Mummy tore a recipe for grilled naan out of the Oregonian a few weeks ago and, the day before I left for camp, Dad and I made a half batch. The dough is super easy to make and if you can’t find whole milk yogurt (which I couldn’t) just use whatever plain yogurt you have lying around (lazy, lazy yogurt). Once you’ve got your easy dough done you get to fill it with some cilantro and mint (although some chicken, curry or just about anything else would be equally tasty) and then you just pop it onto a hot grill for a few minutes and you’re done! It winds up tasting a little bit like an un-fried samosa. The bread is warm, a little smokey, and has a nice layer of tangy, herby bits in the middle. They were pretty good this time, and I think I can raise them to the “hella good” level next time.

I only did a half batch and wound up making four fairly large breads (about 8 inches across). I could only finish one, and Dad ambitiously broke into one and a half, so these are hefty little guys once they’re all done and baked. I’d definitely cut back on the cilantro next time, even to the point of doing the naan plain without any filling. I added some lemon rind and juice to the filling, and I didn’t have any cashews so I did chopped almonds instead and I couldn’t find any fresh ginger to save my life… so powdered it was. I also tossed in some cardamom to the mixture. If anything, this should show you how totally flexible this recipe is. You can go anywhere from just a little thin filling that just adds a hint of something something to the bread, or you can go all out and fill it with savory things like meat and curry to turn it into something like a calzone. Or you can just take the bread recipe and make yourself some more traditional naan… or as traditional as you can get.

Grilled Cilantro-Mint Naan

From the Oregonian Food Day

-MAKES 10 BREADS -

Ta dah! Very tasty, especially when you pair it with asparagus from the farmer’s market.

So. I spotted this 1/2 gallon of homogenized whole milk at Twelve Mile the other day and thought “Ah hah!” and immediately started dreaming of homemade ice cream and butter. It wasn’t until after I got it home that I realized ice cream and butter want heavy cream + whole milk. Darn. The milk was threatening to expire while I spotted this cheese recipe on Little House in the Suburbs (which is a great little blog to peruse through). It sounded good, easy and it was guaranteed to take this expired milk off of my hands and out of the fridge.

The cheese turned out…. well…. it’s cheese. I added salt and some agave to it to give it some sweetness. Dad described it as those little crumbles in cottage cheese without any of the liquid. That’s pretty accurate. I think that it even takes away some of the moisture in your mouth when you eat it it’s that dry. Oh well… live and learn, right? It was totally worth it for the experience.

After I added the vinegar and it was a-curddalin’. The dry cheese ball now resting peacefully in the fridge. I wonder if it would be good melted?

1/2 Gallon Whole Milk (Goat or Cow)
1/4 cup white vinegar or 1/4 cup Lemon juice
Salt to taste

1. Put milk into stainless steel pot and heat over medium until between 190 and 200 degrees.

2. Slowly stir in vinegar or lemon. Remove from heat and allow to curdle and cool until it’s not too hot to touch.

3. Pour cheese into cloth lined bowl. Pull together the 4 corners of cloth and twist around a spoon. Hang dripping cheese for a few hours.

4. Salt to taste and check consistency. I like a fairly hard cheese, so I hang it in the fridge overnight. That’s about the max.

5. Untie, (add any garlic or herbs or more salt, if you like) place in airtight container, and chill. Depending on how long you hung it, it should be about 12-16 oz of cheese.

This bread recipe made it’s way to me from the NY Times a while ago and I just got around to making it yesterday. The reason it took me so long is that it prefers to be baked on a baking/pizza stone (you don’t have to, but I wanted to) and that just seemed like alot of effort… booorrriinnnggg! But that’s the only other white bread recipe I had hanging out in my links folder so I decided to give it a whirl anyway.

