HB in 5: Whole Wheat Cinnamon Cranberry Bagels

Bagels.  I love bagels.  Until I spied Kamran Siddiqi's [The Sophisticated Gourmet] bagel post, I didn't think it was possible to make myself!  I've been very, very behind in my efforts at HB in 5 so when I saw that Cinnamon Raisin Bagels was next on the list, I had to clear my schedule!

I mixed up a batch of the WW Master Dough and allowed it to rise while I was off playing in San Diego for the day.  I love this recipe - it's so low maintenance and as unorganized as my kitchen is, it still only took me about 10 minutes to mix the batch up! Don't get me wrong, I love kneading dough just as much but when you don't have the time, this one pretty much makes itself!

It's really easy to make! Roll out the dough to a 1/4 of an inch, then sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over the dough, then add cranberries.  Roll dough to combine mixture, shaping into a ball. Pull off 3 ounce balls and shape into balls.  Poke a hole into the ball and stretch. Boil for a few minutes, place on a tray and bake!

Ok, I'm not sure what I did wrong but mine looks a little like a bagel chip. But let me tell you...It was FANTASTIC!

 

Yum. Breakfast is going to be great tomorrow. 

Daring Bakers Challenge: Piece Montee

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

I've been a very bad Daring Baker. I joined 3 months ago and I've only completed ONE challenge. I will do my best to do better. Really.

I have to say, I love Choux Cream Puffs.  I could eat a dozen of them on my own in one sitting.  I've always wanted to learn how to make them so when I saw this challenge, I was thrilled. Unfortunately, after the SECOND failed batch, the thrill almost turned into despair.  It turns out that I just didn't cook it long enough.  

I wish I could say I took a step by step photo of the whole experience but as I was on the verge of tears for the first 2 batches of pate a choux so I was unable to see clearly enough to snap off a clear photo.  

The lovely flavoring of the lilikoi bavarois recipe is courtesy of Executive Pastry Chef Ricky De Boer of the Fairmont Kea Lani.  He has been so utterly gracious since my quick visit to the resort! [If you find yourself in Maui, please be sure to visit the Kea Lani if for no other reason than to enjoy the delectable Lilikoi Creme Brulee!] Unfortunately, as I was typing off an email telling him how wonderful his lilikoi cream was, it curdled. So my 2nd batch had less eggs than I had intended since I was too lazy to run out and buy more!

Pate a Choux (Yield: About 28)

from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan, originally created by famed pastry chef, Nick Malgieri
 

¾ cup water
6 Tbsp (85 grams) unsalted butter
¼ Tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Preparing batter:
Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. 

When it reaches boiling point, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring until it combines.  Once the mixture is well combined, cook until it pulls away from the sides of the pan,  while stirring constantly [mine pulled away from the sides right away, so i'm not sure what I did wrong - i just cooked it until it had the consistency of mashed potatoes when I smashed the dough with my wooden spoon].

Remove from heat and add 1 of the eggs, stirring until it once again looks like mashed potatoes.  Repeat until all eggs are used.  The consistency of the batter should be thick.


You can either pipe the batter on to the cookie sheet or scoop out with a spoon.  


Brush tops with the egg wash.


Bake the choux until it puffs up completely [approximately 10 - 12 minutes] at 425 degrees.  Then reduce to 350 degrees and bake until it dries out, approximately  20 - 30 minutes depending on size [it should have a nice golden color]. let cool on rack.

Lilikoi Cream: 
Executive Pastry Chef Ricky De Boer, Fairmont Kea Lani
2 cups Heavy Cream
8 egg yolks
1/2 cup [4 oz] sugar
1/4 cup [2 oz] lilikoi puree [goya brand puree is available at most Mexican markets]
1 tsp Vanilla extract


Bring cream, vanilla, sugar & puree to a  boil.  Temper yolks in and double broil until the cream thickens and coats the back of a spoon.  Because I'm a spaz and impatient, I didn't temper the egg yolks enough so I ended up pouring the mixture through a sieve to strain out the clumps.  I mixed this cream with whipped cream [16 ounces of heavy cream and 1 tablespoon of sugar] to thicken it enough to hold in the choux.

Using a small pastry tip and bag, I filled each puff with the delicious pastry cream until completed.


