Greek barley bread

I have yet to find a favorite bakery in The Hague. I was tricked into believing I had found it but no, I’m a tough customer. The quality of the bread went from good to bad to worse and I couldn’t have that.

There is one excellent French bakery in the city center that makes amazing baguettes that could rival those in Paris. There’s another one in my neighborhood that makes passable sourdough bread, and a couple others that promise a good multigrain but they miss the mark most of the times.

So now I’m back to scratch, seeking the bakery that does offer good bread. That’s all I want, good bread. A loaf that’s full of flavor, full of substance. A loaf that’s not too fancy, one that will make me go back to it again and again, planning my meals around it; soups, stews, runny eggs.

The thing is, I love bread. I simply can’t have a meal without it and as a person who eats a lot of bread, I realize that it needs to be at the very least of good quality and healthy, with good grains and not that whiter than white, fake thing that aspires to be a sponge rather than bread, packed with sugar and god knows what else. You know, the kind you’ll find at super markets.

Don’t get me wrong, I like white bread, I enjoy white bread, but if I’m going to eat it, I want it to be excellent.

I wish I had the time to make my own bread every single day but unfortunately that’s not possible. Whenever I do have time to make bread, I make the kind I love the most; the types of loaves I crave. One of them is this traditional Greek barley loaf.

It has an earthy, nutty flavor that’s difficult to find in other loaves. It has a hard crust and a soft yet dense crumb that’s ever-so-slightly moist with a distinct texture from the barley and whole wheat flour.

It is the ideal bread for dunking into sauces, into good Greek extra-virgin olive oil or into the juices of anything scrumptious you’ve cooked. It’s great cut into chunks and added into salads, made into croutons to have a kind of bite-sized Greek dako, accompanied by raw vegetables and some feta, made into a good sandwich.

Come to think of it, perhaps I should stop trying to find a good bakery and stick to my own bread for a while.

Greek Barley Bread

One of the things I love about this bread, apart from its flavor, is that it’s easy to make by hand. I never use a stand mixer for this like I do for other breads, because it comes together so easily and you don’t need to knead it for a long time.
Also, it keeps very very well for 4-5 days. You can’t say that for many breads now can you?

Yield: 1 loaf (900 g)

Ingredients
270 g whole barley flour
155 g whole wheat flour
150 g white strong bread flour
11 g instant dried yeast
½ Tbsp caster sugar
30 ml extra virgin olive oil
350 ml lukewarm water
¾ tsp sea salt

Special equipment: large bowl (large enough to knead the bread in with your hands), plastic wrap, Dutch oven, or pizza stone, or baking sheet for baking the bread, baking paper


Preparation
In a large bowl, add the flours, the yeast and sugar and mix well with a wooden spoon. Make a well in the middle and add the olive oil, water and salt. Mix with your hands until you have a rough dough and then start kneading. It will need about 5 minutes of kneading before you have a pliable dough that’s not sticking to your hands or to the sides of the bowl but remains slightly sticky. The dough will be kind of heavy due to the type of flours used, it will not be airy and light like a dough made exclusively with white flour.

Shape the dough into a ball and place it in the bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place, allowing the dough to proof and double in size. It will take about 40 minutes to proof, depending on how warm the room you leave it in is.

Notes on baking the bread
I have baked this bread many times, mainly in three different ways: in a Dutch oven, on a pizza stone, and on a regular baking sheet. I have the best results when I bake it in the Dutch oven and on the pizza stone, and in the latter case I also put a baking pan to the bottom of the oven and as soon as I place the bread on the stone, I throw some ice cubes in the baking pan which creates steam; the steam allows the bread to rise without forming a crust right away and it also results in a perfect, crisp crust. The same result is achieved with the Dutch oven, because steam is created inside it as the bread bakes.

You can of course bake the bread on top of a baking sheet and add a baking pan to the bottom of the oven and then add ice cubes, but the pizza stone really makes a difference in the way the bread is baked because the stone (as well as the Dutch oven) retains heat well and it creates a beautiful texture to the crust, even at the bottom of the bread, whereas on a baking sheet, bread tends to easily burn on the bottom.

I don’t mean to discourage you in case you don’t have a Dutch oven or pizza stone but I want to be honest about the end result.

For baking in a Dutch oven or on a pizza stone, preheat your oven to 225 degrees Celsius / 435 Fahrenheit and place the Dutch oven (with the lid) or pizza stone in the oven. If you want, place a baking pan to the bottom of the oven to add the ice cubes later.
For baking on a baking sheet, preheat your oven to 180-185 degrees Celsius / 350-365 Fahrenheit.

