Stretch Bread with GMC filling

 baking bread at home is such an awesome feeling…the dough reacting with yeast and doubling itself and so soft to touch – the dough was behaving just as the recipe was asking it to do. Baking with yeast for some reason is scary – the temperature of water needs to be right and the yeast has to be whisked right (this really makes me nervous – this step has led to a couple of failures before! shhhhh). This recipe has been bookmarked since a year and now that I am baking more frequently than before – I thought lets give it a TRY and see where it goes. It’s a basic flatbread recipe with Garlic, Mayo and Cheese filling – I love love love garlic and used it as a filling inside the flatbread rather than applying it on top of the flatbread as the original recipe was calling for – just for fun :). Today was the day – all was happening as per the recipe – so let’s get started 🙂

Recipe source – A passion for baking (by Marcy Goldman)

This is what you need:
For the Dough
1 cup warm water (100*F to 110*F) – Very Very IMPORTANT! 🙂
3/4 teaspoon rapid rise yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cups bread flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Garlic Mayo and Cheese (GMC) filling
6 cloves of garlic – finely minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 cup grated cheese (Parmesan or Mozzarella)
6-7 black peppercorns
12-15 basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
garlic powder (optional)

This is how you make
– Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and drizzle with olive oil.
– In a mixer bowl – whisk water and yeast together and leave it aside for 2-3 minutes. Briskly whisk in salt,sugar and most of the flour to form a soft dough. I kneaded with my hands for about 5-6 minutes adding more flour as necessary till the dough was resilient but not tough (alternatively – you use can knead with the dough hook using a stand mixer for about 5-6 minutes). knead it with some olive oil in and then cover the mixing bowl and let dough rise until double in size – this will take about 2-3 hours.
– Afte 2-3 hours, deflate the dough and knead it gently for less than a minute and cover it again.
– Now lets prepare the filling – (you can also use this as a topping – I was just being adventurous :))
      – Using a mortar and pestle, mash garlic,peppercorns,basil leaves, garlic powder to a fine paste. Remove to a bowl. Now fold in mayonnaise, grated cheese and seasoning and some oil.
– Deflate the dough on your workarea and stretch it a long oval (18X8 inches). Place on the prepared baking sheet and using a spoon, spread the filling over half of the dough – leaving about an inch of space from the edge (this will make it easy to fold the dough).
Now fold the other half of the dough on top of the filled part and press the edges – basically seal the filling.
 This is how it should look like. Drizzle olive oil – some grated cheese and italian seasoning.
– Preheat oven to 375* and bake bread for 30 minutes until golden brown and crisp on outside.

– Let cool slightly and slice into sticks – serve with marinara sauce or cream cheese or just as is.
I liked it and husband complimented saying “Good Job” – so I guess there will be a second time for this one soon – maybe with a different filling? 🙂 Yes – will follow the steps with the yeast – but will experiment with different variations to the filling.

On a different note – I am happy that I have started participating in the recipe exchange for this holiday – the different themes are making me experiment different aspects of baking 🙂 and so far its been fun fun fun…

“Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Red Star Yeast.”

AND also sending it to Serve it baked-savory by Krithi, and Denny

Carpe diem.