Dragons and bagels and colds...oh my

I know I know...it's been much more than a while since i've blogged. I'm sure my masses of followers are devastated ;) First I was run over by a cold that felt more like a truck and then I was swallowed by a massive dragon....well a 2.5 ft tall dragon cake anyway. He was for a very special little ten year old girl who named him Moon Eater. All but the frame of his wings were edible. Isn't he cute? :)

Before I got hit by that truck and swallowed by Moon Eater, I actually planned to write about making bagels and bagel waffles. It is time to get back on the blogging bike, so here we are.

Being a Jersey Girl there are few things I love more than a good bagel....emphasis on the word good. Until I left my home state I didn't realize that the rest of the country does NOT have access to the good bagels I was so spoiled by. So to get my fix, I had to learn how to make them.

Bagels made at home will always be slightly different than those made in gigantic professional ovens equipped with built in misters, but you can come darn close. They will far surpass anything available outside of the NY metro area and don't even get me started on grocery store bagels. 

First....mise en place miss en place (humming) ...we need a catchy little jingle about miss en place don't you think? :)  There are surprisingly few ingredients in these little rounds of goodness. 

You will need

4 cups bread flour 

(very important, AP flour does not have enough protein...in fact you could even add vital wheat gluten if you wanted to bump that up even higher, makes for an even chewier bagel)

1 tbslp brown sugar

(this is a sub for malt syrup which most people would have to order online, I try and make life as easy as possible when sharing a recipe. Malt syrup does add a slightly different flavor, if you happen to have it, go ahead and use it)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tblsp canola oil

2 tsp (slightly less than one packet) dry yeast

1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cup warm water (this will be dependent on the relative humidity in your home)

Combine your yeast, sugar and water in a measuring cup to proof until foamy. Measure out your dry ingredients into the bowl of a mixer if that is the method you will be using for kneading, or a large mixing bowl if kneading by hand. A word on that....bagel dough needs to be VERY stiff. Because of this, kneading by hand can be a challenge, though it is possible and i've done it many times. Because I make everything in larger than normal batches, I now leave this task to my hobart. If you are rocking this old school, do not be tempted to add more liquid than the recipe maximum. That dense chewy texture that makes a bagel lovely will disappear. Kneading will get easier as your going.

Mix the dry ingredients until combined and add the oil and proofed yeast mixture and knead for 8-10 minutes.

Once you are done kneading lightly grease your bowl and cover your dough. 

Allow dough to rest until just about doubled. I do this in my oven on the proof setting, but a draft free warm spot on the counter will work as well. Notice it is not as smooth as some other bread doughs. That is because of its stiff nature.

Once risen, turn out your dough and punch it down.

Next cut your dough (once it has rested) into equal pieces and form into smooth balls (about golf ball sized).  I make my bagels mini sized because we have many littles eating smaller portions. If you want a full size bagel, make your dough balls the size of a paddle ball instead.

I will show you how to form a traditional bagel in a bit, but I went a little off the rails at this point. I decided I wanted to try skipping the boiling and baking and make them on a waffles iron! Hey, don't laugh it was delicious :)

So if you would like to follow me down this particular rabbit hole, here is how you do it.

First preheat your waffle iron and spray with Bakers Joy (one day they will call me ;). I used what I have, which are segmented belgian waffle irons. In all honesty I think a traditional, non segmented iron would have worked better so if you have that run with it.

Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter and set aside with a pastry brush.

Allow your dough balls to rest briefly and roll out as round as you can. I rolled mine about 1/4 inch thick. 

Brush your rolled out dough round with the melted butter and place on the hot waffle iron butter side down and then brush the top.

Close your iron but don't press too hard. Normally I would latch my iron shut, but I found when I did this the lines which make the segments were just too pinched. Bread dough being harder than waffle batter, it just made them split into four pieces, which is fine for just eating with some cream cheese spread on top (and eat it that way we did) but for a sandwich you want it to remain a whole round.

