Kesra — Moroccan Bread

The first time I cooked Moroccan bread I used a recipe from Paula Wolfert's Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco. The bread was amazing.

The second time I made the recipe, the loaves didn't rise and were small and dense. What had I done wrong? And the third time — once again too small. I became terrified of making yeast bread. Half the time the loaves didn't rise. Clearly much practice was needed. I suspect I may have been killing my yeast. I'm more careful now. I test my water temperature carefully. But there's always that nugget of fear as I watch my yeast for signs of activity, or worse, inactivity. So there was much relief when I saw my yeast become frothy with bubbles.

Most recipes I've seen for Moroccan Bread usually use whole wheat flour or a blend of whole wheat and white flour. This recipe from Kitty Morse uses all white flour and is very light textured.

Kesra — Moroccan Bread
From Kitty Morse's The Vegetarian Table: North Africa

This are the instructions for using a mixer and dough hook to knead the dough. But you can adapt this easily to using a bread machine to do your kneading. I know — I used to use a bread machine to do most of my kneading. You can also hand knead.

1 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm (105 - 115 F) water for the yeast
plus 2 cups warm water
1 tsp sugar

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
plus 1 Tbs cornmeal for dusting
2 tsp salt
2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted

2 tsp sesame seeds

In a small bowl, mix the yeast with 1/4 cup warm water. Stir in the sugar. Set aside until the mixture starts to bubble (10-15 minutes).

In a mixer with a dough hook, mix the flour, 1/3 cup cornmeal, and salt. (Or sift together.) Make a well in the center and pour in the yeast mixture and melted butter. Knead, gradually adding the remaining 2 cups water as needed until the dough is smooth and elastic to the touch (8 to 10 minutes). (Note: you probably won't need all 2 cups.)

Grease two baking sheets and dust them with the 1 Tbs cornmeal. Separate dough into 2 balls of equal size and set each ball on a baking sheet. Press them into circles 8 inches in diameter. Sprinkle 1 tsp of sesame seeds over each loaf, gently pressing them into the dough. Cover the dough with a towel and set aside in a warm place until doubled (about 1 hour. Can take longer).

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Prick the top of each kesra with the tines of a fork. Bake for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 375 and bake until crusty and golden, 15 to 20 minutes.

Kitchen Chick's notes: I used all two cups water, and it was too much, and I had to add extra flour. At the end of the hour of rising, my bread had barely grown in size. I thought for certain that I had failed once again. But I let it go for about 1.5 hours, and it rounded out very nicely (it didn't become very tall). I also managed to forget the last half of the baking instructions, and so my loaves were baked for 15 minutes at 425! Oops! They turned out very nice all the same. Perhaps just a tiny touch undercooked, but very soft and tasty.

Comments

[Drink Recipes]

Morocon bread is the the best. Last time I went to a morocon restaurant I could stop eating their bread. The only problem is I can't sit in that position and eat too long. Just not use to it.

Offtopic but I really like Morocon wines too.

[thebizofknowledge]

I stumbled across your blog while I was doing some online research. This bread sounds wonderful, and I really love the fact that it utilizes a bread machine to prepare the dough. Less work for me!

[cindy]

nice! i'm going to make this tonight - going to a moroccan themed potluck tomorrow!

thanks for posting it.

[interval]

Cool. I like simple, easy, yet traditional recipes. This one fit well in my Moroccan dinner plan for tonight and was easy enough. Tnx!

it doesn't seem that good,or like it would feel any one up. I like meals that are healthy but fill me up and taste great.

[Joe, Kitchen Chick's husband]

It's not intended to be a complete meal. It's bread; you eat it with a meal.

[xvbslweyx]

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