I made Bagels!

I love bagels, especially Sesame Seed bagels. I like any bread.

So when I found this recipe on PINTEREST, I knew I'd be making it soon and that this recipe would not end up in the deep archives of my Pinterest boards.

And so I did.....

Here's the RECIPE.

All the dry ingredients plus the oil in my mixer.

Add the wet ingredients and mix up.

Switch to the dough hook on the mixer for kneading.

Wack away.

Forming the bagels.

Boiling the bagels.

I added Sesame Seeds to them, but ran out after two bagels. I was soooo sure I had plenty of seeds. Mr. Downeastdoingstuff must have devoured them when I was in Florida for 2 weeks.

Fresh out of the oven. 

I have to say, they taste like real bagels...even the next day!

Wow.

I've impressed myself.

Homemade bagel recipe

4 cups bread flour

1 Tbls sugar

1 1/2 tsps salt

1 Tbls vegetable oil

2 tsps instant yeast

1-1/4- 1-1/2 cups of warm water.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. You don't have to worry about soaking the yeast when you use instant yeast (most yeast sold these days is instant yeast). The dough should feel stiff, but add the extra water if it's really stiff, or you can't get all the dry flour incorporated.

Plop the dough down onto the counter, and knead for about ten minutes, or until the dough is uniform and smooth.

Cut the dough into 8 equal sized balls, and let rest for 10-20 minutes.

Pre heat your oven to 425.

Now, take each of the dough balls and using two hands, roll it into a little snake on the counter. When the snake is longer than the width of your two hands, wrap it around your dominant roiling hand. The dough rope should be wrapped so the overlapping ends are together at your palm, near the start of your fingers. Now take the two overlapping ends, and use your palm to squish/roll these two ends together. Once the dough is fused, you should have a perfectly circular bagel-to-be! This is the only part of the process that can take a little practice before your bagels will look really professional. Don't get discouraged if they don't look perfect, it just takes practice!

Let your bagels rest on the counter for about 20 minutes, and meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil, and grease a large baking tray lightly. You can just rub a splash of vegetable oil and rub it around.

After the 20 minute wait, your bagels will start to look puffy, and it's time to get them boiling! Add them as many at a time as you can to your boiling water without crowding them. Boil for about a minute, turn them over, and boil for another minute. Take them out a let dry for a minute and then place them on your oiled baking tray. Repeat until all the bagels are boiled.

Add the tray to the oven, and after 10 minutes, flip the bagels over, bake for another ten minutes; and they're done!

Let them cool for at least 20 minutes, get the cream cheese ready, and feast on what's got to be one of the best weekend brunch treats possible!

You can add any toppings you like to these. To make sesame, onions, poppy seed, caraway etc. etc. bagels just have a dry plate ready with the seed or spice topping spread out on it. After the bagels have come out of the boiling water, place them face down onto the seeds, and then place the seed side up onto the baking tray. Bake and flip as for plain bagels.


UPdate: I've used this recipe many, many times. Save yourself a lot of work.....just poke your finger into the round ball, and with your fingers make the hole bigger. MUCH easier than rolling out strips and attempting to join them back together!!!

Scallops with Parmesan Risotto and Spinach

I spend A LOT of time on Pinterest, collecting images of stuff I want to do. They don't call me Downeast DOING STUFF for nothing! ( Well, I call myself that....) But I find that I collect more stuff than I'll ever do.


After going to the lawyers today to draft a will, etc. I realized how times flies and now I'm paying someone and telling someone what to do when I'm DEAD!

So I better get cracking on Pinterest.

Here's the first......a recipe.

Seared Scallops over Wilted Spinach with Parmesan Risotto
click on title for the recipe

 Working on the Risotto. It's a full time, 20 minute job.

 Saute some chopped onions ( supposed to be Shallots, but I didn't have any.) in butter and Olive Oil, to get ready for the scallops.

 Add Parmesan Cheese to the rice.

 Wilt the Spinach in the butter left from cooking the Scallops.

 Seared Scallops.

(Jersey girl, me, pronounced Scallops

Mainiacs say Scollops, or something like that.)

 Spinach with a big dollop of Risotto and then the Scallops.

DEEEE lish!!

We have lots of cukes in the garden, so I thinly sliced them (on a box grater), salted them and let them sit in a colander for a while to withdraw a lot of the liquid, add thinly sliced onions, pepper, sugar to taste and vinegar. Makes  a sort of sweet and sour dressing. Toss. I served this with the Scallops.


I would have served this with wine, but we already had two Pina Coladas each, so we had water.


Thank you Pinterest.
One down, 4 million to go....

Healthy breakfast......

