White Bread

In response to Jenn's request for bread recipes, here you go! My mom noted on this recipe card that it was her first loaf of bread. And mine, too!

1 1/4 C warm water
1 pkg dry yeast
2 T soft shortening
2 t salt
2 T sugar
3 c flour (I'd bet on all purpose)

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add salt, sugar, shotrening and half the flour. Beat 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Add remainging flour, blend with a spoon until smooth. Cover, let rise in a warm place 30 minutes. Beat 25 strokes, spread in a greased loaf pan. Smooth into shape. Let rise 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375. Bake 45 minutes.

OR

Dump liquid ingredients in your bread machine pan. Dump dry ingredients on top leaving out the yeast. Make a little well in the top of the dry ingredients. Dump the yeast in the well. Turn the thing on and let it do all the stirring, kneading, mixing, spreading and waiting. Go read my blog and enjoy your summer!

Banana Bread

From Better Homes and Gardens cookbook

Prep 25 minutes Bake 55 minutes Oven 350

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (5 medium)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cooking oil or melted butter or margarine
NO nuts (but other people can add 1/4 cup chopped walnuts)
optional: Streusel Topping*

1. Grease bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of one 9x5x3-inch or two 7 1/2x3 1/2x2-inch loaf pans; set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl combine eggs, bananas, sugar, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Nut people fold in nuts. Spoon batter into prepared pans. If desired, sprinkle Streusel Topping over batter.

3. Bake in a 350 oven for 55 to 60 minutes for 9x5x3-inch pan, or 40 to 45 minutes for 7 1/2x3 1/2x2-inch pans, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean (if necessary, cover loosely with foil the last 15 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning). Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

*Streusel Topping: In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup packed brown sugar and 3 tablespoons all purpose flour. Using a pastry blender, cut in 2 T butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (Nut people can stir in 1/3 cup chopped walnuts.)

I think you could put the batter in a muffin pan and bake it for half the time.

Basic Lamb Curry

I think this recipe is from Vahrevah.com.

Basic Lamb Curry

• 1 T oil
• whole garam masala: 3 cinnamon sticks, 6 green cardamom pods, 6 cloves
• 1 onion, diced (I like red onions for indian food.)
• 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
• pinch turmeric powder
• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1/2" pieces of lamb
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp corrainder powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• water
• 1-2 green chilies, diced
• 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• black pepper
• handful chopped cilantro

1. Heat oil. Add whole garam masala, onion, and salt. When onions begin to brown, add turmeric and ginger garlic. Sautee ginger garlic until the raw smell goes away. Add lamb. Stir. When lamb begins to become white, add cayenne pepper, corrainder powder, and cumin powder. Add 1 cup water. STir. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Add green chilies, coconut powder, and black pepper. Add cilantro. Cook 1o more mintues, covered. Serve with rice or flat bread (chapatis, naan, or even wheat tortillas would be good.)

Easy Lamb (or turkey, beef, or chicken) Keema

Recipe by Vijay Golla (our buddy)

This one's super easy, and you can substitute ground turkey, beef, or chicken if you can't get a hold of ground lamb. (If you choose to use beef or lamb, you may want to take measures to reduce the fat, or you may not!)

Lamb Keema

• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• oil
• 1 onion, sliced into strips
• 1 lb of ground something
• water
• salt
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste (can use grated ginger and minced garlic, or watever you think)
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder (or less)
• 1/2 tsp corriander powder (I prefer grinding this from corriander seeds over buying it in powder form--makes a huge difference in flavor)
• 1/2 tsp garam masala (I think it's cinnamon, cloves, and star anise--I think it varies. You could probably substitute chinese 5 spice powder, of just use some spices you think would be good with lamb)

1. Heat 3 tsp of oil over medium heat. Add cumin seeds.
2. Add onion. Fry till golden.
3. Add ground (Something) and break it up with your spoon or spatula.
4. Add a cup of water.
5. Add cayenne pepper, ginger/garlic, and salt (to taste).
6. Add turmeric and corriander powder.
7. Let it simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, over medium heat.
8. Add 1/2 tsp garam masala.
9. Let it cook for another 1o minutes, and it should be ready. (The water should reduce to a gravy.)

