Baked Feta and Pita Bread

Baked Feta: Dh bought me Food From Many Greek Kitchens by Tessa Kiros, who I'd never heard of until starting a group blogging project. I'm thrilled to have been introduced to this chef--everything we've tried so far has been great. This baked feta is the absolute best. It is simple--I didn't even really measure the ingredients out--and the results are excellent. The combo of feta, bell pepper, and tomatoes is flavorful and perfect for bread. Served it with homemade pita from the same cookbook...best things I've had in a while. The downside is that as it cools, the feta is hard to manage. Eat fast!

Baked Feta
Michelle (MMmom) from Food From Many Greek Kitchens by Tessa Kiros

About 7 oz feta, crumbled
finely chopped green pepper
finely chopped tomato
1-2 TBSP olive oil
1-2 pinches dried oregano
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Divide the feta between 2-3 small, shallow oven proof dishes (I used creme brulee dishes). Scatter chopped green pepper and tomatoes over the top. Drizzle with olive oil. Crush the oregano between your fingers and sprinkle over the top of each dish. Also top with a grind of black pepper. Bake until a bit crusty along the edges, about 20 minutes.

Pita: I've been using the same pita recipe for about 10 years. I like it b/c it offers different options for fats and sugars, and the results are good. However, this new recipe I tried surpassed it. The texture was fluffy, yet chewy, and perfect. One big difference in the two recipes is that the Tessa Kiros one used bread flour and I normally don't do that. But it made a ton of difference.

Pita Bread
Michelle (MMmom) from Food From Many Greek Kitchens by Tessa Kiros

2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp honey
3 TBSP warm water
1 heaping tsp salt
3 cups bread flour
6 TBSP olive oil
7 oz water

Sprinkle the yeast in a large bowl. Add the honey and 3 TBSP warm water and mix to dissolve. Leave it till it starts to activate and get frothy. Add salt, flour, oil, and 7 oz water to the dough and mix until a rough dough slumps around your spoon. Change to your hands and knead until you have a soft springy dough, 8-10 minutes. It will seem sticky at first, but that is good, so only add more flour if the dough clings to your hands.

Wipe out the bowl with an oiled paper towel. Put the dough in, cover with plastic wrap, then a heavy cloth, and leave in a warm place to puff up until about double in size (1 1/2-2 hours).

Preheat the oven to 400. Punch down the dough and divide into 8 balls. Press each ball into a flat disk with your hands and leave for 5 minutes for them to relax.

Roll out the disks into a circle about 1/6" thick. Brush lightly with olive oil and put onto unfloured baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time until they are firmed on the first side, 5 minutes or so, then turn them over and bake for another 3 minutes, or until the top surface is dry. You will finish cooking them under the broiler or in the oven when you are about to serve, so they should be a little underdone.

Remove and immediately stack them on top of each other and wrap in plastic wrap to keep them pliable. To serve, brush each side lightly with olive oil and put under the broiler to warm both sides.