This recipe for sumac-dusted roast chicken is not only easy to prepare, but is also an excellent introduction to the spice called sumac, and by extension, the charming simplicity of Lebanese cookery. The purple-maroon spice is used extensively in this cuisine; canisters of ground sumac take the place of ground pepper in most Lebanese restaurants I’ve visited.

A sour spice ground from dried shrub berries to a gritty consistency, sumac is used much like vinegar, lemon juice, or tamarind. It has a pleasant tanginess similar to tart apples, making it seem less harsh than the other aforementioned souring agents. Sumac is probably best known as an essential component in the savory spice blend Zaatar, where it is mixed with thyme and toasted sesame seeds.

Sprinkled with sumac and olive oil, the chicken is roasted over a bed of slivered onions and pita bread. The outer edges of the pita bread will crisp, contrasting sharply against the moist center soaked with olive oil and juices from the roasting chicken. The pita bread essentially turns into a Lebanese take on stuffing, but with a bit of crunch.

Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Zorra of Kochtopf

recipe adapted from Mary Laird Hamady’s Lebanese Mountain Cookery

Djaj Bi Summak
Chicken with Sumac, Roasted over Onions and Pita Bread

makes 4 servings

4 loaves pita bread (6 to 8 inch round), or any flatbread
1 onion, thinly sliced, about 1 cup
Salt and pepper, to taste
5 tablespoons ground sumac
4 chicken leg quarters, or 1 3-pound chicken cut into serving pieces
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Notes:

• The original recipe calls for tearing the bread into smaller pieces but I prefer to keep the pita whole. Each pita loaf can serve as a serving platform for the chicken. Just lift and plate.
• If using stale or dry pita bread, spray or sprinkle both sides with water before using in the recipe.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 450°F/232°C.

Drizzle the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish lightly with olive oil. Stagger the pita bread loaves on the baking dish and top each loaf with the thinly sliced onions. Season the pita bread loaves with salt and pepper and dust with about 3 tablespoons of the ground sumac.

Trim any excess fat from the chicken pieces. Place the chicken leg quarters on each of the pita bread loaves and season liberally with salt and pepper. Dust with the remaining 2 tablespoons of ground sumac. Drizzle the bread and chicken with about 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil.

Bake at 450°F/232°C for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour, checking every 15 minutes to ensure that the pita bread does not burn. Cover the baking dish loosely with aluminum foil if the pita bread is browning too quickly.

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Sumac Chicken – Roasted over Onions and Pita Bread

Similar Posts:

1. Whole Wheat Pita Bread – How to Get Pockets
2. Steamed Lemon Chicken
3. Grilled Chicken with Espelette Pepper
4. Chicken in Red Sesame Seed Sauce
5. Chinese White Cut Chicken
6. Chicken Adobo in Coconut Milk

Whenever pita bread is puffing up in my oven, a bowl of baba ghanoush glazed with olive oil is surely waiting nearby. In this classic Middle Eastern appetizer, roasted eggplants are mashed and flavored with tahini, a sesame seed paste equally useful in Asian cookery, particularly in Japanese Cuisine, where it can be used in savory dips and sauces.

Long considered the other Middle Eastern dip, baba ghanoush unfairly takes a backseat to hummus as the accompaniment of choice to pita bread wedges. I have a slight preference for the texture of the roasted eggplants in baba ghanoush. Whereas the chickpeas in hummus have to be pureed, using a fork instead of a bladed machine to tease the baba ghanoush into a light puff of beige makes all the difference.

recipe adapted from Claudia Roden’s The New Book of Middle Eastern Food
Yeastspotting at Wild Yeast Blog

Baba Ghanoush
Roasted Eggplant and Tahini Dip

serves 2 as a side dish

2 medium or large eggplants, about 1 pound
1 small garlic clove, finely minced
2 tablespoons tahini / sesame seed paste
juice of 1 lemon
salt, to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)

parsley, coarsely chopped (optional)
olive oil

Notes:

• For the best texture, use a plain old fork instead of fancy food processors or blenders to mash the eggplants and mix the ingredients together.

Instructions:

Prepare a grill or preheat a broiler. Prick the eggplant skin with a fork or skewer to allow steam to escape while cooking.

Grill or broil the eggplants for about 15 to 30 minutes, turning frequently until the eggplants are charred and slightly wrinkled. Let the eggplants cool briefly (just enough time to take a picture or two).

If it didn’t already explode while cooking, split the eggplants and scoop out the flesh. Discard the skin. Using a fork, squeeze out excess moisture from the eggplants and drain the bitter liquid.

