TWD BWJ - Oasis Naan and Creamy Prawn Curry

After the calorie-laden treats of the past few weeks of BWJ I was delighted to have a simple savoury recipe this week, and even more delighted that it was naan! We love Indian food around here and cook it quite often but we have never really made our own naan. 

This was a very simple bread, just 4 ingredients. I baked them on a pizza stone so they were lovely and crispy on the bottom. They just never got the flat middle and puffed edges that I think was intended, maybe my oven doesn't get hot enough for them to puff up? The parts that did puff up sank as soon as they were taken out.

I even happened to have an unopened packet of caraway seeds in the pantry (no idea what that was bought for!) so could make them exactly as per the recipe for a change. Though I did make one with just sesame seeds on top so my boys didn't have to pick off 'the green'.

I served our naan with a creamy prawn curry which we had also never made before. Truly this was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten! And so simple. We are already imagining this sauce on chicken and fish and making it for guests. Absolutely delicious. 

Our hosts this week were Maggie of Always Add More Butter and Phyl of Cabbages & King Cakes. They will have the recipe up for the Oasis Naan. The curry recipe is below.

Creamy Prawn Curry

Adapted from A Little Taste of India, Murdoch Books 2003, p104-105

400g prawns (peeled, raw, frozen)

2 tbs oil

2 spring onions, finely sliced

1/2 ts ground turmeric

1/2 ts ground cinnamon
1/2 ts ground cumin

1/8 ts ground cloves

7 cardamon pods

1 ts chilli paste

3cm piece fresh ginger, grated

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 x 400ml tin coconut milk

Heat the oil in a large heavy based fry pan. Fry the spring onions for 1 minute then add the turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, cardamon, garlic and ginger. Fry for 2 minutes. Add the chilli, coconut milk and some salt to taste and bring to the boil. 

Reduce the heat to low and add the prawns. Simmer for 5 minutes or until the prawns are cooked through and the sauce has thickened. Garnish with extra sliced spring onions and serve with rice and/or naan. Serves 4.

Meatless Monday - Vegetarian Sausage Rolls

Ahh the humble sausage roll. Full of who-knows-what and definitely not very good for you. We've had party sausage rolls at both the kids' birthday parties and they do bring back memories of childhood. Both my boys seem to like the pastry and accompanying tomato sauce the best anyway so I had my fingers crossed they wouldn't miss the meaty filling with this vegetarian version. 

The original recipe contains chopped pecans and I had planned on soaking some almonds to use instead, but we got home late so that wasn't an option. Although I think chickpeas would work here too I decided to use chopped mushrooms and was really happy with the result. 

The house smelled wonderful while these were cooking and we could hardly wait for them to cool down to tuck in. The verdict? Hubby loved them, the boys asked for seconds and then thirds ... definitely a winner and a great start to the week. Enjoy!

Vegetarian Sausage Rolls

Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe

250g cottage cheese

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 cup finely diced mushrooms

1 clove garlic, crushed

3 eggs

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup rolled quinoa

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

2 tbs soy sauce

1 heaped ts vege stock powder

3 sheets puff pastry

1 extra egg, beaten for glaze

Sesame seeds for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 220 / 200 degrees celsius. Thaw out the pastry and set aside.

Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl and mix well to combine.

Place one sheet of pastry on a flat surface and slice in half to form 2 rectangles. Spoon the filling mix down the middle third of each rectangle, lengthways. Brush one edge of each rectangle with beaten egg. Fold the long edge nearest to you over the top of the filling then overlap with the glazed edge. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining 2 sheets of pastry. 

Brush the top of each non-sausage roll with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Use a sharp knife to mark the top of the pastry where you would like to cut them after they are cooked, in halves, thirds or quarters.

Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving with salad and tomato sauce.

Makes 12 large or 24 small sausage rolls.

Sunday Baking - Cornflake Biscuits

Does anyone else remember these fondly from their childhood? They were always a favourite of mine and now with young kids, they are perfect for lunchbox treats or a rainy day baking project.

You can experiment with different add-ins. I generally use sultanas but any dried fruit would work, as would chocolate chips or nuts. Just go crazy!

Cornflake Biscuits

125g softened butter

1/3 cup raw sugar

1 1/4 cups self-raising flour

1 tbs milk

1 ts vanilla extract

1/2 cup sultanas or chocolate chips

2 cups cornflakes, lightly crushed

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius (160 degrees fan-forced). Line 2 baking trays with baking paper and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together until creamy. Sift in the flour, add the milk and mix until the mixture forms a dough. Add the sultanas/choc chips and 1 cup of the cornflakes and fold together until well combined.

