Mango Chutney

We love the aromatics of Indian Cuisine.
This is my favorite Indian cookbook because it has the 'real deal' for recipes and 'how to's'.  There are several wonderful Mango trees throughout the neighborhood.  Thankfully, neighbors like to share and swap fruits.

 Miss Joyce gave me a bunch of mangoes, huge ones.  They commanded CHUTNEY.  I so willingly obliged.

Beautiful Mangoes fresh from the tree.

Cheeks removed.

Luscious mango  aroma filled the kitchen.

Scoring the cheek in both directions make food art plus the ease of obtaining great chunks of mango.   The recipe makes about 2 cups of chutney.  The mangoes were huge and I had 9!  I got seven pints of Mango Heaven.

Summer Florida Bounty!  Some to eat, some to share and some to save for the long stretch before mangoes come again!

            

Blue Cornmeal Pancakes

We visited Sante Fe  years ago.  We couldn't get enough of the black bean soup, blue cornmeal tortillas and blue corn meal pancakes.  Of course, it all came with a choice of red or green chile sauce.  We have a passion for the green chilies.  I was happy to find Arrowhead Blue Corn Meal at my local grocer last week.  Ooo-la-la. I knew there would be bcm pancakes in the near future.  The near future arrived this morning.
mise en place

I love the bread book, Breads of the Southwest.  Beautiful photos, history and traditions of culture pull the baker in me back to the southwest.  The batter comes together quickly.


    

Heat the skillet and add the batter.  Leave, adjusting the heat as needed, until the cakes show a dry edge and a few bubbles.  I love how the blue hue shows in the batter.  

Once the edges show a bit dry, the cake will flip easily.  You won't need long on the second side.  Plate, serve, and enjoy.

Small Oven Projects

I do have a small side oven.  I only have a couple of baking plans that will fit.  What does work is a pie plate.  I did make buttermilk biscuits yesterday.  They rose tall, caught a nice browning on the top and bottom.  Glass is good for that. The inside crumb was near perfect for biscuit:  light, tender, airy.  The buttermilk gives the biscuit a tenderness so different from regular milk plus that wonderful hint of a sour taste.  The Combsman likes his bread and isn't happy with the heat related hiatus I have been on lately.  Biscuits, that was the ticket.  This would have been a great pan to photo for a post but  GONE, they are.  I will have to be quicker with the camera next time.

Naan: I am Back in the Kitchen

Naan:  Back in the KItchen

Thanks for checking in.  Here is a new post for you, such a faithful lot.  The Florida heat sent me packing out of the kitchen for a spell but I decided the flat top griddle would be survivable and chose to make an East Indian favorite of ours, naan.

This is the slipper shaped flat bread that accompanies the tiki, batli and curry dishes.

Naan

What you will need:

2 tsp yeast

4 Tbsp warm milk

2 tsp sugar

4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup milk

2/3 cup plain yogurt

1 beaten egg

2 Tbsp ghee ( I used olive oil)

flour for dusting

chopped coriander and onion seeds for sprinkling to add great flavors

Directions:

1. Mix warm milk and yeast till frothy.
2. In a bowl combine dry ingredients; make a well in the center
3. add the yeast and milk along with the other wet ingredients until a well formed ball of dough is formed.
4. Remove to a floured surface and knead in quarter turns for about 5 minutes.
5. Dough should be firm,smooth, elastic, barely tacky; not dry, crumbly
6. Return dough to a greased bowl and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hrs covered
7. Punch down, divide into about 12 pieces and roll out the slipper shaped naan.  Sprinkle with coriander and onion seeds.  I prefer to use my hands to press the dough into shape.
8. Place on prepared baking sheet, bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
9. I baked mine on the flat top griddle of my stove.  I placed the dough side I pressed out with my hands face down on the griddle.  I left the naan there for about 4 minutes and flipped them for another for or so minutes.  They came off the griddle with great color, puff and texture.  The seeds became quite aromatic with the direct heat.  Take a look:

Served with Bombay potatoes!  The seasonings, onions, peppers were seared in the skillet.  Then the tumeric boiled potatoes were mashed and added tothe skillet for a tasty, savory, colorful side.

Dinner  was served!