Bringing inspiration and ideas to better manage your home kitchen
It’s summer! Which means there should be some ice cream in your summer evenings, especially with soaring temperatures. Watching the prices of ice cream soar made me question why I was buying it. And then looking at the ingredients of even “quality” ice cream, again, …
It’s August, the temperatures are at some of the highest of the year, grilling is preferred to avoid heating up your kitchen, something cold like a salad, yet filling with protein and carbs seems like a great dinner option. If you feel like Thai but …
August is one of my favorite months of the year. Just the mention of it drums up an image in my mind of completely dry lawn the color of straw, ripened wild blackberries, salmon filets, salmon running in local rivers, fresh corn from local farms, sun-ripened tomatoes, and ripe, juicy peaches. All of which, except the peaches, come from a less than 50-mile radius around our home. The peaches coming from the other side of the cascades, but still in Washington. Summer provides a bounty. Everything is growing and harvest is beginning. Summer vacations hit the calendar, trips to the lake, swimming, tank tops, sun dresses, grilling outside, fans on all night with doors and windows cracked open, early morning and late night garden watering sessions. Summer is such a gift.
My list this month includes putting up some produce while it’s at its peak. Why not? Why buy things later that are of lesser quality when I can get the best now and freeze, dehydrate, preserve, and put away things we’ll enjoy all throughout the year. So be on the lookout for upcoming posts seizing the bounty of August.
Week 5 of the summer salad series brings us to a classic – the wedge salad. Although not an entrée salad, it is my favorite accompaniment to steak. Blue cheese and red meat are a rich and decadent combination. For this reason, the wedge is …
In a previous budgeting post, I shared that the best tool to manage your grocery spending is planning. Most anything that you spend time planning will have a better outcome. Planning is the difference between success and happenstance. Planning is an underrated hack. There’s something …
A freshly made everything bagel toasted and topped with plain Philadelphia cream cheese, alongside a cup of coffee. It’s a satisfying thing. Any Starbucks CHONGA (acronym for cheese, onion, garlic) bagel lovers out there? The catalyst for making bagels at home was two-fold. We were getting bagels from Costco, who was selling Einstein Bagels in their bakery department for quite a while. These bagels were a huge step up from anything you could find on the bread aisle of your grocery store. After having really good bagels (and even mediocre bagels, like Costco’s Einstein), grocery store bread aisle bagels (and yes, even Starbuck’s CHONGAs) aren’t even in the same category. Ok, they’re both bagel-shaped, so they have that going for them. But the texture, flavor, and taste are so different that it’s worth trying to make them at home, or at least seeking out someone who makes great bagels. I fear a New Yorker reading this post and rolling their eyes. Give us a break out here on the west coast – bagels are hard to come by and we have loads to learn from you in this category.
Costco stopped carrying Einstein, which prompted Mike to research how to make bagels at home. In addition, I think I’ve mentioned a couple of times now, one of our goals this year was to make all the bread products we consumed at home. Mike dove into the deep end. There were sourdough recipes, instant yeast recipes. Cedar being cut for bagel boards and burlap being stapled. Everything bagel seasoning and build your own everything bagel seasoning. Trips to a local homebrewing shop for diastatic malt powder. Trips to high-end grocery stores for barley malt syrup. He went deep. He’s the bread maker in this house. He gets bread, and I’m so thankful he does as my success with bread has been inconsistent.
After all of that, we can confidently share with you a really good bagel recipe. There are a couple of bagel shops in our area that serve excellent bagels. They set the bar for what we try to achieve at home. It’s good to have that. You need inspiration and a standard for what really good looks like. Otherwise, we think we’re good, when we have so much opportunity to be better.
If you’re willing to make bagels homemade, you’re probably willing to make your own tortillas. If so, give this Corn Tortilla recipe a try!
The best everything bagel recipe we've found. If you're going to make bagels, make extra and freeze them!
