Picnic in the Rain

It was raining quite a lot here since the morning (Barry is in our midst), so my morning trip to the gym didn't happen. I kept checking out the window, but the weather wasn't letting up, and there was no way I would wait for the bus in the rain.

I really felt like bread making, but I wanted something quick and easy and an excuse to use my King Arthur baking cookbook.

In the flatbread section, I came upon a recipe for Picnic Wraps. It didn't look complicated at all, and I've never made my own wraps before. It sounded good, even though I wasn't going to a picnic any time soon.

So the dough is really simple; vegetable oil and flour and salt, bound together with water. I kneaded this by hand until I got a not-too-sticky dough. Then, I formed eight balls out of the dough and let them rest for a few minutes.

After the resting of the dough, I rolled out each ball into a circle and fried it in a non-stick oilless pan for about a minute on each side. Easy!

The only thing I found was that the balls were too small to form circles measuring 8 inches, so mine were slightly smaller. These aren't the type of wraps you often find in cafes and restaurants. These are really more like appetizer wraps. I made a quick sandwich of muenster cheese and milano salami in the wrap. Lovely. You could really taste the freshness.

Picnic Wraps

For the perfect picnic, it's a wrap! This one is filled with fresh tomatoes, kalamata olives, lettuce, red peppers, and two kinds of cheese.

Wraps 2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached Special Bread Flour 3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) vegetable oil 1/2 to 3/4 cups (4 to 6 ounces) water 1/2 teaspoon salt Filling 8 ounces goat cheese, room temperature 1/4 cup cream cheese 1 cup pitted kalamata olives, puréed 4 tomatoes, thinly sliced sliced red peppers lettuce leaves

The wraps: In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the flour and oil. Gradually mix in the water and salt. Knead briefly, just until the dough is smooth. Divide the dough into eight pieces. Round them into balls, flatten slightly, and allow them to rest, covered, for at least 30 minutes. Preheat an ungreased heavy frying pan over medium heat. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll it out until it's about 8 inches in diameter. Fry the wrap for about on each side. The filling: In a small bowl, mash together the cheeses until smooth. Spread a thin layer of the cheese on one side of a wrap, add a thin layer of olive spread, then top with thinly sliced tomatoes, red peppers and lettuce. Roll the wrap so that all of the ingredients are contained within. Repeat with the remaining wraps. Yield: 8 wraps.