Oasis Naan
Makes 8 round breads (about 5 to 6-inches in diameter)
As shared from the kitchen of Once Upon a Plate
Adapted from "Baking with Julia" published by William Morrow, 1996
The dough for these naan is the same as that for Persian Naan*, but it is shaped differently. These breads are formed into rounds, their centers flattened and sprinkled with scallions, salt, and a pinch of cumin, and their edges left full, to expand like the crust of a Neapolitan pizza.
1 recipe Persian Naan dough, fully risen (see below)
1 tablespoon coarse salt
2 scallions, trimmed and chopped (white and tender green parts only)
1 teaspoon (approximately) cumin or caraway seeds
Center a rack in the oven and line it with quarry tiles or a baking stone, leaving a 1-inch air space all around. (If you do not have tiles or a stone, place an inverted baking sheet on the oven rack.) Preheat the oven to 500°F. Set aside a baker's peel or dust a baking sheet with flour.
Shaping the Dough: Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball; flatten each ball with lightly floured palms. Roll out the dough into circles about ¼ inch thick and 5 to 6 inches across and sprinkle with water. (You don't want these to be as wet as Persian breads.) Each circle needs to be well pricked all over, with the exception of a 1- to 2-inch border. Traditionally, this is done with a dough stamp, a round utensil with concentric circles of thin spikes. Alternatively, you can use a roller pricker (also known as a pastry docker), the tines of a fork, or the pointy metal loop at the bottom of a whisk. Whatever you choose, you want to prick the dough with determination, flattening the center of each circle. Sprinkle each center with coarse salt, chopped scallions, and a pinch of cumin or caraway seeds.
Baking the Bread: Slide the breads onto the hot quarry tiles using the baker's peel (or slide onto the baking sheet), and bake for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the tops start to color. Remove the breads and cool on a rack for about 5 minutes before wrapping them in a cotton towel. These are best served warm.
Storing: These breads are best eaten shortly after they're baked, but they'll keep, wrapped in a towel, for a day. For longer storage, wrap the breads airtight and freeze for up to a month. Keep the breads in their wrappers while they thaw at room temperature and then warm them for a few minutes in a 400°F oven before serving.
Makes 8 round breads.
From "Baking with Julia" Based on the PBS series hosted by Julia Child,
written by Dorie Greenspan, with contributing bakers Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
Persian Naan
Makes 4, long narrow breads
As shared from the kitchen of Once Upon a Plate
Adapted from "Baking with Julia", publisher: William Morrow, 1996
The look of this bread is at once dramatic and rustic.
Long — snowshoe-shaped, actually — and dimpled from stem to stern with fingerprints that give it an undulating appearance and and interesting crisp-here-chewy-there texture, this thin flat bread of Central Asia is traditionally baked in a tandoor, a deep clay oven. But you need no out-of-the-ordinary equipment to turn out authentic breads at home. The making of the dough follows standard techniques for mixing and rising — it's the shaping that's odd and fun. The breads are stretched, wet to just this side of soaked, pummeled with your fingertips, and tossed onto hot quarry tiles (or a baking sheet) to bake for a mere five minutes, finishing with a firm, toasty bottom crust and a crumb that's soft but stretchy, warm, and wheaty. Don't even think about slicing these breads; they're meant to be stacked on the table, and edible centerpiece, and torn into pieces big and small. This same dough makes Oasis Naan, a round bread speckled with scallions.
2½ cups tepid water (80°F to 90°F)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
5 to 6 cups bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour (I substitute up to 3 cups of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour--- optional)
1 tablespoon salt
4 teaspoons sesame seeds
Put the water and yeast in a large bowl and stir to blend. Add 3 cups of the flour, about a cup at a time, stirring in one direction with a a wooden spoon. Beat for 1 minute, or about 100 strokes, to develop the gluten. Sprinkle the salt over the mixture and start adding the remaining flour, again about a cup at a time, stirring after each addition and then stirring until the dough is too stiff for you to work. You may not need to use it at all.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it vigorously, adding more flour as necessary, until it is smooth and easy to handle, about 10 minutes.
Rise: Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turning to cover the entire surface with oil, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let the dough rest at room temperature until it has more than doubled in bulk, about 2 hours. Don't worry if it goes longer — it will be just fine. If it's more convenient, you can put the bowl in the refrigerator and let the dough rise overnight; bring the dough to room temperature before continuing.
When you're ready to bake, line the center rack of your oven with quarry tiles or a baking stone, leaving a 1-inch air space all around, and preheat the oven to 500°F. (If you do not have tiles, place an inverted baking sheet on the oven rack and preheat it with the oven.)
Shaping the Dough: Deflate the dough, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface, and divide it into 4 pieces. Flatten the pieces and shape them into ovals, each about 6 inches wide and 8 inches long. Cover the ovals with plastic wrap and let them rest for a few minutes to relax the gluten.
Start shaping the first bread a few minutes after the oven reaches 500°F. Fill a small bowl with cold water, dip your fingers into the water, and, starting at one end of the oval, press your fingertips into the dough to make deep, closely spaced rows of indentations all across the dough. (Don't be timid — the impressions have to be deep enough to remain after you've stretched the dough.) Keep moistening your fingers as you work so that the dough's surface remains wet — really wet. In fact, it may look a little sloppy to you, but that's the way it's supposed to be.
Lift the dough, drape it over your hands, and stretch it by slowly pulling your hands apart. You will need to drape and stretch a couple of times in order to get the right shape — you're aiming for an oval that is about 5 inches wide and between 16 and 18 inches long. Don't worry if there are a few holes in the dough — carry on.
Baking the Bread: Put the dough down on the work surface and sprinkle with a teaspoon of the sesame seeds. Then carefully lift the dough with both hands and place it on the baking stone (or baking sheet). (If you are adept at using a peel, transfer the bread to the oven on a cornmeal-dusted peel.) Bake until the bread has golden patches on top and is brown and crusty on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven, let it cool on a rack for 5 minutes, and then wrap it in a cotton towel to keep it soft and warm.
While one bread is baking, shape the next bread. When you've had some practice shaping, you'll become fast enough to slip a second bread into the oven by the time the other is halfway through its bake time.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Storing: The breads are best eaten shortly after they're baked, but they'll keep, wrapped in a towel, for a day. For longer storage, wrap the breads airtight and freeze for up to a month. Keep the breads in their wrappers while they thaw at room temperature and then warm them for a few minutes in a 400°F oven before serving.
Makes 4 long narrow breads.
From "Baking with Julia" Based on the PBS series hosted by Julia Child,
written by Dorie Greenspan, with contributing bakers Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
if at all possible
dusted with cornmeal to facilitate 