Cook until the recessed areas are golden and crisp. If your iron has a timer on it, ignore it. It takes longer to get to beautiful for the bagel waffles than it does traditional waffles. You will just have to peak and check :)

Remove the bagel waffle to a cooling rack and keep on rolling.

We made egg sandwiches with most of ours, saving some for a schmeer of cream cheese. The little wedges once broken or cut apart were perfect for little hands :) We LOVED these. They were crisp on the outside but intensely chewy the way a good Jersey bagel should be. It was like a bagel made almost completely of the crust....heaven!

Ok, back on the normal track now :) 

So before we exited stage left to make the waffles we had rested balls of dough. Stick your thumb directly into the center of the dough.

Take your finger from your other hand and put in the hole and gently pull and and spin to make the whole bigger. 

Now there are many people who prefer to roll the dough into a snake, wrap it around all of their fingers and pinch it together at the palm of the hand forming the circle (with a much bigger hole) I have seen people do this like robots and they come out beautifully. I am not one of these people. My experience with that forming method is that when you go to boil the bagel the pinch separates. Plus I don't think they are as pretty...and i'm a girl...so that matters :)

Allow your newly formed bagels to rest for about 20 minutes on a tray spray with...you guessed it...Baker's Joy!! 

This resting time should be enough to allow you to get your pan of water prepared and your oven preheated to 450 F. I use a flat bottom pan with 3 inch high sides. Fill 2/3 of the way with water and to that add 1 tblsp of baking soda. The baking soda helps give a beautiful brown crust to your bagel. This is also the method used for making soft pretzels....yep thats why they are so nicely browned. The boiling itself adds to their signature chewiness.  Now I neglected to get pictures of this step....blogger fail....but it's very straightforward. Bring your water to a steady boil. Place a few bagels at a time into the water. Boil for 2 minutes on each side, drain well by lifting out with a dowel stuck in the center and letting the excess water fall off into the pan and remove to the same sprayed tray while you boil off the rest. They puff significantly during this step, so you may find that you need more tray space than you began with. 

My next step is not traditional. I brush my bagels in egg white at this point. I know I know.....some bagel making chef is writhing in pain at the thought but let me explain. I have beautiful ovens.....Bosch thermadore double ovens, all the bells and whistles ovens....BUT any home ovens, no matter how fantastimagical , will fail in replicating precisely the environment created in large professional ovens. I have made these bagels without brushing them and they are still delicious, but the crust is just a little less crackly and chewy. So brush I do.

My 9 yr old son helped me form the bagels, his are of course the truly perfect and most delicious ones , having been touched by an angel (hey, I'm aloud...he's my baby son :)

After brushing is the time to add your toppings. This time I just added sesame seeds to some but you can use anything (or everything, those are my favorites) you like. 

Bake at 450 until GBD....golden brown and delicious (I love Alton Brown).  

Enjoy my lovelies :)

I will see you back again soon....i'm thinking actual belgian waffles nest time :)

Italian Wedding Soup, otherwise known as heaven in a bowl :)

It is down right frigid in most of the country and I have a cold :( There is only one cure for the chill in the air and my bones...Italian Wedding Soup! This is my very favorite soup. For me, chicken noodle's got nothing on this glorious combination of meatballs, pasta and spinach. Like most truly wonderful things, this soup is very simple yet delicious. I feel an episode of Gilmore Girls and a warm blanket calling so today's post will be short and sweet....on to the recipe!

Get it together peeps...Mise En Place!

Ingredients:

For Meatballs: (note: this is not a typical stand alone meatball, it has been adjusted to marry nicely in this soup)

3 lbs ground beef (you can use combo of pork and beef but I like just 80/20 beef)

½ cup parmesan or romano (freshly grated always a joy)

1.5 cups bread crumbs, fresh or store bought

2 cloves minced garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic powder

3 eggs

1/4 cup milk

For soup:

1 lb pearl pasta or acini di pepe (if you prefer a more broth heavy soup reduce the pasta by 1/3)

32 oz chicken broth (low sodium)

32 oz beef stock (not broth, better mouth feel this way)

1 package frozen cut leaf spinach or roughly 3 cups fresh wilted

1 medium onion chopped or 1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp salt (more or less to taste)

1/2 tsp garlic powder or 2 cloves fresh, minced

First start by making your meatballs. You can just put all of the meatball ingredients in a large bowl and begin mixing by hand. I prefer to combine the dry ingredients to evenly combine, add the eggs and milk and then the meat. I always use gloved hands when working with meat. I simply hate the feel of raw meat and also feel like it's better sanitation as well. 

