Carrot Feta Flatbread

There's nothing like some well-timed commercialism to help keep New Year's resolutions.  How else would one explain the slew of brand new hot pink tank tops that have suddenly cropped up at my gym, right after January 1st!  Well, I'm not immune to this trend either, and since one of my New Year's resolutions -- (come to think of it, my only New Year's resolution this year) -- was  to revive this blog after a long hiatus, I was convinced that a brand new camera was just the thing to get my creative juices flowing again.

The dough, before rising...

After hours of internet research, social media poll-taking, and shameless ambushing of unwitting photography enthusiasts, I finally upgraded my trusty point-and-shoot to a brand new ILC.  ILCs or interchangeable-lens cameras are cameras that, as their name implies, come with the option of changing out the lens. This feature, and their enormous sensor size make them similar to DSLRs.  DSLRs, or digital single lens reflex cameras are those professional-looking cameras that so many people carry around in dedicated backpacks these days.  Although I'm not sure what the picture quality differences are between a DSLR and an ILC, the ILCs were very attractive to me, as they come in at a fraction of the cost, size, and weight of a typical DSLR.  My longstanding hesitation with ditching my point-and-shoot for so many years had been that I did not envision myself lugging around a bulky and expensive piece of equipment during my travels.  So, the Sony Nex ILC offered me a great compromise in terms of delivering excellent picture quality in a much-more compact and wallet-friendly package.

...and after it is risen.

Okay, that's enough with the camera-tutorial - when did this turn into a gadget blog?  Anyhow, ever since I eagerly opened up my brand new camera a few days ago, I have been in relentless pursuit of new subjects to photograph.  In that spirit, I took it out for a spin in the kitchen, as I was making these carrot and feta stuffed flatbreads, and I have to say, it did not disappoint me at all.  With my point-and-shoot, I would have struggled for hours to try and get decent non-yellow pictures, while my husband sous-chef passed through the sequential stages of patiently helping to light up my food scene, then impatiently grabbing my camera to try and get the shots himself, to finally stomping off in hunger and irritation.   Contrast that with my Sony ILC, which worked beautifully at reproducing the color and light conditions as I was photographing.  The camera comes with a 16-50 mm kit lens, which is not ideal for food photography, as it does not allow me to get very close to try and capture texture.  However, using some of the smart-shooting tips that are built in to the Sony Nex, I was still able to get far better shots in low-light conditions than I'm accustomed to.  Thus, although I envision additional lenses in my future, I'm quite content with trying to master the lens that came with the camera.

So, without further ado, as I sign off, armed with visions of culinary delights and world travels that await me and my new Sony Nex3N, I leave you with a few pictures from my kitchen to tickle your visual senses and a recipe to delight  the tastebuds. Bon appetit!

P.S. Please excuse the messy surroundings, as I was too excited to try out my camera to bother setting the stage first.  I hope that my jazzy manicure makes up for what's otherwise lacking in my presentation.

A sphere of dough, ready to roll out

Carrot-feta flatbread

For dough:

~1 1\4 cups warm water
2 teaspoons yeast

3 cups whole-wheat pastry flour (can substitute with all-purpose flour for a lower fiber alternative.  Or, use 2 parts whole wheat flour to 1 part all-purpose flour, if whole-wheat pastry flour is not handy)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons yeast
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
Olive oil, for shallow-frying

For filling:

1 C crumbled feta
6 thai green chilis, finely minced
3 large carrots, thinly sliced or grated

To make the dough:

Mix the water and yeast and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes, while the yeast starts to form bubbles in the water.
Mix all other ingredients together in a large bowl.
Add yeast-water and knead to a soft pliable dough.
As you knead, if dough is too sticky, add a little more flour.  Conversely, if dough is too hard, add some more water.

Cover with a damp cloth and allow dough to rest for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size.

In the meantime, make the filling:
Microwave carrots and chilis for ~4 minutes, or until carrots are slightly softened.
Once cooled, add crumbled feta and mix to combine.

Once dough is risen, knead gently again and separate into 8 equal size balls.

Roll balls into a smooth sphere.

Sprinkle some flour on a clean surface, and using a roller, roll spheres into a 4-inch diameter circle.

Fill each circle with a heaping tablespoon of filling and pinch shut dough shut around filling.


Using flour to prevent sticking, roll out filled dough into a large 1/2 inch thick circle.  Don't worry if some of the filling oozes out at this point; those bits will be extra delicious once you cook your flatbread and will also lend an appealing rustic charm to your creation.


Heat up a skillet and add 1 tsp oil; slap on flatbread and cook on both sides until it is dappled with brown spots and the dough is fully cooked.