Mash the eggplants with a fork until creamy. Add the finely minced garlic, tahini, and lemon juice slowly while mixing. Season with salt and add the ground cumin (if you are using it). Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

To Serve:

Top with coarsely chopped parsley and/or drizzle with olive oil. Serve with freshly baked pita bread wedges.

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Baba Ghanoush – Eggplant and Tahini Dip

Similar Posts:

1. Pumpkin Seed Dip of the Mayans – Ha Sikil Pak
2. Grilled Eggplants, Japanese-Style (Yakinasu)
3. Ginataang Gulay – Vegetables Simmered in Coconut Milk
4. Sumac Chicken – Roasted over Onions and Pita Bread
5. Cremini Mushroom Toast
6. Gamja Jeon – Korean Potato Pancakes

When trying out a new recipe, do you sometimes get the feeling that it’s just not going to work? Finding out towards the end of cooking can be frustrating but luckily, the warning signs for this country-style whole wheat pita bread were obvious early in the process. While kneading by hand, the dough basically refused to come together for me.

Using the highest recommended amount of whole wheat pastry and all-purpose flour, I ended up with an excessively sticky paste that no amount of slapping and folding improved. It kept tearing and kneading wasn’t an option — it stubbornly adhered to fingertips, palms, and countertops. The whole wheat pastry flour I used must have been really low in protein and unsuitable for making bread dough (using conventional kneading methods, that is).

Bread Baking Buddies: Country-Style Whole Wheat Pita
hosted by llva of Lucullian Delights

Adding more flour was an option but the dough did have some structure — it just wasn’t strong enough. I couldn’t continue with the recipe as instructed so I had to tweak the recipe a bit: plop the gooey mass in a bowl and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight.

While in cold storage, the flour gets fully hydrated, improving its gluten-forming and steam-trapping properties without kneading.

If you ever try this recipe using the whole wheat pastry flour from Bob’s Red Mill, then consider my tweaks below if you run into the same problems. For the original country-style whole wheat pita recipe that seemed to work nicely for everyone except myself, please visit Lucullian Delights.

formula adapted from Levy Rose Beranbaum’s The Bread Bible

Country-Style Whole Wheat Pita

sixteen 6-inch round flatbreads

Final Dough Formula:

Ingredients                  Volume          Ounces          Grams
whole wheat pastry flour          3 cups         13.5          383
all-purpose flour             3 1/2 cups         15.75         447
water, room temperature       2 1/2 cups         20            567
instant yeast                     1 tsp
kosher salt                       1 tbsp           .375         10
olive oil                       1/4 cup           2             60

Tips on Getting the Pockets in your Pita Bread:

• To get the pockets in your pita, let the dough form a skin to help trap steam and puff the dough into balls. After dividing, form the pieces of dough into tight balls, pinching the bottom to seal. Rest for at least 15 minutes to relax the gluten, roll into thin rounds, and let the disks rest undisturbed for another 15 minutes before baking.
• Roll the dough thinly, at most 1/8-inch thick. Let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes to relax the gluten if it keeps springing back into shape.
• Try to get the dough as round as possible so it can puff into a ball more readily. Liberally dust the counter and rolling pin with flour to prevent sticking and help the dough spread out more evenly.

Final Dough Instructions:

Mix             Mix all of the ingredients until evenly incorporated.

Rest            Overnight (8 to 24 hours)

Divide          16 pieces

Preshape        tight ball

Rest            15 minutes

Shape           Use a rolling pin to flatten into 6-inch rounds

Rest            15 to 30 minutes

Preheat Oven    As high as it will go, preferably with a baking stone
                8-10 inches from the top heating element. Once preheated,
                turn on the broiler and leave the door slightly ajar to
                keep the broiler fired up.

Bake            Bake until fully puffed and the tops are speckled with
                dark brown spots. It may take anywhere from 4 to 8
                minutes.

The most important gadget in my kitchen: a weathered bone-white baking stone. And the oven itself. Otherwise the baking stone is nothing but an unwieldy serving tray.

Getting warmer.

Let the tops brown slightly. Watch out for steam as you take it out.

Best Served Immediately

There’s really no need to cool. Just throw on a plate and serve while still puffed.

2 misshapen crispy loaves and my favorite letter.

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Whole Wheat Pita Bread – How to Get Pockets

Similar Posts:

1. Sumac Chicken – Roasted over Onions and Pita Bread
2. Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
3. Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread – 100% Whole Wheat
4. Honey Wheat Sandwich Bread – 100% Whole Grain
5. Pumpkin Quick Bread – Whole Wheat with Walnuts
6. Whole Rye and Wheat Sourdough