Once the dough has proofed, take it out of the bowl and knead it for a few seconds just to deflate it a bit on a clean surface (don’t flour the surface). It should feel smooth, somewhat soft and not sticky. Shape it into a ball and then press the top to flatten it. Using a large knife, slash the top (see photograph) and then:

If you’re baking in a Dutch oven (I use this one), take a large piece of baking paper, crimp it and line the Dutch oven with it. Place the dough on the baking paper, put on the lid and place Dutch oven in the oven. Immediately turn heat down to 190 degrees Celsius / 375 Fahrenheit and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for about 25 minutes more, until the bread has taken on a golden brown color.

If you’re baking on a pizza stone, dust it with semolina before adding the dough on top. (If you’ve put a baking pan at the bottom, add at this point 10-12 large ice cubes and close immediately the oven door). Turn heat down to 190 degrees Celsius / 375 Fahrenheit and bake for about 50 minutes, until the bread has taken on a golden brown color.

If you’re baking on a baking sheet, line it with baking paper, add the dough on top and bake on the low rack of the oven for 40 minutes. Then transfer the baking sheet to the middle rack of the oven and bake for a further 25-30 minutes, until the bread has taken on a golden brown color.

As a general rule, a bread loaf is ready when it makes a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.

Remove the bread from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy!!

The Peinirli

Soutzouki and pastourmas have always been staples in my fridge in Greece. Here in Holland they’re impossible to find and even if I do manage to scare up something that resembles any one of them, their taste and quality is a far cry from what I’m used to.

One of the things I brought back with me from Greece, besides the good supply of chocolates, are these two delicacies. Soutzouki, as I’ve previously mentioned, is a spicy fresh sausage made nine out of ten times with beef meat, and pastourmas is seasoned, spicy air-cured beef.

The best way to eat these two is to simply slice them and serve them with a chunk of fresh bread and a shot glass of ouzo; they make the perfect meze on a warm summer evening. On the other hand, a wonderful way to savor them is adding them to a peinirli.

The Greek word Peinirli (Πεϊνιρλί) derives from the Turkish word Peynirli which translates to “with cheese” (peynir means cheese in Turkish). Peinirli is a boat- or rather canoe-shaped yeasted bread, similar to the Turkish pide but larger, with a dough that’s soft inside and beautifully crusty but not hard on the outside.

Peinirli is beloved by all Greeks, especially those whose families come from Constantinople and Smyrni as mine, but also Pontus. When Greeks from Pontus (the Greek name for the Turkish Black Sea south coast) arrived in Greece in the 1920’s after the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, some of them settled in Drosia, an Athenian suburb, and opened restaurants that served their specialty, the peinirli. Till today, Athenians make the almost one-hour trip by car to Drosia to have the best peinirli in Greece.

One more thing that makes peinirli unique and delicious is its fillings, with the traditional one being the Greek kaseri cheese that sizzles in the middle of the risen baked dough, and the butter that needs to be added as soon as the little doughy boat comes out of the oven so it can melt gloriously on top of said cheese.

Peinirli can have various other fillings like minced meat, eggs, tomato, ham, sausages and many more. In my family, what constitutes a traditional peinirli is one filled with soutzouki or pastourma, cheese and tomato.

The pungent and spicy flavor of both pastourma and soutzouki paired with the rich cheese and fresh tomato make for a tasty treat. Both these delicacies are quite heavy when cooked though, so tread cautiously. Try not to eat too much.

No matter what kind of filling you end up using in your peinirli, I do hope you enjoy this classic Greek yeasted savory delight.

Peinirli

Peinirli is quite substantial fare and can be enjoyed as a main meal, much like pizza, or as a snack cut in smaller pieces.

If you can’t find soutzouki, you can use any other kind of sausage you want. Same with pastourmas, just substitute with another type of spicy air-cured beef.

If you have a pizza stone, then by all means use it to bake the peinirli. The result will be excellent.

Semolina flour is finely milled semolina (it’s not fine semolina but semolina that is so finely milled that has the texture of flour). In Greece, this flour is widely used for bread and all kinds of yeasted savory doughs. If you can’t find it, use strong bread flour.

Yield: 8 peinirli

Ingredients

for the dough
300 g all purpose flour, plus extra for sprinkling your work surface
200 g semolina flour (from durum wheat)
9 g instant dried yeast
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp sugar
200 ml lukewarm water
150 ml lukewarm fresh whole milk
50 ml good quality olive oil, plus extra for greasing dough and bowl

for the cheese filling
Greek kasseri cheese or Swiss Emmentaler, grated
Unsalted butter, preferably sheep’s butter

for the pastourma or soutzouki filling
Pastourma, sliced
Soutzouki, sliced
Tomato, sliced
Greek kasseri cheese or Swiss Emmentaler, grated

Special equipment: box grater, stand mixer with dough hook attachment (optional), large baking sheet, baking paper, pizza stone (optional)


Preparation
In the bowl of your stand mixer or in a large bowl, add the flours, the yeast, sugar, salt (making sure it doesn’t come in contact with the yeast), the lukewarm water and milk, and the olive oil.