Bread recipes requested

What with Jamie's new food restrictions, and the exhorbitant cost of bread without milk that is also not processed in a facility with nuts or peanuts, I'm begging for simple bread recipes. I think I'll be having to bake my bread this summer (that is, if it's cheaper). I'm trying to find any way I can to cut costs this summer, as we're all broke (I think the whole country can relate to that!)

Also, if anyone has any yummy milkless and nutless dessert recipes, and things a small boy can pack in his lunch to summer daycare, it would be much appreciated if you would share! (Annie-Lou, I'm going to see if Jamie likes your chapatis or not, as that sounds like a good thing for me to put in his lunch this summer).

Thanks!

chapatis

Okay, now I know how to make chapatis. They may not be the way all Indians make them, but they're the way my in-laws make them, and they're the way I make them, and I really like them and they're super easy. Remember the pages-long post I wrote a few months ago on chapatis? I learn things the hard way. I always make things way too complicated at first. So, here goes.

Ingredients:
chapati flour
oil (I've used olive and canola)
salt
water

Procedure:
scoop out some flour--maybe a cup and a half--into a bowl. Make a hole in the middle. Sprinkle with salt, not a lot. (I sprinkle the top with the shaker. Sometimes I go around twice. I kind of like them saltier, but of course that's not good for you if you eat them often.) Put up to a teaspoon of oil in the hole. Add about 1/8 to 1/4 cup of water (depending on the humidity in the air). Start with less, and add more if you need it. I just stick the bowl under the faucet and fill the hole I made, then mix around with my fingers, then add more water if I can't make a dough. You want to use just enough water--too much will make your dough unmanagably sticky. (You do want the dough to be a just a little sticky when you're first forming it, because it will become more managable after it rests.) Form a ball. (If you can't form a ball, you'll need to add more flour or water!) Let it rest for about 10 minutes. Then knead it again and break off a chunk--a little more than a fistfull for my hands, but I have man hands. Form that into a ball in your hand, and then (still in your hands) stretch into a sort of disk. Then dip it in your flour on both sides and then roll it out on your surface (I think that's way less messy than sprinkling flour on your surface). Roll it into a circle, pretty thin, but not paper thin. Just uniformly thin, about the size of a dinner plate. Then fry it on a heavy flat skillet (mine's anodized, but I've used stainless steel, regular nonstick, and cast iron--all are fine, but I think the anodized is easiest to clean. Ie, I almost never wash it. Gross, huh.) Or, you can do like Daniel's family does, and instead of frying it at this point, instead spread a thin layer of oil on it (a few drops) and fold it into a triangle and roll it out again and then fry it. You can use oil to fry it or not. Your choice. Doesn't that sound easy?

We eat chapatis for breakfast. Daniel dunks them in his tea. (Black tea boiled with sugar and skim milk.) We also sometimes take them for lunch (they're great warmed up in a toaster oven--almost better than fresh), and eat them for dinner pretty often with currys. I like them with meat curries, but they really make some vegetables more palatable. Bell pepper curry, for example, is way better with chapatis than with rice, I think. They're also good for a quick snack. I don't know how long it takes to make--start to finish, maybe 20, excluding the resting time, which can be 5-10 minutes (longer if you cover the dough). You can keep dough for a day or two in the fridge, covered. You can even keep it out of the fridge for a while if it's not too hot--I've kept it overnight quite often and it just becomes softer and more manageable. Toss it if it starts to smell fermented. (Though I've eaten them at that point before and they tasted fine, but I'm not easily grossed out.)

So there ya go. They sell frozen chapatis at indian groceries and they're really good. You may want to try a pack sometime. You'd have to go there anyway to get the flour I think. I"m not sure about that, though.