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Monday 8 August 2011

Post the Seventh (in which our heroine abandons her dinner plans)

So, yesterday's dinner was supposed to be Chicken & Chickpea curry.  I had everything organised for it, even remembered to take the chicken fillets out of the freezer on Saturday night, but then, as is my wont, I changed my mind at the last minute.  You see, I remembered that my sisters were going to Tribeca for lunch.  And that got me thinking about Tribeca's smoked turkey BLT.  Specifically, how much I wanted one.  So the curry went out the window (not literally, mind) and I decided to try and make STBLTs instead.  Now, you should probably be aware that the last time I tried to make these, it resulted in an all-out Kitchen Episode (patent pending).  The cause was my inability to "stack" the sandwich properly, and the upshot was that I refused point blank to eat the resulting, and, to my mind, mockingly flat, sandwich.

Yesterday's attempt, thankfully, was much more successful.  Here's a rather boring photo of one:


I'm not going to insult you by giving you the recipe.  It's a sandwich.  With smoked turkey, bacon, lettuce and tomatoes on it.  Not exactly rocket science.  Although I do like to live dangerously by putting melted cheddar cheese on mine.  Oh, and there's guacamole on it too.

Anyway, I thought I'd use this opportunity to post the flatbread recipe I was too lazy to give you on Wednesday.  At least I think it was Wednesday.  The days tend to all jumble into one when you're an unemployed bum with no job, vim or vigour.  These are really easy to make, go beautifully with curry and are also lovely to have with a barbie, or with kofta, lamb skewers or falafel.

Easy Flatbreads - makes at least 12, so feel free to halve the recipe

500g plain flour                            1 scant tbsp dried yeast
1 tsp salt                                      300ml hand-hot water
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil            Drizzle of runny honey

1) Sift the flour into a large bowl, mix in the yeast, salt, water, olive oil & honey.  Work together with a fork until it forms a ball, then turn onto a floured board and knead for 5 - 8 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.  Pop the dough into an oiled bowl, turning it so that the dough gets a sheen of oil, cover with a damp cloth and leave in a warm spot to prove.


2) Once the dough has doubled in size (about an hour), knock it back and knead lightly again.  At this stage, you can add extra flavourings if you like.  If I'm serving it with curry, I tend to leave it plain, but if it's being used for kofta, falafel, etc., I like to add a tablespoon of cumin seeds, or maybe a heaped teaspoon of chili flakes.  Simply place the spices in the middle of the knocked-back dough, fold up the sides, and knead until they're evenly distributed.

3) Divide the dough into pieces around the size of a satsuma and, using a little extra flour, roll them into very flat breads about 6" long.


4) Have a very hot pan or griddle ready (they can also be done on the barbie) and cook the bread for about 1-2 minutes without touching it, until you can see bubbles forming on the surface.  Turn over and cook the other side.  Do the bread in batches and keep warm until needed.


I've just noticed that all my followers have disappeared.  I'm choosing to believe that this is the result of a ghost in the Google machine, and not that I'm such a crap blogger that they've all abandoned me.  Only time will tell.  Until tomorrow, dear reader, I bid you adieu.

4 comments:

  1. Must be a ghost in google.

    *Bookmarks these for next time I do a curry*

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  2. Can the flatbreads be frozen? Even on a hangover day I wouldn't eat 6 of em!

    @Sinead...how did you manage to be able to post without being anonymous!?

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  3. Proper color-dy pics of the end result please.
    Your sepia tones are making it all look like muck :-) and I'm quite sure it's not.

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  4. That bread looks fantastic. I will make it in the near future.

    ReplyDelete