Naan

**I'm guest posting about my favorite wine store and their weekly wine tastings over on Eat*Drink*Cleveland today.  Check it out!**

June is Kevin's birthday month.  His favorite type of food is Indian so I'm going to feature a couple Indian recipes that are easy to recreate at home.

I had leftovers from eating at an Indian restaurant, but didn't have enough rice or naan in comparison.  I knew I had a few naan recipes bookmarked, but I needed something I could whip up after work.  Luckily I found this recipe which only needed an hour to rise.

Naan is ridiculously easy, I really couldn't believe how easy!  Mix up dough, knead for 10 minutes, let it rise for an hour, knead 1 minute, split into 6 pieces, then cook it on a pizza stone for 3 minutes on each side.

I spread butter over them right after they came out of the oven.  Next time I'm going to attempt making garlic naan.  Yum!

Naan freezes well and makes a great crust for a quick personal pizza.

Indian Naan Bread

Adapted from Ruth's Kitchen Experiments

Makes 6

4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 (7g) active dry-yeast packets

1 tsp sugar

2/3 cup milk, lukewarm

2 tbsp oil

2/3 cup plain yogurt

1 egg, beaten (optional) (I didn't add it)

Room temperature butter 

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir in the yeast and sugar. Make a well in the center. Pour in the milk, oil, yogurt and beaten egg (if using). Beat well, gradually incorporating the surrounding flour to make a dough.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with oiled plastic wrap and set in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in bulk.

Put a pizza stone on the lowest rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 475.

Knead the dough lightly again and divide into six pieces. Roll each piece into a rectangular shape, brush lightly with oil and slap onto the hot pizza stone.  Bake the naan for 3 minutes, until puffed up, flip and bake for another 3 minutes.  After it comes out of the oven, lightly spread some butter on one side of the cooked naan, and transfer to a cooling rack.

Guest Post from Becca: Sourdelicious Bread

**Becca and I swapped blogs for the day.  I posted about DIY Microwave Popcorn over on Peace, Love & Bagels. Please welcome Becca, she's sharing her Sourdough Bread recipe!**

Hi everybody! I’m Becca from Peace, Love & Bagels. Sarah and I are participating in the Ohio

Blogging Association’s All-State Blog Swap, so she’s taking over for me today at PL&B and I

have been blessed with the opportunity to write a guest post for her! If you want to check out the

rest of the blog swapping that’s going down - check out Poise in Parma for a complete list.

If you haven’t ventured into making your own bread yet, I highly suggest you give it a try. The

perfect loaf can be elusive. Trust me on this, I’ve tried about everything under the sun.

I’ve tried kneading til the cows come home.

I bought a bread maker.

I used the Tassajara Bread Book, following each step to a T.

Little did I know that the best, most airy, most versatile loaf was probably the easiest bread I

could make. And now I need to get rid of my bread maker (any takers? personally I don’t like the

shape of the loaves)

The secret to great bread is the no-knead, leave-it-overnight loaf. Also known as, throwing 4

ingredients into a bowl, mixing for a minute, covering with plastic wrap and then leaving it

overnight to fluff up. I promise you, perfect bread. Every. Time.

That brings me to my attempt at making sourdough. I thought I’d follow a recipe that involved

kneading - since my pops got me a Kitchen-Aid Mixer as a wedding gift and I could make that

do most of the work for me. You know what? Even with sourdough, I had to come back to my

tried and true no-knead recipe. With a few little tweaks, I was surprised at how perfect and

delicious the bread turned out!

Even better than that, it takes a total of ten minutes of your time. Here’s the method...

Sourdough Bread

1. Mix 1 Tbsp dry yeast, 2.5 cups warm water, 2 tsp sugar, and 2.5 cups of flour in a

container. Let it ferment, covered in a warm place for about 5 days. Stir daily. You’ll

know when it starts to really get sour - it smells! The starter can be kept indefinitely in

a sealed container in the fridge, although most people suggest using it within a week, I

believe in the time-freezing qualities of 34 degree temperatures.

2. When you’re about ready to have your bread, mix 1 cup of starter in a bowl with 3 more

cups of flour, 1 tsp salt, about 1.5-2 cups of warm water and any mix-in (herbs, cheese,

etc.). You may need to add more water or flour depending on the consistency of the

dough - kind of a shaggy dough ball.

