Easy Breezy Flatbread
If you read Mark Bittman‘s article titled Finessing Flatbread two weeks ago, you were probably psyched to learn that you could now bake flatbread at home at the snap of a finger. To be honest, I was a bit skeptical after reading the article. Not that I doubt Mr. Bittman”s skills or anything — the man obviously knows what he’s doing. But no resting, no kneading and no rolling out seemed way too good to be true. At that point, there was only one thing to do — test the recipe myself.
This recipe only calls for four ingredients: 1 cup of whole wheat flour, 1 cup 1/4 of water, a large pinch of salt and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. I didn’t have any whole wheat flour, so I used whatever I had on hand — unbleached all purpose flour. The point was really just to see whether the recipe worked or not.
Mix the flour with the salt. Then, gradually add the water while stirring with a whisk (this will prevent lumps from forming). The quantity of water you need varies depending on the moisture content of the air. Essentially, you’re looking for a batter with the consistency a thick pancake batter. When the batter is ready, pour it in a hot skillet covered with a little olive oil and bake it at 400 degrees until firm and lightly browned. You can do this on stove top too, but that obviously requires more skills and monitoring.
I started mine on the stove top to let the bottom brown a bit. Then, I stuck it in the oven. After approximately 40 minutes, the bread was ready. The final result is what you see in the picture above.
Verdict: It works! It’s fast, easy, cheap and eats like a thick flour tortilla. I will try a leavened variation of it for a fluffier flatbread.
By Raissa Nebie on April 28, 2009 | 0
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