Bagels and Boursin, A Match Sent from Culinary Gods

Bagels have been one of those things that have been on my list to try at home for quite some time. I made mini bagels in Garde Manger (think salads, appetizers, fruit and ice carvings, and sausages) at school, and they turned out great tasting, not so great looking. So I really wanted to try them at home. Unfortunately for me, all of the recipes I have from school are measured in volumes, and I don't have a scale at home (yet). So, in search of a bagel recipe, I perused my favorite foodie blogs, and as usual, Annie, never fails me. It takes some work for this recipe, which is probably why I've been putting off making them, but boy are they worth the effort.

I just sprinkled the toppings on to make an "everything bagel" and I forgot to measure to share with you, so I apologize. My toppings included sesame seeds, poppy seeds, garlic powder, sea salt, and a bit of onion powder, but you should put whatever you like on them. The sesame seeds add a nice nutty-ness to the whole flavor which I really liked. Also, I made a boursin cheese to go with the bagels, and YUM! It turned out to be a great flavor combo. I only had dried herbs on hand, but you can always use fresh herbs.

So, without further ado, here are the recipes!

Boursin Cheese from Columbus Culinary Institute at Bradford School
Yields approx. 1 1/2 Cups
Ingredients:
8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
4 oz. Unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 Tbs. Parmesan Cheese
1 t. garlic
1 Tbs. Oregano
1 t. Thyme, minced
1 t. Basil, minced
Salt and Pepper

Method:
1. Cream the butter with a mixer. Add the cream cheese to incorporate.

2. Add the cheese and remaining ingredients. Continue mixing until incorporated. Season to taste.

Bagels from Annie
Yield: 12 large or 24 mini bagels
Ingredients:
For the sponge:
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
4 cups (18 ounces) unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
2 ½ cups (20 ounces) water, at room temperature

For the dough:
½ teaspoon (.055 ounces) instant yeast
3 ¾ cups (17 ounces) unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
2 ¾ teaspoons (.7 ounce) salt
2 teaspoons (.33 ounce) malt powder OR 1 tablespoon (.5 ounce) dark or light malt syrup, honey, or brown sugar

To finish:
1 tablespoon baking soda
Cornmeal or semolina flour for dusting
Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, kosher salt, rehydrated dried minced garlic or onions, or chopped fresh onions that have been tossed in oil (optional)

Directions:
1. To make the sponge, stir the yeast into the flour in a 4-quart mixing bowl. Add the water, whisking or stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter (like pancake batter). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubbly. It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the countertop.

2. To make the dough, in the same mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer), add the additional yeast to the sponge and stir. Then add 3 cups of the flour and all of the salt and malt. Stir (or mix on low speed with the dough hook) until the ingredients form a ball, slowly working in the remaining ¾ cup flour to stiffen the dough.

3. Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for at least 10 minutes (or for 6 minutes by machine). The dough should be firm, stiffer than French bread dough, but still pliable and smooth. There should be no raw flour – all the ingredients should be hydrated. The dough should pass the windowpane test and register 77 to 81 degrees F. If the dough seems dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough seems tacky or sticky, add more flour to achiever the stiffness required. The kneaded dough should feel satiny and pliable but not be tacky.

4. Immediately divide the dough into 4 ½ ounce pieces for standard bagels, or smaller if desired. Form the pieces into rolls.

5. Cover the rolls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for approximately 20 minutes.

6. Line two sheet pans with baking parchment and mist lightly with spray oil. Proceed with shaping the bagels by pushing a hole through the center and stretching out the hole to 2 ½ inches in diameter.

7. Place each of the shaped pieces 2 inches apart on the pan. Mist the bagels very lightly with the spray oil and slip each pan into a food-grade plastic bag, or cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the pans sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.

8. Check to see if the bagels are ready to be retarded in the refrigerator by using the “float test”. Fill a small bowl with cool or room-temperature water. The bagels are ready to be retarded when they float within 10 seconds of being dropped into the water. Take one bagel and test it. If it floats, immediately return the tester bagel to the pan, pat it dry, cover the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight (it can stay in the refrigerator for up to 2 days). If the bagel does not float, return it to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature, checking back every 10 to 20 minutes or so until a tester floats. The time needed to accomplish the float will vary, depending on the ambient temperature and the stiffness of the dough.

9. The following day (or when you are ready to bake the bagels), preheat the oven to 500° F with the two racks set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (the wider the pot the better), and add the baking soda. Have a slotted spoon or skimmer nearby.

10. Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many comfortably fit (they should float within 10 seconds). After 1 minute flip them over and boil another minute. If you like very chewy bagels, you can extend the boiling to 2 minutes per side. While the bagels are boiling, sprinkle the same parchment-line sheet pans with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you decided to replace the paper, be sure to spray the new paper lightly with spray oil to prevent the bagels from sticking to the surface.) If you want to top the bagels, do so as soon as they come out of the water. You can use any of the suggestions in the ingredients list or a combination.

11. When all the bagels have been boiled, place the pans on the 2 middle shelves in the oven. Bake for approximately 5 minutes, and then rotate the pans, switching shelves and giving the pans a 180-degree rotation. (If you are baking only 1 pan, keep it on the center shelf but still rotate 180 degrees.) After the rotation, lower the oven setting to 450° F and continue baking for about 5 minutes, or until the bagels turn light golden brown. You may bake them darker if you prefer.

12. Remove the pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 15 minutes or longer before serving.

Soft Pretzels

Let me just say: these were gone within hours of coming out of the oven. If that doesn't tell you how good they are, then I don't know what else to say. The centers were chewy and soft and the outsides were nice and firm with a salty crunch. I have wanted to make soft pretzels for a while now, and finally got some yeast for Christmas (yes I know it's an odd gift, but it's a gift I LOVE). I found this recipe on Annie's site, and went for it. These have definitely become a regular snack in our house.

Soft Pretzels

Ingredients:
For the dough:
1½ cups warm water (110-115° F)
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt
2¼ tsp. instant yeast
22 oz. all-purpose flour (about 4½ cups)
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for greasing the bowl

For finishing:
Cooking spray
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp. water
Pretzel (or kosher) salt

Directions:
To make the dough, combine the water, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed to dissolve the yeast. Add in the flour and melted butter and mix just until the dough comes together. Switch to the dough hook and knead on medium speed until the dough is smooth and clears the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a bowl lightly greased with vegetable oil, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place, about 50-55 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Preheat the oven to 450° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. Bring the water and baking soda to a boil in a large saucepan or stockpot. In the meantime, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll a segment out into a 24-inch long rope. Make a U-shape with the rope and holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and onto the bottom of the U-shape in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 or 2 at a time, for 30 seconds. Remove from the water with a slotted skimmer and return to the baking sheet. Once all the pretzels have been boiled, brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake in the preheated oven until dark golden brown, about 12-14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow Cake

My step son, Kaden, turns 5 on Friday and we had a party for him on Sunday. This cake was a huge hit and perfect for a child's birthday party. The cake is rich, moist, and perfect. The buttercream icing was smooth, light, creamy, and delicious, just as buttercream should be. This is a 6 layer masterpiece that looks difficult, but is really so easy! Don't let it intimidate you!

As I was browsing online for some dinner ideas a couple of months ago I ran across Rina's blog, Gotta Little Space and this spectacular cake. It immediately went in the "to make" pile. Kaden's birthday seemed to be the perfect excuse to pull out the recipe. So here you have it.

After putting the layers together and adding my crumb layer of icing I thought I wouldn't have enough buttercream to finish, but I really did not want to make another batch at 11:30, so I made do, and it worked out just fine. The outside layer is very thin, but with the decorating icing, sprinkles, and layers of buttercream inside, it balanced out the cake well. I put the cake in the fridge to set the buttercream, and ended up leaving it there overnight. If you do this, make sure you pull it out of the fridge several hours in advance so the buttercream has a chance to come to room temperature.

As expected the cake got great reviews. It looks impressive and tastes awesome.

Super Epic Rainbow Cake from Whisk Kid
Makes one (huge!) 9 inch, six layered cake

1 cup butter, room temperature
2 1/3 cups sugar
5 egg whites, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk, warmed to room temperature
red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple food coloring

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease your 9 inch cake pans (I have 2 commercial pans, I just kept washing, re greasing and re lining) and line with parchment on the bottoms.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs whites a little at a time. Add vanilla and mix till blended. Alternating between wet and dry, add the milk and flour mixture.

Divide the batter amongst 6 bowls - Kaitlin suggested doing this by weight, but I just used a 1 cup measuring cup to start and as the batter decreased, I used a 1/4 cup measure till all the batter was gone. Whisk a fair amount of each food color into each bowl, pour into your prepared pans and bake for approximately 15 minutes each.

