Posted in Tightwad Tuesday

Hello everyone!!! It's time again for Tightwad Tuesday!!! YEAH!!! Our wonderful host Mary over @ Canadagirl would love to have you stop by and check out the other wonderful tipsters today and join in on the fun!!

It's hot where I live. VERY HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For this reason I don't usually bake in the summer. For some reason pita's sounded wonderful and I'm too much of a tightwad to add them to my grocery list because in my mind I think "Well, I can make those. I'll save myself money by doing that." Do any of you know what it's like to deal with an overwhelming craving that will just NOT be satisfied? Huh? Anyone? Anyone? Well, if you do, you're not alone.

I say all this because I just couldn't stand it anymore. I baked today!!! I made pita's! YEEEAAAHHHH!!! (The crowd goes wild and the applause is thunderous!!!~ at least that's the way I hear it in my head! : }  )

I thought I would share in the wonderous joy of creating something that has always seemed so elusive.  I found this online @ http://www.foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2005/09/pita-pita-i-too-much-eata.html. I'm sure there are others, but this one seemed simple. Here goes...

Your ingredients are:

• 2-1/2 cups bread flour, plus more for spinkling while kneading & rolling out the dough.
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 2 tbsp good olive oil
• 1 cup warm water (105-110)

8 8-inch squares of aluminum foil for baking pitas. This is because placing the rounds on the foil rather than on a baking sheet or stone allows a softer heat to surround the dough.

In a large bowl combine 1 cup flour with the salt, sugar and yeast. Add the oil and water. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for three minutes.

This is what you'll get.

Then stir in the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time. The dough should be a rough, shaggy mass that will clean the sides of the bowl.  If the dough is moist, add a small amount of additional flour.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 6 minutes. (Or until the dough has an elastic feel to it~it'll also feel warm in your hands.)

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees.

Pat the dough into a circle and cut into 8 pieces.

I used my wonderful Pampered Chef pizza cutter to cut the dough like a pie. (It's fabulous, and yes, I'm a Pampered Chef snob!!~The tools are wonderful, quality products and they are great about replacing broken items!)

Roll into balls, dust lightly with flour and cover with a damp tea towel.  Let rest for 30 minutes.

Use the palm of your hand to flatten each ball into a disk. Finish with a rolling pin, flattening the dough into a disk about 6"in diameter and 3/16" thick. Their thinness is more important than making them perfectly round. Who can do that anyway? I know I can't.

Place each round on a square foil, and carefully place 3 or 4 of the rounds directly on the oven rack. Bake for 5 to 8 minutes, or until they are puffed.

Repeat with remaining rounds.

I learned today that you'll need to keep an eye on them. It didn't take the full 7 minutes I set the timer for. I'm sure the hotter, drier weather has a lot to do with that.  When you remove the breads from the oven, stack them up and wrap them in a large piece of foil.  This will keep the dough soft while the tops fall, leaving a pocket in the center. 

Cut them in half (so you can fill the pocket) and serve warm or at room temperature.

As you can see by the wonderful assistance I had from  Cooper kid for this great shot, we didn't wait until they were cool.  He was hovering close by just waiting until they were done! I'm finding out that teenage boys are like that when there's food involved!! Work, not so much!!

If you decide to wait until they're cooled, make sure you wrap them up tightly. You can also freeze them. You just need to wrap tightly in aluminum foil, place in a zipper bag and freeze. It only takes about 5 minutes to thaw them at room temperature. To reheat, stack several in a pile, wrap in foil and place in a 375 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

I hope you enjoy these wonderful 'pockets'!!!

I know I did!