I once thought that pita bread was something special, beyond the skill of the home cook to make. I thought it was a gourmet type of bread, baked in such a way as to be perfectly flat, and then carefully sliced by machine to make pockets. Why else would it be so expensive?
Shows what I know. It turns out that our pita bread is nothing but a type of tortilla. Nope, I'm not even kidding. The ingredients and methods are extremely similar, and just as simple. If you can make a tortilla, you can make pita bread. And that wonderful pocket? That's not the work of either man or machine. Pitas swell when they bake, creating that pocket naturally. No surgically-accurate cutting involved.
Take the time to try it out. Homemade pita bread is easy and fun to make. It makes me wonder why store-bought pita bread is so expensive, but store-bought tortillas are so cheap. Hmm. I guess the pita bread has a better marketing department.
This is one of my favorite ways to serve pitas. I think something about steak and pitas go together perfectly.
Pita bread ingredients (makes 12):
1 1/8 c. water, slightly warm.
3 c. flour. I use plain all-purpose flour for every recipe I make. I'm too cheap to invest in cake flour, bread flour, etc. I also don't bother with name-brand flour. It never seems to affect the deliciousness of the results.
1 1/2 tsp. salt.
1 tablespoon oil. I prefer vegetable or canola oil.
1 1/2 tsp. white sugar.
1 1/2 tsp. dry yeast. This is 3/4 of a teaspoon less than the traditional yeast packet, so be sure to measure it out.
You can also add a bit of seasoning to the pita bread, if you like. I add about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of onion powder to mine.
Mix the water, sugar and yeast together in a bowl. Let it sit until the yeast is foamy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well until you have a soft dough (as usual, feel free to add more flour or water as needed). Knead on a lightly-floured surface until it's springy and elastic, anywhere from 5-10 minutes. Put the dough face-down in a lightly greased bowl, then flip it over on its back to grease both sides. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled in size.
Gently punch the extra air out of your dough. Now, it's time to put those childhood Playdough skills to work. Roll out the dough into a long "snake". Try to keep the width as even as possible. Then, cut it into 12 equal pieces with a knife. It's pretty simple to do: cut the snake in half, then cut each section in half, and keep halving the pieces until you have 12 of them.
Take each piece and roll it into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, squish the ball flat with the palm of your hand. Now, take your rolling pin and roll the dough into a circle about 6-8 inches in diameter. Leave the pitas covered with a dishtowel on lightly floured surface. Let them sit for about 20-30 minutes. They won't rise very noticeably, but they will become the very slightest bit puffy. While you're waiting, preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Yup, I said 500 degrees.
It's best to bake your pitas on a wire rack of some kind. I use the cooling racks that I normally use for baking cookies. But if you don't have a rack, a cookie sheet will work.
Lay your pitas on the rack or cookie sheet. Don't panic if the edges kinda droop through the gaps in the rack, it's not a big deal. Slide the pitas into the oven, turn on the oven light, and pull up a chair to watch the show.
It will look like nothing is happening initially. Then, you'll see your pitas start to swell. They'll puff up enormously, like pillows. Take your pitas out of the oven when they're fully puffy and have a very light golden brown tint to them. This happens very quickly....pitas can be done in anywhere from 2-4 minutes. Don't dally about pulling them out of the oven when the color is right. An extra 30 seconds can be the difference between a perfect pita and a burnt one.
Your pitas will probably have a bit of a crunch to their crust, just like any other bread. Immediately put the hot pitas into a plastic freezer bag and close it. The hot pitas will generate a lot of steam. Let the pitas steam in the bag for anywhere from 5-10 minutes. The steaming process is what gives pita bread its trademark tenderness and chew. Take the pitas out of the bag once they're soft. If you leave them in the bag for a long time, they'll get soggy.
Let the pitas sit on the counter and cool completely before storing. You can cut them in half to make pita pockets, cut a slit on one edge to make stuffable whole pitas, or just serve them as is. The pitas keep a day or two at room temperature, about a week in the fridge, or for several months in the freezer.
For the steak:
1 to 1.5 lb steak. Cut doesn't really matter, I use whatever's on sale. Usually chuck or sirloin.
2 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tblsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1 tblsp. chili powder
Juice of 2 limes
1/4 c. moijto
For the dressing:
1/2 c. mayonnaise
A few teaspoons of canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped
Other filling ingredients:
1 avocado, sliced
Jalapeno jack cheese, shredded
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Combine all the steak ingredients and let it marinate for at least 1-2 hours. Overnight is even better. Grill the steak to to the desired degree of doneness. I think medium/medium rare is perfect for this pita. Let the steak rest for 10-15 minutes, then slice as thinly as possible.
To make the chipotle mayo, mix the chopped chipotle peppers into the mayo. Do it one teaspoon at a time. Taste after each addition. Make it however spicy as you want.
Spread a bit of the mayo in each pita, then add steak, sliced avocado, cheese and cilantro. Serve warm.
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