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HOMEMADE NAAN BREAD

1/19/2015

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      This is a fantastic Naan recipe that I learned in my culinary class in Manhattan a few years back. I've tried other recipes and this one continues to be my favorite. Ideally and traditionally you would use a clay/metal tandoor oven to make this Indian flatbread, but it can be accomplished quite well both stove-top or on the bricks in a home oven (my preferred method) with a slight variation in appearance. The dough is smooth and easy to work with, and if your oven (heat source) is truly hot enough, they will puff like balloons before they collapse into marbled-brown perfection. I do have more success with the puffing in the brick oven, but the taste is great either way.
Yield: 12 medium-large Naan breads

Ingredients:
For dough:
2 lbs AP or bread flour
3/4 lb warm water, about 95F (you may need to gradually add more water if your mix is too dry)
1 tsp instant yeast
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp sugar
1 large egg, lightly stirred
1/3 cup milk (whole, 2%)
6 oz plain yogurt
1/6 cup olive oil
1 tsp spices (optional--paprika, nutmeg, cumin, saffron, pepper...whatever you like)

For brushing after baking:
Melted butter, 3-4 TBSP
Salt + pepper + herbs/spices, to taste


Other supplies:
Rolling pin
Large bowls for mixing and proofing
Cast-iron skillet or pizza stone/bricks in an oven

Wooden board/pizza peel for loading into the brick oven

Directions:
1)
In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, sugar, instant yeast, and any spices together with a spoon until evenly blended. Then add the warm water, egg, milk, yogurt, and olive oil.

2)
Stir continuously, and be sure to incorporate all of the flour and ingredients together in the bowl. Depending on the conditions/humidity in your kitchen, you may need to gradually add more flour if the well-blended mix is wet, or more water if the well-blended mix is too dry/crumbly.

3)
Once you've achieved a dough that is slightly tacky in consistency, transfer it to a floured counter and begin to knead the dough, turning it 90 degrees after each push. Continue for about 3 minutes, gently adding flour if it is too sticky. Ultimately the dough should have a very silky, smooth appearance and texture with no discolorations or lumps.

4)
Grease a clean, large bowl and transfer your smooth dough into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in a warm area until approximately doubled, about 2-3 hours.

5)
Your bread needs to rise only one more time at this point. If you are going to do this in the oven, preheat your oven to 500F (or its highest setting--hotter is better). If you are going to do this stove top, you can start heating a lightly oiled skilled a few minutes before you place your round naans on top of it.

6)
Remove the dough from the bowl and transfer to a lightly oiled (I use olive oil) working space. Use a knife to divide the dough into 12 roughly even pieces. Grab the ends of each piece, pinch them together, and roll each piece into a ball/round on the counter with the seam-side down. Do this 12 times so you have 12 balls of dough (see photos above). Cover with plastic wrap on the counter top and let rest for about 20-30min while your oven preheats and the stone becomes very hot (this takes time)

7) Your oven is preheated, your dough has relaxed for 20-30min and you are now ready to shape it. Get some flour to keep near your work area because you may need to add some to your rolling pin or the work area if the dough sticks. Also get a cooling rack or dish where you can place your cooked naan and brush them with butter when they are done.

8)
If you are doing this stove top, start to heat your skillet under a medium-medium/high flame. Take the first round ball of naan and place it on a slightly floured work surface. You may want to flour the rolling pin too. Roll the Naan out to your desired shape or size. I personally like to make ovals that are about 8" long and 5" wide. You may need to flour and flip the Naan over on its other side as you roll it out to the desired shape.

9)
As soon as you have the shape, place the naan onto the hot cast iron skillet OR put it on a floured pizza peel/paddle and load it right onto the hot bricks in your oven. In both cases, you will need to watch your naans at all times. After about 2-3 minutes, check the underside of your naan. Watch for browning and puffing. Some naan may not puff all the way, some won't puff at all. It's not bad and won't affect the taste, but it may mean that your heat source isn't hot enough (in the oven on the bricks this is generally not a problem for me).

NOTE: You will need to watch all 12 of them as you bake them--if you walk away they will quickly burn. The key is to have lightly browned/freckled naans and to not let them burn. You will develop a pattern of baking and may even be able to do two at-a-time in the oven after you've done this a few times. If this is your first try, please be safe.

10) When it is a light brown on the bottom or puffed, flip the naan to its other side using tongs. Watch it again for about 2-3 minutes and check the underside. It will start to develop characteristic brown freckling. Medium brown is fine,
don't let them get too dark! Remove from the oven/skillet and set aside on a cooling rack.

11) Now start to roll out your second naan and repeat the process.
Now that you see how it works, you can probably roll out your next naan while this one is on its side for 2-3 minutes. You will see what works best for you.

12) Once you get the hang of the process, you can start to brush your cooked naans on the freckled/brown side with butter--either during the 2-3 minutes that you wait to for your naans to cook and brown, or at the end. You can't really leave the kitchen so they will be buttered when they can be buttered. For extra flavor, i sprinkled kosher/sea salt and pepper on them after I buttered them. I liked the effect of this very much.

13) When you are done, let the naans cool on the rack for a bit before serving. You can serve them warm with pretty much anything! Enjoy!

