return to the bagel.

Now that my bagel dough is loving tucked under my 2 down blankets I can bestow the rest of the recipe on you.

Day 3.
Take the dough out of the refrigerator and let sit 30 minutes at room temperature before shaping.

Shape the dough and let it rise for 20 minutes. Set a sheet of parchment paper or lightly floured towel on a counter top near the stove top.

Transfer the dough to an unfloured surface. cut it in half and place one piece covered in the fridge. Cut the dough into 5 equal pieces and allow to rest for about 10 minutes.

there are two methods you can use for shaping
a. form each piece of dough into a tight ball. turn the ball over so the seam is at the bottom, stick your index finger all the way thought the center of the ball, to make a hole. hook the bagel over your thumb and insert the finger of your other hand into the hole, stretching and rotating it to make a hole about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.

b. for slightly more chewiness, roll each piece of dough on an unfloured surface into a 12 inch long rope. make a ring over lapping the ends by 2inches and joining them by pressing down and rolling on the overlap until you have the same thickness as the rest of the dough ring. there will be a one inch hole in the center. this method produces rounder higher bagels with smaller holes.


* i always use method b.

working with once piece at a time keep the remaining pieces covered (with plastic wrap). place each as you shape it on the parchment or floured towel, and cover gently with oiled plastic wrap or a second towel.

Preheat your oven to 500* F 30 minutes before baking. use the lowest level and place a baking stone or baking sheet on it before preheating.


Water Bath and Topping
molasses 2 tbs
baking soda 1 tsp

Glaze and Topping
2 Large egg whites
cold water 1 tsp
your choice of bagel toppings 3-4 tbs

Boil the Bagels.
Bring a large pot to boil. stir in the molasses and baking soda until dissolved. with a slotted spoon transfer the bagels one at a time into the boiling water, without crowding them; cook in batches of 2 or 3 so they can swim around without touching each other. boil for 30 seconds to 2 minutes on each side, gently flipping over with the slotted spoon. remove boiled bagel shaking off excess water and set onto the parchment paper or unfloured towel to drain. half a minute later using a pancake flipper move them to the prepared baking sheet.

whisk together the egg whites and cold water to break up the whites and brush each bagel with the glaze. brush with second coat and sprinkle the toppings on top.

Baking
Lower your oven temp to 450* and bake for 20 minutes. Turn off the oven (with out opening it) and let the bagels remain for 5 minutes. Then open the oven door and leave the bagels in for another 5 minutes.

Cool.
Remove your bagels and set them on a wire rack to cool. Bring the oven back up to 500* and shape, boil, top and bake your second batch.

These bagels will keep for 1-4 days, but in my experience they go quickly.

Levy's Bagels

Oven fresh bagels. If you ask me, there's really nothing better. Not on your life. I was born and bread in the great bagel state of NJ home of HOT BAGELS & MORE. Nothing makes me happier then salmon, a bit of butter, avocado and red onion on an everything bagel. nothing.

I started my bagel quest in June and in four-five short months later, I believe I've got it down
I've tried a variety of recipes in my search but the best I've found is Rose Levy Beranbaum recipe for Levy's Bagels in The Bread Bible its easier then it looks.

this is how i make 12 bagels using her recipe.

day 1/3

Dough Started (Sponge)

instant yeast 1 tsp
water at room temp 2 1/4 liquid cups
King Arthur bread or high gluten flour 3 cups

Whisk together in a mixing bowl 2 minutes, until very smooth; scrape down the sides. the sponge will be very thick. cover with plastic wrap. set aside.

