Using Starter to Make Flatbreads

Needing a cheap meal? Great snack? Something that makes you feel like a hippy?  Look no further!

I had homemade hummus just a-lyin' around, and desired something amazing on which to devour it.  And there was that overabundance of sourdough starter lurking on my kitchen counter, so it just made sense...

So I took an estimated two cups of my starter, and mixed that with some flour and water.  How much flour and water?  I don't know! I don't have all of the answers!

But you basically follow the recipe in the previous post about making a loaf of bread from your starter.  You add approximately 2 to 4 cups of flour (wheat, white, whatever), some salt (1/2 to 3/4 tsp ish) and 1/2 to 1-1/2 cups of purified water to a bowl with your starter and hand mix (or if you're really special, you may opt to use the lil bread dough attachment on your fancy schmancy mixing machine, you lucky asshole).  So once it's all blended, check your consistency.  If the dough is still soggy acting (when you form a ball with it and place it in a bowl, does it immediately start to sag or "melt" down in the bowl?), add more flour to make it a bit more solid.  If the dough is too dry (is there still some dry flour in the bowl that you can't get to incorporate?  is the outside of the ball dry and floury looking?), add a bit more water and mix it some more.

Sit it in the bowl in a warmish place.  Cover it.  Let it sit for 12 hours.  Leave it alone.  Don't poke at it.  Don't cradle it in your arms while you dance to 80's music (tempting, I know).

When that is done, and you've had enough of Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot, and covers of "Footloose", grab your big ball -o- dough and divide it into 5 to 8 chunks (depending on how large or small you want your lil flat breads to be, and what the dough will allow you to do).  Get a rolling pin and a clean, flat surface, and roll it out until it's as thick as your Hooked on Phonics workbook.  Rude!  Okay, but it needs to be between 1/2" to 3/4" thick.  Too much thinner and it gets crispy and too chewy.  Too much thicker and you've lost that whole "flat bread" effect.

don't. do. this.

So, see that photo above?  It tasted great, but it was a failure.  Do what I say, not what I do.  See, my dough was too watery when I attempted this first round of bread.  So when I rolled it out and tried to put it on my preheated baking stone, it was sticky and stretchy, which made it a horrible mess.  I was in a hurry, so I just folded it over on itself, and over-floured the holy living shit out of my baking stone to keep the lil lump from sticking.  The outcome? It was too thick, so it is a bit dense, has an odd flavor in the middle, is over cooked at the edges, and has a powdery, unappealing dusting of raw flour on the outside.

But, you can kinda see what we're going for here.  I kept mine in a Ziploc bag with a paper towel (to absorb extra moisture), and I just nuked 'em in the microwave for 20 sec before consuming them (this made it warm and soft and oh so delicious).  I dipped mine in hummus, tried it with Kimchi, and melted butter over it.  There are many, many different ways to enjoy your flat bread.  Get creative.  Ooh, and they freeze well too, so you can stash some extras back for later.