Jalapeno, olive and sundried tomato pide

With the takeaway tally mounting in the Dally/Brooks household over the last few weeks, last weekend was time to get back in the kitchen, and I could think of no better way to be domestic than bake bread.

And this first time bread maker was for one stoked with the results - well the second batch anyway. Apparently expired yeast does not work.

When I went searching for a bread recipe I knew bread was quite labour intensive, but did not realise the time involved. Thankfully a rainy afternoon is quite conducive to mixing/kneading/proofing/checking/halving/re-kneading/re-proofing/stretching/chopping/arranging... and finally baking.

I wanted something to put toppings on as had a jalapeno craving, so decided on a pide (pee-day) - a Turkish flat bread.

I found the recipe at http://www.taste.com.au/ and followed it to the letter.

• 3 1/3 c plain flour
• 1 tsp dried yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 c warm water
• 1 Tb olive oil plus extra olive oil to grease
• 1 egg yolk

The recipe tops the bread with sesame and nigella seeds which looked amazing to someone who LOVES sesame seeds and will put them on anything I can, but I went for alternative toppings this time.

• Combine flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre, then add water. Use a wooden spoon to stir until combined, then use hands to bring the dough together in the bowl.

• Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 15 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Brush a bowl with oil to grease. Place dough in the bowl and lightly coat with oil. Cover with a damp tea towel. Set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 1-1 1/2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.

• Place a baking tray on the middle shelf of the oven. Preheat oven to 230°C. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and cut in half. Flatten slightly with hands. Place each half on separate pieces of floured, non-stick baking paper. Cover with a damp tea towel and set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 15 minutes.

• With floured hands, stretch each piece of dough into an 18 x 40 cm rectangle (a tad more difficult than expected - thought it would be hard to stretch them but not stretching them too much was the challenge and I got a tad out of control). Leave on non-stick baking paper. Cover with a damp tea towel and set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 10 minutes. 

• Whisk egg yolk and oil in a bowl. Brush the top of each pide with egg mixture. Use floured fingers to make indentations on top and sprinkle with toppings*. Remove tray from oven and slide 1 pide onto tray. Cook for about 10 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack. Repeat with second pide.

*The first one I topped with black olives, red jalapenos (which I re-hydrated from our many dried ones), and sundried tomatoes.
The second one I simply topped with finely chopped fresh rosemary and rock salt. 

I probably stretched them a tad thin in the middle but they rose well and were extremely tasty - especially the rosemary and salt one!

I also whipped up a batch of chilli chocolate cookies that weekend so felt rather virtuous. Long may it continue (sadly not for the Asian food court down the road who will miss my face every night).