For the Caramel recipe, please visit  La Fuji Mama's site - she totally saved me on that one. I used the caramel to build the tower. Well, tower is a gross exaggeration of what it is - maybe mound is a better term.

Sushi party: The K Family Trip to Japan

My mom and dad's fondest wish has been to bring their kids and grandkids to Japan.  I don't ever remember a time that all 5 of us have traveled to Japan together. It's probably with good reason since traveling with the K's [whom I shall dub the "Krazies"] is never a good idea.  We all turn on each other and it becomes very, very ugly.

My parents aren't getting any younger so we decided to pull the trigger [so to speak. at least I hope it's just a figure of speech. At this point it's a 50/50 toss up as to whether or not I'm going to land my @$$ in jail for popping a cap in someone's butt and vice versa].  But wait, there's more! My mom decided to ask her friend's family to join us in the insanity.  So 15 of us - the K's and the S's [whom I'll dub "SorryTheyEverAgreedToComeAlong" or "Sorry" for short] will be traveling to my parents' motherland to partake in the rich history, culture, and well, FOOD!

In preparation for our trip, I thought it was necessary for us to have a family meeting to discuss itineraries, expectations...and of course to eat.  I opted for Japanese food for our potluck.  I would've done a whole spread of sushi but let's face it. I'm lazy.  My fall back is to have a "make your own sushi bar".  Nothing can be easier.  

Ingredients list:

Nori sheet [seawood paper]

Sushi Rice [see LaFujiMama's instructions on how to prepare sushi rice]

Cucumbers, cut into 5" matchstick lengths

Daikon Sprouts [available in asian groceries]

Takuan, cut into 5" matchstick length [pickled radish, available at asian groceries]

Imitation crab meat, tear into 1/2" widths the long way

Avocado, sliced the long way, sprinkled with lemon juice so it doesn't brown

Masago [roe from capelin fish, found in asian groceries]

Spicy tuna [see instructions below]

Spicy tuna:

Raw Tuna or Salmon, about the size of a deck of cards, sushi quality fish [available in Japanese groceries] 

2 - 3 Tablespoons mayonnaise, depending on your preference [i don't like a lot of mayo]

1 Tablespoon of Sriracha Sauce [more or less depending on your spiciness level]

thinly chopped green onion [2 stalks, green part only]

1 spoonful of masago

Chop fish into small cubes.

Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl.  Using a fork, mix all ingredients together until it looks like a puree.  

How to assemble:

1.) Cut nori in half shortways

2.) Place nori in the palm of your hand or on a plate, place 2 - 3 spoonfuls of rice on the left side of the sheet a

3.) Spread into a thin layer [should cover less than half the sheet]

4.) Place desired filling cross wise [top left corner of rice to lower right corner of rice]

5.) To Fold into a cone: bring bottom left corner to top right corner of rice 
6.) Continue to roll around making a cone. At the end of the roll, there will be a little left over. To seal the temaki, smash rice on nori
7.) Bring tip of nori over the front and seal.

Take a few huge bites and enjoy!!

POSTCARD: Maui, wowie!

Dear [fill in your name]:

It's been 5 years since I was last in Maui.  So far, everyone has been so friendly!  I'm hardly ever on the receiving end of fabulous trips since I'm usually planning them so it's been great not having to do anything!

It seems like I've been eating every couple of hours. Which is good because we've been on the move since I landed.  One of my friends even arranged for me to try my hand on the stand up paddle board.  Except I kept falling off the paddle board [so the "stand up" part may not have been accurate in my case.  It's hard work - for every 3 strokes forward I felt like the wind was blowing me 2 strokes back.  

As you guys know, I'm into experiencing and learning new things.  I was hoping that I'd get a chance to learn how to do the fire dance but they didn't think it'd be a good idea.  I guess I'll have to be satisfied that I know how to paddle board now.

The great news is that I've fallen in lust love! It really doesn't matter with which one of the guys above.  They were all equally hot.  

Well, it's been a long day and I need some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a another long day and I'm going to see if I have some time to make it over to Kahului to get some guri-guri.  More later!

Wish you were here!

Jen

Ritz Carlton South Beach, meeting with Chef Connell

Some might think that spending 7 nights at a luxury hotel would be really great.  Those people would also be spending time outside of my windowless office at the said hotel. I didn't think it was possible but I may have actually been paler when I got home than when I left for Miami.

