LAVASH

Lavash is thin, soft flatbread that is served with dips and used for wraps.

Serves 8 large pieces or 16 small pieces.
Ingredients:
1 pkg. yeast
1 1/2 cup warm water
2 teaspoons sugar
4 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespooon toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon toasted
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Preparation:
Coat a large bowl with oil. Set aside.

In a measuring cup, combine yeast, water and sugar. Mix until yeast is dissolved.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and salt. Add yeast water mixture and form a dough. Knead dough by hand for 10 -15 minutes. 5-8 minutes is sufficient if using a knead hook on a mixer.

Once dough is kneaded, place ball of dough in oiled bowl. Roll the dough around the bowl to coat it with oil. Cover and let rise for 1 -1 1/2 hours, or until dough doubles in size.

Once dough has doubled, punch down to release air. Continue to knead for about 5 minutes.

Divide dough into 8 separate balls of dough. Cover and allow to rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Once risen, roll dough out to thin rectangles, about 12"x10" for large or 8"x6" for small flatbreads. They should be as thin as pizza dough.

Puncture rectangles with a fork. Brush dough with water and sprinkle sesame seeds. Bake on baking sheet for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Continue baking remaining dough.

PITA BREAD

Pita bread is served at just about every meal in the Middle East. It can be used for dipping, or to make delicious sandwhiches in the pocket. In the Middle East, pita is made in brick ovens, where very high heat can be achieved. It is very hard to duplicate in a home kitchen, but this recipe, combined with high heat comes very close.


Ingredients:
1 package of yeast, or quick rising yeast
1/2 cup warm water
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teapsoon salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
Preparation:
Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until water is frothy.

Combine flour and salt in large bowl.

Make a small depression in the middle of lour and pur yeast water in depression.

Slowly add 1 cup of warm water, and stir with wooden spoon or rubber spatula until elastic.

PLace dough on floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes. When the dough is no longer stick and is smooth and elastic, it has been successfully kneaded.

Coat large bowl with vegetable oil and place dough in bowl. Turn dough upside down so all of the dough is coated.

Allow to sit in a warm place for about 3 hours, or until it has doubled in size.

Once doubled, roll out in a rope, and pinch off 10-12 small pieces. Place balls on floured surface. Let sit covered for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 500 deg F. and make sure rack is at the very bottom of oven. Be sure to preheat your baking sheet also.

Roll out each ball of dough with a rolling pin into circles. Each should be about 5-6 inches across and 1/4 inch thick.

Bake each circle for 4 minutes until the bread puffs up. Turn over and bake for 2 minutes.

Remove each pita with a spatula from the baking sheet and add additional pitas for baking.

Take spatula and gently push down puff. Immediately place in storage bags.

Storing Pita Bread

Pita bread can be stored for up to a week in a pantry or bread box, and up to a month in the freezer. Be sure to use freezer bags when storing in the freezer.

CROISSANTS(FRANCE)

2cups plain flour1tsp salt
1tbsp sugar1cup milk
15g fresh yeast1cup butter
1 egg beaten

mix the flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl.
make a well in the center.
heat the milk to luke warm temperature.
pour into the well along with the yeast
work to a smooth and elastic dough.
the process will take about five minutes.
cover it with a cloth and let it rise for about an hour.
when the dough is well risen, incorporate all the butter in the dough.
cover with a plastic wrap, and chill it in the refrigerator for about 30minutes.
take out the dough and roll it into a very large(approx 2ftx1 1/2ft) rectangle.
take a triangula template
cut out triangular shapes from the entire rolled out dough.
roll each triangle(dough) up starting with the wide size first to form a crescent. this creates the croissants.
place the croissants on a baking sheet.
lightly brush with the beaten egg.
let it rise for about 30minutes,till double in size.
bake it in a 200cent.
preheated oven for about 15-20minutes or till golden, brush melted butter on top. best served hot with butter and jam.