It should really be called the “No kneed chewy inside/crunchy outside bread” because that’s essentially what it is. The dough is SUPER loose when you stirr it together… more like an incredibly sticky blob which later grows to be an enormous blob. You don’t kneed it so you can’t really ever get it under control. It stays messy and sticky the whole time until it’s safely out of the oven, baked into a hard shell. Ok, so here’s essentially how easy it is. You mix together the four ingredients (wow, I know, FOUR whole ingredients!? How will you ever manage? Heehee..) and let them hang out in a warm place for two hours, then you take 1/4 or 1/2 (I just made two larger loaves instead of the four the recipe wanted me to make) and kind of roll it into a ball between your hands, let it rest another 40 minutes then pop it onto a preheated pizza stone for 30 minutes with a bucket of water sitting in the bottom of the oven. While I’m writing this, it sounds to me like this dough is going to a baking spa with an itinerary something like: 10:00- get stirred 10:15-12:15- rest in warm place 12:15- get rolled and patted down with flour 12:30-1:45- rest in warm place again 1:45-2:15- loll around on hot stone and GET BAKED! Baking spas sound like my kind of deal… bake and relax…

Recipe: Simple Crusty Bread

Recipe from NY Times

1. In a large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).

2. Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks. When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife. Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.

3. Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.

4. Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.

Yield: 4 loaves.

Variation: If not using stone, stretch rounded dough into oval and place in a greased, nonstick loaf pan. Let rest 40 minutes if fresh, an extra hour if refrigerated. Heat oven to 450 degrees for 5 minutes. Place pan on middle rack.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

I’m glad I only did a small handful! Any more and they would have turned into the Hulk and busted their way out of the jar.

One of my favorites foods is baked squash so it only makes sense that one of my favorite recipes is one I found on 101 cookbooks. I love the warm squash and the fluffy millet all mixed together with some tart cranberries topped with more than a little butter. Mom and Dad are gone for the weekend so I baked myself a batch and I’m planning on living on it over the next couple of days. For now I’m going to go sit in my stretch pants and watch a few episodes of All Creatures Great and Small with a bowl of this glorious squash extravaganza.

Beginning.

Middle.

And END!

Right before it finds a new home in my tummy.

Mark Bittman’s Autumn Millet Bake Recipe

Recipe borrowed from 101 cookbooks

I screwed up a bit and used dried cranberries. If you are referencing the photo, you’ll notice the shrivel factor. Still good. You can make this vegan, vegetarian, I used a bit of cream* - but you can use just stock or water. The real trick is getting the millet to cook all the way though, so don’t over toast it, and keep adding liquids if you need to.

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus oil for the dish
3/4 cup millet
1 medium butternut or other winter squash or 1 small pumpkin, peeled seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup fresh cranberries
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon minced sage leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
1 cup vegetable stock or water, warmed*
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds or coarsely chopped hazelnuts
Preheat the oven to 375F and grease a 2-quart casserole, a large gratin dish, or a 9×13-inch baking dish with olive oil.

Put 2 tablespoons of the oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the millet and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and golden, about 3 minutes (hs note: don’t overdo it). Spread in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

Scatter the squash or pumpkin cubes and the cranberries on top of the millet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and the sage and drizzle with syrup. Carefully pour the warmed stock over all (hs note: I did about 1/2 cup stock & 1/2 cup cream based on one of his variations). Cover tightly with foil and bake without disturbing, for 45 minutes.

Carefully uncover and turn the oven to 400F. As discreetly as possible, sneak a taste and adjust the seasoning. If it looks too dry, add a spoonful or two of water or stock. (hs note: This is key! The millet should be close to being cooked through at this point, if not you need to add liquid and keep it moist and cooking - I used another 1/4 cup+ of stock here). Sprinkle the pumpkin seeds on top, and return the dish to the oven. Bake until the mixture bubbles and the top is browned (hs note: and the millet is cooked through), another 10 minutes or so. Serve piping hot or at room temperature (hs note: drizzled with the remaining olive oil if you like).

Serves 4 to 6.

*In the end, I used 3/4 cup stock + 1/2 cup cream