yeast we can!

Recently, Connor and I have been on a savory bread-baking kick. A couple of weeks ago, we made two batches of bagels. I found some packets of dry yeast at a local grocery store and bought 'pizza flour,' which I figured was bread flour. Pizza must be one of the main types of leavened bread that Egyptians eat, I'd imagine. Anyway, we made a half-batch of sesame seeders on the first go-round. They didn't quite have the rise we were hoping for, so we went on a quest for new and better yeast, which we found at Mariam Market, probably the 'poshest' of the small grocers around Maadi that carry a lot of imported goods. For our second try, Connor did a half batch of onion and sesame and I tried my hand at cinnamon raisin using 100% whole wheat flour. While mine were tasty but a little gummy and ended up in figure 8 shapes rather than circles, Connor's were spot on, and delicious, too.

A couple of days ago, I came across a recipe for caramelized onion and pear flatbread in The Denver Post Food section. Since we have mounds of quality yeast left in the freezer, I thought I'd give it a whirl. The recipe originally called for sliced pears, gently seared, and gorgonzola on top, but I didn't feel like tracking down a suitable blue cheese substitute and pears are out of season. I did, however, have a guava on hand from our stroll through the outdoor food market with Connor's parents. We, in fact, did not know what it was we were purchasing that day from the fruit vendor; our initial thoughts were of the eggplant variety! Nadia was quick to disabuse me of this notion, explaining that it was called a 'gawafa' in Arabic and considered good for 'working a poopoo.' Nice. Digestion aid aside, after a few days, the guavas were ripening up and giving off a distinctly, well, 'peary' aroma! So I figured what the heck, I'll grill that up instead. I had a wedge with lunch and actually spread some cream cheese on the corners of the bread that were toppings-less. Here was my thinking on that one: in Latin America, guava paste 'n' cream cheese sandwiches are the equivalent to America's peanut butter & jelly. Also, onions and any kind of cheese are a natural fit. It was pretty darn tasty. The guavas did a great job of standing in for their more subtle cousins, never tasting too tropical or overpowering. The flatbread itself has a springy, focaccia-like texture. And I had a fun morning of trying out a new recipe.