Naan (nan, non, n’n, neng) means bread and usually refers to leavened flat bread. There is a wide assortment of breads that go by that name. Some are small (Afgan), some are snowshoe shaped (Indian) and some are not even very flat at all (Tajik). In Xinjiang, the naan are big, round and flat in the middle. This bread was the most available, the safest thing to eat on the street and also the tastiest. We ate this bread every day while we were traveling through Xinjiang.
Karl’s Uyghur Naan
Filed under bread, Side Dishes
After last Sunday’s meal, the question remained about what to do with the Voodoo beer. This was an undrinkable concoction that tasted of peanuts, chocolate and an unfortunate and overpowering taste of banana. Jan suggested that it would make good banana beer bread. I have adapted my Guinness Beer Bread to include these new ingredients.
Karl’s Banana Beer Bread
Filed under bread, Breakfast, Side Dishes
If you have ever been to an Ethiopian restaurant the beautiful tray covered with the large, sour pancake dotted with brightly colored stews is a delight to see and even more to taste. It makes you want to try to do this yourself. While many of the Ethiopian dishes appear to be simple, with only a few ingredients, you discover hidden complexities. Many of the ingredients in Ethiopian cooking turn out to have their own complex recipes.
Karl’s Doro Wot – Ethiopian Red Chicken Stew
(in the center)
with Authentic Injera (under all)
Filed under bread, Main Dishes, Poultry, Side Dishes
Jan really loves turkey and she has been running her legs off at work (literally, yesterday she walked 7 miles back and forth across campus, as recorded by her Fitbit). I decided to surprise her tonight with roasted turkey, stuffing and green beans, but I wanted to keep it to a weekday’s level of effort.
Karl’s Weekday Thanksgiving
Filed under bread, Main Dishes, Poultry, Sauces and Spices, Side Dishes, Vegetables
I overslept today, so Jan invaded my kitchen. Jan loves to tweak her anthropology student’s by telling them that the kitchen in our house is a very gendered space. They all go “yeah, yeah, of course that’s right.” Then she drops the punch line, “No Women Allowed!”
Jan’s Muesli Cinnamon Swirl Mini-Muffins
This morning Jan had a hankering for Schat’s Bakery Cinnamon twists. Jan’s parents were living in Lone Pine when she was born and she has taken many field classes through Eastern California, so Schat’s has a very special place in her heart. It is not the gooey sweetness she misses, but the bite of the amount of cinnamon that they use. Most bakeries and recipes are very shy in their use of cinnamon. Jan wanted the spicy heat of the cinnamon, but she did not want it to be drowned out by the sugar. She also wanted to make it healthier, but still to be like muffin Red Hots.
Filed under bread, Breakfast, Side Dishes, Starches
Adapted from Sarah on AllRecipes.com
This recipe started life as a blueberry scone but over the last year I have been experimenting and changing it depending on my mood and available ingredients.
Karl’s Oatmeal Scones
Filed under bread, Breakfast, Side Dishes, Starches
Adapted from a Gerald Norman recipe
Eilene and Jan wanted beer bread so I found Gerald’s recipe online. After a couple of loaves using his recipe (which makes a really decent bread), it was time to branch out. Beer bread tastes strongly of whichever beer you use as the fluid. It is best to use a beer that you would happily drink warm (pretend you are British). This bread is good with a mediocre beer, but it is great with a good tipple.
Filed under bread, Side Dishes, Starches
Like many Americans who cook Mexican food, I always thought that tortillas came in a package of 10, soft and flexible when fresh, hard and brittle when they quickly turn stale. When we were in college (way long ago), La Super-Rica Taqueria opened and introduced us to what real Mexican street food was like. Instead of commercial tortillas covered in cheese and guacamole they served (and still do) simple fillings in tortillas that were cooked just before in went into your mouth.
Filed under bread, Side Dishes, Starches
This is adapted from a King Arthur Flour recipe. I, being by nature unable to follow any recipe, upped the spices and reduced the salt. Americans tend to use way too much salt most of the time.
One problem I ran into in making this treat was that the Trader Joe’s canned Organic Pumpkin I was using was very dry. This is the opposite problem I usually have with using fresh steamed pumpkin, which tends to be very watery, giving you the dilemma of getting rid of the excess fluid. In this case I used whey to make up the moisture. I usually do not have whey lying around my kitchen, but Eilene made fresh butter to go with the meal (see the post below). Milk or cream would work as well, but I was looking for a way to use up the whey.
Karl’s Mini Scones
Filed under bread, Breakfast, Side Dishes, Starches
We celebrated Jan’s birthday this week so I made her favorite soup, Karl’s Crawdady Corn Chowder. I have already posted that recipe (in August), but I also made her favorite crackers to go with it. This started as a bon appétit recipe for Common Crackers, which I seriously tweaked. The first time I made this recipe they came out as flakey, crisp crackers. The second time I made it they were chewy, round rocks. The secret is getting the butter incorporated into the flower without letting it melt into the butter. To paraphrase an old saying, “warm hands, bad tart.” Continue reading
Filed under bread, Side Dishes, Starches
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Miriam
Jabberwocky Stew 
