News
April, 2012
The Type A Housewife
Recipe | Wild Mushroom & Potato Pizza on
Whole Grain Naan
There’s a little song by a band called Cinderella that’s called “Don’t Know What You’ve Got Till It’s Gone.” (Stop judging me for my encyclopedic knowledge of hair metal! Every rose has its thorn.) And when it comes to restaurants, my husband and I didn’t know how good we had it in Madison until we moved to Raleigh.
It’s not that Raleigh doesn’t have good restaurants–we’ve found a few. But it doesn’t seem like there are as many, or at least not as many with creative vegetarian offerings. And I find myself missing a lot of my favorites from Wisconsin. I’ve been trying to recreate some of these dishes myself, and I’ve had some hits and some misses. Despite this whole food blogging thing, I’m not very good at recreating foods I’ve tasted elsewhere–even when my recreation tastes good, it always misses the mark slightly when it comes to duplicating the original flavors.
This recipe is one of those recreations–it’s a combination of a potato and walnut puree pizza from one restaurant and a truffle oil and mushroom pizza from another restaurant. Rather than using traditional crust, I made this pizza using Stonefire Whole Grain Naan. I like making pizzas on naan when I don’t have the time to mess with dough–the key is to make sure any veggies you add to your pizza are cooked beforehand because you need to heat your naan at a lower temperature than you’d cook a pizza made with raw dough.
Like everything else I try to re-create, this Wild Mushroom & Potato Pizza isn’t exactly like the original potato and mushroom pizzas I modeled it after. But it’s pretty good in its own right–good enough that it’s become one of our favorites. (We’ve made it three times already!)
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 4
Serving Size: 1/2 pizza
A rustic wild mushroom and potato pizza made on Stonefire Whole Grain Naan and drizzled with truffle oil.
Ingredients
- 1-2 piece package of Whole Grain Naan (like Stonefire)
- 1 small Yukon Gold potato, sliced paper-thin (use a mandolin slicer)
- 2 oz. wild mushrooms
- cooking spray
- 3/4 c. walnuts
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 oz. Fontina cheese, grated
- 1 tsp. white truffle oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bring about an inch of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add potato slices, reduce heat to simmer, and cook for 4 minutes, or until just softened. Remove from pan immediately and rinse with cold water. Once potatoes are cool, squeeze out any excess liquid and set aside.
- Add walnuts to food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add olive oil and salt and pepper to taste and pulse until well-combined.
- Spray a small skillet with cooking spray (I use olive oil in a mister) and heat at medium. Add mushrooms and sauté about 7-8 minutes, or until just beginning to brown. Season with salt and pepper.
- Spread walnut mixture onto naan (it will be crumbly, but pressing it onto the naan will help it stick). Add 1/2 of the grated cheese, a layer of potato slices, the remaining cheese, and the mushrooms. Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes or until naan is crispy on edges and cheese has melted. Drizzle each pizza with 1/2 tsp. of truffle oil just before serving.
Disclosure: I received a sample of Stonefire Naan to use in this recipe.
Copyright 2011-12 OhMyVeggies. Recipes may not be republished without permission.
April, 2012
Pattycakes n Pancakes
My Mom bought some eggplant from the farmer’s market last week and never cooked it. It looked as though they were about to kick the bucket so I searched for a recipe using ingredients I had in my kitchen. Bangan ka Bhurta is what I came up with. Bangan ka Bhurta is an Indian dish using eggplant and tomato. It’s supposed to have a consistency of mush and is best eaten with naan or roti. There are many varieties of what to use in your Bangan ka Bhurta so I just went with what I had and hoped for the best.
Eggplant, tomatoes, onion, olive oil, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper, cilantro (not shown), and of course I had to throw in some Garlic Gold for more flavor.
I started by rinsing the eggplant under water and then broiling it for 5 minutes in the oven, flipping it over half way. Then I nuked it in the microwave for 6 minutes. Once it was cool enough to handle, I cut it in half and cut away the skin. While the eggplant was getting its radioactive rays, I sautéed a chopped onion in some olive oil. I added the chopped eggplant, tomatoes, salt and pepper, Garlic Gold, and cayenne pepper and cooked it till it looked like this…
Approximately 10-15 minutes.
Then I mashed it up to a mushy consistency.
It was flavorful with a slight kick…thanks to the cayenne pepper.
