Naan - Indian Flat Bread

There's no better way to mop up those last bites of a yummy curry dish than by breaking off a fresh, warm piece of garlic naan. It's not bad on it's own either, as we found out today. What an easy recipe! Make it for your friends and family on a breezy autumn day. Everyone will be pleased with a hot, buttery, salty garlic bread to nibble on.

Remember we talked about the various toppings you can use, including poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic, cheese, or even honey. There are so many different recipes and variations for making naan. I encourage you to try some different ways. Some sources say to use yogurt(plain) and/or milk, and others include egg. Some use only flour, water, yeast and oil. I think the milk we used gave a richness to the dough, but I will experiment with yogurt and see how that turns out. Here is a link to some fun videos of Indian chefs making naan: http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=indian+naan&emb=0#

And try the Curry Corner Restaurant in Lacey for some authentic dishes and groceries.

The recipe we did in class:

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 pkg yeast

1 Tb sugar

1/2 cup warm water (not HOT)

1 cup milk

2 Tb canola (or other vegetable) oil

sesame seeds

3 cloves garlic, chopped small

melted butter

Combine yeast, sugar and warm water in a small bowl. In another bowl, combine milk and oil. Place flour and salt in a large bowl, and hollow out a space in the center. Pour the yeast mixture in, and then the milk mixture. With your hands, begin combining ingredients. It will be sticky at first. Have extra flour nearby to add more as needed. Knead the dough until it forms a ball and becomes less sticky.

Coat the bowl and dough with oil, cover with a wet dishtowel, and place in warm place for an hour to rise.

Heat oven to its highest temperature and grease some baking sheets.

Divide dough into four pieces. Do not knead it more at this point or it will become tough and unworkable. On a floured work-surface and with floured hands begin poking the dough with all your fingers to spread it out into an oval shape of even thickness.

Sprinkle with seeds and garlic, and press them in with flat hand.

Cook until puffed and brown, about 5-7 minutes. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't overcook.

As soon as it is out of the oven, brush butter on and sprinkle it with salt.

Best eaten the same day it is baked.

Mandoo - Korean Dumpling Recipe

MANDOO

KOREAN DUMPLING RECIPE:

Ingredients:

1 package circular mandoo wrappers (or gyoza, or wonton wrappers), if frozen, refridgerate overnight before using in recipe

1 lb. ground pork or chicken

1 cake tofu, diced into small cubes

3 shallots, or one small onion

1/2 head of small cabbage, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and grated

4 oz sweet potato noodles, soaked and then chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 Tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

PREPARATION:

- saute ground meat in an oiled pan over medium low heat until brown. break it up into small pieces while stirring as it cooks.

- in separate pan, saute shallots and carrots in 2Tsp veg. oil over medium low heat for 3-4 minutes. add cabbage and tofu, and stir to combine.

-combine garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl or cup. add to cooked vegetables in pan.

-add cooked meat and chopped noodles.

-taste and decide whether to add a bit more soy sauce.

-when filling cools, fill each wrapper with approximately one heaping tablespoon.

-dip finger in water and wet the edge of one half of wrapper.

-pinch closed to form dumpling, then crimp edges to make sure they stay shut.

STEAM DUMPLINGS IN 4 INCHES OF BOILING WATER FOR 2-3 MINUTES

Serve with Ginger Dipping Sauce:

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup rice vinegar

3 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger

2 Tbsp sugar

Check out these links for more Korean recipes and foods facts:

http://koreanfood.about.com/od/vegetarianrecipes/r/Scallionpancake.htm

http://koreanfood.about.com/od/koreanfoodbasics/a/Korean101.htm?p=1

Korean Chop Che (Glass Noodle Stir Fry)

Welcome to the first week of cooking classes for fall 2009.

HUGE THANKS to Corrina and Sean for the classroom beautification project. The paintings are amazing. Our room is so colorful and inspiring now!

