Blackberry, Goat Cheese, Honey, and Arugula on Homemade Naan

I'm back! It's actually been almost a year since I have posted on this blog. How terrible is that! After being in Paris for the fall semester and then living in a dump of an apartment in the Spring, cooking and blogging were just not an option for me. I had serious withdrawal. Needless to say, when I finally got back into the kitchen, I went a little overboard. Within the past few days of being home, I have made cookies, homemade naan, blackberry flatbread things (this post), Louisiana drum fish with corn and pea orzo, blackberry crumb bars, homemade ricotta,  two different kinds of ice cream and baked a cake for my grandmothers birthday. AND I have only been to the grocery store TWICE. Yeah, I know! I can't believe it either. Actually, I only went twice because I was cooking/baking at two different houses. I'm on a roll. Although, it could also be because I have basically stock piled so many miscellaneous ingredients over time that I really don't need to go as often. (Although, we are almost out of flour and sugar, which are ingredients I always feel weird buying. - because it feels like I already have them, even when I don't. you know what I mean? Like salt...that's definitely a weird one)


Basically this post is more about the Naan than what I decided to put on it later. Anything with goat cheese and arugula is my jam, and I wanted to unify the meal by having blackberries in the dessert and appetizer. Well also, because I love blackberries and I think they are totally under-appreciated...

Making your own naan is FUN and so easy to do! It doesn't involve any yeast, which makes it sort of fool proof-ish if you ask me. Of course, you can over-knead, make it too dry blah blah blah, but that the end of the day, it was never supposed to be perfect anyway! I know for a fact I didn't make it perfectly. I followed a recipe until it just wasn't working out and did my own thing. And guess what, it was so good anyway! So try it. Mess up. Have fun. Who cares! I hadn't really cooked/baked in a year, and I needed to try something that I wasn't afraid would fail, and this was the perfect thing (even though I felt pretty fancy after they were finished...) AND, better yet, I bet you have the ingredients already, too.

Homemade Naan 
Recipe adapted from this one here from a blog called Singapore Shiok

Ingredients 
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
1/3 cup plain yogurt
2/3 cup water
3 tablespoons skim milk
2 tablespoons of olive oil
butter *optional

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Create a well in the center of the mixed, dry ingredients and add the water and yogurt. Using a fork, begin stirring in the center of the well until the dry ingredients around the perimeter begin to fall in and are gradually incorporated. If the dough has not come together (*this is where my recipe differs. Hers said wet and sticky, but mine was totally dry)  add a tablespoon of skim milk until the dough comes together. (I used 3, but differing climates many require more or less) If the dough is a little sticky, that is ok.

Then add the two tablespoons of olive oil and knead the dough with your hands in a folding pattern until it is incorporated. (this part feels totally weird. At first it will seem like the oil does not want to be mixed, in but it will) Then flatten the dough into a thick disk and cut it like pizza slices into 8 pieces. Roll and flatten the pieces into small disks and thoroughly coat with flour. It can be used immediately, but I waited about 30 minutes so the dough could relax and dry out a bit so it would be easier to roll out. - but don't refrigerate if you do this! Just leave it on the counter.

Roll out the first disk into a long oval shape. Make it as thick or think as you want. Once you make on or two, you can decide the thickness you prefer. At first I thought I wanted it thin for flatbread purposes, but the ticker pieces were best eaten plain with butter and onion or regular salt on top.

Heat a cast iron skillet (or heaven pan) until very hot, and add about a teaspoon of olive oil. Make sure the bottom of the pan is fully coated in oil, then add the dough to the pan. Similar to making a pancake, when there seem to be a lot of bubbles, flip it over. This will take about a minute. If it's not brown enough, you can always flip it back over! During that time you can roll out your next dough. They are delicious served fresh, but they also store well for a couple of days in a large ziploc bag.

Some of my bubbles were small, and some were large like the one below. Both are fine!

After eating a bunch plain with butter by accident...as a taste test, you know...I set up my flat bread station with the blackberries, goat cheese, honey and arugula. Make sure to let the goat cheese sit out for a while though so it is easier to spread! I also started by slicing the blackberries, but then I realized I can get more in each bight if I break them apart in my hands and let their juices fall where they may. I drizzled honey in a zigzag motion and then baked in the oven at 350 for about 5-10 minutes on a cookie sheet. Add the arugula at the end not before! It gets wilted. I did it on one and not the other, and doing it after is definitely the way to go... I also sprinkled finishing salt on one of them. Don't do that either.

ALSO use cooking shears to cut them NOT a knife. It's so much easier and a lot cleaner too.

Arugula added before baking...

Arugula added after baking (the better choice)

Bruschetta

This bruschetta was honestly so delicious. Probably one of the healthiest things I've made in a while and it was pretty easy too. I'll definitely be making these again very soon. They're the perfect little appetizer and can be cut in half as well if you are serving more people (...or just use smaller bread).


Bruschetta

Ingredients 

5 Roma Tomatoes, diced and de-seeded
about 1 1/2 teaspoons Chopped Basil
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
about 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil, plus more for drizzling
2 cloves of garlic, minced 
Baguette
salt and pepper  

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir all of the ingredients together in a bowl and spoon the tomato mixture on top of the bread slices. Drizzle additional olive oil ( about a teaspoon) on top of each. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top. Bake for about 15 minutes.

Savory Rosemary and Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls

This year for Thanksgiving I was in charge of the pie (as always) and bread. Every year we always freak out about the bread because we almost always burn it. Both houses. I just don't get it. Is it just our family or does everyone struggle with this? Thus, I thought it would be fun to make homemade rolls instead. That way it would be nearly impossible for us to burn them because I would be watching them like a hawk.

