bagels

those of you that know me well, know that everyday i lived in NY i would eat a bagel for breakfast. when i lived in maywood, there was a great bagel place downtown where i would stop and get a bagel on my way to the bus. then when i moved to brooklyn, my bagel spot was right next to the subway entrance. there were days i would walk into the shop and the line was out the door. if they saw me on line, they would make me my bagel before my turn and hand it to me with out even having to order it. gawd i love bagels.

then i moved to texas. texans don't know bagels. they think bagels are einstein's bagels. NOT! i mean, they have their redeeming qualities, i'm just not sure what those qualities are.

so the other day, as we were watching diners, drive-ins and dives on food network, the show's host went to a place that made fresh NY style bagels. i *had* to watch.

to track back a bit, we've been making pizza a lot. we have a food processor and i found a recipe for pizza dough that i could make in about 15 mins (with out rising) all in the food processor. so when they said on the diners show that the dough was similar to pizza dough, i started thinking...then watched some more. it looked easy! make the dough, let it rise, shape the pieces, let it rise again, boil, cook. i thought, how hard can this be?

i set out this weekend to make bagels. and bagels i made. NY style, the kind i've been missing for 3 years since i left the NY tri-state area. and let me tell you. not only were they easy, but they were sooooo good!



so i'm posting the recipe here. not as i found it by emeril on food network, but as i made it. i'm going to try it with some wheat flour, and my music man likes blueberry bagels, and well, i'm going to experiment, but here's the basic recipe. try it! let me know if you like it! i also halved the recipe because if they weren't good, i didn't want to waste all those ingredients. so here it is halved. will make 6 bagels:

Ingredients
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (one packet)
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 1/2 to 3 cups self-rising flour (the recipe called for all-purpose, i used self-rising by accident)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon baking powder

Directions
Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of an upright mixer fitted with a dough hook. Stir and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Gradually add 2 cups of the flour and the salt, and mix until the mixture comes together.

Add 1/2 to 3/4 cups additional flour a tablespoon at a time to make a stiff dough, working with your hands. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and no longer sticky (my dough was sticky but not sticking to my fingers), about 5 minutes, adding just as much flour as needed. (Dough should be heavier and stiffer than regular yeast bread dough.)

Grease a large bowl with oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until almost doubled, about 1 hour. (i use the oven.)

Remove from the bowl and punch down the dough. Divide into 12 equal pieces, about 2 to 3 ounces each, Form each piece of dough into a smooth ball by rolling the dough into itself. Punch your thumb or finger through the middle then twirl around your finger (as a child would do or you would do with your keys). Repeat with the remaining dough. Place on a lightly greased surface, cover with a clean cloth, and let rest until risen but not doubled in a draft-free spot, 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Grease a baking sheet with the remaining oil.

In a large, heavy pot, bring water to a boil (don't fill the pot as you will be putting the bagels in the boiling water). Once it's boiling, add a teaspoon of baking powder. In batches, add the bagels to the water and boil, 30 seconds each side. Flip bagels on to a baking sheet lined with parchment (this will help the water drain off while you're boiling the rest of your bagels. Once they are all done, put onto the greased baking sheet. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool approx 10 mins on a wire rack. ENJOY!

salad season part 2

ok, ok, alissa now gets her way... here goes...

tortellini pesto salad
1 package frozen tortellini
1 package prepared pesto (i know you make your own, brea, but some of us just don't have the time!)
2 dollops sour cream (i use light)
sun-dried tomatoes

cook the pasta according to the package directions. drain. while the pasta is still hot, add the entire container of pesto -- probably about a cup if you're making your own (BREA!). add a couple of dollops of sour cream -- this is totally to your tasting. then i also add about 1/4 of a cup of sun-dried tomatoes, diced. and to add some flavor, add a bit of the oil from the jar too. it just adds this hint of yummy-ness.

you can totally cook this and then keep in the fridge and eat at a later date, but my absolute favorite way to eat this is room temperature after it's all made. the flavors are just perfect at that time.