It was great to see all of you yesterday. I'm glad so many new ORLA students are enrolled in this class. Please let me know if there is any way I can help you get familiar with the school, so you can feel at home right away.

This blog is a new way of getting the notes and recipes from class out to families each week. I think it will save paper and keep you from having to go through the Wings website each time you want to get a recipe. I welcome your feedback and ideas for keeping the lines of communication open.

Yesterday we brainstormed about which countries you are interested in studying this session, and here are some of the suggestions:

Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Thailand, Japan, Mexico, Ethiopia, India, China

We will spend two weeks on each country, and this week we started with Korea. Here is the website we looked at regarding Korean table manners:

www.geocities.com/ypmljulia/table_manners.htm

That same page has other recipes for you to try. Ingredients can be found at Asian grocery stores around Olympia and Lacey, such as:

Capitol Market 2419 Harrison Ave. in West Olympia

Arirang Oriental Market 7940 Martin Way E.

Also try Top Foods and Olympia Food Co-op for international food selections

Here is the recipe for the dish we made in class this week, Glass Noodle Stir Fry:

Korean Chop Che (also spelled Jap Jae, Jap Che, or Jop Jae)

ingredients-

1/2 lb glass noodles (sweet potato vermicelli)

1/2 lb sirloin beef, thinly sliced

24 dried shiitake mushrooms

1 yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced

2 carrots, peeled and grated

5 scallions, chopped

3 Tb sesame seeds

cooking oil (canola, safflower, corn, vegetable)

marinade for beef:

1/2 cup soy sauce (plus 1/4 cup for adding later)

3 Tb sesame oil (plus 1Tb for adding later)

4 Tb sugar

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

-bring water to boil in 4qt. (or larger) pot.

-meanwhile, prepare marinade and add sliced beef. combine and let sit while preparing other ingredients.

-boil noodles for 5 minutes, then strain (save some of the hot cooking water to pour over shiitakes in a bowl. the hot water will rehydrate the mushrooms if you cover them and let sit for 10-15 minutes. next, submerge cooked noodles in bowl of cold water. while soaking, cut noodles with clean scissors to make them easier to eat later (we forgot to do this in class yesterday, thus the noodles were a challenge to eat in one bite!). next, strain noodles and place in large bowl to wait for other ingredients.

-saute onions and carrots in 1/4 cup cooking oil over low heat, stirring occasionally but not constantly for about 10 minutes (until soft and slightly brown).

-meanwhile, strain mushrooms when rehydrated and save the liquid for later. slice mushrooms into thin strips and add to cooked onions/carrots.

-in separate pan, heat 1/4 cup cooking oil and add marinated meat. cook over medium heat, stirring, for about 4 minutes until just brown. do not overcook, or meat will be tough.

-add cooked veggies and meat to the noodles in the bowl, then add scallions and sesame seeds. toss and combine ingredients while adding 1/4 cup soy sauce and 1Tb sesame oil. if you would like more liquid to make it "saucier", add some of the reserved mushroom-soaking liquid.

ENJOY!

lucie gets addicted to wasabi

HAPPY SUSHI

colorful summer bounty

we have planted a wonderful garden this year. 

we dug the plot ourselves and brought in loads of yummy, rich soil.

this sunflower is almost two feet taller than the garage roof.

this pumpkin (or squash?) is a volunteer.  no one knows who planted this vine, and it is taking over the whole garden.

these cherry tomatoes are from Karen's garden, across the street.

and the blackberries are the fruit of the vine I cannot discourage from growing between our yard and Charlie's.

gearing up for fall

can't deny that end of summer is near.  

still enjoying food from the garden.  just got the season's pickles done.

hoping for at least one more heat wave.  need a few more visits to the quarry.

got to get in one or two more camping trips.  have my sights on lena lake.

ideas for fall classes include: 

korean chop che,  african sweet potato something, lots of french food (a la julia)