The poppy seeds will get stuck in your teeth. It's no use trying to hide this fact. If you've got good fortune, they'll keep to the back molars. If not, you may give your dining companions the awkward experience of choosing between informing you you've got seeds in your teeth or pretending they don't notice, leaving you to discover once everyone's gone that you've spent the entire night sporting a large seed front and center. Either way, you'll likely find the poppy seeds lingering beyond the last bite. But good grief, it is well worth it: for this is excellent bread.
A trio of seeds gives the flatbread its bespeckled hue: poppy, sesame, and mustard. They give the soft bread a satisfying crunch and nutty taste.The poppy flavor comes through best, but the mustard adds a steady heat and the sesame seeds contribute to the complex texture. Even without the seeds, you'd have a pretty tasty bread—dense, with a crisp crust. Shaped and baked in ovals, the fat flatbreads can become vessels for pizza toppings, dips, or—always a personal favorite—cheese. I like to keep mine on the plump side. But stretch out the forgiving dough a little more, and you'll get a lean, but still chewy, result.
Finally, for some literary inspiration, let's hear from the Duchess. Her last moral is particularly apt when you're divvying out the flatbreads.
"Flamingoes and mustard both bite. And the moral of that is - 'Birds of a feather flock together.'"
"Only mustard isn't a bird," Alice remarked.
"Right as usual," said the Duchess: "what a clear way you have of putting things!"
"It's a mineral, I think," said Alice.
"Of course it is," said the Duchess... "there's a large mustard-mine near here. And the moral of that is - the more there is of mine, the less there is of yours."
"Oh I know!" exclaimed Alice, who had not attended to this last remark, "it's a vegetable. It doesn't look like one, but it is."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland.
Three-Seed Flatbread
Ingredients:
1 tsp. active dry yeast
1 TBSP granulated sugar or honey
2 cups water, divided
4 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading and pan
1 3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup poppy seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 1/2 TBSP mustard seeds, toasted and crushed*
3 TBSP olive oil
Directions:
--Add yeast and sugar to a small bowl. Warm 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat. When wrist temperature, pour water over the yeast and sugar and stir to loosen the sugar from the bottom of the bowl. Let sit 10 minutes, or until yeast has proofed.
--In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, and seeds. Add yeast, remaining 1 1/2 cups water, and oil. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough begins to form one large mass. Use your hands to bring the dough together and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about ten minutes. If the dough is very sticky, add more flour, 3 TBSP at a time.
--On a floured surface, separate dough into 8 pieces. Put the pieces of dough into ziploc bags; more than one ball can go in one bag, but there should be room for the dough to expand. Seal the bags and put into the fridge. Refrigerate overnight, or up to 16 hours.
--Remove dough from fridge at least one hour before you plan to bake them. Take each piece and gently stretch into an oval by using both hands to pull dough edges away from each other. Lay flatbreads on a floured surface while you work with the rest of the dough. Let shaped doughs rest for 20 minutes.
--Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Put a floured sheet pan or baking stone (I just had a cookie sheet) in the oven while it heats up. When oven is preheated, place rounds onto the sheet, as many as will fit without touching each other. Bake for 7 minutes or until breads sound hollow when tapped.
* To toast the mustard seeds, put them in a small pan and toast on medium heat 3 minutes or until fragrant and lightly browned, stirring to avoid burning them. Remove from heat and crush with a mortar and pestle or by placing in an unsealed ziploc bag and smashing the seeds with a rolling pin.
Mmmm
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