Sourdough Bagels

My sourdough starter jar was getting a bit full (relatively speaking, as it was in a BIG jar, rather than my usual 2 cup one) so I had planned on refreshing the contents by making a batch of sourdough flour tortillas.

And then I was inspired by a themed post on a FB group I belong to to make sourdough bagels. After posting a request for a recommended recipe, I decided on the simplest of the bunch, which I actually found by net-surfing. And it only made eight bagels, which was perfect as my upstairs freezer is getting VERY full, again. I used up the last drop of starter in the jar (though I’ve got a couple of jars of dried starter in the pantry) so I won’t have to do weekly starter feedings for a while.

The results were very tasty, dense and chewy in texture. Breaking out the stand mixer to knead the dough was a smart idea as that’s a tough dough to knead by hand. And, although the bagels weren’t shaped as nicely as I’d hoped, none of them came undone during the boiling step even though I used the “sealed rope” method of shaping. The hydration of this dough meant that the two ends stuck together during the shaping, especially as I didn’t use additional flour when rolling out the dough into a rope.

Fried Egg, Bacon and Cheese Bagel Sandwich

Bagel Pizzas

Sourdough Bagel Pictorial

Dough was kneaded in a stand mixer for 10-15 min on medium speed, rested, shaped and proofed at room temperature for 3-4 hrs until puffy and then cold retarded for 4-8 hrs before being boiled and baked. The cold retarding develops flavour and lets the bagels harden enough to be easily picked up and transferred to their boiling water bath without deformation. (Especially if you don’t crowd your fridge and end up dropping a container on top of a couple of your bagels.)

Even though the bagels spread during refrigeration and I was sure I was going to end up with bagel pancakes, oven spring during the baking gave them a nice lift so they were plump and lovely.

Crumb – Sliced into while still warm, because who can resist a bagel fresh out of the oven? I know I can’t.

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Flour and Blueberries (Muffins and Pancakes)

I finally replenished my stock of all purpose flour but, for reasons I won’t go into, ended up buying two 10 kg bags about a week apart, instead of my usual 20 kg bag.

In any case, it all ended up in five pound bags in the freezer, except for what was used to fill my tin flour canister.

Among the many things I made with the flour were blueberry muffins and blueberry pancakes. Fresh blueberries sometimes go on sale, and, if I can, I buy a couple of clamshells full and bag and freeze them since no preparation is needed and they can be used straight from frozen.

The muffins were from a basic recipe which can be adapted with whatever additions are desired. You may find the combination of brown and white sugar a bit less sweet than a regular muffin recipe. In that case, use all white sugar.

Carole L’s Basic Buttermilk Muffins – makes a dozen large muffins

2 cups (254 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (50 grams) brown sugar
1/2 tsp fine salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, melted & cooled
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract (if desired)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line a large muffin tin with paper liners or coat with nonstick cooking spray (or both).

In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients: flour, sugars, salt, and baking powder.

In a liquid measuring cup beat together the buttermilk, butter, egg, and vanilla. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir JUST until combined, do not over mix. Divide evenly among the muffin tin cups.

Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 400 deg Fahrenheit (don’t forget this!!). Continue baking until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about another 12 minutes.

Mix Ins:
Add 1 cup chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruit, candy, etc.

For Fruit Muffins:
1 1/2 cups fruit (such as berries, apples, etc.), finely chopped and well drained
If using fruit, add in with the dry ingredients to make sure the fruit stays evenly distributed and doesn’t sink to the bottom.

Banana Muffins:
3/4 cup mashed overripe banana (from about 2 small bananas) Add in with the wet ingredients.

The pancakes themselves, from a King Arthur Flour recipe that used an equal combination of all purpose flour and barley flour (home ground from some pot barley in my pantry) were a great success, taste wise, even if the blueberry version was a disappointment.

All purpose and barley flour pancakes

The second side, with the blueberries sticking out, didn’t make contact with the frying pan, and the surface didn’t really brown properly but looked almost wet and gummy when done. When cooled, I didn’t even bother eating one (of the three I made) but bagged and froze it until I have a pancake craving and buy some more maple syrup.

Pantry/Freezer Clearout – Hash Brown Patties

During the summer, my monthly discretionary budget is pretty strict, but I recently had to “borrow from Peter to pay Paul” due to some unexpected expenses. Which means that the pantry clear-out is even more important.

