Happy New Year to all my reader.
May this year bring a lot of happiness and of course, delicious food to enjoy!

When I crave for some Middle Eastern snack to enjoy during the day, I like to make this simple flatbread, then eating it with spicy condiment. Sometimes, just a sprinkle of za'atar will enough to satisfy me. But, today, I actually made some effort to make a delicious topping to go with it. 
The topping is really delicious and quick to make. I used Korean leeks (which is smaller in size then regular leek) that I bought few days ago from a Korean grocery store in my neighboring town. If you can not find Korean leek, you can substitute it with regular leek (you probably only need 1 leek), scallion, or even delicious with garlic chive. Don't worry too much about the amount of red chillies in this recipe. It is actually not that spicy if you use red Fresno chili and discard the white membranes and the seeds. If you still uncomfortable, you can always adjust according to your taste.

Manoushi (Syrian Mountain Bread) With Korean Leeks, Red Chilies, and Sumac

Recipe adapted from: Greg and Lucy Malouf's book, SAHA

makes  10 - 12 

Manoushi Bread, recipe follow
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 - 5 red Freno chilies, deseeded and coarsely chopped
4 Korean leeks, see note above, sliced
1/2 tsp finely ground black pepper
Sea salt, to taste

Sumac, to sprinkle

1 lemon, to serve, optional

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat, add leeks, fry for a few minutes until translucent. Add chilies, continue to cook until leeks are wilted and chilies are soft. Season with sea salt and black pepper. When ready to eat, spread leeks and chilies mixture on manoushi each bread, sprinkle with a little bit sumac, then drizzle with lemon juice if desire.

Manoushi Bread

makes 10 - 12

2½ (355 grams) cups flour
1 teaspoon dried yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 tsp sugar
3/4 cup (175 - 200 ml) warm water
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Dissolve the sugar in a warm water, sprinkle in the yeast, set aside until the yeast is bloom.

Mix flour and salt in a mixer bowl, add yeast mixture, and olive oil. Knead with dough hook on a  low speed  setting for 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and silky. Form the dough into a ball, place it in a lightly oiled clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, let rest in warm place for 2 hours, or until the dough is double in size.

Place the baking stone on the lowest rack of your oven. Preheat oven to 400⁰F.

Transfer onto lightly floured working surface, and fold onto it self, then divide into 10 to 12 portions.

Working with one dough at a time, covering  the rest with clean kitchen towel to prevent from drying, take a piece of dough, and roll it into circle as thin as possible about 7 inches (18 cm) in diameter. Transfer this circle directly on the baking stone, an bake for 1 or 2 minutes. Take it out from the oven, wrap with a clean kitchen towel to keep it warm while you make the rest of the bread.

For YeastSpotting.