She asked for it

We didn’t think that we would arrive in time for supper, so our hostess didn’t have food prepared. The solution was to pick up gyros from Arby’s. While we were enjoying our sandwiches, my mom looked at the bread and asked if I knew how it was made. Arby’s doesn’t use pita pockets (which I had made), so I had to admit my ignorance.

Later, home with my library of cookbooks, I was able to research. The following recipe produced flatbreads similar to what we ate. I added some ground sesame seeds to the dough, because they were left over from a different experiment.

We enjoyed the fresh flatbreads with hummus, cucumber-yogurt sauce, lettuce, tomato, and onion… plus a scant portion of cheese-steak beef.

Turkish Flatbread

3 ¼ c all-purpose flour

½ t light sea salt

¼ t ground cumin

¼ t ground coriander

½ t ground sesame seeds

½ t sugar

1 t active dry yeast

1 T olive oil

¾ c warm water

Sift together dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and add oil and water. Stir well with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured flat surface and knead it until it becomes smooth and elastic: about ten minutes.

Shape the dough into a ball and put it into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel and let it rest in a warm spot for an hour; it should double in volume.

Punch the dough down then divide it into four equal parts. Shape each piece into a ball then flatten them into rounds. Roll them into 8-inch circles. Cover with the damp towel and let them rest for a further twenty minutes.

Heat a cast iron skillet to medium. Add a little bit of oil and one portion of dough. Cover the skillet and wait two to three minutes before flipping the flatbread. Allow the bread to cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from skillet to a warm oven or a towel-lined basket. Repeat cooking with the other dough rounds.

Serve the flat bread warm.

Turkish Flatbread

Apricot Almond Frangipane Brioche

Baking Sheet

Sunny Side Up

Brioche Dough

½ c sourdough starter (next time I will add 1 T yeast to see if it makes a difference)

½ c lukewarm water

¾ t salt

3 eggs, lightly beaten

¼ c honey

1 stick butter, melted

3 ¾ c all-purpose flour

1 T orange zest

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. You can either use a wooden spoon and mix by hand or use the dough hook on your stand mixer. The dough will be loose, but it will firm up in the refrigerator.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and shape the dough into a ball. Cover the bowl and let it rest at room temperature for 2 hours. Once the dough has risen cover the bowl (NOT air-tight) and put it into the refrigerator to chill before shaping into individual rolls. These proportions make dough for two one-pound batches.

Frangipane Filling:

1/2 c almond meal

1/4 c sugar 4 T butter, at room temperature

1 egg yolk, save egg white to brush top of roll before baking

1/2 t almond extract

pinch of kosher salt

Can of Apricot Halves in light syrup

Method

Line a large baking tray (or 2 medium trays) with parchment paper. Divide a one-pound batch of brioche dough into twelve even pieces, then roll each piece into a ball. Space out evenly on the baking tray. Spray with water and leave to prove in a warm place until doubled in size (about 2 hours).

Use your fingers to firmly press a dent into the center of each proved dough ball. Drain the apricots, reserving the syrup. Add 1 tbsp frangipane and one apricot half to the dent in each bun. Pull some dough up and around each apricot half, but don’t cover the fruit completely. Leave in a warm place for 20-30 minutes more, until the dough has puffed up again. Brush the top of each bun with egg white that has been whisked together with some almond extract (I use amaretto liqueur).

Preheat the oven to 350* F. Bake for 25-30 minutes. The rolls should be golden. Transfer to a wire rack, to cool. Brush the buns all over with reserved apricot syrup (NOT with the raw egg white). Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Snow Day

When I joined the ever-increasing number of people gathering groceries at the store Monday morning, I should have realized that snow was in the forecast. York county, PA residents have been accused of pantry panic, even before pandemic worries caused them to stockpile toilet paper. My weather app only suggested an accumulation of one inch of snow, so when coworkers started discussing whether to delay or shut down the following morning, I thought they were just being wimpy. After all, I lived in Minnesota for almost ten years. What danger is there to light snow? Apparently, even light snow will add up after twelve hours. Tuesday morning, the borough had trucks out to clear the roads. Thankfully, the thick blanket of white that covered my car was light and easy to remove. However, the snow continued to fall, and the library directory announced that the building would stay closed for the day. A post was published on social media so that residents could stay cozy at home and read rather than try to return and/or exchange materials at the library. My responsibility was to notify members of the cookbook club that our meeting would not take place that evening.

Vegetarian food was the theme for January. Several first-time attendees had signed up to join us. Marinated mushrooms, stuffed mushrooms, and a kale smoothie were some of the dishes promised. I had prepared a vegetarian cheese sauce and a black sesame pudding.

Having the day off gave me time to catch up on ironing, to read a chapter at Dunkin’ Doughnuts, and to prepare dinner.

Joel likes me to use the oven on cold days. He suggested that we have a combination of potatoes and hamburger prepared in the oven. I pulled two potato cookbooks off the shelf and flipped through the recipes. Red potato salad with saffron and capers sounded interesting to me, but it didn’t require the oven. Instead, I gathered ingredients for Hacienda potatoes. At the same time, I defrosted two patties of frozen ground beef to mix into a “loaf” that could bake beside the casserole.

We didn’t eat “on time”, but the meal was a success.