Balistic for Bagels

I was sitting, waiting, wishing
You believed in superstition
Then maybe you'd see the signs

This part of the song has been replaying in my head tonight as I have been waiting to hear what I am supposed to be doing.  So I thought what better time then now to give a new recipe to you.  I'm awfully sorry if I make no sense tonight I have a really bad headache so I'm hoping to make it through the post without screwing something up.  Anyways bagels are what have been tickling my fancy lately...  I have been meaning to make them ever since the weather cooled off from the summer so that I could actually rise the dough with the oven and not kill everyone with the heat coming off the oven.  Alas I find myself still with no bagels made so I thought if I centered my post around them I might persuade myself to make them this weekend

Homemade Bagels


1 tbsp active dry yeast

1 tbsp sugar


1 3/4 cups water, warm (100-110F)


4 cups bread flour (not all purpose)


1 tbsp salt


1 egg, for egg wash

Preparation:

In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) combine yeast, sugar and water. Let stand for 5 minutes, then stir in flour and salt. Mix dough thoroughly until it comes together in a large ball, pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Add an additional tablespoon of flour or water, if needed.
If kneading by hand, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until very smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If using a stand mixer, knead dough with the dough hook until elastic, about 8 minutes on a low speed. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Bring a large pot of water to a gentle boil and preheat the oven to 400F.

When dough has risen, turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces (first quarters, then thirds). Shape each piece into a tight ball as illustrated below, pinching the corners together at the bottom of the piece of dough. When all the balls are shaped, let the dough rest for 30 minutes covered with a clean dish towel.

Once dough balls have rested, the bagel shape can be formed. Using your fingers, poke a hole through the center of each dough ball. Stretch out the dough into a ring with your fingers and be sure to make the hole a little larger than you want the finished bagel to have, as it will shrink slightly while the bagel is expanding during the baking process. Let bagels rest for about 10 minutes.

Working four at a time, drop the bagels carefully into the boiling water. Boil for 2 minutes on the first side, then flip and boil for an additional minute. Using a slotted spoon or strainer, transfer bagels to a clean towel to drain for a moment, then place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat process with remaining bagels.
 Brush boiled bagels with lightly beaten egg (a pastry or bbq brush is a good tool for this) and bake for 20-24 minutes, until golden brown. 
Cool completely on a wire rack.

 Enjoy :)

Foodie much?

Tonight I don't have a recipe for you, although I do have a ton to put up shortly I just have been too busy to do so.  I thought though my blog could use some fresh blood pumping through its veins.  I was checking my email this evening when I realized how much of a food nerd I am...  When you are on the mailing list of a store that sends out the fall collection of henkles cookware, you know that you have made it to those ranks...   Have no fear though since it is fun to be included in such an elite group.  Where something as simple as a beautifully crafted knife can get your heart pumping.  Getting the henkles fall catalogue for me was as exciting as a fashionista getting her monthly copy of vogue.  Anyways enough about my rant if you want to go check out the beauty that I just beheld the link is below;
http://content.yudu.com/A1u17c/FallGourmetGuideEngl/

Have a wonderful night or day wherever your timezone may land you and please come back soon and I will hopefully have something new to tantalize your eyes with :)

Enjoying Endless Summer

What's so great about a nice long Indian summer?  The fact that you can enjoy the summer foods for just a little bit longer.  My absolute favourite summer meal... Pasta salad.  The simplest meal that tastes even better the next day.  I have had many pasta salads in my time but I always come back to my sisters take on it.  Her secret to success?  Pickle juice.  That's it that's all just plain and simple pickle juice mixed into ranch dressing.  First you make your pasta we prefer bow ties (farfalle) or shells (conchiglie) so that they have lots of texture and edges to trap the dressing and smaller pieces of vegetables.  Then we put a whole bunch of cut up vegetables in a bowl, make sure they are cut smaller so there's no complaints from the peanut gallery.  Usually our list includes but is not exclusive to grated carrots, cucumber, onions, pickles (the most important part), tomatoes if you're eating it all the same day otherwise they get watery for the next day, snap peas and anything else that looks delicious in your fridge or may be going bad soon.  Then put the cooked, drained, rinsed pasta in the bowl and mix in your dressing of ranch with pickle juice over top.  The dressing is about the consistency of homemade coleslaw dressing for the right proportion.  This is about halfway between the the consistency of the dressing and water somewhere in there.  Place it in the fridge to chill.  Then the best part! Eating it.  If I am going to eat this salad the next day I always make a little bit extra dressing so i pour some over it right before I eat it and it is ahmazhing!

