Addendum to “Midnight at the Oasis Naan…”

So when I made the Oasis Naan recipe, I only baked half of the dough into naan.  I left the other half in the refrigerator thinking that I would make the Persian Naan recipe.  A couple of days later my daughter reminded me that I had dough in the fridge that needed to be baked, and knowing that I had to get dinner on the table soon,  I decided to make a cheese pizza.  I rolled out the dough, sprinkled some shredded mozzarella cheese with spaghetti sauce and popped it into a 500 degree oven for 15 minutes.  It turned out very nicely.

So, all of you TWD Bakers, add a note to the Oasis Naan recipe-  this is an easy and delicious pizza dough recipe too!

Midnight at the Oasis Naan, Send your camel to be-ed Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

Okay, so my title is a bit of a stretch..and I am not quite certain why this is called Oasis Naan except that it is sprinkled with a bit of spice and topped with green onions.   Maybe that is reminiscent of an oasis.  This is a very easy bread dough recipe rolled out into little flat rounds, then punctured with a fork.  The edges which are left unpuntured, rise a bit like little pillows.  I made half of the recipe and am keeping the other half to make the recipe for Persian Naan.  I had a difficult time photographing this particular recipe.  I couldn’t find anything rustic-y, or a plate with the right background color, and my husband was having a hard time waiting to eat this, so, he agreed to let me take his picture and post it.

Getting onto the details of how I made this recipe, I made 2 naan breads plain, no spice or green onion.  Then I made 2 with green onion and cumin seed.  The plain breads tasted like pizza dough, good and sturdy.  The ones with the cumin and onion had a bit of zip.  Also they looked a bit more appealing, prettier.  I didn’t have a pizza stone, nor did I have unglazed tiles, which can work like a pizza stone.  An alternative suggestion was to use an upside down cookie sheet.  I placed the breads directly onto the upside down cookie sheet in the pre heated oven and they browned up nicely.  As much as I would love to have lots of fun cooking accoutrements, I really don’t have the kitchen space to keep a lot of extra things.  So I really like it when I have an alternative, something that normally has another function and especially when it works out so well!

I think that this would taste fantastic with hummus.  I also think that this would be an outstanding pizza dough with fresh tomatoes and garlic or the old standby, pepperoni and cheese.  Buon appetit! Or should I say Noosh-e jan! (Persian, found on Google Search)

 

Rachel Bakes on Tuesdays…but it’s Wednesday

Today is actually Wednesday.  My Tuesdays with Dorie group has baked and baked in May and I haven’t been able to be a part of it this whole month…boo hoo.  Lots of life happened during the months of April and May, but now I am back, not quite in full force, but back.  While I was on my mini hiatus, the group baked Hungarian Shortbread and a very complicated looking recipe for Pecan Sticky Buns.  I have to say that my old K-Tec Kitchen Champ 2000 would not have made it through the brioche dough (I didn’t have the heart to kill it off that way).  So starting back on a doable note, I made Hungarian Shortbread on this extra Tuesday that we have in May.  It was an easy recipe and turned out quite buttery and delicious!  I kind of wonder why shortbread dough is called “short”.  I will have to look on other posts to see if anyone commented on the name.

     It was an interesting technique to make the dough, freeze it, then grate the frozen dough into the baking pan.  I am not sure how this technique affected the final product except this shortbread is not like regular shortbread, which is normally crumbly and has a kind of sandy texture.  This shortbread has a chewy texture with a bit of crunch on the top.  I really like the two layers with the filling of raspberry jam.  It looks very pretty cut into bars.  The original recipe calls for making rhubarb jam which I did not make nor could I find locally, so I used raspberry and it came out quite nicely.

     I can’t post a picture today but I am sure that there are lots of pretty pictures of this delightful dessert. This would be fabulous to serve for a Ladies’ Tea, a shower or any spring or summer event, calling for a bit of loveliness on the table.  Cheers!