Mr. Downeastdoingstuff aka Birdman loves to eat. By that I mean, he will eat anything while still maintaining a svelte physique. Not a fussy eater which is fortunate for me because I like to try new and exciting recipes.

All the time.

There isn't a week that goes by that I don't cook something new, sometimes several times a week.

He will eat it all.

Except for this.
My breakfast.

I don't get it. What's not to like?
Put 1/4 C of Quick Oatmeal in a old pink bowl that you buy at an antique/gift shop.
Add 1 Tbsp of Milled Flaxseed and a smidgen of Cinnamon.


Add a few Nuts (I use walnuts, my fav) and 2 or 3 snipped Prunes. (You snip 'em yourself.)

Add a little more than 1/4 C of Lowfat Cottage Cheese and the same amount of Greek Yogurt.

Stir it up to make a big smoosh. Serve with a slice of Whole Wheat Toast (low cal) and a big mug of steaming Green Tea with Lemon.

Every morning.

What's not to like??

Addendum: Mr. DEDS and I both hate lamb. But that's it.

Last chance grilled pizza....

The weather outside is not cooperating with my vision of what the weather outside should be. My vision is 78 degrees and perfect.  

Things are changing. Some people love the fall, but in my mind, although beautiful, autumn is a harbinger of freezing my tushy off.

 

So in these dwindling days of warmth, I can still use my grill without donning a parka. At least today I can.  

Here is a recipe for a grilled pizza....

Here is what I started with...

Sprinkle corn meal on a cookie sheet.

Take the dough, divide it into two pieces and press them into  free form shapes on top of the cornmeal.

I remembered I had some baby spinach in the fridge, so I chopped it up to add to the mixture.
I had some left over canned mushrooms, too.

Heated up the grill, turned it to medium heat and laid the dough carefully onto the grill.

When it looked like this on the bottom, I took it off the grill and put it back onto a cookie sheet, grilled side up.

I didn't use pizza sauce. I used Barbeque sauce.

I put the filling on top of the sauce.

I sprinkled some spices on top.

I put a little mozzarella chesse on it AND some blue cheese sprinkles. Put it back on the grill and grill til it's done on the bottom and the cheese is melted. (be careful not to burn it!!)

Serve with a salad and a glass of red wine or a beer.

Yum!

Summer Shandy

Mr. Downeastdoingstuff (aka Birdman) and I like to try new things. New things... as long as they don't have potential for bodily harm or curling my hair.

We especially like to try new drinks. (I don't want any comments about how alcohol can cause bodily harm....duh.)

Martinis have been our latest diversion. Especially the kind that are not really, officially classified as martinis, ie. chocolate martinis, appletinis, tinis with any appealing flavor.

The photo above is of a drink called a Shandy. Birdman has a blog, and a lady from Perth, Australia suggested this.

It's a mixture of two liquids served in a beer glass.

Can you guess what it might be?? 

check out her comment from my husbands blog....

PerthDailyPhoto said...

You get a big glass (chilled for maximum effect), depending on how strong you like it, usually half/half, half beer of your choice, and half lemonade, also there's the classic English version of lager and lime, just add a dash of lime juice to the beer and a slice of lemon,takes away the ughy taste of the beer, sooooo refreshing and easy to drink. I'm not sure though Birdman, somehow I'm not getting a picture of you thinking much of this idea haha! See if Elenka will try it and let me know what she thinks.

Me thinks....Not bad. It's a rather odd mixture. You can taste both ingredients separately. 

Strange. Hasn't curled my hair......yet.

Happy Birthday to my sister (in-law)........

Today is the birthday of a sweet lady. I don't know anyone else that is like her....she's the best.

So, IF I had her here for supper tonight, this is what I would serve. I tried these a couple of months ago and they were yummy.

(These are recipes from DOWNEAST Magazine. Downeast got these recipes from local restaurants.)

Ready? Here we go.....recipes and all.

First, we'll have Spicy Creole Haddock and Corn Cakes

Old Port Sea Grill, Portland Maine

Spicy Creole Haddock and Corn Cakes with Roasted Garlic and Tomato Remoulade

Ingredients:

1 ear of corn, shucked

5 tbsp olive oil

1/4 C large red onion, finely diced

1/4 C red peppers, finely dice

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced

3/4 lb fresh haddock, cut into 1" cubes

2 bay leaves

1 Tbsp salt

1 Tbsp white black peppercorns  (HUH?) (Oxymoron?)

1 Tbsp Old Bay seasoning

2 lemons, halfed

1 egg

1/2 C mayonnaise

1 tbsp Cajun seasoning

2 C Panko (japanese bread crumbs)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. (I CANNOT figure out how to type the 'degree' symbol, evah!!!)

