Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Armenian Flat bread with sesame seeds (Churek)

The previous recipe said to use this bread for "sopping."  My pilaf definitely didn't have anything to "sop." but the bread had a great flavor.  The directions said to roll it as thin as possible - under 1/4 inch thick.  I don't think they understood that I can roll tortillas and crispy pizza dough really really thin.  One of these ended up a bit thicker than the rest, and I think we determined we liked it the best.
 I also kept baking them to get them golden, but I think the paler ones were a bit better because they weren't as dry.  They were still golden on the bottom.  The flavor what wonderful, but what bread wouldn't be with a stick of butter in the batter.  This was a really sticky dough.  I think I may have even added a full extra cup of flour.  When I first finished mixing, the dough was soo sticky I couldn't imagine rolling it thin, so I started adding flour.  I added so much that I wondered if I had just miscounted and only added 5 cups.  I'd have to make it again to find out.  Even adding the full extra cup of flour, it was still plenty sticky for a bread dough, but after it's rise, it was not so sticky that I couldn't roll it out with the help of a little cooking spray. I also didn't follow the directions for mixing very well.  They had you mix part of the water and part of the sugar with the yeast to bloom the yeast, but I just did it all at once, and I'm writing the directions as I made them.  These take up a ton of space to cook.  I only got 2 on a cookie sheet.  Luckily I have double ovens, so I actually cooked 6 at a time.  That helped dinner be ready quicker, and the remaining breads cooked while we were eating.  Both recipes are from this book which I have checked out of the library.

Ingredients

  • 1 package active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
  • 3 teaspoons sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
  • 6 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2-3 Tablespoons sesame seeds
Directions
  1. In a mixing bowl, combine yeast, sugar and water.  Let rest while gathering the remaining ingredients. (Get the flour, melt the butter...)   Add the flour, butter, then salt.  Mix until a soft, spongy dough is formed.  (I mixed until it wasn't sticking to the sides of my mixing bowl.)  Cover and let rise until double.
  2. Preheat oven to 350.  Place dough on lightly greased (or floured) surface.  Divide into 10 equal pieces.  Shape into balls and using lightly greased (or floured) rolling pin, roll each ball into a disk as thin as possible.  Place 2-3 disks on a nonstick baking sheet (I just sprayed mine with cooking spray.)  Using a spray bottle filled with cold water, lightly mist each disk with water and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  (I actually used a spray butter.  I also could definitely only fit 2 as thin as I rolled them, but I would leave them a little thicker next time.)  
  3. Bake for 20-25 minutes until loaves are golden brown.  Allow to firm up for 10 minutes before transferring to wire rack.  Continue baking remaining loaves in batches.

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