Simple Skillet Bread

My mom tells stories of the best bread she's ever tasted, and it came fromMOTHER EARTHNEWS sometime in 1980. She says I helped my dad make it while she was studying when she was in school at the University of Houston.

I think it was just called Skillet Bread, something like a pita or nan. Do you have this recipe?

Khajha Kirschner
Mountlake Terrace, Washington

Khajha, here is the recipe. It was called "Simple Bread" and ran in January 1980, Issue #61. The following is adapted from the original article written by Jerry Nelson.

Simple Bread is highly nutritious, good tasting, inexpensive and easy to prepare. Cooking it demands an average of only 15 minutes of labor a day.

All you need to make a batch are: 2 cups of whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup of soy flour, 1/4 cup of brewers yeast, 2/3 teaspoon of salt, and 1 1/3 cups of water.

To begin making your batch of Simple Bread, combine dry ingredients, add water and work the batter around until the moisture is absorbed. Then put the ball of dough on a floured table and knead it for a few minutes until it becomes springy to the touch.

Pull off a piece of dough a little larger than a golf ball and roll it out into a 7- to 8-inch "tortilla." You should get about 12 flat cakes from the recipe. As you finish rolling each piece, place it on a dry, hot griddle or iron skillet.

If your cooking surface is the right temperature, the dough will form small bubbles in its surface after about a minute. In approximately 2 minutes, the underside will be brown in spots, and the bread will be ready to flip. When the other side is also brown, remove the finished bread with a spatula. You can vary the water content and cooking time to give your "loaves" the flexibility or crispness that suits your taste.

It is true that Simple Bread may take a little getting used to, but I actually find it preferable to conventional loaves.

As I tear into this economical, highly nutritious, easy-to-prepare staff of life, I always am reminded that Simple Bread is simply marvelous.