Serve with a hot soup such as lentil soup or enjoy with hot tea.

Grilled Vegetable Tart

      For someone who loves to cook, I own very few cookbooks – three to be precise. 

       The most recent acquisition was one that caught my eye at the local bookstore, Powell's, on a rainy and otherwise boring Portland winter afternoon.  The moment I saw it sitting on a shelf, all new and glossy amongst its used book neighbors, I knew I was going to walk out of the shop with a new cookbook.  The book, that I’m waxing poetic about, is Plenty – celebrity UK chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s ode to fancified vegetarian cooking.  All the cookbooks that I have bought, I have bought for the pictures.  And this one is no exception.  Its pages are chock full of drool-worthy images of all manner of vegetarian foods, cooked up in innovative ways.  And luckily, I had the foresight to buy a version that lists ingredients in cups, rather than by weight.  My only complaint about the book is that the recipes don’t really lend themselves to cooking for a large crowd.  So recently, when I had over a small group of friends for a casual summer dinner in our garden, I decided to finally test-drive a couple of the recipes in the book.   

       I have to say, this cooking experience was a real joy, because for a change, I was following a recipe.  Since I had gone shopping earlier for some of the more exotic ingredients that I did not already have on hand, it was really fun throwing together familiar ingredients into a completely new dish.  For this summer meal, I cooked up Ottolenghi’s Very full tart as a substantial first course.  Ottolenghi qualifies this recipe as A fantastic Mediterranean feast, full to the brim with roasted vegetables.  This description is pretty spot on, except I would say that this tart is overflowing with roasted vegetables -- while assembling the pie, it was hard to believe that I could fit them all in.

The fancy recipe inspired this handblocked menu card -- you can see more of my designs at http://www.etsy.com/shop/5farthings

        This being the start of summer and all, I chose to grill my veggies outdoors, which gave them the added flavors that only grilling can impart.  However, if you follow the recipe from the book, you could simply roast all the veggies in the oven.  In fact, I think this recipe could easily be adapted for a hearty fall dish, bursting with various types of winter squash and dotted with a sharp cheese such as Roquefort.  Stay tuned for the fall version, I guess.
      But getting back to this tart, I think the dinner party was in agreement that the results were absolutely scrumptious.  If the rest of the recipes in this book are anywhere as good as this was, I highly recommend that you immediately trot over to your computer/book store, and order yourself a copy of this beautiful and delicious book, immediately.  And for those of you lucky enough to be in London, do check out one of Ottolenghi's many restaurants there, and leave a comment here for the rest of us to drool over.

Grilled vegetable tart – adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Very Full Tart, Plenty

Serves 8 as a first course and 4 as a main course

Ingredients

1 pie crust, either homemade or store-bought

1 red bell pepper and 1yellow bell pepper, diced into 2 inch chunks

1 medium eggplant, cut into 1 inch chunks

1 small sweet potato, diced into ½ inch pieces

1 small zucchini, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

6 T olive oil

10 sprigs of thyme, leaves stripped and coarsely chopped

1/3 C ricotta

4 oz. Feta

10 cherry tomatoes, halved

2 large eggs

1 C heavy cream

Toss together peppers, sweet potato and zucchini, half the thyme leaves, and 2 T of olive oil.  Salt to taste and grill on a hot grill until tender. 

Mix eggplant with 2 T olive oil, salt to taste, and grill until tender.

Mix sliced onions with 2 T oil, and grill until very lightly browned on both sides.

In the meantime, preheat oven to 450 deg F

Lightly grease a 9-inch loose-bottomed tart dish

Roll out pie crust dough to about 1/8 inch in thickness and of a diameter large enough to cover the inside of your tart tin, with a slight overhang over the rim

Lightly press in your dough into the tart tin, leaving a slight overhang on all sides

Cover with parchment, top with pie weights or dried bean, and blind bake pie crust for 30 minutes

Remove weights and paper and continue baking about 15 minutes more or until your crust is golden brown

Remove crust from oven and cool for about 10 minutes

While crust is cooling, beat together cream and eggs

Line bottom of crust with cooked onions

Scatter the rest of the grilled veggies evenly into the crust

Dot the pie with chunks of feta and ricotta

Gently pour the cream mixture into the remaining few crevices surrounding the veggies

Arrange the halved tomatoes on top, and press in very lightly

Sprinkle remaining thyme leaves on top

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the pie filling has set and is golden brown

Cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting

I made this a few hours before serving and kept it warm in the oven until dinner.  Before serving, I warmed it up once more by heating under a foil for 10 minutes at 350 deg F.

Serve as a main course or a substantial first course, along with a tangy salad.