Monthly Archives: March 2021

Sourdough Bagels! The best!

Posted on by
3
Absolutely perfect bagels. Tender inside with a light crust and so tasty!

BAGELS

  • 345g flour (AP or bread)
  • 220g water
  • 100g ripe starter
  • 1/2 tsp (4g) honey
  • 10g salt

BOILING & TOPPINGS

  • Large pot of water
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 egg
  • Sesame seeds
  • Poppy seeds
  • Everything bagel seasoning
  • Pretzel salt, etc. whatever you want!

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Mix the honey & water to dissolve. Add the starter into the water and combine thoroughly with a whisk.
  2. Pour the water/starter/honey mixture into the flour bowl and mix by hand to combine (either with your hand or with a wooden spatula). Mix until you see no dry bits of flour. Cover and let rest for 1 hour.
  3. After 1 hour, sprinkle the salt on top and pinch it into the dough with lightly wet hands. Pull the dough around to create a smooth ball. Let rest for 1.5 hours. This dough is lower hydration, so you won’t need to build up as much structure. It’s mostly about time and letting the dough ferment.
  4. After 1.5 hours perform pull/folds all around the dough by stretching the dough up on one side and folding it back over into the center. Again, it helps to do this with wet hands. Do this on all sides until you have a smooth round of dough in the bowl. Cover and let rest for another 2 hours.
  5. After two hours have passed, it should be ready to go into the fridge for the night. No need to move it to a new container, just pop it right in. Timings will vary depending on the time of year, the temperature, humidity, strength of your starter, etc.
  6. In the morning, line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper and flour a work surface. Turn the dough out, gently press it into a flat-ish circle, & divide into 8 equal pieces.
  7. Shape each piece into a ball, pinching it up and then rolling it around a bit with the pinched/seam side down. Make little circles of flour on the parchment paper where each ball will sit, seam side down. Sprinkle a little flour on top of each dough ball, and then cover with plastic wrap, a damp linen, or place it into a giant plastic bag. Let them rest for about two hours.
  8. Pre-heat the oven to 425F. Bring a large pot of water + 1/4 cup maple syrup to a low boil. Uncover the bagel dough balls and get ready to shape them!
  9. To shape the bagels, flour your hands, pick up a dough ball and press your thumbs into the center top of the dough. Press all the way through until you form a hole in the center. Then with your other fingers under the dough, gently pull the inside of the bagel toward the outside, but don’t fully inside out the bagel.
  10. Once you’ve shaped all the bagels, bring the pot of water/maple syrup to a roiling boil. Carefully place two bagels at a time into the boiling water (“seam” side down) and let them poach for 30 seconds before flipping them over and letting them poach for another 30 seconds. Remove the bagels using a spider or slotted spoon. Let the excess water drip off before you place them down on the parchment paper again, the same side up as before (“seam” side down).
  11. Prepare an egg wash by beating 1 egg with 1 tbsp of water. Let the boiled bagels cool for a couple of minutes before brushing them with the egg wash. (If you don’t have eggs or are vegan, you can brush the bagels with a bit of non-dairy or dairy milk).
  12. Brush the egg wash (or milk) generously onto all the bagels, and then sprinkle toppings on OR pick up the bagels and dip them down into a shallow bowl full of toppings.
  13. Bake the bagels for 25-30 minutes at 425F. When you take them out, they might feel hard initially but will soften up as they cool. Immediately move them to a cooling rack and let them sit for about an hour.
  14. Slice and enjoy!!

This recipe came from the blog nokneadtoworry.com and it was perfect! Lots of recipes have malt syrups or powders but this recipe was so simple and yielded delicious bagels. Paulina has lots of tips and videos to help with whatever dough you are creating.

Out of the fridge and ready to take a 2 hour rest.
I couldn’t believe how good they look already.

Spinach Feta Chicken Meatballs

Posted on by
Reply

These chicken meatballs were so moist, bursting with spinach and feta that Grant was still raving about them the next morning, and trust me – he is not usually a fan of chicken meatballs!

Served over fresh pasta, these little nuggets were absolutely perfect!

Quick and easy, this makes a perfect week night dinner. No fancy plating required. Well my husband and son in laws never think fancy plating is required. (They are usually involved in clean up so that’s understandable!)

  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 1/2 cup minced onion
  • 1 tsp minced fresh garlic
  • 1 cup finely chopped fresh spinach
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • chopped fresh basil
  • 1/4 cup bread crumbs
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Start by warming a splash of olive oil in your saute pan, as soon as it has heated up add the minced onions and allow to soften, then add your garlic and just warm through. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Take pan off the heat and add the spinach, stirring just until it is wilted. Remove the mixture from your pan and place in a bowl in the fridge. You don’t want to add anything hot to your raw chicken! Please don’t skip the step with sweating out the onions. A raw onion is a totally different item when compared to a softened, slightly carmelized onion.

Season ground chicken with salt, pepper and basil (fresh if you have it). Crumble in feta cheese and stir to combine. Add the cooled onion spinach mixture and bread crumbs. Stir gently to combine.

Form golf ball size meatballs and brown in your saute pan on all sides, then add to your sauce.

Use the same saute pan for everything! Sweat your onion mixture, and reserve the pan to fry the meatballs, then remove the browned meatballs and heat up your sauce. Once the sauce is warm return the meatballs to the sauce and heat through.