Place remaining 1 cup of cornflakes into a bowl. Roll tablespoons of mixture into the cornflakes then place onto baking trays, allowing some room for spreading. Press each biscuit down with the back of a fork. 

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool on the trays for 5 minutes before carefully placing them on a wire rack to cool. Makes approx 22.

Family Mince and Veggie Pie

Mince is one of those ingredients that most families will cook with at least once a week. We certainly do! Think spaghetti bolognese, meatloaf, hamburgers. You can also use mince to make a pie with great results and for less money than using even the cheapest cut of steak. Add a healthy serve of veges and some yummy herbs and you have a complete meal that even the kids will like!

Mince and Veggie Pie

2 1/2 sheets puff pastry, thawed

2 tbs rice bran oil

1 large brown onion, finely diced

2 medium carrots, finely diced

1 large zucchini, finely diced

3 ts Gourmet Garden Chunky Garlic Paste

2 ts Gourmet Garden Thyme Paste

1 ts Gourmet Garden Basil Paste

600g beef mince

2 cups vegetable stock

2 tbs beef gravy powder

2 ts Worcestershire sauce

1 egg, lightly beaten

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (fan-forced).  Grease a 24cm round glass pie dish. Line the base and sides with 1 1/2 sheets of of pastry. Trim the excess. Line the pastry shell with with baking paper then fill with pie weights or uncooked rice. Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges of the pastry are light golden brown. Carefully remove the rice and paper then return the pastry to the oven for a further 5-10 minutes.

While the pastry is baking, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and fry off the onion, carrot and zucchini for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are beginning to soften. Add the mince and herbs and cook, stirring to break up the meat, for 5 minutes or until browned. Add the stock, gravy powder and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for approx 15 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated. You should be left with a moist, but not runny, mixture.

Allow mince to cool for 10 minutes before spooning into the pastry base. Top with the remaining pastry, pressing the edges to seal. Brush the top with beaten egg. Cut a cross in the centre of the pastry to allow the steam to vent and bake for approx 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Stand for 10 minutes before serving with plenty of tomato sauce and a green salad.

** This recipe was intended to be part of my entry into the Gourmet Garden Blog-Off/Cook-Off but we had a shocker of a week and I just didn't get around to it.**

Sunday Baking - Homemade Soft Pretzels

Soft pretzels aren't at all common in Australia. Here when someone says pretzels you immediately think of the the hard and crunchy kind you can buy in bags like chips. 

Hubby had soft pretzels recently at a work morning tea and was so keen for me to make some he found a recipe, printed it out and then wouldn't shut up about them!  So late Sunday afternoon we decided to bake them together.

They were surprisingly easy to make. A simple dough made with butter is rested then shaped, boiled and baked. We definitely don't have the shaping technique down but that will improve with practice. We will be making these again!

Homemade Soft Pretzels

Recipe converted from the Food Network

1 1/2 cups water, heated to 44 degrees Celsius (I realise you don't need to activate instant dry yeast as you do with active dry yeast but we used warm water just to keep the same process as the original recipe)

1 tbs sugar

1 ts salt

2 ts instant dry yeast

4 1/2 cups plain flour

60g butter, melted

10 cups water

2/3 cup bicarb soda

1 large egg beaten with 1 tbs water

vegetable oil for greasing pan

Into the bowl of a stand mixer place the flour, butter, warm water, sugar, salt and yeast. Using the dough hook attachment mix on low speed until well combined. Increase speed to medium and mix until the dough is smooth and elastic and pulling cleanly away from the sides of the bowl. Remove the dough from the bowl so you can grease the bowl with vegetable oil then return the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in a warm place for approx 1hr or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 230 degrees Celsius. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper and brush them lightly with oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the bicarb soda to a boil in a large saucepan.

Meanwhile, turn the dough out onto a greased surface and cut into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 60cm long rope. Male a U-shape with the dough, then cross them over each other and press the ends onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel (?). Place onto the greased and lined baking tray and repeat.

Place the pretzels one by one into the boiling water mixture, for 30 seconds only. Remove with a large flat spatula and return to the baking tray. Brush each one with the egg wash mixture then sprinkle with coarse salt.

Bake until dark golden brown, approx 12-14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving. 

Makes 8