If you’re kneading in a stand mixer, attach the dough hook and knead for about 7 minutes, on the lowest speed, until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, remains slightly moist and it is smooth and elastic. Empty it onto a lightly floured surface (use all–purpose flour for this) and knead it a little to see how it feels. It should feel a little sticky to the touch.

If you're kneading by hand, once you have mixed the ingredients together into a rough dough, take it out of the bowl and onto a clean surface and knead well. It'll take about 10 minutes. What you're aiming for is a soft and pliable dough that's sticking slightly to your hands and that remains moist but not overly so that you can’t knead it.

Note: Not all flours are the same, so if your dough is very wet, don't be afraid to add more flour (all-purpose flour). Add a little at a time though, testing the consistency of the dough. You don't want to end up with a stodgy, stiff dough. I find that with this dough, I always seem to add a little more flour so that it doesn’t stick too much (about 35 g more).

Shape the dough into a ball, lightly grease the bowl of your stand mixer (or a large bowl) as well as the dough ball with olive oil and place the dough inside the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place, allowing the dough to proof and double in size. It will take about 1 hour to proof, depending on how warm the room you leave it in is.
During the winter, I always leave my dough next to a working radiator. Not on top of it but on a chair and right in front of it.

Once the dough has proofed, take it out of the bowl and knead it for a couple of seconds just to deflate it a bit. It should feel smooth, pliable and soft. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces (around 115 g each) and shape into balls. Oil the balls (so they don’t stick to one another) and place them in the bowl after you oil it again. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place, allowing the balls of dough to proof until almost doubled in sized. It will take 30-40 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 225 degrees Celsius / 435 Fahrenheit.
If you have a pizza stone, place it on the lower rack of the oven to preheat as well. If not, prepare your baking sheet by lining it with baking paper.

Once the dough balls have proofed, take each one and place it on a floured surface and flatten it into an oblong shape (about 26x13 cm). Take the bottom edge and fold it (see photo below). Then take the upper edge and fold it (see photo). Seal the two pointy ends by pressing them together (where the two folded parts overlap). If it’s difficult because of the flour, add a little water with your fingertips between the two pieces of dough and press them together to seal. You will have a boat-shaped dough with elevated sides that’ll keep your filling inside.
Continue with the rest of the dough balls. My oven is small so I can fit only three at a time. While the first batch is baking I shape the rest.

Place the shaped peinirli onto the prepared baking sheet (or onto the pizza stone that you have sprinkled with a little flour), prick the inside of the “boat” (where you’ll later add your filling) with a fork so it doesn’t puff up and place on the lower rack of your preheated oven. Bake for 10 minutes, until they begin to color. Take them out and lower the heat to 185 degrees Celsius / 365 Fahrenheit.

Fill the peinirli with the ingredients of your choice. If you’re using cheese, add a generous amount in the middle. If you’re using the soutzouki or pastourma, add a couple of slices of tomato at the bottom, followed by a couple of slices of soutzouki or pastourma and then some grated cheese on top. Be careful not to overflow the boat, no pun intended.

Return the peinirli in the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes, until the cheese melts but doesn’t brown. It shouldn’t form a crust.

Take them out of the oven and if you made the cheese peinirli, add a couple of knobs of butter on top to melt.

Serve immediately.

The Lagana

Tomorrow is Kathari Deftera, which means Clean Monday (you may know it as Ash Monday), and it is the first day of the Orthodox Lent. It is a moveable feast which occurs always forty-eight days prior to Easter Sunday and it’s a day of purification, both spiritual and physical as the great fasting period begins.

Kathari Deftera is a public holiday in Greece, and people traditionally go out for a picnic and to also engage in the custom of kite flying. If you are ever in Greece on this day, you’ll see the sky filled with kites of every size and shape and children as well as adults running around, trying to fly them as high as they can.

As with all holidays in Greece, this one too revolves around food. No fish, meat or dairy products are permitted but we can have shellfish since they don’t have any blood. The traditional foods that are eaten on the day are the sweet tahini halva, or the one I always make, semolina halva, shellfish like octopus, shrimp, mussels, calamari and squid, prepared in various ways, taramosalata which is a carp roe dip, olives and of course the main attraction, the lagana.

Lagana is a large, flat, elongated rectangular bread with rounded sides and sesame seeds on top, and it is made and consumed only on Kathari Deftera. The word lagana (plural: laganes / Greek: λαγάνα) derives from the ancient Greek laganon (Greek: λάγανον) meaning a thin, flat and unleavened bread. Once upon a time, lagana used to be unleavened as well, but today yeast is added to the dough to make it lighter.

Lagana is reminiscent of focaccia and it has a crunchy crust and a soft and airy crumb. It is ever-so-slightly sweet in flavor, with nutty accents from the sesame seeds, and sometimes spices such as aniseeds are added to the dough mixture.

