Home Baked Bagels

A yummy looking everything bagel!

Nicole of Pinch my Salt sent out a twitter message saying “I need a challenge. Am thinking of baking my way through every single recipe in The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Anyone want to join me?” Well I jumped right in. Both feet, no thought at all. I think I was one of the first 5 that joined…did I even have the book? Nope but I ordered it that night!!!

The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread

We are now over 200 strong with members everywhere on the globe. It’s an incredibly enthusiastic group that wants to share like no group I have ever belonged to before. Awesome!

Our goal is to bake our way through Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread. An intimidating book at anytime but to think that you are going to be baking one of these recipes a week is slightly overwhelming to say the least. But I love a challenge and feel a real need to get out of my comfort zone. Oh yah, I bake all of our bread but I never seem to have the time or the desire to try something new and different. This will change all that!!!

This is week 3 and we tackled Bagels this week!  I was so excited when I saw them and I loved making them.

I did not go out looking for malt in any shape or form.  Call me lazy or  what but I did find some really great local mangrove honey that was really strong in flavor and probably substituted perfectly!!!  None of us noticed any difference at all between our local bagel shop and these ones!

These were delicious fresh out of the oven with just some cream cheese or butter on them and they were delicious as part of my favorite sandwich: toasted bagel with tomato, lettuce and mayo!

I will definitely be making these again!!!

Want to Bake Along With Us?

There are several ways for you to join in the fun! First of all, you need a copy of Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Then just start baking! Even if you are starting late, just begin with the first recipe and start working your way through. There are several ways to communicate with the group as you begin your journey:

Flickr: We have set up a BBA Challenge Flickr Group where you can upload photos, see photos from other members, and even post questions and comments in the group forum. It’s a private group, so you will need to click on the link that says ‘join this group’ if you want to be able to post photos. As long as you are willing to bake bread all of the bread from the book, you are welcome to join the Flickr group!

Twitter: If you use twitter, you can follow what the group is doing by searching for #BBA or #bba using Twitter’s search box. You can join in on the conversation by adding the #bba or #BBA tag to the end of your tweets when you are talking about anything related to the BBA Challenge. For me, following what people are doing on twitter has been the most fun!

Facebook: If you’re on Facebook, you can join the BBA Challenge Group there and share photos, ask questions, and talk about your bread baking experiences with other BBA members on Facebook.

Next up…Brioche!!!!

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Banana Bread with Brown Butter and Caramel

This is the third recipe I have written using the caramel sauce from the DB Caramel Cake. If you love the flavor of caramel you simply have to make some to have on hand at all times. It’s easy enough to make and then any time that you want to add a wonderful caramel flavor to anything you have some in your fridge already!

CARAMEL SYRUP (Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater)

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)
In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.
When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.
Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}
Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

Alright now that you have the caramel sauce at your disposal you HAVE GOT TO MAKE THIS BANANA BREAD!!!!!!

I had some bananas on hand that were definitely passed the comfortable eating stage but were not to the trash stage…yet. So I asked the girls what they wanted. Banana bread, banana cake, banana cookies etc…

They decided on banana bread so banana bread it was. Only this time I still had that caramel sauce in my head. And during the week Elle from Elle’s New England Kitchen had posted a recipe for Browned Butter Blueberry Maple Muffins. While her muffins looked great the browned butter thing was what stuck in my mind.

And that folks was the inspiration behind this wonderful banana bread!!!

Banana Bread (all recipes.com)

Preheat oven to 350

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
2 cups AP Flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp caramel sauce (see above)
2-1/3 cup bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 pecans, chopped

1. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. Melt the butter in a small pan, letting it boil until it starts to brown and smell nutty. Don’t let it burn. Stop it when it gets a deep brown color.There will be sediment at the bottom of the pan, so pour the butter through a wire mesh strainer and set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, stir together the browned butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs, mashed bananas vanilla, and pecans until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

This bread was delicious and I will be making this again and again!!! I cut it as soon as it was cooled and it tasted great but the real flavor came through the next day!!!

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Daring Bakers do Apple Strudel

Yum…Who doesn’t like apple strudel and this one was incredible!

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

The pastry used to make this was incredible. If I made this again the only thing I would change would be to make it a little but sweeter but otherwise this was a perfect dessert and right up there with my favorite DB challenges! Thanks so much Courtney and Linda!