Flour Mixture
King Arthur bread of High Gluten Flour 2 1/3 cups
instant yeast 1 tsp
sugar 1 tbs
salt 1 tbs
black pepper 1 tbs

combine and add the ingredients for the flour mixture. sprinkle the mixture over the sponge; do not stir. cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 1 to 4 hours at room temperature, or, for the best flavor development 1 hour at room temp and refrigerate over night ( i ALWAYS refrigerate), or up to 24 hours.


day 2.
take the sponge/flour mixture out of the fridge and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
with a wooden spoon or your hand, stir the flour mixture into the sponge until it becomes too stiff to mix. Knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together, then scrape it onto a lightly floured counter. Knead the dough for 5 mintues just to begin to develop the gluten structure; scrape and gather the dough as you knead it. At this point it will be sticky. Cover it with teh inverted bowl and allow it to rest for 20 minutes. (This rest will make the dough less sticky.)

Knead the dough for another 10 to 15 minutes or until it is very smooth and elastic. It should be barely tacky ( slightly sticky) to the touch.


Let the dough rise.
Place the dough in a 4 quart lightly greased bowl. Press the dough down and lightly coat. Cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise for 1 -2 hours ( ideally at 75-80*) or until doubled.

Deflate the dough by firmly pushing it down. Give it a envelope turn and set it back in the container. Oil the top of the dough, cover it, and refridgerate for atleast 4 hours or overnight.

if you want to make the bagels later, at this point the dough can be wrapped and chilled for two days.



im gettin started on day 2's steps right now, so there's more to come.

did you hear that?

it turns out that a big food company in Britain is patenting a substitute snack for the not so healthy potato chip. the patent is for a meat based chip that is high in protein and has less calories then the standard potato.

tasty.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123962280

volunteer in service

hub city farmers market.

today i continued working on some of the in-class material we will be providing for the arcadia school garden project. im working on a set of cards that will reflect the rasied beds located in the schools yard. this isn't the first school garden hcfm has put together, and it seems they have a pattern.

i have create control (so far) over the cards, and im having fun. So far i have completed side b of all of the cards. they contains various bits of information like planting, growing and harvesting information as well overall temperment of each cultivar. its been fun putting these out. i sit and type, and plant little garden in my mind.

one day i'll figure out how to use the office scanner, then i can draw a garden for you.

thrills

in an exciting bit of culinary news i'll be heading to asheville this weekend, ali and i are attending the ASAP marketing conference being held at my alma mater.

craft brews, mimosas, literature readings, friends and farmers here we come!

the right bacon muffin

last week i took the week off from the kitchen. cooking for one was feeling a little grey, so i ate beans, avocados, rice, eggs and german pumpernickel bread for most of the week. i did spruce up the beans with garlic, onion, cayenne pepper and (mistakenly) cloves*.

*i was talking to my friend amy [about eating beans] and i swear she mentioned using cloves- it sounded weird but i figured "she's the expert", so i went with it. the cloves didn't ruin the beans but i did have to compensate with extra cayenne. yow za.

other then that my culinary escapades where meager.

friday night before the hacienda generationals and floating action played at the hub-bub i completed my long awaited bacon muffins. i used a basic recipe with a few special things in tow.

2 cups AP flour

1 tbs baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1tbs sugar

3/4 slices bacon

1 cup milk

2 eggs well beaten

those special ingredients i used were both south carolina bacon (caw caw creek pastured pork) and raw milk.

when i took the muffins to the bub, folks didn't really seem to be as excited as i was that these ingredients where locally produced. maybe it was because the muffins could have used more bacon (i only have 2 pieces0.

in retrospect i should have waited to add the bacon until i had spooned out 1/2 the mix into the tins- that way 6 of the 12 would have been more bacon-y.

oh well.

bagels coming up soon.

get ready...

if i were a grad student/lived in CT

maybe somehow i could be part of this agrarian studies program at yale. luckly we can look through the syllabus!

stalking the wild muffin

im listening to duncan sheik on nrp. he's playing songs from his album whisper house. outside a white blanket covers the roofs of the cars, and i plan my morning walk.

i've been thinking about muffins since mark bittman posted a recipe on his minimalist blog. i want something savory- a bacon, maple syrup something. if kat where here, she would know what to do.

she let them eat cake

this is not the king cake i enjoyed this mardi gras season, but you get the idea.

