Zig zag and Flatbread

I managed to get started on the zig zag quilt after I finished my walk and got the flatbread started. I just threw the blocks on the design wall for now. I will have another wide zig zag in yellow, another in light pink, and I have one more floral print that I will have to find some green tone-on-tone to go with it.

I made flatbread again last night - I keep sharing it with co-workers and friends so it goes fast. I thought I would write a tutorial for it just in case you would be interested in making some. The recipe came from Martha Stewart and it is called Julie's flatbread. I did tweak the recipe to my taste. I did double the batch in these pictures, but the recipe is for a single batch. So here goes

In a mixing bowl add:
1 1/4 teaspoons Yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons unbleached flour
pinch of sugar
1/4 cup warm water not more than 100 degrees

Mix and let sit to proof

While the yeast is proofing get a bowl and measure out your dry ingredients and stir to blend:
3 cups of unbleached flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup of herbs - I used a scant 1/4 cup the Tone's Italian seasoning that Glen of QuiltSwissy had sent me for making sauce. Martha Stewart used whole fresh rosemary needles.
Pepper per Martha Stewart, but I skipped the pepper

Meantime the yeast is proofed and ready to go

Add 1 cup of warm (not over 100 degrees) to the yeast then dump the dry ingredients all at once on top of the yeast and water. Put on your dough hook and mix just until the ball comes together. This is not like regular bread dough where you want to build up a lot of gluten. I did help it a bit by using a spatula and scraping the sides of the bowl as the dough mixed.

Dump the dough out on a lightly floured surface. You don't want to have too much more flour incorporated into the dough. The dough will be rough looking and a bit sticky.

Kneed the dough into a ball. The should only take 10 or twelve kneeds - it comes together quickly!

Put the dough in a bowl with some olive oil. I turned the dough around so it had a light coat of olive oil all over the ball - Martha did not do this, she just put the dough in the oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic and let the dough double.

Once risen, I gathered up what I needed to bake these - olive oil, grated Romano cheese, feta cheese, sesame seeds, and salt plus flour, a rolling pin, bench scraper, and baking sheets.

Take the risen dough out of the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Form into a loose roll and start cutting into pieces. A single batch - cut into 6 pieces. Here is my double batch cut into twelve pieces. Have the oven preheating to 400 degrees.

Take one piece of dough at a time, flatten it with your hands a bit using only what flour you need to keep it from sticking, then roll the dough a thin as possible. I found that sometimes I would hold the dough at one end and roll the pin with the other hand. Take the dough and put it on an ungreased baking sheet.

You might be able to only get one on a sheet, but here I must have cut my dough in small enough pieces to get two per baking sheet. I drizzled some good olive oil on each pieces and spread the oil out covering the entire piece of dough using my hand. Yes, you could use a brush.

Martha used thinly sliced vegetables on her bread, but I went with Feta on two, sesame seeds with a little salt on another, and Romano cheese on the last one. I did put a tiny, tiny bit of salt on the Feta breads, but none on the Romano cheese as it was already salty enough. This is where you get to use your imagination and try what you like! Bake for 12-15 minutes.

While those were baking I took the leftover dough and wrapped each piece in plastic. These will go into the refrigerator and I can bake them as I want over the next couple of days. Martha did not show this, but I tried it and it worked very well.

Here they are all baked. It was hard to sleep last night because the house smelled so good.

I like to cut mine into wedges (Martha didn't show this) and eat with a hot cup of tea. Can you say yum?

Let me know if you have any questions and I would love to see your flatbread!