Pita Madness

Becky-

Can't wait to see you tomorrow- wedding countdown clock at T-4 days (it's annoying now, but in a week, you'll read and smile).

In the meantime, I'll tell you a little story about a girl named Banana, who went to Israel 2 years ago. A sucker for any kind of local spice, Banana went to the market in Jerusalem and stumbled across a fragrant green spice called za'atar (see photo). The stuff has been around for thousands of years, but it took a trip halfway across the world to notice. Turns out, the spice was a mixture of thyme, marjoram, oregano, and sesame seeds- fragrant in an earthly, mildly musky way.


And it was commonly used to season thin, crispy, chewy flatbread...


Thinking she'd hit the jackpot, Banana waltzed out of the market with a 1 pound bag of za'atar and visions of homemade pita.

Fast forward 2 years. Banana is Anna, the bag of za'atar still weighs one pound, and no pita had been produced... until Sunday. Blame it on guilt, lack of pantry space, or the fact that I owed Matt a birthday dinner... regardless, a full kebab dinner was produced, with homemade za'atar pita to boot:
Here are the recipes- all worked pretty well with a few modifications.

Pita: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pitabread
*1/4-1/8 of an inch will get you a pita as thick as War and Peace... roll those suckers till they're paper thin. If you have za'atar, sprinkle pita dough with olive oil, then rub with za'atar and salt right before baking.

Shawarma: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/lamb-shawarma
*spice mixture worked well. I used a cut of lamb leg, but it was tough... recommend using the method in the recipe. Skip the sauce.

Tzatziki: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/gyro-meat-with-tzatziki-sauce-recipe/index.html
*skip the gyro meat recipe (the meat will fall apart), but the tzatziki is awesome. If you use plain greek yogurt, no need to drain.

Eggplant Fries: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/08/eggplant-fries
*Changed my life, follow this one exact

Let me know if you try this out... I'll bring za'atar with me tomorrow.

Pasta for Posterity

A ten month hiatus... at least you have an excuse with wedding planning. I've just been lazy :) So much good food from Portugal and Korea to write about, but in the meantime, I need to document my ravioli recipe. Dug my trusty recipe out of the box today only to realize it was stuck to another recipe. Several minutes of prying and praying, and it came unglued- barely. So if you don't mind, I'd like to document electronically :)

Anna's Ravioli

Pasta
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup semolina flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs
2 tblsp oil
1 tblsp water (if dry)

Combine all ingredients in Kitchenaid mixer with paddle attachment. Mix on speed 4 for 1 minute. Turn off mixer and knead by hand to gather up dry bits- there should be dry bits, and if there aren't then you've added too much liquid. Add a bit of semolina in this case. If the dough crumbles in your hand, then add 1/2 tsp of water- the dough should be a firm, grainy ball. Add Dough Hook and mix on speed 4 for 1-2 more minutes. Dough should look smooth and somewhat shiny. Allow dough to rest up to 30 minutes in plastic wrap before rolling. Roll to desired thickness with roller attachment, making sure to place on a floured surface.


Ricotta
8 cups whole milk
4 cups buttermilk
Pinch of salt
strainer lined with cheesecloth

Combine whole and buttermilk in a pot over medium high heat. Stir constantly. As milk reaches boiling point, the curds will separate from the whey. Skim off curds and place in cheesecloth- there should be roughly 2 cups. Allow to drain anywhere from 5-20 minutes, depending on how firm you prefer your ricotta. Dump drained curds into bowl and season with a pinch of salt. Fantastic when served warm over crostini (stir in basil and honey). For this purpose... we're making ravioli filling.

Ravioli filling
1 cup cooled ricotta cheese (above)
1 large egg, whisked
1/2 cup shredded pecorino
fresh cracked pepper

Combine all ingredients in bowl, stirring until just combined

Assembly
Floured counter
Boiling pot of water

On a flat sheet of raw, floured pasta dough, dollop ~1tsp filling at 1 inch intervals. Take a 2nd sheet of pasta dough and lay ontop. Press all around the edges and between dollops to begin formation of ravioli. Cut with ravioli cutting wheel (a knife will do the trick too, but the wheel makes fun edges). After cutting with wheel, gently separate ravioli and examine edges. Odds are they won't be perfect, so pinch closed to seal any popped edges. Cook ravioli in boiling water for 3 minutes. DO NOT add pasta to water until it has reached a rapid boil- otherwise, the noodles will stick together. Drain after 3 minutes, and enjoy! Really good tossed with olive oil and topped with shredded parm... or with Trader Joes vodka sauce (after this much work, you won't want to make sauce too, trust me)

Happy eating!