mrs. blanchards cake was deliciously flaky, and perfectly sugary. she made five or six cakes all with traditional green, gold and purple, some were filled with apple, others had berry and cream cheese.

the next day i cursed myself for not bringing more left-overs home.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/dining/10cake.html?ref=dining

workin' for my room and board

in the past few years i have grown accustom to the warmth of the mountains and the wood, to birds, long walks, firewood, and home cooked meals. these were the greatest riches of my life. now eating my meals alone in a city, i am faced with other theories of value and wonder when i will be able to actualize my own.

i will create a life centered around the home, purchase only what i need and make or do without the rest.

its a difficult reality to create now, but im working on it.

good morning

if you have some time check out the greenhorns project blog this morning http://thegreenhorns.wordpress.com/. the greenhorns is a film project whose mission is promote, recruit and support young farmers in america. they're on the ball.

return of the naan

were you waiting for this? have you been hanging on the edge of your seat. well i apologize i got a little caught up.

day 2

after you take your naan out of the oven transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, divide it into 5-7 pieces and form each into a tight ball. place the balls on a sheet of parchment pan lined with parchment paper-cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise for 45-60 minutes at room temp.

preheat the oven to its highest setting. roll out each piece of dough into flat disks 4-5 inches in diameter. dust the disks with flour and return them to the baking sheet (you can stack them if necessary), cover with a cloth and let rest for 5 minutes.

starting back with the first disk hand stretch the dough like pizza out untill they are 8 inches in diameter and no thinner then 1/4 inches. dust the disks again and let sit cover again for 5 minutes.

flour a baking peel and stretch the dough further to 10 inches and about 1/8 an inch thing. transfer them to the baking peel and poke the surface with a fork.

load your fully shaped and forked naan into the oven. they shouldn't take more then 3-4 mintues to cook.

after removing them from the oven i brushed mine with olive oil-

serve warm & enjoy

oh no!

ok. the most terrible terrible thing just happened. i was trying to eat dinner and poach some garlic for my naan and something went wrong! my garlic turned black and burned and popped and i sprang up from my table dropped a bowl worth gave me and it shattered.... and my garlic is ruined!

luckily i still have my eyebrows.

naan

if you open my refrigerator you'll find a big hunk of dough. it's supposed to be stretched, flattened and baked into naan later today...but i'm skeptical.

the recipe comes from peter reinharts whole grain cookbook and the first day goes like this

you'll need

3.5 cups of whole wheat flour

1 2/8 tsp salt

1 tsp instant yeast

1.5 cups plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk (yogurt or melted unsalted butter also works)

olive oil and garlic for topping

combine the flour, salt, yeast and buttermilk in a bowl. stir vigorously with a mixing spoon or knead with wet hands for about two minutes- until all ingredients are evenly integrated and distributed into the dough. the dough should be soft and slightly sticky. if not add some extra flour or milk as needed.

dust a work surface and roll the dough in the flour to coat. knead the dough by hand for 3-4 minutes, incorporating only as much extra flour as needed, until the dough feels soft and tacky, but not sticky. form the dough into a ball and let it rest for 5 minutes. prepare a clean, lightly oiled bowl.

resume kneading the dough for 2 minutes, place the dough in the prepared bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.

i'll get back to you later today with the results. -----------------------------------------------

to tide you over i'd like to share this little jem from maira kalman.

http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/back-to-the-land/

what im reading right now

"the man who ate everything" by jeffrey steingarten

http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/steingarten-everything.html

back tracking

recent food highlights you may have missed- listed as they come to mind

1. jameelahs homemade pasta at Air+Elizabeth invitational dinner
2. gregs bacon bacon wrappy things at same
3. my garlic loaf see above
4. discovery of spiral cauliflower, much to the horror of the kimmel family
5. amazing bread-book selection at spartanburg public library conveniently located across the street
6. food stamps
7. parchment paper haul from vista trip to gifts in kind
8. perfecting levy's bagel recipe from the bread bible
9. venison sandwiches
10. pizza (venus pie) in bed with worth

where i want to be

with no car and no prospects of a ride to the market in sight, my thoughts turn to the wonderful products that inhabit the shelves of the Live Oak Farm Store in wooddruff.

