Cheap and Easy Garlic Naan

I think we have established that I love garlic. And I also love Indian food. So when I found this recipe for naan from Budget Bytes, there was basically no way I would not make it. And there was definitely no way I was going to make it without garlic.

Budget Bytes is a cool site because it tells you how much all your ingredients cost. This particular recipe costs only $1.27 in total, and it's really simple!

Ingredients:
2 tsp. dry active yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 c. water
roughly 3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. plain Greek yogurt
1 egg

In a small bowl, combine the yeast, sugar and water. Stir to dissolve then let sit for a few minutes or until it is frothy on top (mine never got really frothy, just a couple bubbles). Then, stir in the oil, yogurt and egg until evenly combined.

In a medium sized bowl, combine 1 cup of the flour with the salt. Add the wet ingredients to the flour/salt mixture and stir until well combined. Continue adding flour a half cup at a time until you can no longer stir it with a spoon (about 1 to 1.5 cups later).

Next, turn the ball of dough out onto a well-floured counter top. Knead the ball of dough for about 3 minutes, adding flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking. I ended up using about 3 cups of flour total. The dough should be smooth and very soft but not sticky.

Loosely cover the dough and let it rise until double in size (about 45 minutes). After it rises, gently flatten the dough and cut it into 8 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a small ball by stretching the dough back under itself until the top is smooth and round.

Heat a large, heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat and spray lightly with non-stick spray (I used vegetable oil). Working with one ball at a time, roll it out until it is about 1/4 inch thick or approximately 6-8 inches in diameter. Place the rolled out dough onto the hot skillet and cook until the under side is golden brown and large bubbles have formed on the surface. Flip the dough and cook the other side until golden brown as well.

Some tips:

1. Wait to roll out each piece of dough until just before you are ready to cook it (the bubbles will be bigger).

2. The dough thickens a lot as it cooks, so you have to roll the dough pretty think if you want good, thin naan.

3. Brush naan with butter and sprinkle garlic and parsley over it to get garlic naan like mine, or choose your own toppings!

This naan is great as a snack, as a side dish, or as a vessel for other delicious foods.  Enjoy!

Cheddar-Bacon-Garlic-Chive Muffins

Although this is a cooking blog, I would like to give an anecdote from my weekend.  I was flying home from Rochester, and my flight was delayed by two hours.  The ever-helpful (not) Delta employees assured me that, if everything went smoothly (which it clearly had been so far) I would have 20 minutes in Detroit to catch my flight to LA.

Try four minutes.  Try running through the Detroit airport, across 12 moving walkways and up and down 6 escalators.  While I have a terrible cold.  While keeping an eye on a small asthmatic girl that I have decided to take care of because her mom (in heels) can't keep up.  And then I slip in a puddle of soapy water that no one bothered to put signs around.  Gaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.

Anyhow, I fortunately made my flight, but have spent the day getting over my illness and butt-bruises from the fall.  And, as always when I am sick, I decided I wanted to cook something.  So I decided to try and make some cheesy muffins.

I had tried a recipe from The Pioneer Woman, and I thought it was just O.K.  I didn't like the addition of sugar.  So I made some modifications, and I am extremely happy with the outcome.

I do still have a problem with this recipe.  The problem is that it makes twelve muffins.  Twelve is not enough!!  But nevertheless, here you are.

Ingredients:
1/2 stick butter
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt (and pepper, to taste)
3 c. shredded cheese (cheddar or jack works well, but feel free to get creative!)
1 c. milk
1 egg
4 slices bacon, crumbled
2 tsp. chives

In a small pan, melt the butter and stir in the garlic.  Fry your bacon and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and pepper.  Stir in cheese.

In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, egg and butter mixture.  Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir with a wooden spoon.  Stir in chives and crumbled bacon.

Butter or grease a muffin tin and divide the batter among cups.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.