Cooking with F1: Lamb and Okra Stew with Stuffed Grape Leaves
Hello, and welcome to the inaugural run of Cooking with Formula One on The Spice is Right. What is Cooking with Formula One? It’s exactly what it sounds like. Every race is held in a different country (or a different region of countries that appear twice in a single season). Add chef + F1 fan and the math is obvious, I think. The world is delicious. While you probably don’t need me to tell you that, it’s nice to be shown, isn’t it?
Note: the stuffed grape leaves, as I made them, are suitable for vegan/vegetarian enjoyment.
More after the jump.
Day Twenty-Seven: Whole Wheat Pita Bread
Oh, flatbreads. You should know by now you have a special place in my heart. There’s something magical about you that just can’t be replicated with any other bread. And pitas! Oh, pitas are some of the most magical breads there are! Do you know any other breads with pockets built in? It’s as though they WANT you to stuff them with other delicious things to create a compound taste bomb of deliciousness set to explode on your tongue! Don’t be fooled; they look completely innocent, but those pitas know exactly how to play on your sensibilities of good taste.
I’ve made normal pitas a number of times, but today I decided to try changing my recipe to whole wheat, just for a change. I don’t think I’ll ever make non-whole wheat pitas again; these were absolutely perfect.
Whole Wheat Pita Bread
INGREDIENTS
- 1.75 c. all-purpose unbleached flour (plus a little extra for dusting your hands and your work surface)
- 1.75 c. whole wheat flour
- 1.5 tsp instant yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1.25 c. lukewarm water
PREPARATION
Mix all ingredients together and then knead until smooth and elastic. If dough is too dry, add a little more water in small increments until desired texture is achieved. If dough is too wet, follow the same procedure only with flour. Cover and let rise in warm place, free from draft for 2 hours.
Once two hours have elapsed, preheat your oven to 500F. If you have a baking stone or unglazed quarry tile in your oven, it would be optimal to use it for baking your pitas. Punch down your dough and divide into 6 even balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball out into a circle that is approximately 8″ in diameter. Fold all edges of dough down underneath over and over again until your dough is once more in a ball which will feel slightly more elastic. Roll out to your 8″ circle again, dust with flour, and set aside. Repeat with remaining 5 balls of dough. As long as you dust them very well with flour, it is OK to stack the discs as you roll them out.
When your pitas have been rolled out and your oven is fully preheated, place as many discs as will fit onto your stone or tile. If you do not have a stone or tile to use, a normal baking sheet will do. Turn your oven light on and watch through the door; your dough should begin to get little bubbles of air in it that will gradually meld into one big bubble, at which point the pita will look like a giant puffball of dough. That’s good; it’s exactly what you want, and it’s how pitas get their pockets. At that point, you should carefully flip your pita over onto its other side for about a minute longer. Remove from oven to a plate; you can either wrap a towel over them to keep them warm or else serve them immediately after all of them are baked, as they’ll have kept each other nice and toasty if you stack them on top of each other as they come out of the oven.
Makes 6 soft, pillowy, delicious pitas.
Of course, there are certain staples I have in my kitchen at all times. Flour is quite obviously one of them, but there are also certain dishes for which I always have ingredients on hand, and one of these is hummus. It’s simple, tasty, quick to prepare, and healthy. More importantly, fresh hummus and fresh pitas are heaven together.
Hummus
INGREDIENTS
- 1 16 oz. can chickpeas, drained
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 1/4 c. olive oil, plus more as needed and for garnishing
- 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp toasted cumin seeds, ground
- Kosher salt TT
PREPARATION
Combine all ingredients in a food processor fitted with the blade. If mixture is too dry, drizzle in a little more olive oil through the feed chute until mixture is correct consistency. Once all ingredients are thoroughly mixed, taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Refrigerate; serve garnished with a little olive oil on top, a dusting of a little cumin, and a leaf or two of parsley if you like.
If I had to pick one bread to live on, this would be it. Behold our dinner this evening in all its glory. Three of the pitas survived to tell the tale, where they’ll be lightly reheated and eaten at some point yet to be determined (probably dinner tomorrow) with the remainder of the hummus. Yum. :9
Breadbox Bonus #3: Homemade Croutons!
Have you got some very naughty bread sitting around your house that didn’t live up to your expectations? Or do you just have a loaf that’s gone a bit stale and that you don’t want to waste, but you don’t really feel like eating in its present form, either? Then change it! Homemade croutons taste about a million times better than those ones you can buy in a box, even if you make them from non-homemade bread! They’re exceedingly simple to make, too; just cut the crust off your bread all around, cube it up into your desired size of cubes, and spray with a little bit of olive oil before arranging on your flat, ovenable pan of choice (could be a cookie sheet, could be a pizza pan…really, your choice). In your oven which you’ve preheated to 350F, stick your sheet of croutons for about 10 minutes. Check and rearrange your croutons as necessary; when they’ve reached your desired shade of golden-brown goodness and crunch, remove and cool your pan on a rack. Use to garnish soups, salads, or whatever you like. You could also easily season these by using some sort of infused olive oil to spray them with, or tossing them in a bowl with some minced garlic, or using some fresh or dried herbs…really, the possibilities are endless!
In the photo above, these were served as garnishes to some curried carrot soup. Here’s a recipe for that as well:
Curried Carrot Soup
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 small-medium sweet onion, diced fine
- 1 lb. carrots, chopped up; you could also use a 1 lb bag of baby carrots here if you like
- 1 c. chicken broth (veg broth would work here as well, or in a pinch, even just another cup of water, although the flavours won’t be as intense and you may want to up the carrot content if you use another cup of water)
- 1 c. water
- Salt and pepper, TT
- 1 tsp Madras curry powder, or similar curry powder of your preference. You can also use more if you like.
PREPARATION
Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil, swirling to coat sides. Add onion and cook until soft and translucent, stirring all the time. Add chicken broth and water; also add carrots. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover. Cook for 20 minutes, or until carrots are soft. If you have a stick blender, now’s the time to use it; if not, a food processor or food mill or normal blender will do the trick as well. This soup gets all its body from the ground-up carrots, you see; it looks like a cream soup, but it’s not. Add and adjust seasonings to your taste; serve hot, with plenty of good bread.
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Janaki