last weekend worthy came for a visit in the midst of our only snow day, and with the help of my keen sense of direction i got us there. allison schaum the lovely proprietor of the store was kind enough to open up for us (she had just closed up shop). we (or at least i) "oo'ed and ah'ed" over their selection. settling up with basil goat cheese, ground lamb, a gallon of raw milk, chocolate milk (my personal favorite from Happy Cow Dairy), tomato basil cheddar and a bit goat milk fudge. all products fresh from the palmetto state.

boy did we have some good eats. i have to think back and try and put it together for you.

sample breakfasts (not all at once): poached eggs from Live Oak(with my fancy poacher), delicate greens from Susan, fig jam from Hap, butter from Happy Cow

raw buttermilk pancakes, and that crazy german bread nina got us all hooked on.

lunch/dinner: lamb patties with spiral cauliflower, beets from Parsons Produce, and peanut curry sauce. burgers with home made bread, and grass fed beef from Moss Hill Farms (which i won last week at the Heritage Corridor Conference!) with melted tomato basil cheddar ontop.

we snacked on the goat cheese and goat milk/peanut butter fudge.

now with worthy gone and buckets of rain outside i just gulped down the last of my Happy Cow chocolate milk im itching for another visit.

you've never been?

you should or do you really like your eggs whiter then white?

http://www.liveoakfarmsllc.com/

biscuit day

"pretty good biscuit, for a northerner" - ali revan

this morning, instead of going into work at 9am i stayed home. in the midst of working on garden diagrams for grade-school children i rolled out, laminated, folded then baked buttermilk biscuits. the recipe came from peter reinharts "crust and crumb", i've made biscuits using a lamination/fold method before but this was my first experience with a "quick" recipe. it only took about an hour to complete all the steps, and before long i had soft, flaky biscuits out the ying yang.

for my recipe i used raw buttermilk, and butter from happy cow. 75% local biscuits!

3.5 cups AP flour- (i recommend king arthur)

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1.5 cups cups butter cold

1.5 buttermilk cold

sift together the salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a mixing bowl.

chop the butter into pieces about the size of a quarter. toss them into the flour and mix with your hands, lightly rubbing the flour and butter into each other between your fingers (DO NOT let your fingertips touch or else the friction will melt the butter) work the dough until the butter pieces are down to the size of a dime and are covered by the flour mixture.

stir in the buttermilk until the ingredients are gathered and form a dough ball.

flour your counter and roll the dough into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick. (be sure to keep the surface under your dough floured). once rolled out fold the dough like a letter into 3rds, give it a 1/3th turn and roll it out again (keep it floured) to a 3/4 inch thick rectangle. peel it up and fold it again into thirds.

now, transfer it into a prepared pan and cover- or stick it in a zip-loc and refrigerate for 20minutes.

remove the down and roll it out again to that 3/4inch thick rectangle, fold in 3rds once more and then roll it out for the last time- into a 3/4 inch thick rectangle.

now cut the dough into 2x2x2 inch triangular pieces or use a cookie cutter to cut into rounds. place the biscuts on the parchment paper, cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

preheat your oven to 500*F, and brush the tops of the biscuits with buttermilk or melted butter. place them in the oven and reduce the heat to 365*F

Bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly browned and golden all around. cool and share with your neighbors!

cracking the egg

most mornings my alarm goes off at 7.15am. not to early not too late, leaving me enough time for my habitual two cups of coffee and a little radio broadcast to send me on my way. I usually walk the five blocks to work- I usually have an hour or so in the office before anyone else shows up.

this morning i was checking out the island institute for sustainable living.

http://www.artmeetsearth.org/index.html

you might want to check it out if your in to DIY things such as shiitake logs, welding and root cellars.

if your into it.