Lebanese Mountain Bread

Proof the yeast by dissolving the yeast & sugar in 1 cup lukewarm water for
5 to 10 minutes.

Mix 14 cups flour and salt together in a large bowl, reserving 1 cup flour
for kneading. Add 5 cups lukewarm water, oil, and the yeast mixture all at
once to flour. Stir with wooden spoon or with hands until dough sticks
together. Turn out onto a floured board or cloth and knead very well.
Gradually add the reserved flour to keep dough from sticking. Kneading may
take 10 to 15 minutes. Dough is ready when it feels elastic; bubbles will
break on the surface when you form it into a ball.

Place in a greased bowl and cover with a dry cloth. let dough rise in a
warm place, undisturbed, until it doubles in size (about 2 hours). Punch
dough down. Oil hands and divide dough into 25 to 30 balls the size of
small oranges. Again, cover them with a dry cloth and place in a warm spot
to rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. if you have an electric oven, set it to broil
at 450 degrees, placing a baking sheet on the lowest rack. then turn a
Chinese wok upside down so it rests on the baking sheet. For a gas oven,
place an upside-down wok on the floor of the oven.

Combine 3/4 cup cornmeal with the same amount of flour. Flatten each ball
of dough and dip both sides in the cornmeal mixture. Place them like
pancakes in a stack, separating them with wax paper. Make five piles of 6
each (more than 6 may cause the piles to topple over). Cover all the
stacks with a cloth so they don’t dry out.

Roll out each pancake until it is as thin and round as possible. Then pick
up dough and begin to stretch it by flipping it back & forth between your
hands. A pizza technique of throwing it up in the air, catching it, and
flattening the edges of the circle with your thumb and forefinger works
fine. Good luck!

Make a fist with one hand and place dough on top of fist. Then turn dough
in circles with other hand, pulling on edges so they get as thin as
possible. The shape will be an irregular 14 to 16 inch circle unless you
are a wizard at circles.

Drape dough on top of hot wok. Bake 30 to 60 seconds, until lightly
browned and bubbly. Peel off and place on baking sheet. Run under broiler
for 5 to 10 seconds until dark brown.

Remove to board, spray with water (see Note) and cover with damp cloth.
Stack new breads on top of old ones. Cover finished stack with damp tea
towels. When bread is pliable (after 2-3 hours), fold each in quarters and
package in plastic.

NOTE: Traditionally the bread is not dampened at all. Thin spots are
crisp and brittle. Finished breads are simply stacked on top of each
other. We recommend dampening the bread because we discovered we preferred
it pliable, it kept better, and it was also easier to store.