A Lovely Lemon-y Loaf

“A lovely ladies purse” (spoken in a high Cockney accent)…I am not certain why that phrase came to me as I sat down to write this blog but as I say ”A lovely Lemon Loaf”aloud, it reminds me of some obscure dialogue in some forgotten movie-so onward!   I made my Lemon Loaf from Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan on a very rainy day.  I had these tiny, little lemons from a friend’s tree and decided that I needed to use them.  They have a very thin skin and are about 1 1/2″ in diameter.  I don’t know why but all things in miniature look so appealing.  They are just too darn cute!  The recipe went together quite easily.  I did change the recipe a bit as I had already read a few of the early comments about the recipe not having enough lemon flavor and turning out a bit dry.  So, I used full fat sour cream instead of the heavy cream (mainly because it was raining and I didn’t want to trudge out in the rain for heavy cream) and about 1/3 c of lemon juice from my tiny, little lemons that I had zested to add liquid and for some extra flavor.  I had my first taste of it this morning and it is good.  The loaf is a bit dense and a little dry like I read in the comments.  However, I bought some fresh strawberries to top it off and I am hoping that it will make it even more delicious.

Today is a beautiful southern California day- sunshiney and bright, the air is cool at 7 am.  Wishing all of my baking friends “A Lovely Lemon-y Loaf!” especially with strawberries, whipped cream and lemon curd…

That’s amore!

“When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie…

That’s amore!”

Well, it’s Tuesday and that means baking.  I gotta say,  Pizza Rustica is amore.  On Sunday I mixed the dough and it was fabulously easy, it came together quickly and was in the fridge in a flash, resting and chilling.  Monday, turned out to be too busy with personal stuff so the pizza pie baking was left for Tuesday.  Since I was out and about after work today I stopped to purchase the ricotta cheese but forgot to get the Pecorino Romano…   When I got home I was able to roll out the dough and mix up the ricotta filling.   I had never done a lattice top on a pie before and it was fairly easy-peasy and ended up looking pretty.   Then I  popped the pie into the oven.  It baked quickly and was out in 35 minutes.   The crust was slightly overly browned at the edge.  That would be my only complaint.  My daughter and I set up the photo op for our “little darling” and took a few quick pics before we cut into the Pizza Rustica.  The sweet pastry held the savory egg and ricotta filling that had been flavored with mozzarella and bacon, rather than the prosciutto.  It is a surprisingly delightful combination.

So here it is… Ladies and Gentlemen:  Pizza Rustica!  Now that’s Amore!

Top o’ the mornin’ to ya!

It’s post Saint Paddy’s Day but I wanted to greet everyone who’s Irish in the Irish tradition  and those who aren’t, well, top o’ the mornin’ to  you too…Today was the Bakin’ of the Saint Paddy’s Day Irish Soda Bread.  The recipe was very easy…so much so that I was a bit nonplussed after the trials with the rugelach recipe.  I never posted about my rugelach baking because it took me so much time to get it completed and baked that Tuesday had come and gone…  Anyway, back to the Irish Soda Bread, this one is easy.  I had to add a bit more buttermilk for the dough to come together then mixed in a handful of dark raisins just before forming the loaf.  The result is a very easy, delicious, homey bread.  Spread it with butter and jam…  Yum!

I do have a baking question about the recipe…  at the end of the baking time I tested the internal temperature with a quick read thermometer hoping for 180 degrees only the temperature went almost to 200 so I took it out of the oven.  After cooling  and of course taking it’s beauty shot, I was then able to  cut it apart.  Unfortunately I found that part of the inside was still doughy.  Is it possible that I made my loaf too thick?  I will look through other posts to see what you have to say about it.  Thanks in advance.

If this is the staff of life in Ireland, it’s no wonder they can dance an Irish jig!

Busy day but still there is pie!

Today did not turn out quite like I had planned.  I knew that due to my schedule, I would be baking this evening after work.  Last night I put our dinner in the crock pot so that dinner would not be getting in the way of baking my tartlets.  When I got off of work, I remembered that I had a quick appointment at the eye doctor, so I made a stop there.  Then I also remembered that I had something from Christmas that had to be returned at the mall.  By the time I got home, I realized that I was missing a few ingredients for my recipe and off to the grocery store I went.  Needless to say, my baking began at about 8 pm.  I made the chocolate pastry and put it in the refrigerator.  I needed extra water, actually about 3T, but it came together beautifully.  Then I moved onto the filling which surprisingly did not take long.  When I rolled out the pastry, I did have to piece it a bit, but I  could tell that it was going to be a nice pastry, fairly easy to use.   Into the oven to bake the pastry.  Then fill with the chocolate, back to the oven and bake.  Voila!  a very lovely chocolate tart (pie).   

While I was putting it together, I had quite a few tastes here and there, so I have not yet tasted it.  It looks terrific and tomorrow, I expect that I will be tucking into some truly delightful CHOCOLATE PIE.

No pictures today…my computer guru (my 15 year old) is busy with homework and it is 11:15 pm.