There was a large bag of frozen hash brown patties in the freezer with a paltry six patties left. What to do … what to do?

Bake the patties off first (20 min at 400 deg F) and then use your imagination.

If you’re cooking for a family of two to four, you can make all kinds of casserole dishes. Replace lasagna noodles with the patties for a potato lasagna and fill with sauteed veggies for a tasty Italian vegetarian option. However, the patties are also convenient for singles who don’t have a lot of time to whip up something filling.

I decided on Eggs Benedict (eggs are relatively cheap) on a potato patty with leftover Hollandaise. The sauce stands up to refrigeration far longer than the experts advise and with gentle reheating in the microwave just until you can spoon the sauce, you’ve got a great breakfast or lunch dish. Instead of ham, I used the last couple of slices of peameal bacon from the freezer. I had bought a peameal bacon roast on sale, a while ago, and sliced it myself into eight 3/8-1/2 inch slices and then portioned them for easy thawing, as needed.

Another option for the leftover Hollandaise: Add a couple of tablespoons of the cold Hollandaise to a serving of hot pasta. The heat of the pasta will melt the cold sauce creating a rich and creamy sauce. I like linguine, fettuccine or spaghetti.

The potato patties also make a tasty base for a pizza. I had some grated mozzarella cheese in the freezer and spooned on a couple of tablespoons of that spaghetti sauce that I got such a great deal on. A couple of fresh basil leaves from my sturdy Italian basil plant … and you’ve got a hash brown potato pizza Margherita.

Three patties down and three to go.

Pork Roast ChilaMigas with Red Kidney Refried Beans

A hearty ‘morning after’ breakfast full of protein and assembled from odds and ends. This is a combination of two classic Mexican dishes, chilaquiles and migas, so I called it “ChilaMigas”.

Breakfast Pork Roast ChilaMigas – serves 2

NOTE: amounts are estimates based on availability and hunger level

1 tsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup leftover pork roast, diced (use leftover pulled pork or shredded rotisserie chicken if you prefer)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup salsa, spicy or medium (or mild)
1 cup refried beans**
2 handfuls of corn tortillas, crushed lightly
handful shredded Monterey or Jalapeno Jack cheese (use cheddar if you prefer it)

For Garnish … use as many of these as you have or want
fresh cilantro or green onion tops, thinly sliced
diced tomatoes
diced avocados
feta cheese (use Cotija cheese if you have some)

** I used my own home made red kidney bean refried beans

In a small bowl, combine the eggs and the salsa. Reserve.

In a large non-stick pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add the leftover pork and brown a bit until heated through. Add the refried beans, stirring until warmed. Add the egg/salsa mixture and the crushed tortillas, stir and continue cooking until the eggs are almost set.

Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top and let it melt a bit.

Serve in a bowl with your preferred garnishes on top. You can eat this with more corn tortillas or a fork as it’s a bit thick.

PS: A can/bottle of Corona or Dos Equis with a wedge of lime would be a perfect accompaniment.

Egg Whites … Sweet and Savoury

I often have extra egg whites to deal with and, though meringues are fast and easy to make, I wanted to switch things up, so I decided to make an egg white omelette.

OMELETTE PICTURE FAIL WARNING:

Turning the omelette out onto the plate was a disaster. I was SURE it was freed up in the frying pan, but it turned out it was still attached, and fell apart. So I dressed it up with more sliced avocados… delicious. Next time I have extra egg whites, I’m going to make this again.

Three Egg White Omelette – serves one

1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil (if not using sauteed veggies)
3 egg whites
1/2 tbsp water
pinch of salt
grind of black pepper

Fillings – amounts are estimates

1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 thinly sliced green onion
1-2 strips of red or green pepper, diced
sauteed mushrooms
2-3 oz sauteed spinach
1-2 slices grilled tomatoes or 1/4 cup sauted diced tomatoes
diced avocados

In a small skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites, water, and a pinch salt and pepper, just until frothy. Lightly coat a medium nonstick skillet or omelet pan with cooking spray (or EVOO) and heat the skillet over medium heat. Add the egg whites, swirling to evenly cover the bottom of the pan. Cook until set, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Using a rubber scraper lift the eggs up and let the runny uncooked egg flow underneath.