The only changes I made was that I did not do the raisins as I am the only one who likes them and the kids don’t like walnuts so I omitted them as well. I did add about an ounce of Canadian whisky to the apples to give them a bit of warmth.

Preparation time
Total: 2 hours 15 minutes – 3 hours 30 minutes

15-20 min to make dough
30-90 min to let dough rest/to prepare the filling
20-30 min to roll out and stretch dough
10 min to fill and roll dough
30 min to bake
30 min to cool

Apple strudel from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum
3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs
strudel dough (recipe below)
1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts
2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)

1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.

3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel dough
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.
Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.
Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Tips
- Ingredients are cheap so we would recommend making a double batch of the dough, that way you can practice the pulling and stretching of the dough with the first batch and if it doesn't come out like it should you can use the second batch to give it another try;
- The tablecloth can be cotton or polyester;
- Before pulling and stretching the dough, remove your jewelry from hands and wrists, and wear short-sleeves;
- To make it easier to pull the dough, you can use your hip to secure the dough against the edge of the table;
- Few small holes in the dough is not a problem as the dough will be rolled, making (most of) the holes invisible.

Please do stop by at the Daring Bakers blogroll and take a look at all the fantastic strudels Daring Bakers across the globe have rolled out!

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Asparagus and Goat Cheese Pasta

It’s funny where we get our recipes from now isn’t it. When my Mom used to want to try something different for dinner she would ask her friends or go through her collection of cookbooks. Now we ask on Twitter, gather from Facebook, or one of the many online recipe sites. Every once in a while you will get a recipe from a source that is unexpected. This recipe came from just that way. My sister and I were talking and she mentioned that she had tried a great recipe and that we should really try it. When she told me the ingredients I knew I had to.

You see last month I was contacted by the wonderful people at Iles de France the cheese company and was invited to be a part of their cheese of the month club. How could I refuse that??? The only catch was that they would send me and about 20 other food bloggers a specific type of cheese each month and we would need to use it in something and do a blog post about it. I happen to love Ile de France cheese anyway so this was a no brainer for me. Unfortunately the first month’s cheese went to waste in my broken refrigerator (when we went to PA for Spring Break our fridge shut down and we lost everything in it…including the cheese). This month was much better for me and they sent me a 10.5 ounce log of goat cheese. And from this recipe I knew just what I was going to do with it!!!

This was a quick and delicious meal for a busy week night. It took only about 20 minutes to pull together. You can use less goat cheese. We used the amount we did because we had it!

Asparagus and Goat Cheese Pasta - (Adapted from the LCBO Food & Drink Magazine)

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1lb trimmed thick green asparagus
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 lb fresh pasta, tagliatelle or fettuccine (we used penne, obviously not fresh, it's what we had)
• 1/4 cup grated firm young, tangy goat's cheese such as crottin (we used a 10.5 ounce log of chevre chopped up )

1) Peel the asparagus and then cut the stalks into 3/4 inch pieces keeping the tips whole

2) Melt the butter in a large frying pan over med. heat, add the garlic and asparagus and season with garlic powder and salt and pepper. Lower the heat slightly and gently cook the asparagus, turning occasionally until tender.

3) Cook the pasta until al dente

4) When the pasta is cooked, skim 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid from the pot and set aside. Drain the pasta and then add it with the reserved cooking water to the cooked asparagus in the pan. Stir together over low heat until well mixed and the pasta is coated with the sauce.

5) Place the pasta in warmed serving bowls and top with the cheese.

We also added a little grated Parmesan on the top.

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Artos: Greek Celebration Breads

Nicole of Pinch my Salt sent out a twitter message saying “I need a challenge. Am thinking of baking my way through every single recipe in The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Anyone want to join me?” Well I jumped right in. Both feet, no thought at all. I think I was one of the first 5 that joined…did I even have the book? Nope but I ordered it that night!!!

The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread

We are now almost 200 strong with members everywhere on the globe. It’s an incredibly enthusiastic group that wants to share like no group I have ever belonged to before. Awesome!

Our goal is to bake our way through Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread. An intimidating book at anytime but to think that you are going to be baking one of these recipes a week is slightly overwhelming to say the least. But I love a challenge and feel a real need to get out of my comfort zone. Oh yah, I bake all of our bread but I never seem to have the time or the desire to try something new and different. This will change all that!!!