See the butter? Hardly a drop in the bucket, but we’ve been watching Stanley Tucci in Italy and the amount of butter in pasta sauces is mind blowing! This sauce was pretty easy, one of my frozen ratatouille batches with a can of good quality canned tomatoes. With the greek influenced meatballs I added some black olives, capers, artichokes and more freshly crumbled feta once the sauce was cooked.

Amazing Flour Tortillas

Posted on by
Reply
Let me know if you find anything more appealing than a basket of fresh flour tortillas
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1/3 cup rendered lard, duck fat, vegetable shortening or unsalted butter 
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder 
  • 1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt 

  1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until tiny bubbles start to form around the edges of the pan (the milk should be 180 degrees F), 4 to 5 minutes. Immediately remove from the heat and stir in the lard until melted. Let cool for 15 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl until completely combined. Pour in the warm milk mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until a shaggy dough forms. 
  3. When cool enough to handle, knead the dough in the bowl until almost completely smooth, about 3 minutes; do not overwork, the dough should be soft and only slightly elastic and not sticky. Wrap in plastic and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour to relax dough. 
  4. Divide the dough into 16 balls about a scant 3 tablespoons each (or 46g.). Arrange the balls on a rimmed baking sheet and cover with a damp kitchen towel until ready to use.  
  5. Working with one dough ball at a time, roll out on a lightly floured surface to a 7-inch round. 
  6. Heat a medium cast-iron skillet or large griddle over medium-high heat.  
  7. Working with one at a time (unless using a large griddle), cook the tortillas, reducing the heat if they are getting dark too quickly, until air bubbles form on the surface and the bottom is brown in spots, about 30 seconds. Poke any large bubbles with a fork to release steam, flip the tortillas and cook until brown in spots on the other side, about 30 seconds. Stack and wrap the tortillas in a clean kitchen towel and keep warm. Repeat rolling and cooking the remaining dough balls.
This soft, supple dough was so easy to work with – 16 tortillas rolled out in 20 minutes.
Love the way the tortillas start to puff up – you just know deliciousness is coming.
Perfect!!!!!
Can NOT wait for family dinners to resume (damn you Covid), and I just know everybody is going to love these pork carnitas with fresh flour tortillas.
This soft flour tortilla is just perfect for wrapping up tender pork carnitas, pickled onions, avocado and cilantro. Don’t forget to squeeze lime over it all! The absolute best carnitas can be found in Michoacan, but we’ve found amazing carnitas at the mercado in Mexico City as well. Until we can travel again, we satisfy this craving at home.

Rick Andrew Martinez is my idol. His recipes are always amazing, and this one is no exception. By far it was the easiest recipe to work with and roll out, but what made this recipe SO amazing was the taste. Can’t be beat. Seriously, can’t be beat. I copied this recipe right from his post on Food Network, and if you want more amazing content just check out anything he does.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Posted on by
Reply

It’s really not spring here yet, but I can feel it’s arrival any day now, and what better way to celebrate than with lemon meringue pie. It is Grant’s favourite pie, and I just had to make it on a bright sunny day, feeling that this spring in particular is so welcome!

We were in such a hurry to eat the pie that my photo isn’t the best, and yes – I just can’t seem to get away from having the meringue weep! Still delicious….

LEMON CURD

  • 5 large egg yolks (save the whites for meringue below)
  • 1 1/3 cups of water
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup cornstarch
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (yes – fresh is best!)
  • zest of 2 lemons
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter, soft and at room temperature

Whisk egg yolks together and set aside.

Combine water, sugar, cornstarch, salt lemon juice and lemon zest in a medium heavy bottom saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring FREQUENTLY. Trust me, you don’t want this to burn. Once it thickens up, S L O W L Y stir a couple of tablespoons into the reserved egg yolks. Stir constantly and add another couple of tablespoons of the lemon sauce. Add the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan with the rest of the lemon mixture and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. This will thicken and release large bubbles, demonstrating just how thick the mixture is. Remove from heat and stir in the butter, continuing to stir until the butter has melted.

Pour into partially baked pie crust. Set aside while you whip the meringue.

Preheat oven to 350

MERINGUE

  • 5 large egg whites
  • 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/8 tsp salt

Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar together on medium speed just until blended. Turn beaters to high and slowly add in the sugar and salt. Beat on high until stiff peaks form.

Using a large spoon dollop meringue all over the pie, being very careful to have it reach right to the edges, and touching the pie crust. (This will help to keep the meringue from separating away from the crust, and theoretically from weeping too much but mine always weeps??). Use the back of your large spoon to create swirls in the meringue.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, watching so it is just nicely browned.

Set on the counter for 1 hour and then put in the fridge for at least 4 hours to allow the lemon curd to set.

Check out my flaky pastry recipe for the best start to any pie!
Please!! Freshly squeezed lemon juice!!
Partially baked crust, warm lemon curd and just waiting for the meringue
Ready for the oven
The only tricky part of this whole recipe is waiting for the pie to completely cool down. This pie is best the day it is made, but without any family dinners, you just know Grant and I managed to make it last a few days and it was amazing right to the last bite.

One of my favourite sources for baking recipes is Sally’s Baking Addiction, and this lemon meringue pie recipe came straight from her blog. Make sure to check it out, she has so many great tips and videos to create amazing treats.