Prep two sheet trays by lining with heavy duty foil and spraying with...drum roll please...Bakers Joy ;) The trays wills still need to be washed afterward but as long as you don't rip the foil it will be a breeze. No scrubbing :) The bakers joy helps prevent ripping by making sure the meatballs don't stick to the foil.

Once your meat mixture is ready, form into mini meatballs about an inch to inch and a half in diameter. Place about 1/2 and inch apart on the trays. This is the most time consuming part of making this soup. My daughter and I work together and it flies by. For this batch (which is double the recipe listed) we made roughly 250 mini meatballs on four trays. 

Cook the meatballs in a 350 degree oven (I use the convection setting and highly recommend it if you have that option) until nicely browned and cooked through. This took about 15 minutes in my oven. be sure to check yours to make sure they are fully cooked. 

Let's just take a minute to talk about sanitizing. You will want to make sure you clean and sanitize all surfaces that come into contact with raw meat. Wiping with a soapy rag is great for particulate matter (be sure not to use the rag on anything else and put it straight into the wash), but raw meat can carry bacteria that will survive that. A bleach solution of 100 ppm should be used to either spray or wipe the surface and left to dry on its own. 1 tsp of bleach per gallon of water is the recommended ratio for a counter and equipment wiping solution. You will notice that I almost exclusively use stainless steel bowls and utensils. That is because I can easily heat sanitize them in the oven after washing thoroughly when I work with raw meat. OK, now that we have established that I am the captain of team OCD we can continue cooking :)  Safety first my lovelies.

While your meatballs are cooking, go ahead and cook and drain your pasta according to the package directions for al dente. Combine this and all the other soup ingredients in a large pot over medium heat. I kind of wish there were more to this to make me look like a genius but alas....it is as simple as it looks lol  

At this point you are just heating and waiting for your meatballs to be done. As soon as they are, scoop off trays (don't just dump the tray in. you don't want all that rendered grease) and add to the soup. Simmer and enjoy. 

This soup, like most, gets better with time. You can easily make it ahead by a night. My husband prefers his soups to not have a lot of liquid. You may like more. And if you make ahead it will be very thick the next day (barely any liquid left). We love that. Just wanted to mention it in case you are a lover of a lot of stock. If you want more broth just reduce the amount of pasta you use. 

Thanks for hanging out with me today as I sniffle :)  Stay warm friends and remember to follow by email or hit the follow google + button. Invite your friends to join us too :)

Who wants to make Naan???? :)

This post is not for the low carb crowd. I LOVE bread...all bread...period. I have yet to find a bread I DON'T like. I love the process of making bread. I love the smell that fills the house when baking bread. I love the warm loveliness that is freshly baked bread. Most of all I love what happens when you give someone freshly baked bread. There is something magical about bread wrapped in a clean, bright flour sack cloth and delivered to a friend while still aromatic. It seems to transfer its warmth to a persons soul and fill them with joy :)

We make bread regularly in our house, Naan being an exception. We enjoy it so much, we just have to limit how often we make it lol

I will admit I am a bit apprehensive sharing our Naan recipe and process. I have a very dear friend of Indian heritage and I fear this won't meet her standards. So to hedge my bets here I am going to put out this disclaimer. It has been many years since I have lived in an area with authentic ethnic restaurants and just as long since i've had good Indian cuisine (which makes me sad). Our Naan is a lovely buttery, garlicky fry bread with a wonderful texture (soft and a bit chewy). Our entire family adores it and I hope you will too :)

And we're off......

What's our first step, always??? VERY GOOD!! Mise en place!