                             -My most recent pasta baby-

I'm Thankful for Pumpkin

Every year never fail at Christmas and Thanksgiving you can be guaranteed this pie will accompany our spread.  It may possibly be the easiest pie you will ever make requiring nothing more than a blender and a pie plate to make it.  If you are weird like me and don't like crust you get the added bonus of a pie that is crustless.  For all those bakers out there can you guess yet what recipe I am referring to?  Yes it is the Bisquick Impossible Pumpkin Pie recipe.  Now that I've talked it up so much I hope it lives up to expectation.

Bisquick Impossible Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

3/4 C          Granulated Sugar

1/2 C          Bisquick

1 (13oz)  Can  Evaporated Milk

2              Eggs

1 (16oz) Can   Pumpkin

1/2 tsp        Nutmeg

1 tsp          Cinnamon

2 tsp          Vanilla

1/4 tsp        Cloves

1/4 tsp        Ginger

2 Tbsp         Butter

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Combine all ingredients in blender and blend for one minute until smooth.  If you don't have  blender combine all the ingredients and beat with a hand mixer for two minutes until smooth.  Pour into a greased 9-inch pie pan.  Bake for 50-55 minutes until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

*if you don't have nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and ginger you can replace it with pumpkin pie spice.

Tis the Season to be Canning

Ok, not the canning per se of peaches, pears and raspberry jam but just as delicious.  This is a marinade that is fantastic on chicken and other meats.  The tartness of the lemon is balanced by the cinnamon and adds a certain oomph that isn't found in your typical lemon juice marinade.  The only setback to the recipe is it has to season for a month before you can use it so they may not be ready for this barbeque season this year.  Trust me though the wait is scrumptiously worth it. 

Spiced preserved lemons

Ingredients:

6     Lemons, washed

4     Tbsp kosher salt

2     Cinnamon sticks

1/2   Tsp coriander seeds

1/2   Tsp black peppercorns

2     Bay leaves

1     Tbsp olive oil

Preparation:

1. Quarter two lemons, but not all the way through – they should look like open flowers.
2. Sprinkle insides of cut lemons with kosher salt and place in a ceramic or glass bowl. Cover with plastic wrap.
3. Put a weight over lemons (like a can of tomatoes sitting in a bowl), and leave on counter for two days.
4. Pack lemons tightly into jar and add remaining salt, spices and bay leaves. Juice remaining lemons, pour into jar and top with olive oil. Make sure lemon juice totally covers lemons. Refrigerate for at least one month before using to allow flavours to develop. Then store in the fridge and use within one year.

-Enjoy-

WHAT! A Healthy Cake!

Hello hello hello. I know a lot has changed since I last updated you on my recipe repertoire, I've been given cookbooks and won cookbooks so I truly have no excuse for not sharing delicious recipes with you.  Before all this happened though i made a promise to post a recipe and now I am going to follow through on that promise.  Sorry it took so long to get to you Sarah but here is the vegetable cake recipe i promised.

Vegetable Cake

The original recipe:

Ingredients:

Base:
2 Tbsp oil (plus extra for brushing)
4 Large waxy potatoes, sliced


Topping:
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Leek chopped
1 Red pepper diced
1 Green pepper diced
1 Carrot grated
2 tsp chopped fresh parsley
8 oz full fat soft cheese
4 Tbsp grated mature cheese
2 eggs beaten

Preparation:

- Brush an 8 inch springform with oil
- For the base heat the oil in a frying pan cook the potato slices until softened and browned. Layer in the bottom of the springform
- For the topping heat the oil in a frying pan add the leeks and cook until softened ~ 3-4 minutes.  Add the carrot, peppers and parsley cook until soft ~ 5-7 minutes.
- Beat the eggs and cheese together in a bowl add the cooked vegetable mixture and season with some salt and pepper.  Spoon the mixture over the potato layer and cook at 375 for 20-25 minutes until the cake has set.

My not so original version:

I removed the whole bottom layer of potatoes because I don't like the taste of fried potatoes.  I took out the peppers and added other vegetables like beets and celery and onions because in my eyes they add more flavour to the dish.  I also took out the soft cheese just because it isn't something i generally have on hand and replaced it with old white cheddar in my opinion it ends up being the same a bit dryer but that's ok.  I also added chilli flakes and hot sauce and some other spices that I can't remember right now.  In my eyes this dish is all about your own personal taste buds so whatever tickles your fancy just experiment and make this your own 

                           -Slice and Enjoy-