My love for food was definitely stemmed from my family, and they were the ones who first got me into the kitchen. My mum especially was the one who taught me the basis of cooking, and I learnt my first bake from her (which was a Swiss roll). Nowadays, whenever I go back to my family home in Scotland, I always enjoy spending time in my old kitchen and baking (especially seeing how the one in my apartment is tiny!)

It was a very rainy day outside today with lightning and thunder (typical Scottish weather lol), which made it a perfect stay-at-home day for more baking.😉 My mum is my biggest critic, but every now and then we will work together in the kitchen despite the potential bickers.😅 While I am the stronger baker, my mum has always been the stronger cook. So, we worked to our strengths to create some stuffed pita breads with me making the bread and my mum in charge of the fillings.😋

My mum prepared the filling by marinating some beef shoulder and then stir-frying them quickly in the pan, and finished with some toasted sesame seeds. In addition, she prepared a lettuce and red-onion salad. And they were delicious when stuffed into the pocket of the crispy pita bread. 🤤🤤 It was a match made in heaven!

The recipe for my pita bread can be seen below, which was found (yet again 😂) from the recipe in ‘How To Make Bread’ by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou. (Honestly, I will say again if you’re interested in bread making, get this book!)

Pita Breads

Quantity: 6 pita breads

Ingredients:

200g / 1⅔ cups plain/all-purpose flour

4g / ¾ tsp salt

1g / ¼ tsp dried/active dry yeast

120g / ½ cup warm water

Method:

1. Mix the flour and salt together in a mixing bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, add the warm water to the yeast and stir until the yeast has dissolved.

3. Add the yeast solution to the flour mixture. Mix using a wooden spoon and your hands until they come together to form a dough.

4. Cover the dough and let it stand for 10 minutes.

5. After the 10 minutes, knead gently by pulling a portion of the dough up from the side and pressing it into the middle. Repeat another 8 times and the dough should start to resist. Afterwards, cover again and let it stand for another 10 minutes.

6. Repeat step 5 twice.

7. Knead the dough for the last time. Then, cover and let rise for 1 hour, or until it has doubled in size.

8. Punch down the dough to knock out the air and place it on a lightly floured work surface.

9. Divide the dough into equal portions and roll each between your hands to make individual balls.

10. Cover and let it rest for 10 minutes.

11. While waiting, preheat the oven to 240C/475F/Gas 9 and place a baking tray or a roasting pan inside to preheat.

12. After the 10 minutes, use a rolling pin to roll out each ball. Cover again and let it rise for 10 minutes.

13. Dust the pita breads with flour and place on the preheated roasting pan in the oven.

14. Bake until completely puffed up. The cook time will vary, but it should be around 5-10 minutes. Afterwards, cool briefly on wire rack and then serve.

Do you have any stories and interesting cooking with your family? Feel free to let me know in the comments below!😉