A pocketful of pita

                                                                    

             

                                                                   

Weekends are the only times I can tackle serious baking. Still in a bready mood, I was inspired to make bread that I knew H would enjoy. These are reminiscent of Lebanese bread that he loves with hummus. I was also fascinated by the concept of cooking bread in the highest possible temperature that resulted in airy pockets within. Think naan cooked in a tandoor or pizza baked in a stone oven. Well, this was done in my conventional oven at the highest possible temperature it can go. This recipe uses a sponge method which is mixing and proving a dough called a sponge first and later mixing it into the main dough. This makes a bread of superior softness for example burger buns or sandwich loaves. As compared to a bread without a sponge base like the foccaccia in the previous post or ciabatta or a simple French loaf. These have a more chewy texture and tend to be crustier. The dough was simple enough to make. The overall temperature of any bread dough should be about 27C. To make this in tropical Singapore, the water has to be at about 5C. I use it straight from the fridge. Prove in an airtight container as yeast is an anaerobic organism. The tricky part was the baking. Firstly, I didn’t have 12 baking pans so I could not roll out all and prove the pieces at the same time. Had to do it in 2 batches. Secondly I couldn’t bake 2 at a time because I think the heat wasn’t enough to make the both of them rise so I ended up with a flat bread and a risen one. Therefore I had to bake them one at a time and preheating the oven in between to make sure the 250C oven was maintained. Also, some of the pieces didn’t puff up I guess due to the inconsistencies of the proving time while I was mucking around baking. But they were all still good, the ones that didn’t puff up just needed some help with a knife to split it. We had it for dinner stuffed with kofta (minced meat shaped like sausages) and a red pepper salad. The bread kept so well, it was equally good the next day stuffed with cheddar and button mushrooms sautéed in garlic for a light Sunday lunch. I have plans to make a huge batch and freeze them for handy lunch boxes.Well, that’ll be for another weekend. 

Pita bread 

Sponge

350 g bread flour

4 g Instant dry yeast

210 ml cold water 

Dough

150 g Bread flour

1 tbsp milk powder

½ tablespoon bread improver

5 g instant dry yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

100 ml water

2 tablespoons softened butter 

Method

Mix ingredients for sponge 3 mins on low speed. Leave to rise in an airtight container for 4-5 hours. When the sponge in ready, prepare the dough. Place dry ingredients in mixer. Add water and mix on low speed. Cut sponge into pieces and add to mixture. Increase to medium speed and mix for 2 mins. Add butter and mix for another 5-7 mins until dough is fully developed. Round up and divide dough into 12 balls. Pin out dough into pieces 3 mm thick. Leave to rise for 30 mins until dough doubles. Bake in preheated oven for 250C for 5-6 mins until golden brown.