Cut the corn off the cob, toss in 1 tbsp olive oil and roast in a small pan in the preheated oven for  30 minutes until nicely browned. (YES, I DID THIS, ALTHO I THINK IT'S STUPID)

Let the corn cool. Set aside.

Saute onion, pepper, and jalapeno in a pan with 2 tbsp of the olive oil over medium heat until tender but not browned, about 10 minutes. Set aside and let cool. (I used less jalapeno, due to the fact that Mr. Downeastdoingstuff can't hack anything spicier than water.)

In a stock pot, combine the bay leaves, salt, peppercorns, Old Bay, and lemons and fill pot 3/4 full of water. Bring the mixture to a boil. Put the diced haddock pieces into a metal stainer and lower strainer into the boiling liquid. Cook for about 5 minutes. Set haddock aside to let cool.

Combine the corn, onions, peppers, jalapeno, and haddock with one egg, mayonnaise, and Cajun seasoning in a large bowl. Add 1/2 C of the panko crumbs to the mixture and combine. If mixture does not hold when pressed together, mix in more panko crumbs 2 tbsp at a time until mixture can hold. (ha....mixture never holds....well, barely....very stressful ordeal) To dredge the cakes, place the remaining panko crumbs in a large bowl. Tightly pack a 1/4 C measure with the haddock mixture and roll into a ball in your hands. press down to form a round cake about 3/4 inch tick Dredge in panko crumbs on all sides.

Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a heavy, large skillet over medium-high heatl Add haddock cakes and saute until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side, careful not to overcrowd the pan (you will have to do them in batches). Transfer to plates. (Put the pieces back together like a puzzle so no one will be the wiser that these cakes broke apart when turning over.) Drizzle  remoulade sauce over and serve.

Remoulade sauce? Remoulade sauce?  What's that?????

Glad you asked.....

Roasted Garlic and Tomato Remoulade

4 Roma tomatoes

8 garlic cloves

2 tbsp olive oil

3/4 C mayo

1/4 C capers

1 C parsley leaves

juice of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven the 450 degrees. Halve the tomatoes and using a spoon or melon balller, remove seeds and discard. Peel and halve the garlic cloves, put on inside each tomato half, and drizzle with the olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes or until the tomatoes and garlic are slightly charred. Add the remaining ingredients to a food processor or blender along with the tomatoes and garlic mixture. Pulse until everything is incorporated. Finish with salt and pepper to taste.

Makes about 1 1/2 C. Can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. 

Delish.

NEXT ....

Cabernet Pouched Pears Stuffed with Cranberry Blue Cheese

Mache Bistro, Bar Harbor

Pears...

2 Bosc Pears

1/2 C Cabernet Sauvignon

1/4 C balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp honey

3 C baby arugula

2 tbsp olive oil

Blue cheese filling.....

1/4 C chopped pecans plus 1 tbsp for garnish

1/4 C dried cranberries plus 1 tbsp for garnish

3 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)

1 tbsp mayo

1 tbsp olive oil

2 ounces blue cheese-plus 1 ounce for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Halve pears and place in a baking dish flesh side down together with wine, vinegar, brown sugar, salt and honey. Cover with foil, and bake for 1 hour. Allow pears to cool in liquid. Scoop out and discard pear cores and seeds to create a space for the filling. Reserve cooking liquid.

(this turns the pears into such a red color it's a bit alarming!)

While pears cook, in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, blend cream cheese, mayo, olive oil, 2 ounces blue cheese, 1/4 C pecans, and 1/4 C dried cranberries until well incorporated.

Divide filling into four parts and fill each pear half. Toss arugula (Can't stand the taste of arugula, so I used s spring mix of greens) with olive oil and divide among four plates. Place stuffed pear on top of arugula  and garnish with reserved pecans, cranberries, and blue cheese. Drizzle reserved cooking liquid over pear and greens.

And finally........

Roasted Pepper Shrimp Saute

Joshua's Restaurant, Wells

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound shrimp (21-25 count), peeled and de-veined (If deveining isn't the most disagreeable job there is, then I don't know what is, short of murdering and preparing your own meat/seafood from scratch...)

1 1/2 C chopped tomato, in 1 " dice

1 large roasted red pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 roasted jalapeno pepper, thinnly sliced (Less....remember Mr. Downeastdoingstuff's wimpy-ness)

2 tbsp  chopped garlic

1 C dry white wine

4 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

salt to taste

Preheat 12" saute pan. Put oil in pan, and when it is almost smoking, add shrimp, tomato, peppers, and garlic. Let cook for about 1 minute, then toss thoroughly  just once to create a caramelized flavor. After 1 more minute, when the shrimp should be about half cooked, add the wine and salt to taste. Reduce the wine by half, cooking off the alcohol, then add the butter and parsley to finish. Serve immediately. We garnish this with a few pieces of grilled baguette, perfect for soaking up the sauce.