Spoon filling onto half of the omelette, fold over the empty half, and slide the finished omelette onto a serving plate.

PICSPAM: I posted some pretty pink meringue pictures to make up for the less than photogenic omelette above. Enjoy.

I just listed the ingredients for the meringues cause everyone should know how to make them already. And if you don’t, you can search back on my LJ (or blog) for recipes I’ve posted.

Three Egg White Meringues/Pavlovas – flavoured and with colour trim

3 egg whites
3/4 cups of white sugar
pinch of salt
3 1/3 tbsp Jello powder (optional)
1 tbsp white vinegar
gel colouring paste (optional decoration used on piping bag)

 

Cranberry Sauce

A bit of history first …

For Canadian immigrants in the 60’s, assimilation was the goal.

The ‘melting pot’ was a thing, and my brother and I adopted the Canadian life style with enthusiasm. So, a traditional Thanksgiving meal was one of the must have’s at our house.

Pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce weren’t a priority but the big turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy were front and center on our table. Stuffing … well my mom combined cooked rice, toasted and seasoned bread, sauteed onion and celery, turkey broth and turkey giblets into a dish that was the first thing I put on my plate. I even make it occasionally now that I’m doing all the cooking.

I think my mom must have bought canned cranberry sauce at some point. But I don’t remember. What I DO remember is that my nephew, a picky eater, HAD to have traditional jelly cranberry sauce. My SIL, may have even brought the can to our house to make sure that there were no tantrums in those early days. Watching that solid mass SLIDE out was a vivid memory. When they took leftovers home, the cranberry sauce was always included because no one at OUR house was a big fan.

Fast forward to the present and at the age of 61, I made my first batch of cranberry sauce, with whole berries.

Cranberry sauce

Cranberry Sauce – makes ~ 3 cups

12 oz/ 340 gm cranberries
1 cup white sugar
1 cup orange juice (or 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup orange juice)
1 tbsp of orange zest

In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the orange juice. Stir in the cranberries and cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat, stir in the orange zest and place sauce in a bowl.

Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

And you know what?

It’s pretty tasty.

Uses for leftover cranberry sauce

Yogurt and cranberry sauce – if you like fruit flavoured yogurt for breakfast, stir as much of the cranberry sauce as you like into some drained yogurt and dig in

A moist and tender batch of Yogurt & Cranberry muffins, from “Cook the Story”. Instead of the large size that the recipe suggested, I made a dozen medium sized muffins and used the rest of the batter to make a tray that can be cut into bars. For serving, I stirred some cranberry sauce into sweetened whipped cream.

Maybe I should try making a pumpkin pie next year.

A leftover meal that’s even better than the original … turkey drumstick, blue cheese polenta, giblet gravy, sauteed kale

Basic Breakfast Quinoa and Nectarine Murabba/Compote

I don’t eat breakfast, as I generally don’t have time to do so, but this basic ‘porridge’ recipe inspired by Martha Stewart, featuring quinoa, might solve that problem in the future.

Basic Breakfast Quinoa

Basic Breakfast Quinoa – serves 4

1 cup quinoa
2 cups milk, whole or 2%
1/4 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
pinch or two of ground cinnamon

Fruit Add-ins – amounts are rough estimates
1/4-1/3 cups dried fruits like apricots, cranberries, dates, raisins, prunes
1/3-1/2 cup fruit compote
1/2 cup fresh fruit like whole blueberries or diced firm fruit like apples, pears, peaches, nectarines

Soak quinoa for a half hour or rinse several times and then drain it well.

In a medium sized pan, bring the milk to a boil and stir in the prepared quinoa. Once the milk has returned to the boil, reduce the temperature to a simmer, cover and cook for about 15 minutes. Stir in the brown sugar, salt and ground cinnamon, cover and continue cooking for another 10 minutes.

If using dried fruit, add it in with the brown sugar and cook for the additional 10 minutes. If using fresh fruit, add it in a few minutes before end of the final cooking period and cook for another 2-3 minutes. If using the fresh fruit compote, stir it in just before serving.

Additional add-ins: Roasted seeds like sunflower seeds may be added before serving or nuts like sliced almonds. For additional sweetness, a tablespoon or so of sweetened condensed milk may be poured over the quinoa.

This ‘porridge’ may be eaten warm or cold with additional milk poured over the top.

