After a weekend of feasting with new friends, yesterday I was treated to a visit from two old friends. They have been here before. So there was no need for nervous cleaning or shining. It was a very relaxed few hours. And a perfect day to make chapa bread and an omelette for lunch.
Here is BooBoo on the outside chair where Hugo takes his smoko break. Boo is waiting for Hugo to come home.
The rain rained and the temperatures cooled off so I lit the fire and this added to the coziness of their visit. I treated myself to a good sit down on the couch as we caught up.
I was reading Roger Stowell’s blog some time ago and he spoke of making thin omelettes and stacking them one on top of the other with a few bits of interesting things in between. The idea stuck in my head, we gave it a shot and the result was wonderful. I used a swipe of pesto between one layer and chopped late summer tomato into another. The omelette tower was topped with grated parmesan, green onions and fresh coriander from the garden. A perfect light balanced lunch. And when cut into wedges it looked as good as it tasted. (Sorry Roger but I cannot find the actual blog post so the link is to today).
I have eaten so much lately that I felt unable to tackle a full loaf of bread so I made Chapa Bread. From Seven Fires by Francis Mallmann. (The book of Argentinian food that Fede gave me). I make this when I do not want a lot of bread hanging about the house tempting my hips. It is always eaten all up the day it is made. 
One good chapa is a large plate of cast iron on 12 to 15 inch high legs (like a miniature steel table) that is set over an open fire. I am going to make one this winter. It has been years since I welded but I am sure I will remember once I get set up. 
But in the meantime we are cooking over the stove in my kitchen.
Chapa bread.
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon coarse salt
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast (don’t forget to store the package in the freezer after you have opened it)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- about 1 1/2 cups warm water.
Mix dry ingredients together. Add oil and warm water. Mix until it forms a satiny ball of dough then knead for about five minutes. Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise until doubled. (about an hour).
Then gently turn out onto your board and lightly roll into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 3 inch squares.
Leave on the floured board in a warm spot to rise and double in height again (about 30 minutes).
Cook in batches on your cast iron chapa (or griddle), I have heavy cast iron pans that do the job perfectly. Of course these breads are even better when cooked over an open fire. Something to look forward to next summer.
They will take about 5 minutes for the first side then brown the other side and serve immediately, hot. Split open, butter and devour. 
I hope you have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farm,
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
77 responses to “Chapa Bread”
Boo is so cute, waiting for Hugo. That chapa looks wonderful.
Thank you – are our geese flying back my way yet? c
Yum! I think I may have to try this.
Morning Connie!, It is quick and easy.. c
Funny thing about the yeast; I read yesterday in the newspaper that it should be frozen after opening. I never knew that. Good morning, c.
Yes, the same with rennet. They last for years in the freezer. c
Good Morning, Celi! That Boo in the huge smoko chair seems so small. Calmly waiting. Cute. Thank you for the chapa recipe. They look great. BTW, bread freezes so well. Don’t you do it? And did you forget to show us a pic of one of the omelette wedges? 😉 It sounds so yummy. Must be a feast for the eye… Have a lovely day, Celi.
Yes, I do freeze bread also -but it calls to me from the freezer EAT ME! EAT ME! ..
That all sounds amazingly good. I am going to make that chapa bread. And that omelette tower. Why does it not surprise me that you know how to weld???
Ha ha ha .. yes.. my dad taught me when I was young.. wish he was here now – he could knock out a chapa for me in an afternoon! c
That looks delicious and I bet you could add onion or other things to the bread before cooking 😉
AHA! What an excellent idea – I might start experimenting.. (though Fede hates it when I deviate from the recipe!! which always makes me laugh evilly!) c
Ha ha – I’d also be inclined to try chorizo (or other spicy sausage) and tomatoes with garlic 🙂
YUM..hard to get chorizo down here – i might pick some up in the city when I collect Hugo.. c
I think any kind of spicy sausage would be good 😉
If you can’t wait that long, Celi, there’s a recipe for you: http://userealbutter.com/2012/07/25/mexican-chorizo-recipe/
Hope, it is well for your taste…. – hugs
It’s at times like this that I wish, wish, wish I could still eat bread with gluten in it… I can well remember the smell and feel of the dough under my hands, the fantastic aroma of the freshly cooked bread and the moment of sheer delight when fresh warm bread and slightly melted butter landed on my tongue. Nothing can replace it. And I love it that you still call those breaks we take mid morning and afternoon ‘smoko’, even after so long away from the antipodes… You can take the girl out of New Zealand, but you can’t take New Zealand out of the girl.
