Pita (פיתות)

I grew up eating pita bread sandwiches in the States. It was thin, hard, and not really flavorful. I guess it was the experience of the pita pocket sandwich that made it appealing.

I came to find out that what I had known as pita was לא בסדר, and not really pita. After coming to Israel I discovered פיתות. Real pita… it’s thick, soft, fluffy, and a bit chewy. It’s amazing!

I found a really good bakery shop in the shuk where we buy whole wheat pita. Other places have it including the local שופרסל, although this place is a LOT better. We bought it in bulk and froze it to have it on hand its so good. Well no more! I now can make my own that is as good as or better than shuk pita.

3 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tsp Yeast
1 1/2 Cups Water (slightly warm)

Mix thoroughly flour, salt, sugar, and yeast. Slowly mix in warm water 1/4 cup at a time until slightly gooey but well formed. Kneed on well floured surface for about 10 minutes until springy but still able to stay in a nice ball. Set ball in a bowl and cover. Let dough to rise in a warm area for about 2 hours until its about double in size. I put mine on the top shelf of the kitchen cabinets.

Punch the dough down to release air pockets then break dough up into 8-10 formed balls. Cover with a damp cloth for about 20 minutes to allow dough to relax.

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Preheat your oven HOT with a baking stone. I set mine to max with top and bottom burner at 250°C and convection with a pizza stone on the bottom rack.

After dough is relaxed and oven is fully heated, roll balls into 1/8″ – 1/4″ pitas on a floured surface.

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Place rolled dough in the oven on the baking stone for about 3 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when its nice and poofy.

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These are totally amazing straight out of the oven with fresh hummus.

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Next I’ll need to try my hand at Falafel and סחוג to complete the experience!

Update: I did try falafel! It’s really good and not so hard to make.

Persimmon Bread

I grew up with a persimmon tree in my families back yard, but never really liked them. After trying the persimmons in Israel, I was hooked. It’s persimmon season now so I decided to try my hand at making persimmon bread. I compiled my own recipe from others I found online. Here is what I used.

Dry Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 Cups Wheat Flour
  • 1 1/2 Cups Sugar
  • 3/4 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg (I wanted this but didn’t have any. And alas, it was shabbat)
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Allspice (I wanted this but didn’t have any. And alas, it was shabbat)

Wet Ingredients

  • 1 Cup Persimmon Puree
  • 1/2 Cup Butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 Cup Rum (Others said cognac, burbon, or whiskey which may lend better to the flavor, but I only had rum on hand)

Extras

  • 1 Cup Chopped Walnuts (pecans also sound good)
  • 1/2 Cup Raisins
  • 1/2 Cup Cranberries (dates also sound good)

Let the butter sit out until soft, then cream in eggs and rum. After mixture is really smooth, mix in persimmon. Combine dry ingredients, then slowly mix into creamed wet mixture until smooth. Mix in nuts and berries. Distribute into baking pan(s) and bake for 1 hour at 350℉. With our crazy Israeli convection oven, I did ~1 Hour at 90℃.

All in all it turned out pretty good. I think next time I’d like to have a more spiced flavor so I’ll make sure to have the nutmeg and allspice. This also would probably go really good with an only slightly sweetened cream cheese frosting.

 

Banana Bread

2 Cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (often omitted)
1/2 Cup butter
3/4 Cup brown sugar
2 Eggs
2 1/3 Cups ripe banana

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
In separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar, then add eggs and banana and mix until smooth.
Stir both mixtures together until moist.

Bake 60-65 minutes @350 degrees in 1 5×9″ bread pan

Variations: 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp cinnamon, nuts, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, chocolate chips, cranberries, blueberries, cream cheese.

Banana Bread with Chopped Walnuts

Banana Bread with Chopped Walnuts