Monthly Archives: October 2011
NYC Wine and Food Festival & The Art of the Taco
| October 19, 2011 | Filled under Reviews |
I can’t believe it’s already been almost three weeks since the NYC Wine and Food Festival! I really hate when bloggers say that they’re going to post about something another time and then never do, so I’m really sorry that it’s taken me so long to post about it. It’s just that the event was so big and so amazing that I really didn’t know where to start. So I guess I’ll just dive right in…
Saturday started bright and early with a presentation by Alton Brown, one of my favorite Food Network personalities. He definitely didn’t disappoint! His presentation focused on wine and molecular gastronomy, and it was interesting to see how easy some of the fancy tricks you see on TV really are to do at home. The first thing he made was little caviar-like port spheres, which he served over steak. It really didn’t look difficult to do at all, and I might try to replicate them some time when I’m feeling adventurous. He also made frozen bellinis using a stand mixer and liquid nitrogen that was fun but a little less friendly for the home cook. Alton has a great sense of humor and had a fun Q+A session following the demo where he let us in on a few secrets like that he doesn’t actually have a sister named Marsha and that he does in fact know who the net Iron Chef is (but he’s not telling).
Homemade Pumpkin Bagels
| October 16, 2011 | Filled under Breads, Breakfast, Fall |
Last weekend, a few friends and I went out to Ithaca to visit with Julie. I hadn’t been to Ithaca in years, and it was so nice to go back and spend the day there. We went to lunch, visited the annual library sale (where I bought a few fun new cookbooks for a song), walked around the commons, and ate cheese fondue.
It was pretty much a perfect day except that I didn’t get a pumpkin bagel. We had gone to the Ithaca Baking Company for lunch and although my pear and blue cheese sandwich with thyme-infused balsamic was amazing, I was jealous of Julie’s toasted pumpkin bagel slathered with Nutella. We went back a little later to get drinks for our walk back to Julie’s (their Fall chai, which involves apple cider, still haunts me) and I attempted to buy a few bagels to bring home, but they unfortunately had none left. It didn’t take me very long to decide that I’d just have to make my own, the very next day. Read More
Homemade Pumpkin Bagels
Yields 9 bagels
Prep Time: 30 minutesTotal Time: 3 hours
These light and chewy bagels have a subtle pumpkin flavor that goes great with Nutella, cream cheese, or cinnamon-sugar butter. I left the flavor simple to maxmize their versatility – try them untoasted, dipped into a hearty vegetable soup! If you prefer a pumpkin spice bagel, mix 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ginger and a dash each of cardamom, nutmeg, and allspice in with the flour.
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons Yeast
- 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
- 1/4 cups Warm Water
- 1 cup Pumpkin Puree
- 3 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup Whole White Wheat Flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Soda
Preparation
- Add yeast and sugar to 1/2 cup warm water, without stirring. Let sit for five minutes, then stir until dissolved.
- Combine flours and salt into a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Stir in the yeast mixture and the pumpkin puree.
- Knead until dough is smooth and elastic – about 20 minutes by hand or 10 in a mixer. Cover and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Gently punch down the dough to deflate it, then divide into 9 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then poke your finger through the center to form the hole. Gently stretch the dough to form a ring. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough.
- Arrange the rings on a cookie sheet, cover, and let rise for 1 hour.
- While the bagels rise, add the baking soda to a large pot of water and bring it to a boil. Drop the risen bagels into the boiling water a few at a time, being careful not to crowd the pot. Boil for 2 minutes on each side. Replace on cookie sheet.
- Bake at 450F for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the bagels are a light, golden color.
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