Breakfast quinoa with nectarine compote stirred in and more served on top

Dried cranberries and sweetened condensed milk … I didn’t have any oranges or I would have added some orange zest as well. Ready for cold milk to be poured over.

Another possible quick breakfast …

The inspiration for this fresh fruit compote recipe was found on “The Story of a Kitchen” blog

Nectarine Murabba/Compote served over drained yogurt

Nectarine Murabba/Compote – makes 2 cups

1 pound nectarines** (or apricots or peaches), peeled and diced into 1 inch pieces
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
4 cardamom pods, cracked
1/4 tsp rosewater
pinch of salt
juice of one lemon (use the juice of half a lemon if your fruit isn’t fully ripe)

** Free-stone fruit is preferred but cling-stone works too

In a small saucepan, bring the sugar and water to the boil. Add the diced fruit, cardamom pods, rosewater, salt and the juice of half a lemon and stir through. Continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes.

Taste one of the fruits and only add the rest of the lemon juice if it seems sweet enough.

Transfer the fruit to a 2 cup capacity glass canning jar. Pour over enough of the syrup to cover the fruit. Screw on the lid and let cool on the counter until it has reached room temperature and then refrigerate for up to two weeks.

Serve over drained yogurt for breakfast or as a dessert topping over ice cream or cake.

Sourdough Waffles

NOTE: I have two brilliant ideas for no churn ice cream flavours but they both involve going shopping first. This is why I keep putting off going out for sushi … I blow my bi-weekly budget on cooking things in my own kitchen. Bread baking is cheap when you already have a 20 kg bag of AP flour in the freezer.

I recently finished the last of the sourdough pancakes in my freezer and rather than making another batch, I decided to switch things up and make sourdough WAFFLES. As I’m basically a lazy cook, I looked for the simplest recipe on line. I even solicited a recipe on my sourdough FB groups. Although a number of people recommended the King Arthur flour recipe and a fellow blogger, from whom I ‘borrowed”, my sourdough tortilla and naan recipes, shared hers, they either had ingredients or time constraints that I wasn’t prepared to deal with. So, I went with a recipe I found at the “Serious Eats” website. You can use either active or discard starter.

I didn’t rewrite the instructions enough that I feel that I can post it here so you’ll have to go to the source for the recipe.

You may remember that my waffle maker is an OLD OLD clunker with reversible plates, no temperature controls and sticking issues. It took me almost the entire batch of waffle batter to get the waffles to release from the top plates, which were probably on the bottom the last time that I used them, more than a year ago.

The plates are made for rectangular waffles, but if you pour the batter in the center and hold back on a tablespoon or so, you can get round waffles.

NOTE TO SELF: 1/2 cup of batter, per each side of my waffle maker, cooked for 2 min 45 sec to 3 min, is perfect .

Some odds and ends I want to share … a steak quesadilla snack on my home made sourdough tortillas.

Or a steak breakfast burrito plate as good as in a restaurant.

I’ve been playing with plating my Hungarian cheese dumplings … honey and cheese is a great pairing.

A first attempt at slider buns with enriched dough. Some hamburger buns were made with the leftover dough.

Sourdough Pancakes

If you ever get the impulse to create a sourdough starter, you’ll periodically have starter to discard. That’s wasteful … but you can use this excess starter to make a batch of delicious pancakes. So get out your cast iron frying pan and get to it.

Sourdough Pancakes – 10-11 pancakes

2 eggs
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cups sourdough starter
1 /2 tsp baking soda**
1 tbsp water

** The original recipe used 1 1/2 tsp of baking soda but I found that gave the pancakes a bitter taste.

In a very small bowl, measure out the baking soda and reserve.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs. Add the salt and sugar and beat until the sugar is dissolved.

Add the sourdough starter to the egg mixture.

Add the water to the baking soda, mix well to dissolve and pour into the bowl with the egg and sourdough mixture.

Beat quickly with a whisk until you get a homogeneous mixture. Do not whisk too long.

Preheat a griddle or non stick pan, lightly brushed with a paper towel dipped in vegetable oil, over medium heat.  Spoon the batter onto the griddle in 1/4 cup amounts.

When bubbles appear on the top of pancakes, turn them over.

Cook until golden brown on the second side as well.

Serve with syrup, jam or however you’d like