First, make the poolish. If possible, weigh your flour. If you don't have a scale, measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then skimming off any excess. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and yeast. Add the water, mixing until smooth. Cover and let rest at room temperature for at least 4 hours, but up to 8. More time will yield more flavor, but even a few hours will be enough to make a noticeable difference.
Next, make the dough. In a large mixing bowl combine the poolish with the water, mixing by hand to break up the poolish. Add the flour, salt, and yeast, combining by hand or on low speed of a stand mixer until the dough forms a cohesive, shaggy, tacky mass. Be sure not to add more flour. Place the dough in a bowl, cover, and allow it to rest for 2 hours, stretching and folding the dough over onto itself three or four times in the bowl after 1 hour. Without touching the dough again, place the bowl in the refrigerator overnight, or for at least 8 to 12 hours.
The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator and leave it at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours. Divide the dough into 24 pieces; if you have a scale each piece will weigh about 114g. Shape each piece into a tight ball, place on a lightly floured surface, then cover and let rest for 15 to 30 minutes.
To shape the bagels, use your fingers to poke a hole in the middle of each ball and gently expand the hole until it’s 2” to 3” in diameter. Return the shaped bagels to the floured surface, cover them again, and allow them to rest for 20 to 30 minutes. While the bagels are resting, preheat the oven to 475°F. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment and set aside.
Next, prepare the water bath by putting 4” of water in a shallow (wide) 6-quart pot. Add the barley malt syrup or molasses and the salt. Bring to a medium boil. You're going to have to two this in two batches. Each batch will be 12 bagels. Carefully place three bagels at a time (until your reach 12) in the water bath. Boil the bagels for 30 seconds on one side. Using a slotted spoon, flip them over. Boil the bagels for another 60 to 90 seconds. Remove the bagels from the water, allowing them to drip dry for a few seconds before placing them 2” to 3” apart on the prepared baking sheets. You should be able to get six bagels per sheet. Dip the bagels into a shallow bowlful of the toppings, coating both the top and bottom of the bagel, and then return to the baking sheet. Bake the bagels for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through. The bagels are done when the bottoms and sides are a deep mahogany brown and firm. Remove the bagels from the oven transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store bagels at room temperature for up to one day, or place in a gallon size freezer Ziploc and freeze for longer storage.
Inspired by: King Arthur
One of my first posts was dedicated to vinaigrettes. It walked through a guide on how you can freestyle vinaigrettes once you understand the relationship between the ingredients and what role each ingredient plays (i.e. acid, emulsifier, fat, etc.). In that guide, I provided balsamic …
I associate breakfast burritos with being on the go – heading to some sort of adventure. I love road trips, I love camping, and I love weekend adventures. And sometimes those things call for early mornings on the road where you just need someone else …
We definitely prefer a protein-based breakfast. It just feels like it sticks with you longer than carbohydrates. But every once in a while, it’s fun to have waffles or pancakes. While a bit healthier, this is actually our “go-to” waffle recipe because it’s so good! The oats in the batter give it a nice texture. And the whole milk yogurt is an added burst of protein. If you’re a waffle maker, give it a try, I think you’ll like it!
While healthier, this is a very good waffle recipe! Double the recipe and freeze the extras for a quick toaster oven breakfast during the week.
Preheat your waffle iron.
Whisk flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl. Melt butter. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the yogurt. Next add the melted butter and then the egg. Mix the wet ingredients well with a fork, slowly incorporating more of the dry ingredients. Mix just until there's no dry ingredients that aren't incorporated. You don't want to over mix.
Using your waffle iron, add a heaping 1/2 cup of the batter and cook until golden brown. Serve with real maple syrup and butter.
Inspired by: Bon Appetit
Week 3 of the summer salad series brings us a Tuscan bread salad. Although you can make this anytime of year, this salad shines when basil, tomatoes, and romaine are in season in the local produce stands or your home garden. This recipe was inspired …