Friday, May 29, 2009

Quick and Versatile

I love making naan, which is a type of Indian flatbread. It is really easy to make, relatively quick (it takes a little more than an hour), and can be used for lots of different things. I usually make it with curried pork bites (or chicken tandoori, really anything that is spicy) but I have also toasted the naan with cheese on top, and spread both peanut butter or nutella on a piece of naan. So here is the recipe (and with picture!):
8 oz (225 g) bread flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 oz yeast
4 T milk (lukewarm)
1 T vegetable oil
2 T yogurt
1 egg Combine milk and yeast. Set aside for 15 minutes.


Sift together flour and salt. Add the yogurt, oil, egg, and milk and mix to form a soft dough (it will be pretty sticky).


Knead the dough for about 10 minutes (until smooth and elastic). Again the dough with be a little sticky so make sure to use plenty of flour. Place in greased bowl and let rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk (I've reduced the raising time to about 30 minutes in a rush and the naan still turned out well). Punch down and then divide into 8 pieces and roll into balls then roll out into a disc. You can make the pieces of naan thicker and bigger if you like. I like to make my naan a little smaller and thinner so it cooks faster.


Heat a pan to medium (or use a grill). Place naan on the pan (or grill) for about 3 to 4 minutes (the naan will start to puff up) and then flip over and cook on the otherside for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and repeat until all pieces of naan are cooked. Enjoy!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Success!

I remember watching The Simpsons when they were still on the Tracy Ullman show and we used to watch it every week back in the first few years of the show (I think that I stopped watching it around my senior year of high school around season 11 or 12, when the show seemed to be more about Homer than the whole family). One of the characters, Nelson Muntz, always says goodbye by saying "Smell you later" and Rachel (and sometimes me) has been saying that to Ellis whenever ever he would leave the room or go upstairs for a nap. And then on Sunday as Rachel was taking him upstairs for his nap and I said "Smell you later" to which Ellis replied "I will smell you later. Aunt Caferene, I will smell you later". It was pretty much hilarious and adorable. I couldn't find a clip of Nelson saying smell you later, but here is a pretty funny clip of him from the first episode I remember him saying smell you later.