there is one more salad that i'm going to post. wonder who will guess that one? ;)

salad season part 1

now that it's officially hot in texas, i've started making pasta salads for lunch. it's light (ha!) and nutritious (ha!) and yummy (for sure!). over the years, i've gone through phases of making different pasta salads over and over again, but i always come back to this one that i made up. so cool off from a hot day working in the garden (or office, or house or whatever) with some of this yummy goodness.

mo's pasta salad
1 box tricolor pasta
1 red pepper
1 hot-house cucumber
1 can sliced black olives
italian dressing
feta cheese

while the pasta's cooking (according to the package directions), cut up the pepper and cucumber -- bite size is good -- and drain the can of olives. throw all that in a bowl. once the pasta's done, drain it and rinse it off with cool water to get the temperature back down -- you don't want to cook the veggies. toss it all together, add a little dressing (just so the pasta doesn't stick together) then refrigerate. when you're ready to serve, put some more dressing on it -- however much you want, it adds a nice flavor. and sprinkle with feta cheese. voila! yummy pasta salad that's a little good for you.

i've told people about this recipe and they've adapted it for themselves. use green pepper instead of red, cherry tomatoes instead of the red pepper. whatever. i think the colors look gorgeous, there's a lot of crunch, some salty. it's just gooooooooood. try it now! :)

cereal cookies

as promised -- just a few days late.

i have on the recipe that i got these from my aunt kathy. i have no clue where she got them, but enjoy. yum

cream together:
1 c. margarine or butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. oil

add:
1 beaten egg
1 T sour milk (sour cream with a bit of milk)

mix together then add:
3 1/2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cream of tartar
1 t. salt

add:
1 t. vanilla
1 c. quick oats
1 c. crispy rice cereal
1/2 c. coconut
1/2 c. chopped nuts (any variety will do)

drop by teaspoon and flatten with fork on an ungreased pan

bake at 350 for 12 - 15 minutes

no wonder i can't fit into my dress....

mia

sorry i've been M.I.A lately. i guess i must be busy or something. we did go to NC to get some wedding stuff done and for our parents to meet. all went well. this isn't a wedding blog, so i won't go into details, but we got loads done, lots of questions answered, and i feel like i can move on to finish planning.

now we're home, and i've been working in the garden, and doing stuff around the house. no great shakes, but just getting stuff done that needs to be done.

one thing i did do this weekend was make cereal cookies. they are quite possibly my FAVORITE cookies in the world. and they are loaded with fat. i'll post the recipe later today or tomorrow. but warning, they have a cup of butter AND a cup of oil, so if you're looking for a low-fat cookie, this is not the place for it. they are JUST the cookies a girl should eat that is getting married in four months. yeah. that's it.

enjoy.

the kitchen and my mom

as you may know, as a kid, i loved to bake. just about anything, but especially apple pie. my apple pie was known throughout the tri-state area. and now, i have my perfected apple pie recipe and maybe one day, i'll post that recipe. then post-college, my oldest cousin (chef, entrepreneur) taught me how to make the most delicious scalloped potatoes. and if you're really nice to me i'll post that recipe. it's a recipe that has made me famous outside of the tri-state area. it requires heavy cream and lots of it -- have no fear, it WILL stick to your thighs, but it's so very delicious.

back on topic. my mother reads cookbooks. you may be thinking, "i read cookbooks too". but no, she READS cookbooks. she cooks from them occasionally, but mostly, she gets ideas from cookbooks and then makes her own dish -- a conglomeration of what she just read. ask her to make a dish the same way twice, she can't do it. we have learned that in order to get a recipe out of her, we need to have her write it down and then you're still not guaranteed to replicate what she created. what i'm attempting to establish here is that she's an expert in the kitchen (did you get that?!). needless to say, she "gets it" -- the kitchen that is. she understands the chemistry behind what happens in the kitchen. how all those chemicals work together to create a dish that's de-lish.

growing up i'm sure i was in the kitchen with her, but i really didn't pick up all that much. especially in the chemistry area. so this begins my first in a series of cooking posts where i will attempt to learn (and educate you if you're interested) some of the mysteries of the kitchen. if there's a mystery you would like solved, let me know and i'll add it to the list that's accumulating in my head.