Love your last statement Kate! Isn’t it wonderful that it’s true?! XO
And Smoko is such an evocative word – c
Celi, does that expression mean or your mentioning it in the post include that Hugo has a cigarette now and then? That’s why I took your expression and named that big chair “smoko chair” in my comment above. Sit in and smoke chair. – Or has this nothing to do with smoking at all?
Yes. And smoko was when the blokes took a break and had a smoke and a cup of tea. Smoko. though nowadays of course the smoking is not as common.. c
Better than my comment when I held my first computer demonstration class with 30 people from different companies. Half way through the morning I said we were now going to have a fag break for ten minutes!!
Oops Lynda…too funny!
Oh, fine. I got it then. We used to have a smoke with coffee. Good old times. – I hesitated a bit to use these c and s words. Thought they might be kind of forbidden nowadays… Ehm – blokes? My dictonary does not answer to it… 🙂
Sorry – dictionary wth an “i” of course. So better “dic” for short? To avoid mistakes? – And for bloke: I’ve found it – I had French on in my online dictionary – there (in France) are no blokes, of course. Hehe.
Men – but I am sure you have that by now.. c
It’s so true! It makes me wonder whether, like me, she’s kept her original accent, or if she’s picked up the one from her adopted home… I hope to find out in February! What do you think, Celi?
I have a Kiwi accent for sure!
Really? You two getting together? I am green with envy.
Celi will be in Melbourne in February to see her daughter, and I will fly down for a day or two to catch up with old friends and hopeful meet her. I am SO excited!
Yay! I’m sure you won’t forget to tell us all about it.
Are you crazy? Of *course* I’ll be boasting about it like crazy. And I’ll get photos if Miss C will hold still…
Yeah right!!
Yeah right!! c
Really? Freezer? That’s brilliant. I’m always having to throw opened yeast away. I’m going to start doing that from now on. Thanks for that Celi. 😀
I buy mine in a bag from King Arthur flour so it lasts quite a while.. c
I noticed in my local grocery store last month a magazine called “Sift”. I had never seen it before and was intrigued because it’s produced by King Arthur flour. Just for a lark, I bought it and there are some wonderful things in there I’ll be making in the fall and winter. stopped at the store today for something else entirely and there was the next issue – so I grabbed it too. Only got a very quick look at it, because I’m sending it home with my hubbie’s brother-in-law to Latvia. thought my sis-in-law might like some unusual recipes to share with her friends. So it’s back to the store tomorrow to get one for me. I don’t think we get KA flour here in Canada, our big brand is Robin Hood. When I was a kid visiting family in Saskatoon, my auntie lived within sight of the big lit-up sign on the RH flour mill property. I always “knew” when we were getting close to her house, although I’m sure that sign could be seen for miles. I’m going to try your chapa bread recipe this weekend. Hope your rain has stopped for a bit so you can have some sun tomorrow. Chris S in Canada
I think there may be a bit of sun today and hopefully tomorrow when i go jup to the city – but once again I have NOTHING to wear – sigh.. c
Warm bread…I could eat (devour) those delightful looking pieces of chapa all by myself.
There is something quite primitive about hot bread.. don’t you think? c
I was just craving some bread making that wouldn’t leave me with a ton of bread in the house. Perfect timing.
And you could halve the recipe if it is just for you or a small number.. c
Oh the bread looks yummy! I bet the house smells wonderful.
I often think that when a visitor comes in the door – the scent of good cooking is a wonderful welcome.. c
But why is it that something that smells so wonderful while it’s cooking makes the house smell so nasty the next day? (Especially if you forget to set out s dish of vinegar.)
ooooh this looks divine! I’ll be trying this recipe this week when we go over to feed a recovering surgery patient and her family!
Thanks and have a lovely day!
You are welcome Kathe, I hope your day goes well.. good luck to your recovering friend! c
OK, that bread sounds seriously delicious. So you fry it in the griddle/cast iron frying pan? In olive oil?
no my cast iron is so seasoned now that just a wipe of oil across the surface for the first batch, after that nothing. remember to get your griddle HOT HOT before you add any fats or foods.. then things will not stick.
I don’t have any cast iron but I have an electric Teflon frying pan. Would that work? And at what temperature? And ditto Minnesota Prairie– in olive oil?
Love dear Boo!
Yes that will work just fine, cook on a moderate heat. I would use a smear of olive oil or butter.
Today will be a good day for you to make them for lunch, rainy and windy here!
I was intrigued when I saw “Chapa” bread because in Spanish chapa is a sheet of metal – now it makes sense, it’s the way they are cooked on a griddle. Love it!