Mediterranean Cravings

Hola! Just got home from Mexico on Sunday and we're still trying to recover. I'll have some pictures for you soon, but I wanted to wait until after we all get together to share all of our pictures so you don't miss out on any really good ones :)

In the meantime, I got all the laundry done and the house in order (somewhat), so I had a little time for a project. Lately, I have been craving hummus and pita bread (and no, I am NOT pregnant). Kyle and I have commented several times since moving here that Dothan needs a Purple Onion, (or better yet, a Hooligan's, if you've spent any time in Tuscaloosa). Since I enjoy cooking and baking and since the pita you buy at the grocery story resembles cardboard, I decided to try to make my own.

First, let me say that you need not a lot of skill for this undertaking, just a LOT of patience. And that is not only if you have a teething six-month-old at home. I will say, however, that I (not surprisingly) made this a little more complicated than it had to be. The only health food store in Dothan (that I am aware of) was out of tahini, so I decided just to make it myself. It wasn't that difficult, but I would have been happy to save a few steps along the way.



I'm not sure why, but I started by making the hummus. Once I was knee deep in sesame seeds I looked at the pita recipe and realized it would have to sit at the very least for an hour and a half, overnight for best results. Next time(if there is a next time), I plan to start with the pita, so I'll start with that here, for you.

Pita Bread
(recipe from smitten kitchen)

3 cups plus a scant 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (I used half white and half whole wheat flour)
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 cups water, at room temperature



1. About 1 1/2 hours before shaping, or for best flavor development, 8 hours to 3 days ahead, mix the dough.

Mixer method: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all the ingredients. With the paddle attachment, mix on low speed (#2 if using a KitchenAid) just until all the flour is moistened, about 20 seconds. Change to the dough hook, raise the speed to medium (#4 KitchenAid), and knead for 10 minutes. The dough should clean the bowl and be very soft and smooth and just a little sticky to the touch. Add a little flour or water if necessary.



Hand method: In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except for a scant 1/4 cup of the flour. With a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until all the flour is moistened. Knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together.

Sprinkle a little of the reserved flour onto the counter and scrape the dough onto it. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, adding as little of the reserved flour as possible. Use a bench scraper to scrape the dough and gather it together as you knead it. At this point it will be very sticky. Cover it with the inverted bowl and allow it to rest for 5 to 20 minutes. (This rest will make the dough less sticky and easier to work with--and believe me, you will need all the help you can get.)

My counter is uneven, so I tried to do this on wax paper. The dough is VERY sticky, so I do not recommend this. The cutting board worked much better.




Knead the dough for another 5 to 10 minutes or until it is soft and smooth and just a little sticky to the touch. Add a little flour or water if necessary.

2. Let the dough rise: Using an oiled spatula or dough scraper, scrape the dough into a 2-quart or larger dough-rising container or bowl, lightly greased with cooking spray or oil. Press the dough down and lightly spray or oil the top of it. Cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough overnight (or up to 3 days), checking every hour for the first 4 hours and pressing it down if it starts to rise.



3. Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 475°F one hour before baking. Have an oven shelf at the lowest level and place a baking stone, cast-iron skillet, or baking sheet on it before preheating.

4. Shape the dough: Cut the dough into 8 or 12 pieces. Work with one piece at a time, keeping the rest covered with a damp cloth. On a lightly floured counter, with lightly floured hands, (lightly floured?? Only if you also want to eat the cutting board!) shape each piece into a ball and then flatten it into a disk. Cover the dough with oiled plastic and allow it to rest for 20 minutes at room temperature.



Roll each disk into a circle a little under 1/4 inch thick. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes before baking.



5. Bake the pita: Quickly place 1 piece of dough directly on the stone or in the skillet or on the baking sheet, and bake for 3 minutes. The pita should be completely puffed but not beginning to brown. The dough will not puff well if it is not moist enough. See how the pita puffs, then, if necessary, spray and knead each remaining piece with water until the dough is soft and moist; allow to rest again and reroll as before. (However, those that do not puff well are still delicious to eat.)



