Na'an

Of all the recipes I've shared, na'an is actually the one I make the most.

I find myself making batch after batch of this simple, Indian flatbread. It's easy, requires very few ingredients and I never seem to get sick of it.

I decided to finally try bigger more complicated breads, but first I thought I should revisit my first experience cooking with yeast.

As I mentioned before in my pretzel post, yeast is easy, treat it with care and it will go all the work for you.

This recipe for na'an should yield 4 pieces, but my pictures only show 3. Why?

Well, when I make na'an no matter what, I always end up devouring the first piece straight out of the oven, slathered with butter and kosher salt, while the rest bake. I just can't help it.

I always plan to make hummus, but the na'an never survives that long.

I used to make double batches of the stuff, in an effort to keep it around longer, but I know I make regular batches frequently instead. I like the ritual of baking bread every few days.

(I pretty much bake whenever I notice that the house is cold.)

Na'an

2 cups of flour

2/3 cup of plain yogurt (regular or fat-free, either works), room temperature

2 tablespoons melted butter or oil

1 tsp salt

1 clove of garlic, minced (optional)

1 tsp red chili flakes (optional)

(Note: by "optional" I mean, "super delicious, you should add them")

Mix everything together in a bowl.

Knead for 10 minutes, until smooth ands elastic.

Let rest in an oiled bowl, covered for 60-90 minutes.

Separate into 4 balls and let rest for another 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

On a floured surface, roll each ball into an 16-18 inch oval (basically as thin as you can get it works).

Bake one at a time on a baking sheet for 8-10 minutes, until they bubble up and brown a bit.

Serve with hummus, use as the base of a pizza, or eat warm standing in your kitchen (my standard method of snacking).

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies were pretty much my first serious baking venture. I've made them a good 50 times (at least). I've made tiny half batches to satisfy cravings and massive quadruple batches for bake sales.
I would frequently make them from memory, and then realize that I'd forgotten an important important ingredient. (I always forgot eggs!).

It's actually been awhile since I've made chocolate chip cookies though and I got to thinking about them while I was looking for Halloween treats.

I thought I'd whip up a batch since I've got all the supplies here and this particular recipe caught my eye.

The cookies just came of the oven and it seemed like a great opportunity to write up a blog with the house still warm and smelling like peanut butter.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup of flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup of peanut butter (the recipe called for creamy, but I used chunky)
1/2 sugar
1/3 brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl.

In an electric mixer, combine peanut butter, butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, mix on medium for about 3 minutes.
Then add the egg.
Slowly add the flour.

Add the chocolate chips and oatmeal, but use a spoon to mix in, the dough will be pretty thick and my mixer didn't want to uniformly disperse the chocolate chips.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with non-stick spray.
Spoon generous tablespoons of dough onto the sheets, about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool, devour.

Beef Stew

It is finally Fall!
So of course this means serious comfort food. It's time for some unrestrained, no holds barred home cooked deliciousness.
It's beef stew time.

I tried to show off a little bit with this one, but the puff pastry boats I made to hold the stew came apart in the oven. (I'll be tackling those again soon.) Of course this didn't stop me from cutting the puff pastry into little triangles and serving it with the stew. If it tastes good and looks decent, no one will know you made a mistake. Everyone loved the puff pastry triangles.

The stew was perfect, homey, rich and everything was on point... well except for one thing.
I forgot the carrots.
I had beautiful organic homegrown carrots in my fridge and I didn't realize I'd forgotten them till halfway through my second bowl.
So the recipe isn't very exact, and I know that one my scoff at my use of Beef Stew seasoning mix, but seriously that stuff is awesome. I want to put it in everything I make, it's pure deliciousness.

Beef Stew
4lb beef stew meat (you can buy the precut stuff, but I found some nice cheap steaks on sale and cut them up myself)
1 packet beef stew seasoning mix
48 oz can of beef broth
2.5 lbs of (any kind of) potatoes
most of a 1lb bag of frozen peas
most of a 1lb bag of frozen corn
1 medium onion
2 carrots, peeled, diced
flour
salt/pepper
1 box frozen puff pastry, thawed



Coat meat in flour and salt/pepper. Get a large pot hot and add a few teaspoons of oil.


Sear the meat in batches, browning the outside, but not cooking it through. Remove all the meat.

Add the onion and carrots to the pot (I left my in large chunks for the picky eaters). Add the beef broth, beef stew seasoning mix and the meat (and all the juices that have acumulated on the plate) and make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot for tasty bits of cooked on flavor.

Add the potatoes. Simmer on medium for about 40 minutes, until the potatoes are nearly cooked through.

Add the corn and green beans, simmer for another 10 minutes.

Now taste the stew. Enough salt? pepper? Is it thick enough? If not dissolve 2-3 tablespoons of corn starch in 2-3 tablespoons of water in a cup then add to the stew and heat it to a boil. It should thicken up perfectly.

The puff pastry triangles require basically no instructions. Thaw the pastry then unfold it, cut in along the folds and lay the pieces out on a baking sheet. Bake as instructed on the packaging.

Then cut into triangles and serve with beef stew.