This was my first time cooking with eggplant and it wasn’t as scary as I had imagined. I’m looking forward to cooking with it again and using it in a different recipe.
We ate the Bangan ka Bhurta with some naan.
Shaina and Kimberly from Stonefire Authentic Flatbreads sent me some samples to try. Their naan is baked in the only commercial Tandoori Oven in the world. It’s made with fresh buttermilk and a clarified butter called Ghee. There are no additives, no artificial preservatives, and they only use natural ingredients. The naan is hand-stretched and are great to use with appetizers, dipping, wraps, Panini, and pizzas. There are 3 varieties… Original, Garlic, and Whole Grain.
I used the Garlic for the Bangan ka Bhurta. It was simple to heat up and really delicious. I enjoyed the smoky flavor which comes from the way it is baked in the Tandoori Oven. It’s cooked in extremely high heat which creates airy bubbles in the bread. This gives it a fun texture.
I loved using the flatbread naan and since it’s so versatile I’ll be using it to make many more tasty dishes. You can heat them up in the oven, the grill, or a gas stove top. Since they are perishable, it is recommended to eat them within a week unless you freeze them, which then they can stay frozen for up to 6 months.
Stonefire is also sponsoring a Cooking For Real Sweepstakes. Each week Stonefire will give out prizes from cookbooks to cookware. To enter the Cooking For Real Sweepstakes, visit Stonefire on Facebook and enter your email address. Good Luck!
Today is supposed to be my weekly weigh in but I have decided to quit them. I know that if I continue to eat healthy I will soon reach my goal weight. I’ve been too stressed and so frustrated about not losing the baby weight as quick as I had liked to but I’m concentrating on something that isn’t worth it. I have a beautiful baby to focus on. My body beat cancer and then miraculously created a healthy living being. I shouldn’t be so down on my body for being overweight or not in shape. I went through a lot in 2 years… Cancer, depression, pregnancy, losing a job…so it’s time I focused on happiness and letting go. It’s not easy being a full-time stay at home Mom… It’s hard, tiring, frustrating, emotional, draining…blah blah blah but I wouldn’t change it for all of the money in the world.
I thought I was 10 lbs away from happiness… Boy was I wrong.
Happiness is knowing that I have a beautiful son to watch grow up, many milestones to witness with him, and a lifetime of memories to make.
I’m now comfortable and happy in my skin… my “Mommy” skin.
April, 2012
The Wic project – Authentic Naan Flatbreads
Authentic Naan Flatbreads from Stonefire – Review & Giveaway
February 10th, 2012 • 98 thoughtful comments » • 539 views
It was just a few years ago that I first learned about naan bread. Naan is flatbread that is baked in an tandoor oven and is usually soft and teardrop shaped. While originating in India, thanks to companies like Stonefire Authentic Flatbreads, we can get the authentic taste of Tandoori Naan bread at home – no oven required.
About Stonefire Authentic Flatbreads
The Review
Stonefire uses the only commercial Tandoor Oven in the world to bake up three different flavors of naan – Original, Garlic, and Whole Grain. Each package contains two sizeable pieces of naan which can easily be split in half to serve up to 4 people. Unless you’re really hungry and decide you want to eat a pie by yourself (which I’ve admittedly done.)
To heat up your naan, sprinkle with water or brush with olive oil, then use a preheated oven (preheat to 400F and heat for 2-3 minutes) or grill it. There’s also a third, totally fun option to heat it on your gas stove top. Just turn the burner to medium-low heat, sprinkle the Naan with water and then heat directly on the burner. I rotated the bread every 15-20 seconds to make sure it didn’t burn, then flipped and heated the other side.
Once it’s heated, you can use the naan as is or slather it with some butter to take it over the top. The original naan was simple and tasty, but I also loved the garlic infused flavor of the garlic naan as well. Not too garlic-y or too mild. The whole grain option is a great option as well and has a whole wheat bread flavor.
One of the things I love about Naan is that it is multi-purpose. Stonefire Authentic Flatbreads can be used in so many different ways and recipes. Over the course of a few days, I used it as a side for my soup, to eat with a salad, and as the wrap for some meatballs. We even used them to make Philly Cheesesteak Naan sandwiches. So tasty. I actually just got back from the grocery store where I picked up a few more packages (from the bread section) which will be used to make breakfast sandwiches.
If you’re looking for a way to add some variety to your breads, take a look at Stonefire Authentic Flatbreads, available in a grocery store near you.
