Two bread related events this week: first, sourdough v.2 was a bust. Trouble again with the second rise. At this point I'm ready to move to the bread machine and scrupulously follow directions. It's just not worth the aggravation to keep going on this way. On the plus side, I used the failed dough for the stromboli, which was awesome. On the other hand, I am pleased to report that the second bread event is the unequivocal, complete and utter fantasticness of the naan that I made tonight.


In a comments reply I had stated that I was using a Madhur Jaffrey recipe for the naan. Turns out that wasn't quite true. Because I was distracted in the middle of the of the procedure by 1) a toddler meltdown, 2) an infant feeding demand, 3) a call from my mother asking me for the third time if I wanted her to pick up the daisy basket at Target, I ended up combining two recipes from two sources. Still, they turned out great so I'm not going to beat myself up about it. Plus, they're very easy to make and pretty quick if you have an efficient broiler (which I don't). Even without the efficient broiler I made six quick large naan in about 20 minutes. To make your own, mix three cups all-purpose flour, one cup of plain yogurt, one tablespoon of yeast, half a teaspoon of salt and two tablespoons of oil in a large bowl. Stir to combine and then turn out onto a floured surface to knead into a smooth, elastic dough. Put the dough back into the bowl and let rise for 2 or so hours. When you're ready to cook, cover the broiler pan or rack moved to the top of your oven with foil that has little holes pricked into it. Heat the broiler. While the broiler is heating, separate the dough into six balls of equal portions. Using a rolling pin, roll each ball out to 1/4 inch thickness. Two at a time, place the rolled out dough into the foil and close the oven door. Watch the bread carefully and turn once when the top is slightly brown with a few darker brown spots. If you'd like, brush some melted salted butter on one side of the rolled out naan, putting the buttered side up to cook first. The bread is done when both sides are browned. Remove from the oven and keep cooked breads in a folded up tea towel to keep warm for serving.


In addition to the naan I made two of Jaffrey's other dishes - one with chickpeas and the other of limas and tomatoes. With a basic cucumber raita, rice and a canned masala simmer sauce dinner was complete and I used virtually every pot, pan and implement in the kitchen (which is not a pretty place at the moment). Since cleaning up will likely take the rest of the night and a good chunk of tomorrow I think tomorrow will be a restaurant day.


I also want to share the stromboli story with you, but that will have to wait for another day. Oh, and I finally did more of the pink grapfruit marmalade which I need to tell you because I did something different this time which I like better. Plus, there's the story of the hole in the front yard and the weeping cherry tree. So much to blog, so little time. For now, though, I'm off to bathe the kids and pour myself a nice glass of wine as the reward for a long, productive day.