Ingredients:

9 cups flour

2 1/2 tblsp yeast

2 tblsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup + 1 tblsp milk

3 cups warm water

10 cloves of garlic (6 in dough, 4 for butter)

3 eggs

As usual, I make large amounts. It is vital in a big family to make enough for more than one meal....or I would never be able to keep up with the cooking. Feel free to half any recipe I post if you are a smaller crew or just want enough for one meal (which you may regret ;) 

First get your warm water, add your sugar to it and sprinkle your yeast in the mixture. I don't always proof my yeast, but for naan,  always.

Let that sit until a lovely foam head develops.

If your eggs are fresh out of the fridge you will need to bring them to room temp so they don't slow down the first rise. Simply place them in a large measuring cup or bowl and cover in hot tap water. Within just a couple of minutes they will be ready :)

Time to mince the garlic.

The best way to peel garlic is to smash the bejeezers out of it with the blade of your knife. I lay the side of the blade flat on top of the garlic and hit it (VERY carefully and with the sharp edge facing away from me) with the bottom of my palm. It doesn't take much pressure at all. You just need to split that membrane and the skin comes right off, usually in one piece. 

You will want your garlic to be well minced (I went even smaller than pictured). I like to drizzle a smidge of olive oil on my garlic before I start. It keeps the garlic pieces closer together so its easier to chop up. You will chop all ten cloves...6 for the dough and 4 for the basting butter. 

Mix together all of your dry ingredients in a large bowl along with the garlic (try and sprinkle it so it doesn't just hang out in clumps in your dough) Once your eggs are warm and your yeast is foamy go ahead and add to the dry ingredients along with your beaten eggs. 

Mix with a wooden spoon until it becomes a shaggy dough.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 8 minutes or until the dough is smooth and loverly :)

Put about 2 tblsp of olive oil in a bowl (I just use the bowl I mixed it in. The less dishes the better ;), turn the dough in the oil to coat, cover with a flour sack cloth or other towel and let rise until doubled.  My oven has a proofing setting and I LOVE it. If yours does as well that is perfect. If not just find a draft free warm spot to let your bowl hang out in. Temp and humidity determine how long this step will take so I don't really have a guesstimate for you. Sorry :(

While your dough is rising, melt 1 1/2 - 2 sticks of butter (you may need more or less than this depending on how heavy or light you brush). add the reserved 4 cloves of garlic to the melted butter and just leave on the stove on low. You just want it to stay melted and warm so it infuses with garlic flavor. Stir occasionally.

When your dough is risen and gorgeous you will need to punch it down to deflate it.

Prep your counter by laying out a 3 ft length of plastic wrap and spraying it with ....you guessed it....Bakers Joy ;)  You will also need a second piece to lay over top of your dough pieces to keep them from drying out while you are working, just as with tortillas.

Cut your dough into pieces that will give you a golf ball size ball of dough. You can use bigger pieces to make a bigger finished product. Children+smaller pieces :)  Place your little balls of dough on your plastic and cover.

Preheat your skillet(s). I use cast iron and love it for this application. Medium high heat is a good starting point. Adjust if you need to when you start.  Now roll out your dough into an oblong shape. I roll mine on a silpat. a lightly greased counter would work also. Roll THIN. You may think you are rolling too thin...you are not. You could see through them and it will still be ok. They will spring back the minute you put them in the pan. 

Brush the top with infused melted butter and place butter side down in your hot pan.  When the top begins to bubble and the bottom has lovely dark golden brown coloring, brush the top with more of the butter and flip. If the bottom is getting too brown before the top bubbles, turn your burner down. If it seems to be taking too long to brown (really should only take about a minute) then turn your heat up slightly. 

Cook until the same dark golden brown spots appear on the flipped side. Only the high points of the dough will brown, the rest will stay very very pale and that is perfect. 

Repeat with remaining dough balls and enjoy!! If you have leftover garlic butter, dipping is glorious ;)  We eat naan with pretty much anything.  See you back tomorrow for Belgian Waffles!!! Don't forget to hit the follow button on the top right hand side of the page :)

Have a blessed day!