That's it, my sweet sis. Hope you enjoy it.

Add D's Mud Pie and some alcoholic beverages and it will be a birthday to remember.

Love Ya!!!!! 

Birdman Bakes Bread

       The finished loaf of bread. A miracle.

I’m going to make some bread this weekend.” says Birdman, aka Mr. Downeastdoingstuff.

[pause]”........um, okay.” I said.

“What kind of bread are you making?” I inquire.

“ You know, regular bread.”

So, a million scenarios go through my head from enjoying a wonderful piece of warm bread and butter, to scrapping dough off of the ceiling.

“Hey,” I say, “why don’t you peruse that little bread book I have in the den for a recipe.”

[blink   blink   silence]

“OK then,” I say, “ when you buy the yeast, buy a strip of it that has a recipe on the back for ‘regular’ bread.” “Make sure it has a recipe, because some don’t.”

“K”

So off he goes, to Hannaford, to pick up some yeast and a couple other things on this warm(ish), sunny February morning. 

It’s now near 3:00 PM.....do I smell bread in the air? 

No.

So I say, “Aren’t you going to make bread?”

(grumble.....grumble....) I hear from his direction. I leave well enough alone.

About 20 minutes later he announces, “OK, I’m going to start the bread.”

Out comes the kitchenaid mixer and the yeast packet.

“How do I do this?” he asks.

“Read the recipe.” I instruct. 

“Where is it?”

“On the back of the yeast packet.”

“What? Oh...... [pause].......[pause]......[sigh].....[cough].....there’s no recipe on here!?”

“Didn’t you look before you bought it?”

“Yeah, I did” he replies, “but I didn’t have my glasses on.”

So he figured that if he saw a bunch of blurry lines and colors on the yeast packet, he was good to go. 

Wrong.

So I start looking up recipes for ‘regular’ bread. I went to the Fleishman’s site and found a perfectly good recipe for beginners. But now he announces he wants to make raisin bread. I tell him that’s fine, but it will be a little more complicated and slightly different.

“Why can’t I just throw raisins into the ‘regular’ dough?” he asks.

“Well” I say, “the dough might be a different dough, maybe a sweeter one.”

So we look up raisin bread on my laptop and grab the first one we get to because, frankly, I’ve got other things to do. 

Anytime there’s a cooking expedition that involves Birdman, for some reason I get involved. 

So I’m eyeballing the closest exit that I could slither into without being detected.

Fat chance.

“Where’s the flour?”

“Over there” I say pointing to the cabinet where the flour has been for 30 years. (Not the same bag....)

“What are all these things for?” (holding up the kitchenaid paddles and whips)

(they are used to paddle, whip and beat life’s small irritations, I’m thinking....)

deep breath.....

So he gets everything out, he gets everything explained (in my opinion) and he’s on his way....

....except for these questions:

1. How do I open the yeast?

2. Where’s the brown sugar?

3. How much is a tablespoon of butter?

4. Can I heat up the milk in this pan?

5. Can you scroll the computer? I have dough on my fingers.

6. And the Piece de Resistance.....”What’s a yolk?” (That one I could.not.believe. I KNOW he knows what a yolk is.....!!!!@#$%&*) 

6 1/2. How do you get the yolk out?

I did manage to escape the room and I did hear some mild cursing now and then, but the result was we had one dang, wonderful loaf of raisin bread in the end.

As they say, all’s well that ends well.

And it ended well.

As I’ve said many times before, it’s a darn good thing I like him!

Thanks, Birdman.

Further photographic evidence of bread making in Maine....

Reading directions on the laptop.

Supplying sustenance for the job...a Patriots cup of iced tea with Powers Whiskey sloshed in for good measure.

OOOPS.....Add all DRY ingredients together. Add all WET ingredients together.

So why is the DRY yeast in the WET milk concoction???

Stirring the pot.....

Iced Tea/Whiskey break.....

Rolling out to a 12"X 8" rectangle and putting on the cinnamon sugar/raisin mixture.

Put into a loaf pan. (I took it out and put it back in so that it didn't look like an old man's butt.)

And, Voila!!!!! Delicious raisin bread.

And in the spirit of Super Bowl Sunday.....1 . 2 . 3 . HIKE!

'Til the next episode of Hell's kitchen.....