Naan bread version two-FAIL! And other goof ups in cooking.
It happens, you try something once and think OK I can improve this by doing this instead. Well that can work or it can fail.....so I tried some changes to the naan bread recipe with some success but an overall failure in my opinion.
First I decreased the sugar..but I think I need to add just a little back in or maybe use honey next time. I used the breadmaker to mix and rise the dough which was a success but it meant I had to add back about a cup of flour.
The biggest pain about this bread is the shaping and cooking; the dough is very elastic and does not like to expand when you try to roll it out. As a result I think I played with it too much making it tougher. I tried to use a metal cookie sheet as well as my pizza stone but that did not work and even the stone was not as much of a success.
So for batch three I will still use the breadmaker method but get myself a stovetop griddle so that once the bread is shaped it goes onto a much hotter surface immediately keeping it from shrinking back.
I also did a quick mac n cheese that failed because you really need some fat to help the cheese not clump. So the next night I bought some half and half and made a rue with unsalted butter flour and half and half. Then I mixed the failed mac and cheese in getting some of the biggest cheese clumps first then letting the entire pasta and sauce go in adding more half and half as needed.
I also decided to bake this batch if adding the unsalted butter and half and half worked, which it did!
I lightly toasted some sweet hawaiian bread and cut it into small cubes, added bacon and baked it. It was fantastic. I will post the entire recipe in another blog this weekend. But next time I will not toast the bread as it should toast on it's own while baking just fine and I won't have to worry so much about it burning.
So I guess the the best lesson here is some things fail but can be fixed and some things fail and you need to go back to almost the beginning and try again. It is all good and part of the learning process.
First I decreased the sugar..but I think I need to add just a little back in or maybe use honey next time. I used the breadmaker to mix and rise the dough which was a success but it meant I had to add back about a cup of flour.
The biggest pain about this bread is the shaping and cooking; the dough is very elastic and does not like to expand when you try to roll it out. As a result I think I played with it too much making it tougher. I tried to use a metal cookie sheet as well as my pizza stone but that did not work and even the stone was not as much of a success.
So for batch three I will still use the breadmaker method but get myself a stovetop griddle so that once the bread is shaped it goes onto a much hotter surface immediately keeping it from shrinking back.
I also did a quick mac n cheese that failed because you really need some fat to help the cheese not clump. So the next night I bought some half and half and made a rue with unsalted butter flour and half and half. Then I mixed the failed mac and cheese in getting some of the biggest cheese clumps first then letting the entire pasta and sauce go in adding more half and half as needed.
I also decided to bake this batch if adding the unsalted butter and half and half worked, which it did!
I lightly toasted some sweet hawaiian bread and cut it into small cubes, added bacon and baked it. It was fantastic. I will post the entire recipe in another blog this weekend. But next time I will not toast the bread as it should toast on it's own while baking just fine and I won't have to worry so much about it burning.
So I guess the the best lesson here is some things fail but can be fixed and some things fail and you need to go back to almost the beginning and try again. It is all good and part of the learning process.
I look forward to the mac n' cheese post. I followed a recipe a few weeks ago & it was a disaster. My cheese sauce was really gritty. What brand of cheese did you use? I buy Tillamook medium cheddar in bulk & I usually have a stick of Cracker Barrel White Cheddar in my fridge. Am I using the wrong cheeses? I would like a smooth cheese sauce. Any feedback appreciated.
ReplyDeleteHey Debbie, I just posted it in a new blog tonight! :-)
ReplyDelete