There a couple of the tv/youtube chefs that it looks like it would be great fun to cook/eat with - Refika is definitely one of them. They look like a group of friends having fun together.

Thanks for posting, agmss! Totally new to me.

I love pide since having it in Turkey. The recipe and video are great -- I will need to try it out. I am surprised that it is not more common at Turkish restaurants, because it is so tasty.. Costco was selling something that was derived from it (calling it flatbread) but the new versions have diverged to be too pizza like.

I've never had it. Rafika is always great. It sounds delicious!

Some basics on yeast and cold. If you know all this (likely) please forgive me and think of the lurkers. If your kitchen is cool, and your yeast is sleeping in the fridge, it could take a couple of days to fully warm up. After it's at least not-cold, you can proof it separately from your dough, even if the recipe doesn't say to. Warm some of the water from the recipe to baby bottle temperature—slightly warmer than your skin (not fingers), but not so warm it feels ”warm”. Add a spoon of the flour, or the sugar if there is any, and then stir in the yeast. Set it someplace slightly warm, I find the cable box is perfect. A cooling burner on the stove could work (but only slightly warm—if you can't put your hand on it and leave it there comfortably, it's too hot!) That little bit of warmth is essential.

When it's bubbling and growing and filling your vessel, it's ready to add to your dough. If it's struggling to bubble at all, and the vessel doesn't feel cold, it's time to buy new yeast. If it bubbles up fine, but your dough does't start to rise, put your dough in the oven on proof setting (around 85° F), or if you don't have that, simmer a pot of water, turn it off, and set your dough bowl on top of the pot (not in the water), Or put it on the dryer (good time to dry towels) or cable box and keep watch (or if you have an IR themometer, check the temperature there). Or just leave it on the counter, in the least cold spot, and let it rise at its own pace. It could take a day, but the payoff is that a longer rise usually turns out tastier bread.

Thank you @plllog

My yeast is both elderly and refrigerated. Might be time for new yeast.

I am usually making recipes that take minimal yeast, many folds (with extended rests), slow rises, refrigeration etc. The yeast seems to work fine for that. But not this time…

Oh and generally olive oil vs butter.

Delicious! I love that kind of food.

Oil vs. butter shouldn't be a big issue. It matters in quick rises, like cake, because of the size of the fat globules, encapsulated water, and melting point. In bread, while these are alll true, it's more about how the fat encapsulates the flour and slows moisture absorption.

Yes, new yeast would help a lot! For those slow fold and rest breads, it works because some of the yeast is still alive Basically, you may be using a only a fraction of the yeast (E.g., putting in 1 tsp and getting 1/8 tsp actively replicating and burping.) Since it's getting enough time to multiply, the weakness isn't showing much. Fresh yeast would still work better, but maybe not enough to bother about.

If you're not making enough bread to use up your yeast, put most of it in the freezer, and just enough for a month or two in the fridge.

If I would make this, I would have to go to the Middle Eastern market near me and get some kaşer cheese, which I believe is called Kasseri in that market, as it is more Syrian and Lebanese than Turkish, but it does have Turkish items for sale, and there is a Turkish restaurant attached to it and you can enter from the store.

Otherwise, it would not be much different from the braided calzone that I make

except that the Pide is much smaller, and the dough does not cover the top. I would leave out the egg, unless it was scrambled.

The egg on top is a typical way of serving in certain combinations. Kasseri is the Greek version of the cheese and is probably more commonly found.

When my house is too cool to proof bread, I usually pull out my heating mat that I use to start seeds. I put a light towel over it, sit the bowl on top, and let the bread rise.

@beachlily Yup I also rise dough on seedling mats. I made dough yesterday with the same elderly yeast. No problem.. So I somehow killed most of the yeast in the pide dough. I think the melted butter.

MY grand daughter taught my and grandson to make bread. They were trying to make Turkish bread. it took a long triple rise, and was flat with herbs top. It was delicious and not near enough was wanted as I felt we needed for all the effort.

It is simply a basic yeast dough and it is what you do with it that makes it into what ever it gets called. It is more about how it is used, rather than a type of bread. There are many things to do with flat breads. It seems most of them involve some kind of cheese.

I make flatbreads on a regular basis and bake them in an iron skillet on the stove where they mostly puff up like a pita bread. Almost any dough will puff up like that on a hot surface. I use a potato dough, a buttermilk dough or a basic one with olive oil and whole wheat. They are great for folding some thing up in or for adding some combination of sauce, vegetables and cheese and meats. They are so versatile! I never try to stuff that pocket. I find it is easier and better to just use it to fold around. I can understand why so many see it as pizza. It is basically the same thing.

An inkling of a memory is coming back--I think I did that once, too, thinking the butter was sufficiently cool and killing the yeast. Re elderly, so long as the yeast is active and happy when dissolved in water and given flour or sugar to eat, that's all that matters. Dried yeast can last pert near forever, though before claims are made on old dry yeast, one must make sure that it's not not just pulling in wild fungus from the air, water and flour. So, if you ever think you've killed the yeast again, as soon as you get that idea, dissolve some yeast in as little water as you can and as soon as it bubbles, distribute it around your dough--though I think the save you did was excellent!

As I said on another thread, I love pide! I found my post in WFD 336:

Must have been exactly this time of year, as it was written 9 years ago and edited 8 years ago!

Looking around for Kasseri cheese online, I’m not seeing it at my local supermarkets. The one I bought it at back then is sadly gone. There's a Greek shop nearby that I have yet to visit, that seems to sell 2 pound wheels. Been meaning to have some friends over post holidays, maybe I'll have a pide party!