“PEETAH” Chips

I know its PITA chips… I just like to pronounce it with a Rhode Island accent… Like Lois Griffin when she says Peter. “Pee-tah!”

Oh ya, by the way, if you actually watched the clip then you’ll have Surfin’ Bird stuck in your head til the end of time… YOU’RE WELCOME.

This post is a two-parter. I’m going to take you through the process of making “Pee-tahs” and then turning them into pita chips.

So let’s DO IT!

Pita Ingredients:

• 1 package of yeast, or quick rising yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 cup lukewarm water

First you are going to need to proof your yeast. Mix the sugar and yeast together in the 1/2 c. of warm water. Let it sit for about 10-15 minutes. It should start to look “bubbly.”

Mix the flour and salt together, and make a well in the center.

Pour the yeast mixture into the well…

Next, pour in the cup of lukewarm water and mix… mix… mix…. mix… then knead… knead… knead. You may need to slightly adjust your flour/water levels. When the dough is no longer sticky and is smooth and elastic, it has been successfully kneaded.

Place the dough in a well oiled bowl. Make sure to flip the dough over so that its completely coated.

Cover the dough with a damp towel and place in a warm spot to rise for a couple of hours.

And for the love of GOD, DO THE DISHES!

Once the dough has doubled in size, and all of the dishes are clean (… or at least shoved in the dishwasher to give the illusion of a clean kitchen…) you are ready to roll out the pitas.

Flour up your handy tupperware mat that your mom found at a garage sale… or, you know, whatever surface you have available…

 *** At this point you’ll want to preheat your oven to 500 deg F. and make sure rack is at the very bottom of oven. Be sure to preheat your baking sheet too.

Roll the dough into a log and cut it into 10-12 equal sized pieces. I cut the recipe in half for this demo, so I only have 5.

Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 6 inch rounds. They should be about 1/4 inch thick.

Place pitas on preheated baking sheet (or pizza stone in my case) and bake for 4 minutes. Flip them over and bake for another 2-3 minutes.

As soon as you take the pitas out of the oven use a spatula to press them down (they should’ve puffed up in the heat). You now have delicious fresh pitas! You can stop here or continue on to the pita chips portion below…

Pita Chips Ingredients

• 12 pita bread pockets
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Combine the olive oil, pepper, garlic salt, and basil in a bowl.

Cut the pitas into triangles (8 or so per pita) and brush them with the olive oil mixture. Bake them in a 400 F oven for about 8 minutes or until brown and crispy. They will smell AMAZING!

Serve warm pita chips with some delicious hummus! HOORAY!

Peetah Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 package of yeast, or quick rising yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 cup lukewarm water

Preparation:

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until bubbly.Combine flour and salt in large bowl.  Make a small depression in the middle of flour and pour in yeast mixture.

Slowly add 1 cup of warm water, and stir with wooden spoon or rubber spatula until elastic (you can also use a dough hook on your mixer).

Knead for 10-15 minutes. The dough will be ready when it is no longer sticky, but smooth and elastic.

Coat large bowl with vegetable oil and place dough in bowl. Turn dough upside down so all of the dough is coated.

Allow to sit in a warm place for about 2-3 hours, or until it has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 500 deg F. and make sure rack is at the very bottom of oven. Be sure to also preheat your baking sheet.

Once doubled, roll out in a log, and cut it into 10-12 small pieces. Place balls on floured surface.
Roll out each ball of dough with a rolling pin into circles. Each should be about 5-6 inches across and 1/4 inch thick.

Bake each circle for 4 minutes until the bread puffs up. Turn over and bake for 2 minutes.Remove each pita with a spatula from the baking sheet and add additional pitas for baking.

Take spatula and gently push down puff.

Pita Chips Recipe

Ingredients

• 12 pitas
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Cut each pita bread into 8 triangles. Place triangles on lined cookie sheet or pizza stone.
3. In a small bowl, combine the oil, pepper, salt, and basil. Brush each triangle with oil mixture.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for about 7-8 minutes, or until lightly browned and crispy.