Monday, October 29, 2012

Dinner with Friends

Yesterday evening, D and I made dinner at our place for some friends.  I have two new favorite tools in the kitchen.  The slow cooker and the bread machine.  My sister gave us this wonderful cookbook for our bread machine when we were using it a lot last fall.  The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger has just about every type of bread you could imagine!  There are about 50 recipes I want to try.  Our machine hibernated a bit in the spring and summer as it was warm and we realized how much weight we had gained.  It has reappeared.  And I have found out new uses.  I have started making pizza dough and find it incredibly easy to do (more on that another time).  I decided to try the naan recipe when I made the plan to serve Indian food last night.  The recipe was super easy.  Add the following to your bread machine:

1 T peanut oil
1/2 c plain yogurt (this was a challenge for D to find - we used Oikos Greek yogurt and I diluted it slightly with milk to equal the above quantity)
1/2 c milk
2 c bread flour
1/4 t salt
1/8 t baking soda
2 1/2 t yeast

Set the machine to the dough cycle and process (ours takes 1.5 hours, so you have to plan ahead a little - thanks to D for running out at the last minute to get the necessary yogurt).  When it's done, divide the dough into 6 portions.  Flatten the bread on a whole wheat floured surface using a rolling pin.  Put the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let them rest covered with a clean towel for 20 minutes.  Heat the oven to 450 degrees.  Once the resting time is over, brush the dough with melted butter and bake in the oven for ~ 8 minutes.  (Each pan separately.).  Serve immediately.  These were even surprisingly delicious today for lunch.  I may try to add some whole wheat next time along with some gluten.

I used the slow cooker to make vegetable and chickpea curry from Cooking Light.  This is packed full of vegetables.  I use frozen green beans, but that's about the only modification I made.  I've made the curry before and it's delicious.  I used a spicy pepper that friends grew over the summer to add a little kick.  The kick is a little stronger today but is nice.  The addition of coconut milk makes a creamy finished product.  The slow cooker is great because you dice things and pile them in hours before you eat.  This frees up time right before you eat to do other tasks.  In this case, prepare the naan and socialize with guest.

Enjoy!

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