NOTE:
Due to lack of preservatives in the dough, the breads taste the best within the first few hours of baking. I would recommend wrapping them in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freezing them if you plan to eat them more than one day after baking, as they will rapidly become stale.
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STUFFED FLAT BREADS

10/5/2014

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     This flat bread was nice and soft, great for dipping in anything, and had great flavor inside and out. It's not difficult to make and the results are great! You can do this stove-top or on a grill (but keep your eye on them at all times). And you can choose whatever stuffing you want to put in the middle--herbs, meats, etc. However don't over-stuff them, because optimally you don't want the inside contents leaking out onto your grill/grittle.
Yield: 4 medium/large stuffed flat breads

Ingredients:
For dough:
5-6 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup olive oil
1 Tsp honey
2 Tsp instant yeast
2 1/2 Tsp salt
3/4 cup yogurt, plain
Additional olive oil for brushing

For mushroom stuffing:
8oz package of mushrooms (of your choice)
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp fresh scallions, sliced

Directions:
1) In a medium bowl, mix 2 cups of water, honey and yeast. Let sit for about 10 minutes. Then add salt, yogurt, and 1 Tbsp oil, and stir together.

2) Add flour to wet mixture starting with 2 cups, and gradually adding more until the dough becomes stiff.

3) Transfer dough to lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and silky, about 5 minutes. Dough should still be a little sticky.

4) Place dough in a lightly greased medium-large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest in a warm area about 2 hours, or until doubled.

5) Now prepare the mushroom filling (you can do what you want! But this is what I did for my recipe): rinse mushrooms under water and wipe dry. Cut off the hard tip of the stem and slice them lengthwise. Then melt about 1 Tbsp butter in a skillet until the foam dissipates. Then drop the mushrooms into the skillet and add chives and salt and pepper to taste. The mushrooms will absorb the liquid first, then they will release it. Sautee for 1-2 minutes after this. Then set aside to cool.

6) Divide dough into 4 equal portions and chill for about 20 minutes in the refrigerator. Next, on a lightly floured surface, roll out each portion into a rough circle/oval, about 8 inches in diameter (you may need additional flour to make sure your rolling pin and dough don't stick to each other--but only add as much as you need! Not more!).

7) Brush top of each flattened round with olive oil, and add the stuffing of your choice (again, here I did sauteed mushrooms and herbs) to the center of each round. Then, fold the edges of the dough onto each other in the center to cover your stuffing--press and seal (with your hands or the rolling pin) so that your stuffing is no longer visible and tucked into your dough. Now you should have a stuffed round that you have made flat.

8) Heat up a medium/large skillet over medium heat on your stove top (you can also do these on the grill). Brush both sides of the stuffed dough rounds with olive oil. Then place one round at a time on your skillet. Once the bread begins to puff/bubble/brown, it's time to flip it over (about 2min) to the other side. After you have grilled the flat bread on both sides, transfer to cooling rack and sprinkle with salt.

NOTE: Due to lack of preservatives in the dough, the breads taste the best within the first few hours of baking. I would recommend freezing them if you plan to eat them more than one day after baking, as they will rapidly become stale.

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FLAT CORN TORTILLAS

9/6/2014

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INDIAN ONION KULCHA BREAD

9/6/2014

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BASIC PITA BREAD

9/1/2014

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     I think pitas are some of the easiest, quickest flat breads you can make. And whether they puff ideally or not, they still taste great in the end and go with just about any dip you can imagine. In the pictures I show here, I had incorporated some scallions (1-2 Tbsp) into the dough. But you can leave them out, I have made many plain batches and they are delicious that way.
Yield: 8 medium pitas

Ingredients:

3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) all-purpose Flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup (8 ounces) water
2 tablespoons olive oil

For brushing after baking:
2 Tbsp melted butter or Olive oil


Directions:
1) Combine and knead all ingredients until smooth and silky (I prefer to knead by hand, but you can use mixer and bread machine if you prefer). Lightly grease large bowl and cover. Let the dough rest 60 minutes until it's quite puffy (not necessarily double in bulk).

2) Turn the dough onto a lightly oiled work surface and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll the pieces into balls and let rest 15 minutes.

3) Use a rolling pin to flatten several balls into 6" rounds. Let the rounds rest, uncovered, for 20 minutes, while you preheat your oven to 500°F. Make sure that as soon as you put your first pitas in your oven, the next batch is ready to go into the oven. I put mine right on my bricks--you can use a pizza stone but you can grease a cookie sheet and put them on the sheet on the bottom rack of the oven as well.

4) These pitas take 2-3min per side in my oven--yours may differ. Keep an eye on them and flip after the first 2-3 minutes. The pitas should puff up within a few minutes. If they don't, wait a minute or so longer. If they still don't puff, your oven may not be hot enough; raise the heat for the next batch if possible. Worst case scenario, whether it be the temperature or the design/function of your oven, your pitas will bubble a little and not puff uniformly. That's okay, don't panic. Wait for them to brown a little, and check for browning when you flip them. They will STILL taste great.

5) Remove the pitas from the oven and use a brush to paint them with melted butter, or alternatively olive oil. This will add a tiny bit more flavor and chewy texture to the breads. Wrap them in a towel (this keeps them soft). When the first batch (however many you could fit on your cookie sheet or stone--I did two at a time) comes out, get the next batch in the oven right away.

6) Repeat the baking steps until finished. Enjoy!

NOTE: Due to lack of preservatives in the dough, the breads taste the best within the first few hours of baking. I would recommend freezing them if you plan to eat them more than one day after baking, as they will rapidly become stale. Alternatively you can store cooled pitas in an airtight container/bag for 1-2 days after baking.
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    Author

    Female.
    Amateur.
    Italian-American.
    New Jersey.
    USA.

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