece, you’re probably pretty confused right now, and wondering why I’m calling this gyros. There, pork and chicken are used, in non-ground form, and as the meat turns slowly over a fire, the cooked, caramelized surface is shaved off into thin slices. 

It’s amazing stuff, but believe it or not, I prefer this Americanized “mystery meat” approach, which uses ground lamb and/or beef. The spices are similar, but the texture is totally different, and for me, more interesting. I can eat fresh, identifiable meat anytime, so when I’m in the mood for gyros, I want the stuff you can only get from certain street vendors. Of course, since the meat is ground, you’re taking their word for which specific animals made the ultimate sacrifice, which is why this stuff became affectionately known as “mystery meat.”

This style is perfect for making ahead of time. Once it’s chilled, and sliced, all you need to do is brown it in a pan, and find some flatbread to roll it up in. Preferably, that would be homemade Lebanese mountain bread, which I will attempt to show you in the near future. In the meantime, your favorite pita will do, just as long as you don’t forget to make some tzatziki. I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 8 portions:

1 pound ground lamb

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon freshly minced rosemary

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 to 3 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste (you can cook a small piece to test)

1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons bread crumb

- Cook at 350 F. for 45 minutes, or until an internal temp of 160 F.
-- Note: to make the pickled red onions, simply slice them about 1/8-inch thick, and cover with red wine vinegar for a few hours, or overnight. They will turn into the beautifully colored garnish seen herein.