Since I had never made dinner rolls before, I thought I would try out two recipes to give everyone more options aaannddd to have a backup in case one completely backfired. I think they both turned out great, but it was clear that the sweet potato rolls were everyone's favorite (myself included). I think if the rosemary ones were saltier, they definitely could have given the SP-rolls a run for their money. (so you if want to give these rolls a try, I suggest increasing the salt by at least a teaspoon)

This recipe was moderately adapted from one I found on allrecipes.com

 

Sweet Potato Rolls  

Ingredients

1 package active dry yeast

4 tablespoons white sugar

1/2 can sweet potato puree

1/2 cup warm water

3 tablespoons margarine, room temperature

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

*This recipe is best made with a stand mixer. I’ve made bread with a hand mixer before and it just doesn’t work as well.

Directions

Mix together the water, yeast and 1 tablespoon of sugar on a large bowl and let sit for about 5 minutes until frothy.

Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar, sweet potato puree, margarine, salt, and whisked eggs and mix well. Mix in 1 cup of flour and then add the remaining 2 cups. Mix until the dough comes together, but is still sticky

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 2 to 3 minutes and add just enough flour so that the dough is no longer sticky. Don’t over knead. When the dough comes together (and no longer sticks to your hands) roll it into a ball.

Place the dough into a well-greased bowl and turn it until the entire dough ball is lightly greased in oil. Cover with a towel and place in a low lit area. Let it rise for at least an hour (2 is better). The dough should almost fill the bowl at this point. After the dough has risen, punch it down with your fist and let it sit for 2 minutes.

Pinch and roll the dough into 16 balls and place them into well-greased pans. (I used a 9.5x13 inch glass pan). Cover the dough again and let it rise for another 2 hours, or until the balls have doubled in size.

Bake at 375˚ for 15 to 20 minutes.

 this recipe is adapted from Confections of  Foodie Bride 

Savory Rosemary Dinner Rolls 

Ingredients

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup lukewarm water

2 Tbsp oil (vegetable, canola, or olive – I used olive) plus more for greasing bowl and pan

1 large egg

3 Tablespoons sugar

3 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp salt (I suggest adding another teaspoon to amp the flavor)

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

2 Tbsp melted butter

Directions

Stir together the warm water and yeast in a large mixing bowl and let sit for about 10 minutes, or until frothy 

Add the oil, egg (scrambled), sugar, salt, pepper and rosemary to the water/yeast mixture. Stir.

Freshly picked rosemary from my step-mom, Stephanie's, amazing herb garden

Add the flour in two increments and mix on low speed until the dough comes together and no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.

On a lightly floured work surface, knead the dough for about 5 minutes. You can use the mixer and increase the speed to high but I personally think the gluten forms a more successful crisscross pattern when it is done by hand.  (The crisscross pattern in the gluten helps it rise and makes it soft instead of tough) 

Place the dough back into a well-greased bowl and cover with a damp towel. The recipe I used said to let the dough rise for an hour. I did this recipe twice however and found that the dough I let sit over night was much softer and made much better rolls so I suggest letting it sit for as long as you can (at least a couple of hours) 

After the dough has doubled in size, pinch off pieces of dough and roll them into balls. Place the smaller dough balls in a well-greased cake pan or glass baking dish (either works well) making sure to leave space for them to rise and expand. 

Preheat oven to 350˚

Recover the balls of dough with a damp towel and let rise again. (About another hour) 

Brush the tops of the dough balls with half of the butter and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until lightly brown. After you remove the buns from the oven, brush the tops with the remaining butter. 

My brother, Joseph

Joe-Joe wanted to take the dinner roll glamor shots to a new level... just to mix it up a bit...Maybe he would start a revolution for my blog I mean who knows. Like little sisters do, I tend to think everything my big brother does is brilliant and hilarious so... I decided to go with it....

just noticed the fake gun in the corner.....we're so country

I think the juxtaposition of the buns in each photograph was simply superb.

Moist Banana Nut Bread

Who buys a bushel of perfectly ripe bananas? Courtney does. Hence they got extremely mushy and inedible very quickly. But no worries! These super mushy and actually juicily disgusting bananas are ideal for making a perfectly delicious banana bread. As gross as they seem past their prime, overripe bananas are actually sweeter than perfect yellow ones. So when they start looking more like a yellow dalmatian than a banana, bag those puppies up and let em sit on your counter until you can no longer bare the sight of them. (you absolutely have to bag them though. When I said "juicy" I wasn't exaggerating....they also sometimes attract fruit flies at this stage. which is fine for proteins sake...)


This recipe was adapted from a recipe I found on Cooks.com

Ingredients

1 stick of butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 med. sized overripe bananas
2 eggs, separated
1 tsp. vanilla 

juice of half a lemon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour

2 tablespoons crushed walnuts

Directions
1. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together.

3. Add the bananas, egg yolks, vanilla, lemon juice and baking soda.

4. Stir in flour with a spatula.

5. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until very soft peaks form or until stiff. With a spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the rest of the banana mixture. (this is the trick to making your bread super moist rather than firm and dry)

6. Pour the mixture into the well greased pan and then sprinkle the crushed walnuts on top. Bake for 50 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Let cool on wire rack for about 5 to 10 minutes before serving. (mot recipes say cool completely but I couldn't resist, and I didn't taste a difference regardless)

For some reason this pictures look so much better on my computer.....I'm just an amateur photographer with a crappy camera though. I'm gonna take a class....eventually....the lighting is also terrible in my apartment. I tried going outside because natural lighting is always so much better but too many people walked by and I actually looked like a dumb ass - so I gave up