6. FLATBREADS

You can find them on every continent, from the bubbly rubbery sourness of Ethiopian injera to paperthin Norwegian lefse, dusty with flour, to good ol American pancakes (fluffy to stretchy and everything in between, and why is it that greasy-spoon food is considered the quintessential American cuisine? anyway), flatbreads rival the almighty banana for portability and nourishment, plus you can make em yourself in far less time than it takes to grow that banana tree. Following are recipes for flatbreads from all over the place.

PANCAKES
(Dad's recipe)

Mix:
                               1X                3X                4X
Flour                          2C                6C                4C
Powdered buttermilk            6 Tbsp           1 1/8 C           1 1/2 C
Soda                           1 1/2 tsp        4 1/2 tsp         6 tsp

For every 1 cup of mix use:
3/4 C of water---more if you want thinner (and I usually do)
1/8 C of melted butter
1 unbeaten egg (but I usually beat it).
Stir only enough to wet the batter.  Stirring more causes the gluten in
the flour to stick together and makes the pancakes rubbery.  The gluten
sticking together is what makes good bread, but bad pancakes and muffins.

Eat well.  Make dollar pancakes 'cause they're fun.  I never remembered
to do that on those every weekend pancakes we used to eat.

Love, Dad

        

PALACSINTA (Hungary)

2 eggs
3/4 cup milk or soda water
salt or sugar (optional)
1 1/2 cups flour
oil to fry

Mix the cold milk and eggs with a wire whisk or an electric mixer. Slowly add the flour and keep on mixing. When the dough is very smooth, add more milk or soda water until it's about as thick as heavy cream.

Add a pinch of salt if you're going to fill the palacsinta with salty filling, or sugar if you're going to use sweet (but sugar increases the risk of the crepe sticking to the pan, and your filling is probably plenty sweet anyway). Stir thoroughly otherwise it'll stick for sure.

Put a little bit of oil into your pan (nonstick pan is best), and swirl it around to coat.

Pour about half a cup of dough into the pan, and swirl it around. Cook it on high heat, shaking the pan constantly. The dough should separate nicely from the pan. Cook until the underside is golden (it doesn't take very long) and then flip. You can use a pancake flipper or a round knife to turn it, but the experts just flip it in the air.

If the crepe disintegrates when cooked, add an egg or flour to your mix. If it's too thick, thin with soda water or milk.

Filling: cheese, spinach, jam, sugar, fruit, chocolate, cream….

TORTILLAS (Mexico)

4 c All purpose flour
1 1/2 ts Salt
1 1/2 ts Baking powder
4 tb Shortening
1 1/2 c Warm water

Combine your dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Cut in the shortening (a pastry blender works well for this, otherwise use knives). Make a well in the center and add water, a small amount at a time, to form a dough. Knead the dough in the bowl until smooth and elastic. Cover and set aside for ten minutes.

Form dough into egg-sized balls and flatten em between your palms. (They stick less if you grease up your hands.) With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a 6 inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Cook on a preheated ungreased skillet over medium high heat, until your tortilla looks slightly speckled (about two minutes per side). Cover em with a clean towel to keep warm and soft until you eat. You can also freeze em for later.

LEFSE (Norway)

6 cups riced* or mashed russet potatoes
1 tsp. salt
3 T. margarine or butter
1 T. sugar
2 T. heavy cream or evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Combine all ingredients except flour; refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Add flour; mix well. Heat lefse or other griddle to 400 degrees. Form dough into long roll and cut into 12 sections. Form each section into a small ball. Roll out very thin with cloth-covered lefse or regular rolling pin on cloth-covered lefse board or other surface. Dust board with flour when turning lefse dough. Bake on ungreased griddle until brown spots appear. Turn and bake other side. Stack lefse between 2 towels to cool. Store in refrigerator in plastic bags. Can be frozen.

* "riced" when applied to potatoes means cooking em and squeezing them in a giant garlic press till they come out in little blobby bits that look kind of like grains of rice.

INJERA (Ethiopia)

1 cup whole wheat flour (a finely milled type such as chapati flour works well- you can also substitute buckwheat flour) 1 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups club soda

Combine flour and baking soda in a large bowl.

Add club soda, stir well to form a thin batter.

Heat a large well-seasoned or non-stick griddle until hot. Brush lightly with oil.

Using a large cup or ladle, begin on the outside of the griddle and pour in a circle around the inside edges until the center is filled in. Quickly tilt the griddle back and forth to fill in any holes and spread evenly. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until surface is spongy and filled with tiny air bubbles. Do not flip the bread - just slide off griddle onto a large plate. Continue cooking injera until batter is used, transfering them to the plate as they are done. Arrange them around the outside edges of the plate so that the centers overlap. Serve immediately with a meat or vegetable stew.

PITA BREAD (middle east)

2 cups flour
2 1/4 tsp. quick rise yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups hot water
1 to 1 1/2 cups flour

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Beat well about 1 minute. Then mix in the remaining flour, using just enough to make a soft, not sticky dough. Turn out on floured board and continue to knead for 5 minutes. Divide into 10 balls. Roll out each one to about 1/4 inch thick and 6 inches in diameter.

Place on very lightly greased cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Let rise in warm place for 25 to 35 minutes.

Bake at 450 for 4 min. and then turn over for 4 more minutes or until lightly brown. Wrap immediately in a dish towel for 3 or 4 minutes.