Saj bread

I thought it will be a good idea if I started to follow some of the food photography techniques that I founded yesterday, and implement them in real life. Since I started this blog ( approximately one month ago) all the food photography, styling, writing and wordpress editing  was a pure personal work. No one has taught me how to shoot, write, style .. etc. I admit that I’m just a beginner in all areas but I feel passion towards what I’m doing. I’m not seeking to be a professional and make a personal business out off publishing this cooking blog. All what I’m aiming for is to share my knowledge and even learn something new by doing what I love. I know that I have a busy schedule but I’m willing to challenge myself.

What I wanted to practice today is, planning ahead. Since I started, I didn’t plan ahead for any recipe. All were prepared and pictured by what you can call, luck.

The usual conversation between me and myself is like this. “@ 3:30 pm .. well, what I’m going to eat for lunch today? “I’m asking myself. “It was so long since I eat Kishk! (as an example)” myself replied. “Okay.. lets make Kishk for lunch” I answered! So when I reached home, I checked if the ingredients are there or not. Sometimes I go to the supermarket and buy the grocery before going home just in case! The thing is in most cases when I buy the grocery in advance and without checking, when I enter the kitchen I will find that everything is there and I have wasted my time buying extra stuff. And sometimes when I return home thinking that I have everything to start cooking my meal, I find that this ingredient is missing and that one is not available.

So I decided to plan a head! Plan for the recipe that I’m willing to post. Check the ingredients, think of what I’m going to write, and imagine how my photos should look like. I’m willing to start following this technique from today, and I hope that I’ll get good results in my photos and writings with a tasty meal.

When I opened the 365 Main Courses cooking book, searching for a recipe for tomorrows lunch. I found some useful freezing tips and techniques.  I started reading them, and forgot about the lunch I was willing to plan for today. I will list the tips and  techniques in a new section called Cooking Tips, which contains all useful tips and techniques that I found and read about. So you can refer to them anytime you want.

At the end when I discovered that I had ruined my plan which is “planning ahead”, I googled Saj recipe and decided to give it a try. Saj is a flat, soft bread. Baked on upside down iron. Beneath this iron a set of flame (I have used a normal skillet instead! to be honest it didn’t give the same shape but I got the same taste).

The recipe was adapted from newly discovered multi (English/Arabic) language mimicooks blog. Which you will find a lot of Arabic recipes.

For the ingredients you will need

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 cups warm water (about 110 to 115°)

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Oil for coating the dough

Preparing the dough

Mix all the ingredients using a blender, except the flour and the remaining 1/2 cup of water.  Then pour the mixture in a big bowl, sift the 3 1/2 cups flour on top and start mixing with hand or a wooden spoon until smooth and no longer sticky (in this step add the other 1/2 cup of water). Cover with a damp cloth and put in a warm place for 1 hour. After one hour the dough should be doubled in bulk. Knead with hand for a few minutes, then start to divide the dough into medium sized balls.  Using a floured rolling pin (you can flatten using your hands instead) start rolling the balls into circles on a lightly floured surface (in this step use the oil for coating). Put a skillet on low heat. When it becomes hot, put the flattened dough in it. Bake for 30 seconds to one minute (till golden base). Flip the bread to the other side for another 30 seconds. Pile your bread and cover to keep them soft and serve immediately.  You can use the Saj as wraps for any thing you like.

enjoy with love,

Maryam