3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it overnight to fluff (I say “fluff” because it

really can’t be called “rising”). Before you’re ready to bake you may have to add more flour

so it’s not too sticky to handle.

4. On the day of baking: preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place a cast iron pot (with lid)

or a pizza stone in there to preheat with the oven. Meanwhile, form your bread into a loaf

(use more flour if it’s very sticky), place it on a cutting board and cover it with your plastic

wrap. After about 30 minutes of preheating, toss the loaf into the cast iron pot or onto

your pizza stone and bake for 30 minutes covered, then another 15 minutes uncovered.

NOTE - you can probably bake this in a loaf pan too, but the cooking time might vary

slightly, so keep an eye on it. The cast iron/pizza stone is what gives the bread a nice

hard crust.

Ok, so that seems like way more than ten minutes of work, but I promise you - most of it is

waiting. One must wait for the perfectly crusty and delicious loaf of sourdough. I think they

probably teach you that in culinary school.

I obviously missed my calling!

The good news is, I can make a mean loaf of sourdough. You can tweak and massage this

recipe any way til Tuesday to make it the perfect type of bread for you and your family. Some

ideas:

● leave the sourdough starter out and just make plain bread

● mix in lemon zest and rosemary

● mix in goat cheese and chives

● grate in cheddar cheese and mix in chopped jalapenos and then sprinkle some grated

cheese on top before baking

● mix in cinnamon and raisins

● use about ½ cup of pumpkin puree or beet puree in place of the water in the recipe

The opportunities are endless with this bread. I’m officially in love. I hope you are able to enjoy

this recipe as much as I have!

**Thanks Becca!  Sourdough has been on my "to make" list for a long time, I think you've convinced me to finally try making it.**

Cinnamon Rolls

This one was baked in the loaf pan (sides of dough didn't touch anything).

Okay, I'm going to tackle some brunch recipes.  First up:  Cinnamon Rolls!

I usually don't like homemade cinnamon rolls because they are dry and taste too yeasty and bready.  These however are actually pretty amazing.  With all that butter, how could they not be good?!

This recipe makes a ton of cinnamon rolls, perfect for giving away to friends, family and neighbors.  Don't forget to keep at least one pan for yourself though!  These cinnamon rolls freeze really well in different stages (unbaked rolls in the pan, or baked rolls with frosting).  I warmed a pan that was frozen fully cooked and frosted (250 F for 15 min), and they tasted just as good and fresh as they did before freezing.  I definitely recommend freezing them after the are fully cooked and frosted because you can have cinnamon rolls ready in a moments notice!

When I made them, I ended up with seven full 8x8 pans plus two cinnamon rolls which I baked in a loaf pan.  The two didn't rise as much and were far enough apart from each other and the sides of the pan so they were able to get some crunchy edges.  I really liked those edges!  I might even experiment with baking them on a cookie sheet so I can have more cinnamon rolls that are soft with crunchy edges.

Some tips and step by step pictures can be found on The Pioneer Woman's blog.

The recipe can easily be halved, but if you want an even smaller batch, KitchenMage shows the quantities scaled down to make 12 cinnamon rolls (I have not tested this). 

It's my favorite bun when they're baked in a pan (the one from the middle).

Cinnamon Rolls
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Yield: 7 (8x8 or pie) pans:  50-60 cinnamon rolls

1 quart whole milk
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 (0.25 oz) packages active dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp OR 0.5 oz total)
8 cups (plus 1 cup extra, separated) flour
1 tsp heaping baking powder
1 tsp scant baking soda
1 Tbsp heaping salt
2 cups (4 sticks) melted butter, plus more as needed
2 cups sugar, plus more as needed
1/4 cup cinnamon for sprinkling

Maple Frosting:
2 lb powdered sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) melted butter
1/4 cup strongly brewed coffee (can be omitted)
1 Tbsp maple extract/flavoring (can substitute vanilla)
1/8 tsp salt

VARIATIONS:

• Add finely chopped pecans to the rolls after sprinkling with cinnamon sugar
• Substitute 1 cup orange marmalade and 2 cups brown sugar for the cinnamon and white sugar, then substitute orange juice for the maple and coffee in the frosting.
• If you want to make vanilla frosting substitute vanilla extract for the maple flavoring and replace the coffee with more milk.