On Kathari Deftera, lagana is sold in every bakery in Greece but many people choose to bake their own. In Greece, I rarely make my own lagana, there are so many foods to be prepared on the day it’s quite difficult to make bread as well, and the truth of the matter is, the ones from the bakeries are excellent.

Ever since I moved to Holland five years ago though, if I want to enjoy lagana, I have to make it myself. That’s the curse of the expat. Thankfully, it is not at all difficult to prepare and besides, I always enjoy making my own bread. This one in particular is among my favorites and I crave it throughout the year. I never liked the fact that it is only consumed on Clean Monday but, well, I suppose it gives me something to look forward to.


Have a good Kathari Deftera!

Lagana (Greek Lenten Yeasted Flatbread)

This recipe for lagana gives you the perfect, authentic and traditional flavor of the unique Greek bread; crusty, with a soft and open crumb and nutty sesame seeds on top.
Eat it with dips of any kind and know that it makes the best vehicle for every type of sandwich. This is exciting bread.

Lagana is a large-sized bread but my oven is small; I can’t fit one large lagana so I make two smaller ones. You can choose either, depending on the size of your oven.

Yield: 1 large or 2 small laganes

Ingredients
250 g all-purpose flour
250 g semolina flour (from durum wheat)
9 g instant dried yeast
1-2 tsp caster sugar (add 1 tsp if you prefer not to taste any sweetness)
1 tsp sea salt
30 ml (2 Tbsp) extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing the bowl
330 ml lukewarm water
Sesame seeds for sprinkling over the top

Special equipment: stand mixer with dough hook attachment (optional), plastic wrap, pastry brush, large baking sheet or two smaller ones, baking paper


Preparation
In the bowl of your stand mixer or in a large bowl, add the yeast, all-purpose and semolina flour, the sugar, salt (making sure it doesn’t come in contact with the yeast), olive oil and the lukewarm water.

If you’re kneading in a stand mixer, attach the dough hook and knead for about 7 minutes, on the lowest speed, until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, remains moist and it is smooth and elastic. Empty it onto a lightly floured surface and knead it a little to see how it feels. It should feel a little sticky to the touch.

If you're kneading by hand, once you have mixed the ingredients together into a rough dough (it will be quite runny and sticky), take the dough out of the bowl and onto a clean surface and knead well. It'll take 10-12 minutes. What you're aiming for is a soft and pliable dough that's sticking slightly to your hands and that remains moist but not overly so that you can’t knead it.
The reason you want the dough to be moist is because you want a soft and airy crumb. If the dough is heavy, the bread will be heavy as well. Furthermore, in combination with a good kneading, you will accomplish many large and small holes in the crumb.

Note: Not all flours are the same, so if your dough is very wet, don't be afraid to add more flour (all-purpose flour). Add a little at a time though, testing the consistency of the dough. You don't want to end up with a stodgy, stiff dough.

Shape the dough into a ball, lightly grease the bowl of your stand mixer (or a large bowl) as well as the dough ball with olive oil and place the dough inside the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place, allowing the dough to proof and double in size. It will take about 1 hour to proof, depending on how warm the room you leave it in is.
During the winter, I always leave my dough next to a working radiator. Not on top of it but on a chair and right in front of it.

Note: If you want to test whether your dough has proofed correctly or not, do the finger-poking test. Gently poke the dough with your finger and a) if the dough springs back immediately, it is under-proofed, b) if the dough springs back halfway, it's perfectly proofed.

Line your baking sheet(s) with baking paper.

Once the dough has proofed, take it out of the bowl and knead it for a couple of seconds just to deflate it a bit. It should feel smooth, pliable and soft.

If you want to make two smaller laganes, divide the dough into two equal pieces.
Using your hands (or a rolling pin), form your laganes into an elongated rectangular shape with rounded edges with about 1.5 cm thickness.
You can either form the laganes on a clean surface or on the baking paper (they will be easier to transfer). Transfer the breads onto the baking sheets and cover with plastic wrap.
Leave them to proof in a warm place (they will not double in size though just proof a bit), for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius / 390 Fahrenheit.

Once the breads have proofed, remove the plastic wrap and brush them lightly with water, using a pastry brush. Then, poke the tops of the laganes with your fingertips to make indentations, being careful not to pierce through the dough and deflate it, and sprinkle liberally with sesame seeds.

If you make one large lagana, place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes. If you make two smaller ones, place one baking sheet on the low rack of the oven and the other baking sheet on the middle rack. Bake for 15 minutes and then switch positions and bake for further 15 minutes, until the laganes have taken on a golden-brown color.

Remove the baking sheets from the oven, place laganes on a clean surface and allow them to cool.

Enjoy them!!

More Lenten recipes