Time to Make the Bagels

Sundays are the day we usually have bagels for breakfast, sometimes with lox, sometimes with cream cheese... sometimes in the car on the way out of town...and sometimes at Murray's, our favorite bagel place in Manhattan. This past Sunday we learned how to make our own bagels and cream cheese at The Brooklyn Kitchen in Williamsburg. So fun! We took home extra dough and enough information to try this baking experiment on our own.

Tis the season

...for pumpkin bread!

Breadzel

I have even more respect for the art of making bread after having made these pretzel challah rolls. While few ingredients, there are many steps before the dough can actually be called bread. Three out of the four hours it took to make the rolls was spent waiting for the dough to rise-- which it did so nicely I even impressed myself.

Once the rising, rolling, knotting, and proofing were completed, I plunged the puffy little knots into boiling water before baking them for 20 minutes in the oven. The rolls came out shiny and golden, and perfect for dipping in dijon mustard.

Red White & Blueberry

The 4th of July was a perfect day: we slept in till 10, made blueberry dutch pancakes for breakfast, celebrated Théo's 2nd birthday, and ended the evening watching the spectacular fireworks display over the Hudson River...

Pop on Over

On Friday I received my December issue of Real Simple. As I flipped through I came across a recipe for "Secretly Simple Popovers" which inspired our breakfast for Saturday morning. We happened to have some bacon on hand, so I got to experimenting... and I have to say, the result was absolutely delicious.

Bacon & Parmesan Popovers
(adapted from a Real Simple recipe)
Makes 12

Ingredients
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.5 cups whole milk
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 slices bacon, cooked, drained and cut into 1/2" pieces
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Cook the bacon: Line the bottom of a broiler pan with foil. This will make for easy cleanup later. Arrange the bacon slices on the top broiler pan and place in a cold oven. Turn oven onto 400F. Walk away, and come back 17 to 20 minutes later. As soon as the bacon is golden brown and crispy, it's done. Drain on paper towels. Once cool, cut the bacon into 1/2" pieces and set aside.

Keep oven on at 400F. Brush the cups of a 12-cup non-stick muffin tin with butter. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, milk, eggs, butter and salt until only a few lumps remain (do not overmix). Gently stir in bacon.

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups and sprinkle each cup with a teaspoon of Parmesan cheese. Bake until puffed and a deep golden brown, 30-35 minutes. (Do not open oven door before 30 minutes or the popover will collapse. Serve immediately!

Peared Down

This time of year seckel pears make their grand entrance at the farmer's market. Their small size and sweet crunch makes them irresistible. I tend to buy too many knowing that even if I don't get around to eating them, they will at least look pretty on the kitchen table.

Last night I found a recipe for Upside-Down Pear Tartlets . The selling point-- it only calls for only 4 ingredients, all of which I had on hand. Puff pastry, butter, sugar and pears. I substituted seckel for d'anjou so slicing the pears wasn't necessary, just a quick lop in half. I reduced the overall size of the tartlet by using standard muffin tins (the recipe calls for jumbo) and cutting the puff pastry rounds to fit. I found that a 1/2 cup measuring scoop makes the perfect 'cookie cutter'.

Warm and sticky, we ate them right out of the oven... and then of course, the rest for breakfast.