Proceed with the remaining dough, baking 3 or 4 pieces at a time if using a stone or baking sheet. using a pancake turner, transfer the pita breads to a clean towel, to stay soft and warm. Allow the oven to reheat for 5 minutes between batches. The pitas can be reheated for about 30 seconds in a hot oven before serving.


Paula Wolfert’s Hummus (--who is Paula Wolfert?)
(recipe also from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes 4 cups

1 1/2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
3 garlic cloves, peeled
3/4 cup sesame seed paste (aka tahini, see recipe below)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, and more to taste
Cayenne, hot Hungarian paprika or za’atar
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 teaspoons olive oil

1. Rinse the soaked chickpeas well and drain them before putting them in a saucepan and covering them with plenty of fresh water. Bring to a boil; skim, add one-half teaspoon salt, cover and cook over medium heat, about 1 1/2 hours, until the chickpeas are very soft (you might need to add more water).

2. Meanwhile, crush the garlic and one-half teaspoon salt in a mortar until pureed. Transfer the puree to the work bowl of a food processor (this one was my mother's day gift!), add the sesame seed paste and lemon juice and process until white and contracted. Add one-half cup water and process until completely smooth.



3. Drain the chickpeas, reserving their cooking liquid. Add the chickpeas to the sesame paste mixture and process until well-blended. For a smoother texture, press the mixture through the fine blade of a food mill. Thin to desired consistency with reserved chickpea liquid. Adjust the seasoning with salt and lemon juice. The hummus can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.) Serve, sprinkled with paprika (or za’atar) and parsley and drizzled with oil.



Tahini Recipe

For about 2 cups of tahini, you'll need:

2 C sesame seeds
1/3 C olive oil


First, you'll need to toast the sesame seeds. Heat a heavy, wide-bottomed sauté pan over medium-high heat.

Add the sesame seeds and toast lightly - about 2 minutes, stirring constantsly so they toast evenly. Keep a careful eye on the sesame seeds as they go from toasted to burnt really quickly. As soon as they start to brown, they are done. Transfer to a bowl and let cool completely.



Next, you'll process the toasted seeds with the olive oil. Put the toasted sesame seeds in a food processor and drizzle in the olive oil.



Pulse for 3-5 minutes, or until it's as smooth as you can get it. Add a little more olive oil if necessary. Apparently, store-bought tahini will be smoother because they remove the hull from the sesame seeds. Mine looked like that natural peanut butter. Smelled a little like it, too!



I pulsed mine for longer than stated, but only because Luke was terrified of the food processor and I had to try to distract him in between pulses!



Remove from food processor and store in the refrigerator. (The tahini, not the baby).

It was quite an ordeal, but I must say it was worth it. It was all delicious! I would definitely only recommend this to those who LOVE hummus, though, because otherwise the storebought kind would be fine. We ate ours with greek peppers and Kalamata olives. YUMMY! Kyle even dipped his ham sandwich in it.

Just a few tips so that your experience may be a little easier than mine:

1. Some kitchen tools you can do without (like a rolling pin), but that little plastic scraper was a necessity for me. And again, don't try to make these on wax paper!
2. When you roll the dough into balls and flatten them into disks, make the disks as even as possible to avoid funny shapes when you roll them out. (I am somewhat of a perfectionist, but by the end even I didn't care that they looked like amoebas!)
3. When making the hummus, don't forget to keep the liquid you cooked the chickpeas in. (I actually did not forget, but it would be just like me not to realize this until it was too late!)
4. I love garlic and I tend to use more than called for. Just don't forget that it is RAW in this recipe. The 3 cloves I used were HUGE. It was almost too much. Almost.
5. The hummus recipe calls for 1/2 c. of lemon juice. It seemed a little lemony at first, but I think I like it. You might want to start with 1/3 c. and add more later, if you want.