Meatless Fridays

I am trying to get our family back on the schedule of meatless and simple meal Fridays. I am also trying to be creative in my menu planning for these evenings. We recently ate ChickPea Curry and Naan bread. I love Indian food, so for me this meal hit the spot. The kids were not huge fans of the curry, but the Naan was a hit all around.

Here are the recipes:

Naan

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour (I used about 4 cups)
  
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
2. Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
3. During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.
4. At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Personal Notes: I omitted the garlic from the recipe. Also, I used a George Foreman grill to cook the bread. It took about 4 minutes to bake the bread using this appliance.

Chickpea Curry

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced small
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 cinnamon stick (3 inches)
• Pinch of ground cloves
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) no-salt-added chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• Chopped cilantro and lemon wedges (optional), for serving

Directions

1. In a large straight-sided skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until dark brown around edges, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, curry, cinnamon, and cloves and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add chickpeas, ketchup, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 20 minutes. Uncover, and increase heat to medium-high; cook until sauce is slightly reduced, 5 minutes. Serve topped with cilantro, with lemon wedges alongside if desired.

Enjoy!

La Cloche

There is nothing quite like the smell of hot bread cooking in the oven on a cold winter day. Lucky for me I absolutely love bread-making! My best friend makes the most delicious bread, and I have been wanting to make it for a couple years now, but lacked the necessary equipment. However, for Christmas, my mom bought me a La Cloche. A La Cloche is basically a cooking bell. It is made of natural stoneware and produces a moist bread with a crispy crust. Delicious!

Yesterday I finally made the bread I have been waiting for, and it was just as good as I imagined it!

The La Cloche

Step 1: Let dough rise 12-18 hours

Step 2: Shape dough, place in a covered plastic container coated with cornmeal, and let rise another 2 hours

Step 3: Transfer dough to La Cloche and Bake!

ENJOY!

Recipes for Life

As you may have gathered I love cooking and using food to celebrate special days in our Church! For Christmas, my husband gave me a wonderful cookbook that I wanted to share. Recipes for Life does a wonderful job of providing simple, yet creative ways to celebrate feast days of the church. I hope you will check it out!

Recipes

Here are the recipes for those of you who were asking:

Honey Oatmeal Batter Bread

Garlic Lime Chicken

Fruit Pizza

I made a fruit pizza for a brunch we attended on Saturday. It was SUPER easy to make, and I got a lot of compliments about the taste. Here is the recipe if you want to make it. I based it on a recipe I found in Taste of Home.

Crust
1 roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough

Cream Topping
1 eight ounce package cream cheese (at room temperature)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 container of whipped topping

Fruit Topping
Strawberries
Blueberries
Red Grapes
Mandarin Oranges
Kiwi

First pat cookie dough onto a pizza pan and cook for approximately 10 minutes, or until a deep golden brown. Let cookie crust cool. While cookie is cooking and cooling, mix together cream cheese and powdered sugar. Gently fold in whipped topping. After crust is cool spread cream mixture over it until smooth. Layer fruit on top of cream cheese mixture. Chill.

Dinner Guests

I really enjoy cooking and baking. I guess you could say it is what I do to unwind and relax. So it is probably no surprise to you that I enjoy entertaining in our home and inviting people to share a family meal with us. I always want people to feel welcome and relaxed in our home. And of course, I want them to leave happy and with a full stomach.

Tonight we are having a special guest join us for dinner...our parish priest. We are all very excited to share a meal with him, especially Isaac who lately has become obsessed with priests! I have decided to make one of our family's favorite meals tonight to share with Father Tyler. So here is what is on tonight's menu:

Homemade Lasagna
Salad
Green Beans
Homemade Sourdough Bread (I always keep starter for this in the refrigerator. I usually make at least one loaf a week.)
Tiramisu (This is a super easy recipe and makes a nice light dessert. I will post the recipe below.)


Coffee-scented Tiramisu (Taken from Family Circle)
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup heavy whipping cream
24 ladyfinger cookies
1 cup strong brewed coffee
2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar

1. Beat cream cheese, sugar, coffee liqueur and vanilla in medium-sized bowl for 3-4 minutes or until light and creamy.

2. Whip cream to firm peaks. Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture.

3. Arrange half of the ladyfingers in a dish. (I use a 9x9 pan.) Drizzle with half the coffee. Top with half the cream-cheese mixture, spreading smooth. Sprinkle with half the cocoa. Arrange the remaining ladyfingers over cocoa. Drizzle with remaining coffee. Top with remaining cream-cheese mixture, smoothing top. Sprinkle with remaining cocoa.

4. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours, or preferably overnight. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

(Isaac helping in the Kitchen.)