Naan

This is the best recipe for Naan I've tried.  And it's really easy.  You just need to plan enough time for the two risings.  I found the recipe here.  I do halve the recipe, because it makes a lot of naan, and it's best fresh.

You can either grill this Naan, as the recipe says, or you can cook it in a cast iron frying pan, with just a light coating of oil.  This is called dry frying, and it's how I cook my Naan.  I love my cast iron frying pan, nothing ever sticks to it!

Naan

1 package dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup white sugar (I do less, just a sprinkle of sugar to help the yeast grow.  1/4 cup makes it too sweet)
3 TBSP milk
1 egg
2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp minced garlic (optional)
1/4 cup butter, melter

In a large bowl, dissolve years in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy.  Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt and enough flour to make a soft dough  (I've found it takes less than the 4 cups).  Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth.  Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise.  Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.

Punch dough down, and knead in garlic (if making garlic naan.  If making plain naan, skip this step.)  Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball (you should get about 14).  Roll into balls and place on a tray.  Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat (or frying pan).

At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle.  Lightly oil grill.  Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and slightly browned.  Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over.  Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes.  Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Grilled Island Chicken

This recipe comes from here.  This is the very best chicken I've made!  It was so good.  Yesterday's chicken was good, but this one was way better.  It was good by itself, or it would have been good with flat bread and tzatziki sauce, or with French fries.  It was juicy and flavorful.  I wasn't expecting it to be so good, because the marinade is so simple, but it's really, really good.

Grilled Island Chicken

1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used 2)
1 1/2 TBSP soy sauce
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2-4 chicken breasts (If I was using more than 2, I would double the recipe)

Combine all the ingredients except chicken in a bowl or Ziploc bag.  Mix well.  Add the chicken breasts, and marinate all day.  Cook on the grill until done.  I cubed my chicken and did it on skewers, that's our favorite way to eat grilled chicken, and it cooks the fastest, but you can cook the breasts whole too.

Pineapple Apricot Chicken Skewers

Once again, this recipe comes from here.  She has a lot of great grilling recipes.  I've been using the grill more this year, and I've really liked it.  The downside is, we're going through chicken faster than ever!  My stash in the freezer is almost gone.  I need a chicken sale!  I did halve this recipe, it makes a TON of marinade.  You could easily do 2 chicken breasts, or 3 smaller ones with half the recipe, and that's plenty of chicken for us.

Pineapple Apricot Chicken Skewers

32 ounce jar of pineapple apricot preserves
1 TBSP yellow mustard
3 TBSP balsamic vinegar
2 TBSP honey
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper
4-6 chicken breasts, cubed
8-10 bamboo skewers

Combine the ingredients in a gallon ziploc bag except chicken.  Mix well.  Add chicken, mix in and marinate from 2 hours to all day.  The longer the better.  (I only did a couple hours, next time I would plan better and do all day.)  Put chicken on skewers and grill until cooked through.

I halved the amount of preserves, but I did the full amount of the other seasonings.  I hope that makes sense.  So if I made the whole recipe, I would do 32 ounces of the preserves, but double the rest of the spices.

Banana Sour Cream Bread

I never liked banana bread as a kid, because I didn't like the texture.  It was rubbery, and it seemed like the edges had to burn to get the middle to cook.  I discovered this recipe one day, years ago, and my banana bread has been perfect ever since!

Banana Sour Cream Bread

3/4 cup butter
3 cups white sugar
3 eggs
6 very rip bananas, mashed
16 ounces sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 4 7x3 inch loaf pans (I used muffin tins, it made 2 dozen, and 1 mini loaf).  In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon.  Mix together salt, baking soda and flour, then add to sugar and banana mixture.  Mix well.  Stir in nuts.  Divide into prepared pans.  Bake for 1 hour, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Glazed Poppyseed Cake

I got this recipe here, but I changed it a far amount, so I'm just going to post the way I made it.  It's a really, really good cake, but quite rich.

Glazed Poppyseed Cake

1 lemon cake mix
1 box of instant lemon pudding
1/8-1/4 cup poppy seeds (I add more if I think it needs it)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup oil
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs

Mix cake mix, pudding mix, and poppy seeds.  Add juice, oil and sour cream and mix well.
Add eggs one at a time, mix well.  Grease and flour a bundt pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.  When the cake is done, start the glaze.  Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes.

Glaze

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup butter

Bring ingredients to a boil and keep bubbling until ready to brush on cake.  Once cake has cooled for 10 minutes, brush the bottom of the cake with some glaze.  Then invert cake to a plate.  Brush the remaining glaze all over the cake.  Allow cake to cool about 50 minutes, then serve.