My Kitchen My World- Greece

This week for the My Kitchen My world Greek challenge I decided to make a few tasty items-- first I made pita breads- which was actually really fun to do, and fairly easy once I got the hang of it. I made a Greek marinated souvlaki to stuff in the pitas and some yummy potatoes and onions for the side. I also whipped up some Greek style doughnuts for dessert.

I will definitely make these pitas again! They were really tasty and would make a great vehicle for some chicken salad in my husband's lunch.

Pita Recipe from The Fresh Loaf

Makes 8 pitas

3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon sugar or honey
1 packet yeast (or, if from bulk, 2 teaspoons yeast)
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water, roughly at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil, vegetable oil, butter, or shortening

If you are using active dry yeast, follow the instructions on the packet to active it (see the note on yeast above). Otherwise, mix the yeast in with the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the olive oil and 1 1/4 cup water and stir together with a wooden spoon. All of the ingredients should form a ball. If some of the flour will not stick to the ball, add more water (I had to add an extra 1/4 cup).

Once all of the ingredients form a ball, place the ball on a work surface, such as a cutting board, and knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes (or until your hands get tired). If you are using an electric mixer, mix it at low speed for 10 minutes.

(The purpose of kneading is to thoroughly combine the ingredients and to break down the flour so that the dough will become stretchy and elastic and rise well in the oven. A simple hand kneading technique is to firmly press down on the dough with the palm of your hand, fold the dough in half toward you like you are closing an envelope, rotate the dough 90 degrees and then repeat these steps, but whatever technique you are comfortable using should work.)

When you are done kneading the dough, place it in a bowl that has been lightly coated with oil. I use canola spray oil, but you can also just pour a teaspoon of oil into the bowl and rub it around with your fingers. Form a ball out of the dough and place it into the bowl, rolling the ball of dough around in the bowl so that it has a light coat of oil on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and set aside to rise until it has doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes.

When it has doubled in size, punch the dough down to release some of the trapped gases and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel, and let them rest for 20 minutes. This step allows the dough to relax so that it'll be easier to shape.

I heated my oven to 500 degrees and put a pizza stone in there. I let the stone heat up for 25-30 minutes before I put the pitas in.

Roll out each ball of dough into a thin circle less than 1/4 in thick. I found the thinner ones puffed better. Pop the thin dough onto the pizza stone. Close oven (I kept peeking). The dough will begin to puff-- sometimes it did, sometimes it didn't. As you practice you will get a feel for the dough and start figuring out what makes them puff and what doesn't. My puffed when they were thin and I left them in for a little longer. Once they puff (about 2-3 min) flip with tong and cook for a minute longer. Use tongs to remove and put in a nice towel and cover. Repeat for the other pitas.

Souvlaki Marinade:
I have lots of fresh herbs in the garden right now so I added lots of yummy flavors. Use what you have fresh or dried- I'm sure it will taste great
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbs fresh oregano
1 tbs fresh rosemary
1 tbs fresh basil
1 tbs fresh thyme
2 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Mix ingredients together.

Cut the meat (I used pork for some of the skewers, chicken for some other skewers) into chunks- marinade meat for a few hours or overnight.

Thread onto bbq skewers (you can add veggies if you want) and grill until lightly charred and meat is cooked through.

Pull off skewers and put into the pitas! Eat and enjoy.

Potatoes with Onions


Greek Doughnuts from Yum Sugar

1 envelope active dry yeast
3 cups warm water
4 cups flour
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
Vegetable oil, for frying

For the syrup:
2 cups honey
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup water

Cinnamon, ground, to taste

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in 2 cups warm water, proof for 5 minutes. Add 2 cups of flour to the yeast mixture, whisk to incorporate. Add in the milk and eggs. When fully mixed, add in the other 2 cups of flour. Batter should be thick but not solid, if necessary, thin with more water. Whisk in vanilla. Cover and let rise for about 2 hours.

For the syrup, in a small pot mix together the honey, sugar, and water and bring to a boil, turn down and simmer until completely dissolved and keep warm.

Heat the oil to 360 degrees and with a large spoon, drop the batter into the hot oil. It will immediately puff and come to the surface. When golden brown on both sides, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Drizzle with warm syrup and sprinkle with cinnamon. Serve immediately.

Overall this meal was really great! The meat was extremely flavorful (I had the chicken skewers, my husband had the pork). The potatoes and onions were to die for-- I ate all the yummy caramelized onion bits before the night was over. My husband enjoyed the greek doughnuts and I thought they were good, but prefer the chewier Italian Zeppole to this lighter fluffier fried dough.