*smiling* Pita bread is not a recipe, but the technique.
100% popping pitas from a Lebanese baker:
Oven preheated to 450 F (if the pitas don't pop the first time, or if your oven cools down too much from having the door constantly opened, turn it up to 500 F)
ANY plain bread dough (egg and sweet doughs might work too, but I haven't tried them)
One long-handled metal spatula
(optional but works best) one breadboard for cooling
Let your dough rise; form into smooth balls as if you were making dinner rolls and let rise, covered (plastic works best) again.
When you roll the rounds out, use plenty of flour and roll them 1/4 inch thick (and smoothly; that's more important than round). Let them rise a little but not long, just long enough to roll out half a dozen or so. One at a time (until you get the hang of it) and making sure you don't puncture them with a fingernail or anything, place a round directly onto your oven rack. Close the oven door. It will pop within two minutes. Remove with spatula and place on breadboard or smooth towel until you have a bunch of them. You can brown them under a broiler if necessary.
When they have cooled, put whatever's left into sealed plastic bags for storage. Any that did not stay soft will soften up very nicely that way.
If you have trouble keeping the edges of the rounds from drooping between the slats of the oven rack, roll them a little thicker. Practice will help, also; tis a matter of how you place them in the oven. When I get impatient and just toss mine in (three at a time), I usually have some droopage. If it's not much, it corrects itself with puffing. If it looks like a disaster in the making, I use the spatula to reposition the round before it puffs.
My flour tortillas (baking powder dough rather than yeast) often do the pita popping thing in a really hot iron skillet--once you get the hang of this technique, tis fun to experiment!
Hope this helps!!
Cath
Whoa, Cath - I need to try this ASAP. Maybe this morning - Thanks - stay tuned- PJH
September 12, 2008 at 7:12am