Weekend Cookbook Challenge #4- Easter Brunch
Oh how I love brunch. This special meal means sleeping in and eating enough food to cover two meals…and you can do it in your comfy PJ’s! What could be better! But for Easter we like to dress things up a bit and make things extra special, like taking the time to make a classic food from scratch. So for this month’s Weekend Cookbook Challenge #4
I have decided to show my baker’s muscles by whipping up some homemade bagels. And when I mean muscle I am not kidding. These heavenly treats are not hard at all to put together if you are familiar with bread making. The recipe calls for a simple sponge and dough technique but this dough is much stiffer than you are used to. I really had to put my weight behind it and even broke a bit of a sweat! Yes, I did everything by hand because I wasn’t sure if it would all fit in my mixer (this recipe makes 12 good sized bagels).
The beauty of this recipe is that you start it the night before and let it rise in the fridge so the next morning you just wake up, boil some water, preheat your oven and in 30 minutes you have fresh bagels unlike anything you have ever had before. This sure beats those overpriced bagel shops! (Because bagels are SO cheap to make!)
Ok, so I didn’t actually get this recipe from a cookbook, I got it from Floyd over at The Fresh Loaf , but he got it from a cookbook does that count? Floyd has great step by step instructions and I followed his method to a T and they worked out great. The only change is that I did not buy malt powder I just used honey. I topped mine with an array of toppings including dried onion, garlic, poppy seeds and kosher salt.
Well to be fair, here is a yummy recipe for flavored cream cheese, to round out the “Bagel Shop in Your Kitchen” feel.
Vegetable Cream Cheese
from Barefoot Contessa Family Style
16 ounces of softened cream cheese
2 T. minced scallions, white and green part
2 T. finely chopped carrot
2 T. finely chopped celery
2 T. finely chopped radishes (2 radishes)
2-3 pinches kosher salt
1 pinch fine black pepper
. Place all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed until well blended.
* I think this would be great with some chopped red pepper in it too- yummy!
Happy Easter!
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April 10th, 2006 13:50
Hello. This is my first time posting. I make veggie cream cheese and cucumber dill cream cheese often. For a couple of years I worked in a bagel shop, and I follow the recipe that we used. Anyway, I find that if you use just a splash of club soda when mixing it give the mixture a smoother, creamier texture. Just a suggestion!
-Joline
April 10th, 2006 15:11
Thanks for stopping by Joline! Thanks for the suggestion…I will certainly try that! Cucumber dill sounds like heaven!
April 22nd, 2006 12:00
Ive had this on my list for awhile. I need to use a kitchen aid though because I have arthritis, I could never do it by hand.
July 9th, 2008 03:36
Thanks for the article. Vegetable crops develop water requirements which are specific to their variety, maturity, and the surrounding tmospheric and soil characteristics. It’s a good idea to choose your favourite vegetables to grow and plan beds for early, middle of the season and late varieties. It is important to protect your vegetable garden from wild animals looking for a tasty treat. Intake of the unsaturated vegetable oils from canola,peanuts, olive, flax, corn, safflower and sunflower which contain unsaturated.