Masoor Dal aur Band Gobi aka Red Lentils with Cabbage

One of the things I miss about living D.C. is Rasika--my favoritest Indian restaurant ever. My options for Indian cuisine are rather limited here in Wild, Wonderful West Virginia, so I decided if I wanted Indian I was just going to have to cook it myself.

I picked up some lentils the last time I was at Martin's Farm Market, and I still had some cabbage and onions from Tudor Hall, so this recipe from Madhur Jaffrey via Smitten Kitchen seemed to fit the bill. I knew I was going to have to run to the store to fetch some spices and considered picking up some frozen Naan(let's be honest, what is an Indian meal sans Naan?!). Then, I thought about it some more and decided to attempt my baking my own from an About.com recipe. I made slight adaptations to both the Naan and the lentils, but these recipes really don't need any tweaking--they're amazingly delicious and I'm super excited about leftovers tonight!

Masoor Dal aur Band Gobi

1 1/4 Cup - Red Split Lentils (masoor dal), picked over, washed and drained

5 Cups - Water

1/2 Teaspoon - Turmeric

5 Tablespoons - Oil (olive, canola, or even butter will work)

3 Cloves - Garlic

1- Onion

1 - Small Head of Cabbage

1 - Large Can of Diced Tomato

*Salt and Pepper to Taste

- Put the lentils and water into a heavy pot and bring to a boil. Remove any scum that collects at the top.

- Add the turmeric and stir to mix.

- Cover, leaving the lid very slightly ajar, turn heat down to low, and simmer gently for 1 1/4 hours. Stir a few times during the last 30 minutes.

- When the lentils are about 15 minutes from being done, break out a jumbo skillet (I have a Pampered Chef monster) and slowly heat oil.

- Add minced garlic to oil, sautee for a few minutes, and then add sliced onion and shredded cabbage.

- Sautee the cabbage and onion mixture until cabbage and onions start to brown, sprinkle in cumin, salt, and pepper.

- Combine cooked lentils and cabbage mixture (I put everything in my jumbo skillet, but the original recipe recommends cooking everything in the lentil pan).

- Stir in diced tomato and cook on medium-low for several minutes to allow flavors to meld together.

Whole Wheat Naan

1 Packet - Yeast
2 Teaspoons - Sugar

3/4 Cup - Warm Water
2 Cups - Whole Wheat Flour
1 Teaspoon - Salt
1/4 Cup - Crisco

3 Tablespoons - Plain Yogurt

- In small bowl mix water, yeast, and sugar 'til sugar and yeast dissolve.

- Cover bowl with a towel and let rest for 10 minutes 'til foamy layer forms on top of mixture.

- In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour and salt. Add yeast water, yogurt, and Crisco and mix 'til combined (feel free to use your hands towards the end)

- Coat another medium bowl with oil, place dough in bowl and turn to evenly coat.

- Cover bowl with towel and allow to rise in a warm area for about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled.

- Preheat oven to 450°F

- Tear off golf ball-sized pieces of dough, place on pizza stone or stoneware baking sheet and use your fingers to stretch into desired shape. If you'd like sprinkle with garlic and parsley at this point.

- Adjust the oven rack to the 2nd from the top, and insert naan.

- Bake 13 minutes or until browned on top.

Thanksgiving Breakfast: Pumpkin Muffins

While I'm thankful for many things this year, I'm extra thankful that I'm doing absolutely zero cooking and/or baking for this year's Thanksgiving dinner (last year I hosted over 20 crazy family members). If you're hosting today, you probably aren't up for any more baking than is absolutely necessary. However, if you're like me and have abandoned the cooking ship, these muffins are a tasty, easy treat for breafast or just a pre-dinner snack. This recipe is also excellent for using up any leftover pumpkin.

I wanted mini and regular-sized muffins so I divvied up the batter, which made 24 mini and 8 regular muffins.

Pumpkin Muffins with Chocolate Chips
1- Egg

1 - Cup Pureed Pumpkin
1/2 Cup - Milk

1/2 Cup - Canola Oil
1 Tsp - Vanilla Extract

2 Cups - Flour (I would normally use all whole wheat, but I was running low, so I used half white and half whole wheat in the pictures shown)

1/3 Cup - Sugar
1 Tablespoon - Baking Powder
1 Tsp - Salt
1 Tsp - Cinnamon

1/4 Tsp - Nutmeg

1/4 Tsp - Ginger

1 Cup - Chocolate Chips

- Preheat oven to 400°F
- Generously grease muffin tins
- Lightly beat eggs
- Add pumpkin, oil, and milk: mix 'til combined

- In separate mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and spices.

- Add dry ingredients in 3 parts to pumpkin mixture, and stir until the flour is just incorporated

- Mix in chocolate chips
- Spoon batter into tins
- Sprinkle batter with raw sugar (optional, but recommended)
- Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Aunt Stephanie's English Muffins

I make no promies as to how often I'll be posting, but I do hope to do better than once a year :) I'm now the proud owner of a snazzy new camera, so hopefully that'll be motivation to post more frequently.

It's a cold rainy day in West Virginia, so it's an ideal day to crank up the oven and do lots of baking! Actually, you don't bake these muffins, you fry them in a dry skillet, but we'll get to that later.

Aunt Stephanie's English Muffins

1 Cup - Warm Water
2 Tbsp - Yeast

*Disolve yeast in water and let bubble

1 Cup - Hot Water

1/2 Cup - Honey

1/2 Cup - Oil

1 Tsp - Salt

*Mix, cool, and then add...

2 Eggs

*Mix eggs with liquid, combine with yeast mixture, and then add...

6-7 Cups Flour (I used Whole Wheat)

*Knead, roll, cut with biscuit cutter or you can use an upside down glass, let rise for 15 min.

*Fry on medium heat in a DRY cast iron skillet for about 3-5 minutes per side or until lightly browned.

Enjoy warm, toasted, or freeze some to enjoy later!