To make the dough:
Heat the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat to just below a boil. Set aside and cool to warm. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let it sit on the milk for 1 minute.

Add 8 cups of the flour. Stir until just combined, then cover with a clean kitchen towel, and set aside in a relatively warm place for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove the towel and add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and the remaining 1 cup flour. Stir thoroughly to combine. Use the dough right away, or place in a mixing bowl and refrigerate for up to 3 days, punching down the dough if it rises to the top of the bowl. (Note: dough is easier to work with if it’s been chilled for at least an hour or so beforehand.)

Remove half the dough from the pan/bowl. On a floured baking surface, roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 30 x 10 inches. The dough should be rolled very thin.


To make the filling:
Pour 3/4 cup to 1 cup of the melted butter over the surface of the dough. Use your fingers to spread the butter evenly. Generously sprinkle half of the ground cinnamon and 1 cup of the sugar over the butter. Don’t be afraid to drizzle on more butter or more sugar! Gooey is the goal.


To assemble the rolls:
Now, beginning at the end farthest from you, roll the rectangle tightly towards you. Use both hands and work slowly, being careful to keep the roll tight. Don’t worry if the filling oozes as you work; that just means the rolls are going to be divine. When you reach the end, pinch the seam together and flip the roll so that the seam is face down. When you’re finished, you’ll wind up with one long buttery, cinnamony, sugary, gooey log.

Slip a cutting board underneath the roll and with a sharp knife, make 1/2-inch slices. One “log“ will produce 20 to 25 rolls. Pour a couple of teaspoons of melted butter into disposable foil cake pans and swirl to coat. Place the sliced rolls in the pans, being careful not to overcrowd. (Each pan will hold 7 to 9 rolls.)  Repeat the rolling/sugar/butter process with the other half of the dough and pans.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Cover all the pans with a kitchen towel and set aside to rise on the countertop for at least 20 minutes before baking. Remove the towel and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Don’t allow the rolls to become overly brown.


While the rolls are baking, make the maple icing:
In a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, butter, coffee, and salt. Splash in the maple flavoring. Whisk until very smooth. Taste and add in more maple, sugar, butter, or other ingredients as needed until the icing reaches the desired consistency. The icing should be somewhat thick, but still very pourable.

Remove pans from the oven. Immediately drizzle icing over the top. Be sure to get it all around the edges and over the top. As they sit, the rolls will absorb some of the icing’s moisture and flavor. They only get better with time.

New York Times No Knead Bread

Last January the New York Times published a No Knead Bread recipe that everyone went crazy over.  Strike that!  Now that I'm checking the link, it was published way back in November 2006.  My time line is way off, I could have sworn it was just last year when people were talking about it all over the internet.  Wow.  Anyway, I didn't make the recipe when I first heard about it because I didn't have a dutch oven or any other covered cooking vessel that was large enough.  When I received a dutch oven for Christmas I didn't waste any time making this bread and have made it multiple times since.


I don't have much experience with yeast other than in the bread machine and pizza dough.  I can see why people are so enamored with this recipe because it's ridiculously easy and delicious, you just have to wait for the dough to develop.  It's taste like artisan bread you would get from a good bakery.  After it's cooled completely, and you finally cut into it, and have a taste, you'll find the crust to be crispy and the inside chewy.  It's absolutely addicting.


Couple of things to note: 

1. When you're transferring the dough out of the bowl, notice the beautiful dough web.  It looks like it's straight out of an episode of Baking with Julia. 
2. When you get to the step when you're putting the dough on a floured towel, flour it VERY liberally.  When I first made it, the dough "ate" through the flour and made the towel damp, creating a sticky mess.  I tried scraping off as much dough as I could, but I still had to send the towel through the wash twice.
3. This bread "sings" after you take it out of the oven.  It crackles noisily as it cools down.
4. This recipe is endlessly adaptable.  I look forward to experimenting with different flours and flavor combinations like roasted garlic and herb or cinnamon and raisin.

These are the bubbles you'll see after you've waited patiently and the dough is ready.

Look at this lacy goodness!

Seriously, this is bread making for dummies, you really can't mess it up because the hands on work is so minimal.

No-Knead Bread
Adapted from Jim Lahey at the Sullivan Street Bakery via Mark Bittman at New York Times
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising


3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
1 5/8 cups water
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.


1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.


Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.