Mommy Cooks

Naan

I made naan this afternoon, one of the flat, leavened breads of India.  These are traditionally baked in a tandoor, a large clay oven in which the naan dough is literally stuck on to the inside wall and baked at the same time that the meat dish -- tandoori chicken, chicken tikka, and so on -- is cooking.  Madhur Jaffrey, actress and food writer, offers this version to be baked in the oven.  I used a large stoneware baking sheet, which worked perfectly.

Jaffrey suggests that if you don't want to use egg, increase the amount of yogurt by about 4 tablespoons.

I free-formed mine, really -- rolled them out with a mini-roller, but had more fun stretching them in my hands rather like a pizza dough.  I have to say that on a rather chilly autumn day like today, the warm, yeasty smell of the rising dough was fabulous.  The girls were clustering 'round the whole time -- pinching off bits of dough to nibble, asking "is it done yet?", tearing off pieces of the steaming-hot bread fresh out of the oven.  Quite a success.

You can serve the naan brushed with a little melted butter, if you are feeling luxurious.

Naan

2/3 cup warm milk (not hot)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for the bowl
2/3 cup plain yogurt, lightly beaten
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Add the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar to the warm milk, and stir.  Set aside for 15-20 minutes, until the yeast has dissolved and the mixture has become frothy.

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder into a large bowl.  Add the remaining 1 teaspoon sugar, the oil, yogurt, egg, and yeast mixture, and mix well to form a ball of dough.

On a floured work surface, knead the dough for about 10 minutes, until it is smooth and shiny; form it into a ball.  Pour a small amount of oil into a large bowl, and roll the ball of dough in the oil.  Cover the bowl with a piece of plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 500° F, and place in it a large, heavy baking tray to warm.

Punch down the dough and knead it again.  Divide it into 8 equal balls.  Cover the pieces that you are not working with.  Roll each ball into a tear-shaped piece about 1/2-inch thick.  Slap 2 or 3 pieces of dough onto the hot baking sheet and return it to the oven.  Bake until lightly browned, 5-8 minutes.  Repeat with remaining naan.

Makes 8 naan.  Active work time, about 25 minutes; total preparation time, about 1 1/2 hours.

Recipe adapted from Mahdur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking (Barron's, 1983).

Fresh Bread

Sometimes it just sounds so good that you can't wait.  This is the Amish Country Bread fresh from Morgan at One More Moore -- simple enough to bake in an afternoon.  We had to run out to the market for rapid-rise yeast, but Julia was so intrigued by the idea of baking her own bread that this didn't hinder us at all.  She was fascinated by the bubbly yeast, and watched the bread hook tossing the ball of dough around in the mixer for the whole ten minutes.  And needless to say, she was in heaven when I let her spread a bit of butter around the inside of the bowl with her hands, before letting the dough rise!

I made ours into loafier shapes, to fit side-by-side on the baking sheet -- they rose quite a lot, and gratifyingly fast -- and used melted butter instead of egg for the top, as it was a bit easier.

And it makes the house smell heavenly!

Tomato Soup and Cheese Biscuits

We made cheese biscuits again for dinner tonight, this time with a bit of Emmentaler that was in the back of the fridge.  Laura had a lot of fun getting her hands covered with dough, shrieking with delight at the squishiness of it.  (I also used my new stoneware "bar pan" from The Pampered Chef -- our first experience with this company's products.  I must say, the biscuits came out perfectly done, soft and golden with a gentle aura of cheese from the Emmentaler.)

We had our favorite Organic Cream of Tomato soup from Amy's Kitchen -- excuse me while I rave about this again! a beautifully red, rich tomato soup, with a wonderful depth of flavor.  And perfect for the last days of Project Spectrum's red month!

Cheese Biscuits

We made biscuits to go with our tomato soup for dinner tonight.  This recipe, adapted slightly from one in Marion Cunningham's The Supper Book, is simple and fun and very kid-friendly.  We've made it with whatever cheese (or mixture thereof) we have on hand -- Cheddar is the most obviously cheesy, with not only the golden specks throughout but the cheesiest flavor, while other kinds such as jack, which we used tonight, or Parmesan, give the biscuits a pleasant savoriness.  They are moist enough not to need butter, either.

Feel free to cut the biscuits into rounds, as in the original, or pat into a circle and make simple wedges -- the dough will stand up to a good deal of pushing around, and still bake up nice and light.  Use less salt if the cheese you have is on the salty side.

Daddy hung around the oven door, sniffing like a bloodhound....

Cheese Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt, more or less
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup (about 3 oz.) Cheddar or other cheese, grated
1/2 cup butter (substitute margarine OR vegetable shortening), cut into chunks
2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 425° F.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar.  With a pastry blender or two knives, blend the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.  Stir in the cheese.  Add the milk all at once, and stir with a fork or your hands until the dough holds together.

Turn out the dough onto a floured surface, and knead 10 times.  Pat the dough into a circle about 1/2 inch thick, and cut into 8 wedges.  Transfer the wedges to an ungreased baking sheet so that the edges of the biscuits almost touch.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Serve warm.

Makes 8 biscuits.  Preparation time, about 10 minutes; total time, about 30 minutes.

Garlic Rolls

Marion Cunningham's delicious The Supper Book gives a recipe for garlic rolls that, Cinderella-like, transform humble dinner rolls from the supermarket into something wonderful.  Forget about butter -- drizzling the garlic oil over the top of the not-quite toasted rolls infuses them with a rich, garlicky flavor.  The bottoms of the rolls, usually mostly ignored, are almost crisp from the oven and then soak up the garlic oil to create a delightful crunchy-butterylike contrast of textures. 

The original recipe calls for 8 rolls, but I've always used the whole dozen from the package, and find that they don't seem to need more of the flavored oil.

Perfect with tomato soup!

Garlic Rolls

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon finely chopped or crushed garlic
2 teaspoons parsley flakes
1/4 cup vegetable oil
12 soft white dinner rolls (Parkerhouse, cloverleaf, etc.)

Put the rolls, separated if necessary, close together in a shallow baking dish, and warm in a 250° F oven for about 10 minutes, or until nice and warm.

While the rolls are in the oven, stir the salt and the water in a small bowl, and let stand for 5 minutes until the salt is dissolved.  Stir again, and add the garlic, parsley, and oil (or add the salt and water to the oil in the measuring cup), and mix well. 

Remove the rolls from the oven and drizzle the flavored oil evenly over them.  Serve immediately.

Makes 12 rolls.  Preparation time, about 5 minutes; total time, 15 minutes.