Laffa

After five years of university I can see the end coming close. It's been a long journey. I've studied hard, studied not so hard, made friends and said goodbye to some. I dated and dumped and got dumped and got married. I baked. I started a blog, and in two weeks I'm going to start work in a law firm. As the newest legal intern in the firm I imagine that I will boldly type, translate, photocopy and correlate. I will learn how to make good coffee. And somewhere along the process I will bake brownies and bring them into the office and make the other interns like me. Sounds like a good plan, eh?


With only one paper left to finish before I get my degree Doniel and I decided that now is the best time for our honeymoon. So I'll leave you with one last recipe for now- for laffot (plural form of laffa). A laffa is a thick, soft flatbread. It is traditionally baked in an oven called a taboon- small rounds of dough are slapped onto the side of the taboon and removed minutes later all cooked and puffy. It is often used as a wrap for sh'warma, and they're sold all over Israel in markets and bakeries. When I lived in Jerusalem I used to go to the shuk (market) all the time and buy one laffa for about a shekel, and some lebeneh (strained yogurt) and cusbarah (coriander) and have lunch. I miss that! 

Try serving this with some Za'atar spice- it's a delicious middle eastern spice blend made of sumac and sesame seeds, and so delicious sprinkled over the laffa as it cooks, or for dipping! Yum! Here are some links for za'atar on Amazon: 
Zahtar (Za'atar) Spice, Hoosier Hill Farm, 1lb, Green Zatar, Za'atar Seasoning - Kosher

Here's a recipe for laffa- I made them on a heated up frying pan with a tiny bit of oil and they came out fab. They were easy to make. I'm sending this off to yeastspotting. 

Laffa
recipe from Breadman Talking (awesome bread blog!)

3½ c bread flour ?(I used all purpose)

25g (1oz) instant yeast

1½ c water

1 tbs sugar

½ tbs salt

2 tbs olive oil

1. Mix the yeast and flour in a mixer with a kneading hook. Add the water, sugar, salt, & oil and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and shiny, and slightly sticky.

(alternatively- mix by hand in a bowl, and then knead on the counter till smooth). 

2. Transfer the dough to a large greased bowl. Turn in the bowl to make sure it is covered in oil and cover with cling wrap and allow to rise to double its size. This will take about an hour or so.

3. Divide the dough into 6 parts, rolling each into a ball. Cover with a moist towel and leave for 10 minutes to rest.

4. Roll each ball into a disk 30- 35cm  (12 to 15 inches) across.

5. Toast with oil in a frying pan. Turn over when brown scorch marks begin to appear. Then, toast for minute. Stack the laffot, covered by a towel.