Tag Archives: chicken

twd: baking with julia: oasis naan

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sometimes, i feel like fine dining is totally wasted on me when i would be perfectly happy just consuming the bread basket. sometimes (see friday night, to the somm's horror) a loaf of good crusty bread is dinner. add butter, cheese, maybe some honey. call it a day.

since the somm was in town and would prefer not to consume only carbohydrates, i decided to go ahead and try a few new indian recipes to go with the naan.

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there was a half-hearted attempt to find friends to come share the mountain of food, but it ended up just being us.

no complaining here.

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more easy chicken masala, caramelized cumin-roasted carrots, green bean, corn and coconut stir fry and raita for me.

every one of those recipes was easy and super delicious. light, and summery, not what you might think of when you think indian food, and worth sharing … or keeping to yourself.

but back to that naan. this recipe did not turn out the way i expected naan – which is usually soft, and chewy, and little charred. instead, i got a yeasted, crispy flatbread. 

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i tried baking them two ways: on my pizza pan that has lots of little holes that encourage crispness, and on the back of a cookie sheet, as recommended by the cookbook. no real noticable difference. 

the problem was probably too much flour in the dough, which was necessary since the recipe called for TEN WHOLE MINUTES of hand kneading. which i handled like a champ, thanks to my fabulously gay drill sergeant of a weights class instructor. no master courvoisier, i wasn't whining. i just think a traditional naan dough should be wetter. and maybe involve yogurt.

while i don't think these were really naan-enough, and i probably won't make them again because my go-to bread recipe involves no physical exertion whatsoever . . . the bread was tasty and eargerly consumed by both the somm and myself. and just as good smothered in raita as butter. the big crystals of salt made them reminiscent of pretzels.

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which are still so totally on my summer bucket list.

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for links to the recipe, visit tuesdays with dorie.

s is for scape

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normally, i'm not one to go for the funky at the farmer's market.  kohlrabi?  not so much.  kale?  tame to the rest of the world, but only just entering my regular vegetable rotation.

this is what i buy.

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oh, wait.  this is a food post. but, i mean . . . how gorg are these flowers!  there is one stand at my farmers market that makes the most beautiful bouquets.  they totally get my color palette.

anyway, back to business.  check these out.

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funky little wax beans.  they go great with these:

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i did not grow these.  my cherry tomato plant thus far is barren.  i blame the home depot.  that is another story. 

also, do you use a tomato knife?  my husband, aka the sommelier, aka my knife enabler, bought one for me.  it works really well.  plus it's red!  and it has a nifty sheath.  which is a great word.  sheath.

green beans (or squiggly little yellow wax beans) + cherry tomatoes + feta + vinaigrette = one of my favorite parts of summer.

but, garlic scapes.  many lovely bloggers i drool over have been all over making scape pesto.  and isn't pesto just like vinaigrette on steroids?

plus, how cool are scapes? 

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did you know they are the top bits of garlic? 

i threw about a cup of scape, cut into 2 inch segments, into the food processor.  with about a third of a cup of walnuts.

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add lots of parmesan.  maybe a 1/3 cup olive oil.  most recipes i saw call for a lot more olive oil.  but i live with a health nut.  i didn't tell him about the parmesan.  instead, i subbed in juice of one lemon.

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action shot!

plus salt and pepper.  and, i would recommend some basil.  the scape needs some help mellowing out.  i ended up adding a splash of cream (REALLY don't tell the health nut husband).  and more parmesan. 

toss the pesto with blanched beans and halved cherry tomatoes.  couldn't be simpler. 

yummy!

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and, possibly even better the next day.  or, you know, three days later tossed with mesculen for lunch at work.  that's how i roll.

plus, there was extra pesto.  so i rubbed it all over a chicken. i got it up under the skin.  then i roasted it.

hello, lover.

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but, isn't there something slightly inappropriate looking about a roast chicken?  or at least, this roast chicken.  it looks like it needs to be trussed.  but i am too lazy to truss. i had a cooking instructor once sit a chicken up and made it dance and wave to us.  it was a little disturbing.  not to mention that we followed that the "meet your chicken" moment was followed by a "debone your chicken" moment. 

moral of the story?  don't get too attached.  chicken is just too yummy.  especially when infused with garlicy pestoy goodness. 

Garlic Scape Pesto

  • 1 cup scapes, chopped into 2 inch pieces
  • 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/3 to 3/4 cup olive oil, to taste
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1/4+ cup shredded parmesan
  • salt and pepper
  • splash cream, optional
  • 1/2 cup basil

In a food processor, grind scapes, walnuts and basil (if using).  Add olive oil and lemon juice until creamy.   Transfer to bowl.  Stir in parmesan and salt and petter.  Taste.  If garlic overwhelms your senses and you love it, you're done.  If garlic overwhelms your senses and you chug a diet coke, add cream until you can deal.