The one outdoor event that I allowed myself was the opportunity to take a cooking class with Chef Thomas Connell. I hate to say it but most hotel chefs that I've worked with are extremely arrogant.  Chef Thomas Connell was the antithesis of that kind of chef - he was an inspirational and charismatic instructor [and patiently answered all of my dumb irrelevant questions, of which there are many]. Even better, I found out that he was from Los Angeles - East Los Angeles to be exact.  He grew up always knowing that he was going to be a chef. [I couldn't relate. I grew up thinking I was going to be an accountant. I hated numbers, sucked at numbers so why I imagined that I'd be an accountant is still a mystery to me.]

Chef Connell spent several years in Spain opening the Hotel Arts in Barcelona. He said that he loved the lifestyle, the people, and of course, the food of Spain.  So it was only natural that the menu for the class was Tapas - Garlic Shrimp, Tortilla de Patatas, Paella, and Crema Catalana.

Due to hotel liability issues I was told that the class would be a demo with a small amount of interaction.  Little did I know that it was more than just a little interaction.  Chef pulled people from the audience to help out, especially children when they were around - it was a true passion for him to instill the love of cooking in the youths.

He patiently showed each person how to hold a knife [he suggested holding a raw egg in the hand opposite of the knife hand to force your hand to curl] and the proper cutting techniques.

I know most chefs can flip things, but this tortilla de patatas was huge.  Plus I've never got any other chef flipping stuff on camera.  So here it is.

Seriously. I don't know WHERE you get one of these AWESOME burnishers but i want me one.  NOW. This thing was SIZZLING hot [he threw sugar on the surface and it FLAMED]. I can only imagine the things I could make with it. "Imagine" because I tend to set things on fire and it'd be really dangerous for me to own it.

I almost took that whole plate back to my room with me.  The host of people standing around who would've stabbed me with their forks if I tried to run off with it pretty much prevented me from following through. 

The best dish of the day was the garlic shrimp.  My colleague and I repeatedly went back for some more of this shrimp.  It was so simple to make [literally, toast garlic in olive oil,  throw in the shrimp, top with chili flakes and parsley after shrimp has cooked, careful not to overcook the shrimp] and yet so flavorful! My colleague warned me that he WOULD stab me with his fork if I ran off with the bowl so I decided to stay put. He was my on staff EMT, so I quickly realized that he wouldn't do anything to stop me from bleeding to death.

After one of the classes had ended, I had the chance to speak to some of the participants.  I honestly can't remember a time when they were so inspired after an activity. One person shared with me that Chef's enthusiasm for cooking reminded them of why they were in their chosen profession - the love and passion of their job.  It reminded me how fortunate that I have that passion for my job.  Love what you do, if you don't have it, find it. 

Cooking Paella in Barcelona, Spain

One thing I like to try to do on my travels is to take a cooking class. For me, there's nothing that's a better outlet for my creativity or easier to "pack and take home" than learning how to make something regional from the place that you visit.

I found Cook and Taste while doing a quick search on Chowhound for my trip last December. The price for the class [and visit to the boqueria] was fairly reasonable, considering that we got to eat and drink, too! Our teacher was wonderful, kind, friendly, and very informative.  She gave me tips on where to buy all kinds of food gifts! [you know...food gifts for ME!!!]

I don't like to feel useless, especially when someone else is bustling around in a busy fashion around the kitchen. So, I volunteered to help out by unpacking our goods from the boqueria. Luckily, that earned me the right to make the fish stock! I quietly diced my veggies and the monkfish [ugh...most disgusting fish EVER...and I don't care that it's "good eats"] off to the side while she started on the Crema Catalan [very much like a creme brulee].

I enjoyed the leisurely pace of the class. We took as long as we needed, no short cuts. There was no set end time. Sure, we all had other ideas of things we wanted to do that day but when mixed with the food, wine and company, we were quite happy to hang out and learn - not only about the food but about the culture, city and its people.  We also got to meet some classmates who were from Holland and Great Britain, as well.  It was interesting to learn about other country's healthcare, food philosophy, cost of living, and gas prices!

We had a fabulous time making gazpacho, tortilla de patatas, crema catalan, and paella.  I especially enjoyed working for my lunch.  I think you will too!


Cook and Taste
CARRER DEL PARADÍS, 3
08003 BARCELONA
t. (+34) 93 302 13 20
info@cookandtaste.net