This week’s bread is Artos: Greek Celebration Breads and we were given several options for making this. The first one, and the one I choose to make, was the classic Greek Celebration Bread. We could also have chosen to make Christopsomos which is a Christmas Bread and Lambropsomos which is Easter Bread. I choose to make the basic recipe as no one in my family really likes nuts and dried fruit in their bread…yes even balking at raisin bread!!!

We were also given two options for a sponge. We could either do a poolish or a barm (I choose to do a poolish as I had no pineapple juice!!!). The only change I made to this was that I ran out of regular honey so I used some cinnamon honey I had and it blended perfectly with all of the other spices in the bread.

This is a wonderful bread that is full of spices and gives off such a wonderful aroma while baking but it also makes a HUGE loaf. Just imagine the smell of cinnamon, cloves allspice and nutmeg!!! I’m not too sure if mine rose too much but it definitely split while baking.

My absolute favorite thing about this bread though was the morning that we decided to make French Toast with it. The spices in this leant itself perfectly to French Toast and I would make it again just for that purpose!

Want to Bake Along With Us?

There are several ways for you to join in the fun! First of all, you need a copy of Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Then just start baking! Even if you are starting late, just begin with the first recipe and start working your way through. There are several ways to communicate with the group as you begin your journey:

Flickr: We have set up a BBA Challenge Flickr Group where you can upload photos, see photos from other members, and even post questions and comments in the group forum. It’s a private group, so you will need to click on the link that says ‘join this group’ if you want to be able to post photos. As long as you are willing to bake bread all of the bread from the book, you are welcome to join the Flickr group!

Twitter: If you use twitter, you can follow what the group is doing by searching for #BBA or #bba using Twitter’s search box. You can join in on the conversation by adding the #bba or #BBA tag to the end of your tweets when you are talking about anything related to the BBA Challenge. For me, following what people are doing on twitter has been the most fun!

Facebook: If you’re on Facebook, you can join the BBA Challenge Group there and share photos, ask questions, and talk about your bread baking experiences with other BBA members on Facebook.

Next up…Bagels!!!!

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Oatmeal Cookies with Browned Butter Icing

Finally you say…so after teasing you and badgering you with pictures and descriptions on both Facebook and Twitter, promising to post it for you over the weekend, here it is. This was a wonderful, wonderful way to eat some healthy for you as in oatmeal cookies and junk them right up but in a very, very good way!

Now, there are several steps to making this and they look complicated but they really aren’t. I would think that if you really wanted to you could use the ice cream caramel syrup that they sell in the grocery store but if you make this caramel syrup you will be able to make caramels with the leftovers! I actually had the leftover caramel syrup and the frosting from the Caramel Cake that I made for one of my gf, Kathy, last week!

CARAMEL SYRUP (Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater)

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)
In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.
When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.
Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}
Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

Once you have the caramel cooked you can go ahead with the frosting once it has cooled.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING (Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater)

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
• Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.
Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.
To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light

The cookies I made to go with this are the really simple and straight forward. I took the one from the top of the Quaker Oats can and just omitted the raisins. I wanted to other flavors messing with the frosting!

Oatmeal Cookies (adapted from the lid to the Quaker Oats canister)

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) margarine or butter, softened
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 3 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)

Heat oven to 350°F.

In large bowl, beat together margarine and sugars with electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add to margarine mixture; mix well. Stir in oats and raisins; mix well.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

I really can’t say enough about these cookies. They should sell these everywhere…hey I should sell these everywhere!!! Incredible flavor combination that should be repeated and repeated!

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

First of the season Georgia Peaches and my favorite pie!

I love peach pie. One of my favorite desserts. Fortunately for me my Mother-in-Law makes the best one I have ever had, too bad she lives so far away!!!

This pie was inspired by my love of peach pie, each little bite tastes just like summer to me!

Peach Pie Crumble (adapted from RecipeLand.com)

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp AP Flour
1/3 Cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 Cups peaches, skinned and sliced

topping:

1/2 Cup brown sugar
1/3 Cup AP flour
1/3 Cup Rolled Oats
2 Tbsp butter

Directions:

• Preheat oven and baking sheet to 375 degrees.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and cinnamon; stir in peaches and toss to coat well.
• Pour mixture into pie crust.
• For topping, in a small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour and rolled oats.
• Cut in butter until crumbly.
• Sprinkle topping over pie.
• Bake on preheated baking sheet for 40 minutes or until golden brown.
• Serve warm or cold.

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com