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1
Place the bread on a platter or in a large bowl.
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2
Sprinkle with water and set aside until partially softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
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3
Arrange the tomatoes, olives, and capers over the bread and sprinkle with the salt and vinegar.
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4
Add the cheese and pepper to taste, and drizzle with the oil.
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5
Top with the basil and set aside to marinate for 15 to 30 minutes.
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6
Toss, and serve right away.
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7
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Greek Black Barley Rings (Mavrokoulouria) 2 tbsp.
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8
active dry yeast (2 pkg.)
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9
2 tsp.
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10
sugar 3-1/2 cups stone ground barley flour 1/2 cup warm water 1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra for coating the dough 1 tsp.
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11
salt 1/2 cup water Unbleached all purpose flour, for the work surface Mix together the yeast, sugar, 1/2 cup of the barley flour, and the warm water in a large bowl.
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12
Cover with a cloth and set aside in a warm place until bubbly, 30 minutes.
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13
Add the 1/4 cup oil, remaining 3 cups barley flour, the salt, and the 1/2 cup water.
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14
Stir until you can gather the mixture into a sticky ball.
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15
Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
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16
Coat the dough with oil, transfer to a bowl, cover with a cloth, and set it aside in a warm place until a bit spongy but not nearly doubled, 2 hours.
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17
Divide the dough into 12 pieces.
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18
With your hands, press each piece out to form a flat oval about 12 inches long, 6 1/2 inches wide, and 1/4 inch thick.
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19
Fold in the long sides of each oval so that they overlap, forming a roll.
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20
Then pull the roll around, with the side seam on the inside, to form a ring.
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21
Squeeze the ends together and press any cracks closed.
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22
Place the rings on an ungreased baking sheet.
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23
Cover with a cloth and let rest until a little spongy again, 30 minutes.
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24
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Brush the rings with water and bake until beginning to brown, 30 minutes.
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25
Remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely on the baking sheet.
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26
When the rings have cooled, preheat the oven to 200 F. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the rings until dry all the way through, 7 hours (overnight is fine).
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27
Store in an airtight container for up to 1 year.
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28
To use, soak the rings briefly in water, coffee, tea, or other liquid until just soft, about 5 minutes.
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29
NOTE: If stone ground barley flour is hard to find or time is short, commercially made barley rings can be purchased at any Greek specialty grocery store.
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30
In Greece, barley rings are made of just plain barley flour.
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31
Their height may be helped by the fact that the rings are folded over, but also the barley flour in Greece is different from that found in the United States; it is quite fibrous.
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32
Because of the flour differences, the barley rings in this recipe, though delicious, are lighter in color and shorter in stature than the native ones.
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33
Adventures In Greek Cooking
