Flatbreadwithgoatcheesearugulaandbalsamicglaze Recipes

JAN SCHAT'S FLATBREAD

Steps:

• Make biga:
• Whisk yeast into 120 grams (‚ cup) warm water to dissolve and stir in flour. (Mixture will be dry.) Knead in remaining 55 grams (a scant 1/4 cup) water and knead in bowl until a dough is formed. Turn out onto a clean surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. (Do not add extra flour; biga will become less sticky as it is kneaded.) Put in a clean bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator 16 to 18 hours. (Biga will not rise perceptibly.)
• Let biga stand, still covered, in a warm place until instant-read thermometer registers 75-78°F, about 1 hour.
• Make flatbread dough:
• Chop 170 grams (or scant half) of biga recipe. (Leftover biga keeps, covered and chilled, 2 days.) Whisk yeast into 60 grams (1/4 cup) warm water to dissolve in a large bowl and stir in yogurt, chopped biga, whole-wheat flour, salt, oil, and bread flour. Knead in enough of remaining 60 grams (1/4 cup) warm water, a little at a time, to make dough workable. (Dough will be sticky.)
• Turn dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and knead, occasionally scraping up dough stuck to surface with dough scraper, 10 minutes. (If dough becomes too sticky to knead easily, periodically flour hands, not work surface; dough will become less sticky as kneaded.)
• Gradually knead in any remaining water and continue to knead dough until smooth, satiny, and stretchy, about 10 minutes. Put in a clean bowl and dust very lightly with flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place 1 hour.
• Turn dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and stretch into a rectangle. Fold into thirds, like a letter, then stretch and fold again in same manner. Return to bowl and let rise, covered, 1 hour. Repeat stretching and folding process and let rise again, covered, 1 hour.
• Halve dough and shape each half into an 8-inch log on work surface. Dust very lightly with flour and let rise, covered loosely with plastic wrap, 30 minutes.
• Bake flatbread:
• Put pizza stone on rack in middle of oven and preheat to 525°F. (Allow 1 hour to preheat with stone.)
• Stretch each dough log into a roughly 13- by 6-inch rectangle and brush lightly with water. Dimple dough with your fingertips and sprinkle with nigella seeds and sea salt. Dimple dough again and let stand, loosely covered with plastic wrap, at room temperature 45 minutes.
• Generously sprinkle baker's peel with cornmeal. Holding 1 rectangle at each end, pick up and transfer to baker's. (Dough will stretch.) Re-form into rectangle and dimple once more. Jerk peel once or twice; if dough sticks, lift and sprinkle more cornmeal underneath.
• Working quickly, mist oven with 4 squirts of water from spray bottle. Line up far edge of peel with far edge of stone and tilt peel, jerking it gently to start dough moving. When edge of dough touches stone, quickly pull back peel to transfer dough to stone. Mist oven again with 4 squirts from spray bottle and bake flatbread until golden brown, 6 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack and while still hot, brush with some of butter.
• Sweep burned cornmeal off pizza stone with a cloth before baking remaining flatbread in same manner.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.

GRILLED LEBANESE FLATBREAD

Steps:

• Whisk together the salt, sugar, yeast and 1 cup warm water in a large bowl. Let the mixture sit until it begins to froth, about 5 minutes, then add the flour and mix until well combined. (If the dough is very dry, add more warm water a tablespoon at a time to moisten it.) Cover and let rise somewhere warm for about an hour.
• Meanwhile, prepare a grill; the heat should be medium-high and the rack about 4 inches from the fire. When the dough has puffed up, transfer it to a well-floured surface and knead until soft and silky, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Cut the dough into 8 equally sized pieces and roll each one out until it's about 6 inches in diameter; don't worry about making these perfectly round, but try to keep them relatively even in thickness. Brush one side of the breads with olive oil and put as many on the grill, oiled side down, as will comfortably fit at one time. While the first side cooks, brush the side facing you with more oil; when the breads begin to brown and puff up, flip them. When the second side is nicely browned, remove from the grill and sprinkle with the za'atar, if you'd like. Serve immediately.

GRILLED FLATBREAD

Steps:

• Heat a grill or grill pan until hot. Place water in a medium bowl, and sprinkle yeast on top; stir to dissolve. Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add olive oil, flour, and salt; combine. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, 1 to 2 minutes. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand in a warm place for 30 minutes.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 4 equal pieces, and roll out each into a 1/8-inch-thick round. Lightly brush both sides of each round with olive oil, and place the rounds directly on the hot grill. Grill the flatbread until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from grill, and season with salt.

FLATBREAD FOR PAN-GRILLED FLATBREAD WITH MUSHROOMS AND AUTUMN VEGETABLES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix together yeast and 3/4 cup water; let stand 5 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup water, flour, sugar, salt, and olive oil; mix until a dough is formed. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until firm, about 5 minutes.
• Lightly oil a large bowl and add dough. Cover with plastic wrap and keep in a warm place; let rise until dough has doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Divide dough into 8 to 10 two-ounce pieces. Roll each piece of dough out to an 1/8-inch-thick circle; cover dough with a clean towel. Heat griddle over high heat and lightly coat with olive oil. Working with one piece of dough at a time, uncover and add to griddle. Cook flatbread until bubbling and brown, 40 seconds to 1 minute, then turn and continue cooking 20 seconds more. Remove flatbread from heat; wipe griddle clean. Repeat process with remaining pieces of dough.

FLAT BREAD WITH GOAT CHEESE, ARUGULA, AND BALSAMIC GLAZE

Steps:

• In a sauce pan, pour in the vinegar, stir in the brown sugar and simmer until it is thick and reduced to about 1/3, about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Remove from the heat.
• Spread the goat cheese on the crackers and top with arulgula.
• Drizzle with the balsamic glaze and serve.
• Enjoy!