pita bread with tumeric and onion

This pita bread is from a naan bread recipe courtesy of allrecipes. Since i cooked the bread 2 at a time in the oven, it allowed for experimentation that brought me from naan to a pita. the recipe itself is not a quick endeavor, but the cooking time is, and the results are outstanding.

Given the high yield (i'd say you can get as many as 20 small pitas out of the dough without a problem; i got about 10 medium- to large-sized ones) this is an absolutely perfect thing to make for when people come over, especially if you're doing any outside grilling like shish kebabs or grilled chicken. i say this because they're incredible as soon as they cool, good for maybe a day or so afterward and then go downhill pretty quickly after that.

the sweetness of this dough definitely pushed through the turmeric and onion powders. the pita tasted a bit like freshly baked sweet bread, and that lends itself well to further alterations. the first thing that comes to mind to me is adding finely chopped rosemary nettles.
we paired ours with some oven baked cornish game hens marinated and cooked with adobo and orange juice, so also having a more savory marinade would help play off the bread's taste.

sorry about the crappy photos, i wasn't expecting to take any pictures that night.

my own modifications have been made below, so if you'd like to see the recipe as it was printed, or if you would like their directions on how to grill the dough, check out the link above.

Ingredients

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 tsp each turmeric and onion powder
  
• 1/4 cup olive oil, for brushing.
  

Directions

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand 10-15 minutes, until frothy. Whisk together sugar, milk, egg and salt in a small bowl and pour over yeast. Add the turmeric and onion powder to the flour, and add 3 1/2 cups to the yeast mixture if you're hand-kneading and 4 if using a mixer with a dough hook. add remaining flour as needed, keeping in mind that you might not use it all.
  
• Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth, adding remaining flour if needed. If using a mixer, it will be more like 6-7 minutes and the dough should clear the bowl without sticking.
  
• Using either method, the dough should not be sticky. it should should feel like a smooth skipping stone when you run your fingers over it, but should still be a little tacky. if you're not sure, go for another half minute and check the smoothness again.
  Roll into a ball.
• Place dough in a well oiled bowl, rolling to coat. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume. If your house is on the chilly side, especially during this time of year, what you can do is turn on your oven to the lowest temp (150 or 200 degrees) and leave on for five minutes, then shut off, wait another five, and let the dough rise in there. the idea is not to heat the dough or get it to a proofing temperature, just to give it a place to rise where it can snuggle in a little warmth.
  
• Punch down dough. Pinch off small handfuls of dough that are bigger than a golf ball but smaller than a tennis ball. the size isn't a huge deal, since you have to watch for doneness anyway when it cooks, but this will give you a good-sized pita. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover completely but loosely with a towel or plastic wrap, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
• When the dough is ready preheat to 450 with a heavy sheet pan on a middle rack.
• As the oven preheats, begin to roll out dough in small batches. i would recommend cooking 2 pitas at a time, and rolling out to order (2 at a time while 2 are in the oven) the dough is quite tough, so really get in there to roll them out to 1/8th of an inch. if the dough is too thick, it won't make an air bubble in the middle, so you'll have flatbread instead of a pita.

when the dough gets to the correct thickness, drizzle a little olive oil on top, take the sheet pan out of the oven and throw the pitas oil side down on the pan and get into the oven quickly. watch for small air pockets that begin to pop up. these should grow until most or all of the dough is inflated, about 2 minutes.
if you can stand the heat, pull the oven rack closer to you a little, quickly flip dough with tongs, drizzle/brush oil on second side and sprinkle with kosher salt. the second side should be done in 30 seconds or so. then you can fill with tasty treats like so: