HOMEMADE PIZZA DOUGH WITH HONEY.
easy honey pizza crust
ingredients:
- 2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast (or one package)
- 1 tablespoon of honey
- 1 cup of warm water (105-ish degrees)
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 2 1/2 cups of flour (plus a little extra for kneading)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
Dissolve honey, yeast, and 1/4 cup of the water in a small bowl, letting it proof. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. When the yeast has proofed, add to your flour mixture the yeast, the olive oil, and the remaining warm water. Mix until it comes together, and add flour if it seems to sticky. At this point I usually end up just mixing it with my hands inside of the bowl, eventually pulling out the dough and kneading on a floured surface (only 2 minutes, don't over-knead). When the dough is stretchy when you pull it (doesn't tear apart), shape into a ball and place in an oiled bowl. Cover and let sit for 45 minutes or so.When dough has doubled, divide into balls if you are going to make multiple pizzas (This recipe makes 1 deep dish or 2 thin crusts. I usually triple the recipe as the dough can keep in the fridge for a few days). Let dough sit, loosely covered with a damp cloth, for 30 minutes before baking it or storing it in the fridge.Bake at 450 for 12 - 16 minutes. We don't have a pizza stone, so I just sprinkle some corn meal on a baking sheet.For this recent pizza, we used a cream sauce base with roasted fennel, kale, and goat cheese. It was definitely a winner.- Hannah.
SCONES MAKE EVERYTHING BETTER.
I never cease to be inspired by the food photography on this blog. Truly! Julie makes the most amazing food and takes the most beautiful pictures - and her recent recipe for Vegan Blood Orange//Chocolate Chip Scones was no exception. BUT - it wasn't the gorgeous images of juicy citrus and steaming cups of coffee that urged me to make my own scones. It was the words accompanying the post - about living a life in limbo, about getting in a February funk, about the terrible sadness and stress that can come with waiting. Jesse and I can so relate to her feelings of limbo. It can be difficult to really feel joy and peace in your life when you are waiting for a big change, for a big a move, for something. I love that Julie's response to the chaos and madness during a time like this is FOOD. The kitchen. Slowing down and being still and gathering your family.And so, in solidarity with Julie, I made some blood orange and chocolate chip scones (mine were not vegan). I would encourage anyone else out there who may be feeling the "February winter blues" to do the same.- Hannah.
*Julie is also the face behind the lovely magazine Seasoned. If you like the sound of this recipe, you should check it out!
DIY INDIAN FOOD.
After our recent Valentines Day lunch, I have been craving Indian food constantly. We got some good advice on cookbooks and are planning on purchasing Julie Sahni's - but until then, I set out on my own to experiment in making my first naan and tikka masala. As always, I improvised quite a bit, but everything turned out so delicious. I was able to throw the naan together quite quickly by using baking powder instead of yeast. I plan on making the bread traditionally with the yeast next time, but it's nice knowing it can be made last minute if you are lacking the 3 hours of prep time.We have some aspirations of trying to grow some crazy Indian herbs and spices in our incredibly hot high tunnel. How amazing would it be to have local CUMIN!?Here are some photos from our meal, with the naan recipe following.- Hannah.
easy -no yeast- garlic naan
Ingredients:
- 4 cups of all-purpose flour (plus extra for kneading)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 5 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons of butter (melted, for brushing on top)
- 1 cup of plain yogurt
- 1 cup of warm milk or cream
- 1 tablespoon of honey
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
Directions:Combine all of your DRY ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) in one bowl and all of your WET ingredients (yogurt, milk, honey, oil) in another bowl. Let these sit out for about 30 minutes of so.Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring together with a wooden spoon until well combined (a big dough ball has formed). Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, adding flour as it starts to stick to your fingers. The dough should become smooth and somewhat stretchy, like a pizza dough. Work the dough into a ball and let it sit, covered, for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 500°.Tear off walnut-sized balls of dough and use your hands to stretch them into thin ovals, placing them on foil-lined baking trays. Sprinkle minced garlic on the top and press it into the dough with your hands.Bake for 5 minutes on the top rack, and then turn the broiler on HIGH for barely a minute, to get the little puffed places of the naan to crisp. After you remove the tray from the oven, brush with melted butter.I served mine with basmati rice, lentils, and tikka masala with potatoes and chickpeas. (I can also share the masala recipe if anyone wants it!)
//UPDATE//
As requested, here is the tikka masala recipe (that is probably not very accurate - it is incredibly improvised and mostly made up, per usual).
tikka masala with potatoes and chickpeas
Ingredients:
- 3 med/large potatoes
- 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
- 1 cup of plain yogurt
- 4 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp ginger (minced)
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 1 jalepeno pepper (minced)
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 2 tsp paprika
- 8 oz of tomato paste (or sauce)
- 1 cup cream
- salt
- fresh cilantro
Dice potatoes and boil until they are just soft enough to stick a fork in (not quite mashed potato soft). Drain and let cool.Mix yogurt, 2 tsp of cumin, ginger, cinnamon, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and 2 tsp of salt in a large bowl. Stir in the potatoes and let this mixture marinate for 1 hour.Melt butter and coconut oil in a large skillet. Saute garlic (and maybe a jalepeno if you like spicy food!) for a few minutes over medium heat. Add in the tomato and cream, seasoning with the remaining 2 tsp of cumin, paprika, and a bit of salt. Let the sauce simmer for about 20 minutes, or until it thickens.Add in the potato mixture and chickpeas, stirring into the sauce and continue cooking on low for 10 minutes.Garnish with cilantro and enjoy! It should basically be a big wonderful mushy mess - served over basmati rice and lentils, and scooped up with huge chunks of your homemade naan!
RUSTIC ENGLISH MUFFINS.
Excluding my trip to Bugtussle, every day of the new year I've baked something: so far, it's been either biscuits, bagels or english muffins. The english muffins were a recommendation from our friends over at Bootjack Cabin and the english muffins, by far, have been our favorite of my baking experiments.
THE RECIPE:
What you'll need (use organic where you can):
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups sifted unbleached flour
- 1 packet of yeast
- 1 tablespoon of Lard or Butter
- Sugar
- Salt
- Water
In a sauce pan warm your cup of milk on low heat with 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1 tablespoon of lard or butter. Stir until sugar and salt dissolve and lard or butter is melted. Remove from heat. In a mixing bowl, combine one 1/3 cup of warm water with a packet of yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Once the yeast dissolves, add the milk mixture to the yeast and water mixture. Then sift and add your 2 cups of flour. Beat with a wooden spoon until all flour is incorporated. Let rise for 30 minutes.After 30 minutes, add another 1/2 teaspoon of salt and beat for additional 30 seconds with wooden spoon. Heat cast iron pan, griddle, or sauté pan to roughly 300 degrees or medium-high heat. Lightly coat with lard or butter.We don't own rings, and don't really care about having perfectly round muffins, but if you own metal rings, or a tuna can (with the bottom cut out) you could make the classic round muffins by placing them on the griddle or pan and pouring the mixture inside. We don't worry much about it, though, thus the "rustic" part of this recipe.This is a sticky dough. It helps to take a regular spoon from your drawer and, out of the batter, draw a large spoonful. Using your wooden spoon, scrape the dough from your regular spoon and let it drop into the hot pan. Cook on first side––it will slowly puff up as it cooks––for 4-6 minutes then flip. Press the muffin lightly (at which point you'll recognize the classic muffin look) and let cook for additional 4-6 minutes. Once done, remove and set on cooling rack or something similar.Once cooled, split with fork and serve (or toast and serve––your call)!- Jesse.