Grilled Herbed Flatbread [Secret Recipe Club]

That's right, folks: Secret Recipe Club is back!  The SRC took a break last month, and I truly missed it!  If you recall, the organizers at SRC secretly assign each blogger another blog to cook from each month.  I love this way of discovering new blogs and recipes...and this month I was assigned Melissa's Cuisine.  Melissa is a newlywed in her early 20s who just decided to start cooking with more whole ingredients!  What better blogger to pair me with???  :-)  Although she has a ton of great recipes, I was immediately drawn to her relatively simple flatbread recipe.  I did make a couple of changes with flour and seasoning, but kept to the rest of her recipe.  It turned out great, and the whole family loved it.  She suggests serving it with dipping oil, which would be great, but I used it as a platform for recreating a pizza I used to eat in Strasbourg, which I'll post about later this week. And trust me...you don't want to miss that recipe!

Grilled Herbed Flatbread
Adapted from Melissa's Cuisine
Makes 4 large flatbreads
Cook's Notes: These can be made by hand as well as in your stand mixer.  I used my stand mixer, so the instructions are for that method.  For the hand-mixed method, see Melissa's recipe.

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 1/4 + 2 Tablespoons warm water
4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
3/4 teaspoons Kosher salt
3 cups all-purpose unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons bouquet garni (or your favorite herb mix)

Sprinkle the yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer.  Add the water and let stand for a few minutes until the yeast starts to bubble.  Stir in 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, the salt and flour and mix on low until the dough comes together.  Add the herbs.  Using your dough hook, knead the dough for about 5 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.

Form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl.  Cover with a clean towel and set in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Deflate the dough by punching lightly with your fist.  Divide the dough into 4 pieces.  (At this point, you can put the dough in baggies and put it in the refrigerator to use on a different day.  If you do refrigerate the dough, take it out about 30 minutes before proceeding to the next step to let it come to room temperature.)

Place one of the balls on a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes or until it becomes smooth and elastic again.  Let the dough rest for a few minutes.  Using your hands or a rolling pin, flatten the dough into disks about 1/8 or 1/4 inch in thickness.  Brush with olive oil and sprinkle a little sea salt over the top.

Heat your grill over medium heat.  (I used a stovetop griddle.)  Place the flatbread, olive oil side down, on the grill and cook for about 5 minutes or until you can see golden grill marks.  Brush the other side with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.  Flip the bread and cook another few minutes until that side has golden grill marks as well. 

If using for dipping, cut into pieces and serve warm.  If saving for later use, let them cool on a cooling rack.

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