Let the baked cakes cool in the pan for a few minutes, then finish cooling on a rack.

Basic Vanilla Buttercream from  Bon Appétit

5 large egg whites
1 2/3 cups sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup water
1 pound unsalted butter, diced, room temperature
Note - it is indescribably important to have each and every one of your ingredients at room temperature or your buttercream will fail. That's pretty much guaranteed. Trust me.

Combine egg whites and 1/3 cup of sugar in a large bowl using a mixer. Add vanilla.

Combine remaining 1 1/3 cups sugar and 1/3 cup water in a medium saucepan; stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and syrup is bubbling.

Meanwhile, beat egg white mixture on medium speed until very soft peaks form.

Increase mixer speed to high and slowly pour hot syrup down the side of the bowl into egg white mixture in a slow, steady stream. Beat until this meringue forms stiff peaks. Allow meringue to cool in the bowl until lukewarm. Do not beat to cool.

Once lukewarm, start beating meringue on medium speed. Gradually add butter, a few tablespoons at a time, beating constantly till each addition is absorbed before adding next. Continue beating until buttercream is smooth.

If buttercream looks 'broken' or curdled, you can try placing the bowl of buttercream over medium heat on a stove burner and whisk for 5-10 seconds to warm slightly, then remove from heat and whisk vigorously or beat again on medium speed. Repeat this process until buttercream becomes smooth. Keep in mind, this may not work and it might not be salvageable.

You will be able to tell when the buttercream is starting to come together by listening to your mixer - all of a sudden it will start to sound as though it is working harder, and then the buttercream will come together quickly.

Happy New Year!

This New Year’s Eve Zach and I decided to take it easy, relax, and celebrate the New Year at home. We slept in and then did a little shopping. After we worked up a good appetite, we came home and ate. And boy, did we eat. Our menu was: pan seared New York Strip steaks, Italian style risotto, and fresh green beans sautéed in butter. The risotto paired perfectly with the spicy steak and crisp, buttery green beans. Honestly, I would not have changed a thing as all items got a rave review from Zach, Butterscotch, and Max (the latter two being our cats). And myself, of course. Yummy!

Just a couple of tips here- Do not be afraid of risotto! It is so delicious and pretty hard to mess up. Yes, it is time consuming, but it is totally worth the effort! Also, don’t be afraid of seasoning!!! Salt and pepper are your best friends in the kitchen. Just a touch of salt can enhance the flavor of anything and make it taste so much better. I just want to note here as well, the pairing of meat and pepper is a match made in heaven. A good steak will hold up to the spicy kick of pepper and your taste buds will love you forever. So without further ado, our menu…

New York Strip Steaks
Steaks- Look for a nice red color and it should not have a bad odor. It should spring back to its original shape when touched.
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Seasoned Salt

Season the steaks with the spices and grill or pan fry until desired temperature. Let rest for 5 minutes before eating so juices can redistribute throughout the steak.

Buttery Green Beans
1 lb. fresh green beans
3 T. butter
Salt
Pepper

Trim ends off green beans and remove any strings.

Fill a medium to large pot halfway full of water. It doesn’t really matter how big the pot is as long as the beans will all fit in without being crowded. Generously salt the water and bring to boil.

While waiting for the water to boil prepare an ice bath by putting a generous amount of ice in a bowl and filling it with cold water.

Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook until almost done but still crisp. Drain and immediately place the beans in the prepared ice bath. This will stop the cooking until you are ready to finish them.

When ready to finish the beans, melt butter in a sauté pan and get the pan hot. Add the beans and toss together until warmed through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Italian Style Risotto
½ c. Arborio rice
¼ c. chopped onion
4 T. butter, divided in half
1 ½-3 c. chicken broth (amount will vary depending on rice)
2 T. heavy cream
¼ c. shredded Italian style cheese (mixture has Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan, Romano, Fontina, and Asiago cheeses)
¼ t. dried oregano
¼ t. dried basil
Bay leaf

Heat chicken stock.

In a separate pan, sauté the onion in half of the butter until soft.

Add rice and sauté for about 2 minutes.

Stir in 1/4 cup of hot broth and cook over medium high heat while stirring until all the broth is absorbed.

Add bay leaf, oregano, and basil.

Continue adding stock ¼ cup at a time, cooking until all the broth is absorbed before adding the next amount. The rice will be done when it is soft or slightly al dente, depending on preference.

Remove from heat and stir in heavy cream and cheese.

Source: Me!