Re: Flexible flatbread

June 6, 2012

When you say " overbaking " , are you doing them in the oven? For a thinner one

(which is more flexible by nature) you should do them in a hot (ungreased)

skillet, just a few seconds on each side, and cover them with a damp dish towel

the minute you remove them from the skillet. You will also have better results

making more of a crepe style batter from the grains, and pouring it in a thin

layer in the skillet (for this you would oil the pan) and cooking it like a

pancake-the SECOND it starts to bubble in the interior and get slightly brown

around the edges, you want to flip it. I have a long, thin spatula made just

for crepes that make it easy to turn.

>

> Has anyone (, maybe? or anyone else...) been successful in making

> a flatbread of our Vitamix-ground flours that is flexible enough to use

> as a wrap--one that actually wraps, not just folds over the filling?

> I've been struggling and struggling with this for a week, without

> success. I'm not overbaking.....but what I am doing or not doing that

> is not right is a mystery at the moment.

>

> I'm hoping some smart Vitamix user out there has solved the problem

> already and can share.

>

> SJ

>

June 6, 2012

> When you say " overbaking " , are you doing them in the oven?

I have been the past few batches.

I started out with the skillet ones but gave up as couldn't get a

" tough " one that would withstand actual tucking and rolling around a

filling so that it could be eaten out of hand.

They were fine to gently roll and eat with a fork, off a plate.

My eldest son is autistic and after many battles on many levels lives on

his own, has a very responsible job with the highest possible military

security clearance granted but still has his quirks, to put it somewhat

mildly. He's in Japan until November (=stress) and having serious

issues with the mess hall: no holdable food (I know, dumb to us but

=stress for him). So he made a request of his mama (ha! normal in many

ways!) that she please make him some wrappers. I can see to it that

they can be delivered within 2 days so that shouldn't be too bad, but I

don't seem to be able to make ones that work, only those that look and

taste good! Till then he's existing rather gloomily on sushi. He asks

little, especially considering his unique difficulties, and I'd really

like to be able to produce but am running out of ideas. Maybe it's just

not going to be possible but I'll keep at it for a bit yet.

SJ

June 6, 2012

Sadly, NONE that you make fresh are likely to withstand staying fresh for more

than a day. Storebought ones have dough conditioners and preservatives to keep

them fresh, so even if you turned out a great batch, they wouldn't likely

survive the transit time. Even though you clearly want to give him lovely

homemade ones, would he do okay with store bought? Also, what grains are you

using for the base recipe? I find that alternative grains like red quinoa and

buckwheat groats, ground in to flour in the Vitamix, make a nice tender

flatbread, but again, I doubt they would hold up for transit, even if you vacuum

packed them. Shame, since the poor guy deserves this simple comfort! Would he

consider lettuce as a wrapper? My daughter loves egg salad and sprouts wrapped

up in lettuce leaves. Again, not easily transported, but perhaps he can get

some there?

>

> > When you say " overbaking " , are you doing them in the oven?

> I have been the past few batches.

>

> I started out with the skillet ones but gave up as couldn't get a

> " tough " one that would withstand actual tucking and rolling around a

> filling so that it could be eaten out of hand.

> They were fine to gently roll and eat with a fork, off a plate.

>

> My eldest son is autistic and after many battles on many levels lives on

> his own, has a very responsible job with the highest possible military

> security clearance granted but still has his quirks, to put it somewhat

> mildly. He's in Japan until November (=stress) and having serious

> issues with the mess hall: no holdable food (I know, dumb to us but

> =stress for him). So he made a request of his mama (ha! normal in many

> ways!) that she please make him some wrappers. I can see to it that

> they can be delivered within 2 days so that shouldn't be too bad, but I

> don't seem to be able to make ones that work, only those that look and

> taste good! Till then he's existing rather gloomily on sushi. He asks

> little, especially considering his unique difficulties, and I'd really

> like to be able to produce but am running out of ideas. Maybe it's just

> not going to be possible but I'll keep at it for a bit yet.

>

> SJ

>

June 7, 2012

FANTASTIC-what a clever and resourceful gal you are, and your sun for his

engineered tortiilla " cooker " -brilliant! I can see how he could easily make

that work-if he torches the plate, then places the tortillas on it, it should

work a charm for finishing them! Makes me want to try it with my chef torch or

flame thrower, lol. My niece's husband is from Columbia, and he introduced me

to homemade arepa years ago, but I think he always added creamed corn to his,

which kept them a bit flexible. I will email my niece and ask her. I did them

with Mesa made from ground popcorn, , but I never could get them to brown well-I

will ask what his recipe and tricks were. I am now gluten free, but even when I

used to make flatbreads from wheat flour, I liked to add a softer flour as well,

to keep them flexible. Back then, I ground soft white wheat berries, but now I

make them with a combo gluten free flour of equal parts buckwheat groats, oat

groats and red quinoa-makes a nice blended flour. I hope your package arrives

safely and that your son gets his clever contraption to work! Keep us posted.

I will let you know when I hear back about the arepa-his were much more tender

and tasty than any of the ones I made. I LOVED his, mine not so much-reminded

me of an uncooked English muffin, lol

>

> OK, just came back from town where I met the person who regularly

> (1X/wk) sends lobster to her husband who's stationed where my son is

> (how lucky is that?!!). She had the bin all set with the dry ice

> already in place; I'd frozen, vac'd, and kept frozen 2 doz arepas and 2

> doz 'tortillas', the arepas baked but not browned and the 'tortillas'

> ready to skillet-bake. I used the traditional corn for the arepas but

> couldn't get it fine enough in the Vitamix (might be the

> machine/container since I'm working w/3600) so took it to neighbor who

> stoned it. In the fake tortillas I used buckwheat groats with oats and

> kamut; that all ground up nicely and I used oil instead of lard. They

> should stay frozen all the way there since other things she's sent with

> the lobster have all stayed frozen, so I'll hope. He has scrounged, of

> all things, a broken cast iron tortilla press which is non repairable so

> he has cleaned up one plate of it, made it a little stand, and tested it

> with a torch and now has a " grill " to finish them up with. Remains to

> be seen how that will work, but....

>

> If you can suggest a better grain mixture for the tortilla-like rounds

> I'll be all ears. I did finish a couple of them up and they cooked OK

> and tasted good (but I'll eat anything with buckwheat). The arepas I'll

> just stick with the corn since I don't want to mess with gummy flours

> mixing for those. If he doesn't think they're good enough, so be it.

>

> Many thanks for the help.

>

> SJ

>

June 7, 2012

Right after I sent the last email, I realized I hadn't suggested bean or

chickpea or lentil flour for your flatbreads. When I first went gluten free, I

made most of my flour from beans or lentils-they worked great as stand alone

flours, or with a blend of others. I haven't made them in a while, but they

were flexible...only thing is you have to make them smaller or they break

easily.