I did finally buy one of Mark Bittman's cookbooks (Food Matters), but truth be told, my favorite recipe resource is still his inimitable video series, The Minimalist at the NY Times site. He has such a cute sense of humor, which comes across better on camera. Just my opinion. Also, I'm cheap and have too many cookbooks already. (Is such a thing possible?) So, this contribution is from his show, a recipe for the easiest flatbread you will EVER bake. No lie, I am here to tell you, after years of baking bread. He gives two versions of the recipe, one plain with only four ingredients: flour, water, salt and olive oil. The other has coconut milk replacing the water and incorporates curried cauliflower. That I want to try next.
Unfortunately, the bread is not all that photogenic. It's flatbread. What can I say. But the taste was lovely, crunchy on the sides from the olive oil, softer inside, the flavor of toasty grains overall. I added in some teff flour, as this bread reminded me a bit of Injera, an Ethiopian flatbread I'd made last year sometime, which is also made from teff. Besides that little variation, how could a chance to use sourdough starter be passed up? So, sue me, I can't seem to follow a recipe as given. He mentions using corn meal for part of the flour, so teff is just another grain away.
