Granola

Before heading out on our travels to the Pacific Northwest, Orin and I decided to make a big batch of granola for the upcoming weeks on the road. Granola travels well and is the perfect breakfast when you’re on the go or even on a mountain!




Over the past two years, I have tried a few different recipes for granola. The best one by far is a simple recipe passed on to us by Orin’s mom, Ilana. The great thing about granola is that you can pick and choose what nuts or dried fruits you like to add and the basic recipe still remains the same. I like to buy most of the ingredients from the bulk foods section of Sunflower Farmers Market. Buying in bulk is often much cheaper and fresher than most pre-packaged foods.



The first step in making granola is to measure out your basic ingredient, the rolled oats, and coarsely chop the nuts you would like in your mix.



Using the meat cleaver for chopping the nuts reduces the amount of work you have to do since the weight of the cleaver will do a lot of the chopping for you. I think it's better to keep the nuts pretty coarse, so that they don’t get too dark when toasting.



Once the oats and nuts are ready, it’s time to mix your syrup. A good trick to use when mixing your syrup is to measure out the oil before the honey and swirl it in the measuring cup.



This way, when you measure out the honey, it will easily slide out of the measuring cup, saving you from a more lengthy and sticky cleanup.



Don’t quite bring the syrup to a boil before evenly pouring it over the oat a nut mixture.


Try to stir well and coat all of the oats and nuts with the liquid.



I use a large pizza pan to toast my granola, but a roasting pan(the kind you would cook a turkey in) actually works much better. I just don’t have one.



Try it for yourself. It’s really easy and much healthier than any store bought granola out there! I enjoy mine best with some yogurt and fresh fruit. It’s also very tasty with milk! On Mt Rainier, it even tasted good with powdered milk and warm water.

Preheat your oven to 350°F

Combine:
6 cups of Rolled Oats
3 cups of coarsely chopped nuts (any mixture of almonds, pecans, or walnuts will work)
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Spread the mixture evenly in a roasting pan.



Mix Syrup:
1 Tbsp of vanilla
2/3 cup of water
½ cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of honey
2 tsp of salt



Slowly warm in a saucepan over the stove. Heat until the mixture is well blended. Don’t boil! Pour the syrup evenly over the oats and nuts.



Mix well with a large spoon.

Bake initially for 15 minutes. After the first 15 minutes, remove from the oven and stir well. Bake for an additional 30-40 minutes, stirring the mixture every 10 minutes. Be careful not to over toast the oats. Remove from the oven before it gets too golden brown in color. Once you remove it from the oven, it will continue to bake for a few minutes, so you don’t want to overdo it.

Let the mixture cool completely before adding your favorite dried fruits and any other ingredients your heart may desire. Be creative and try a variety of combinations to suit your tastes.



I like to add:
½ cup of dried cranberries
½ cup of raisins
1 cup of dried banana slices.
2 cups of bran flakes



Thanks again to Orin for his lovely photos and also thanks to Ilana Bakal for the great recipe and teaching us how to make it just right!

Blueberry Pie

It’s berry season! I thought it would be nice to take advantage of the current high quality and low cost of my favorite seasonal fruit and make a classic summer treat. I have been unable to resist the plump strawberries and blueberries at the grocery these last few weeks. They are at the peak of freshness right now and oh so tasty! Blueberries in particular have taken hold of me this summer and I just can’t help myself. And why should I? They are a true superfood. Did you know that blueberries have the highest antioxidant capacity of any fresh fruit? They also help preserve your vision, increase brain health, lower the risk of heart disease, improve digestion, and fight cancer!



For my first attempt at a fruit pie with homemade crust, I followed the recipes and directions directly out of The Joy of Cooking for the Blueberry Pie and Basic Pie Dough. I have heard horror stories about failed pie crusts and people who work years to develop the right techniques for a successful pie. I was anxious to say the least.



Making the filling was pretty easy. Just mix the blueberries with some sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Once the mixture sets for a while, it starts to really look good.



Then it was on to making the dough. Unlike bread doughs, you don’t want to overwork the dough or activate the gluten in the flour. You blend the ingredients while cool and with some delicacy. Some recipes call for butter and others for lard. I decided to go with the classic lard recipe because I have heard and read that using lard really does produce the better pie crust. So, for the first time ever, I went to the grocery and bought lard! The stuff is as gross as it sounds.



*This is where you have to remind yourself of all the health benefits you’re going to get from the blueberries to help justify cooking with pure animal fat. *

I used a newly purchased pastry blender to cut the lard into the flour. This is another area where I did some prior research. Apparently this is really the only reliable method of blending pastry and pie doughs.



The next step was to roll out the dough and create the crust. I will have to admit that I struggled a bit with this part of the process. My dough cracked around the edges and tore in a few places, but in the end, I managed to get it into the pie dish without too much trouble. I found that using a piece of fishing line will come in handy if you get the dough stuck to your countertop.



At this point, I was more concerned with the pie tasting good, rather than looking flawless. The crust always breaks apart anyways, right?



So, once the crust is assembled in the pan, all that’s left to do is fill and cover.







I used wax paper on the countertop for rolling out the second piece of dough. It worked out much better.



The final step was to seal the edges of the pie with a fork crimp method and then bake!



And what goes best with warm fruit pie out of the oven? Ice cream! My good friend, Andrea, was gracious enough to come by with some fresh vanilla bean ice cream from Little Man Ice Cream, my favorite local ice cream spot. The two made a perfect combo that just melted in my mouth. Yummm!



I was overall pleased with the results. I feel like my first pie was a success. What the crust lacked in beauty, it more than made up for in flaky goodness! I can't wait to make another!

Try it for yourself and don’t forget the ice cream!

Filling
Combine in a bowl and let stand for 15 minutes:
5 cups of fresh blueberries (washed and picked over)
1 cup of sugar
4 tablespoons of cornstarch
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
pinch of salt

Dough (for a 9-inch pie dish)
Preheat oven to 450°F
Sift together :
2 ½ cups of all purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoon of salt
Add :
¾ cup of chilled lard
3 tablespoons of unsalted butter
Cut half of the lard into the flour mixture with a pastry blender until it has the consistency of cornmeal.



Cut the remaining half into the dough until it is pea-sized. Sprinkle the dough with:
6 tablespoons of ice water
Blend the water gently into the dough until it just hold together.
Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.



Lightly flour a work surface. Place the dough in the center of the floured surface and lightly flour it as well. Exert even pressure on the dough with a rolling pin and roll the dough from the center out in all directions, stopping just short of the edge of the dough. Check for sticking along the way and sprinkle with flour as needed.



Once you have placed the shaped bottom crust into the pie dish, overlap and trim the edges. Fill the crust with the already mixed fruit filling, dot with cubes of butter, and repeat the process for the top crust. Seal the edges of the crust by crimping with a fork. Cut a few slits into the top crust for venting.



Bake in the oven for 10 minutes on 450°F, then turn the oven temp down to 350°F and bake for an additional 35 to 40 minutes. Once the pie is golden brown, remove from the oven and let cool completely.



Once again, all of the lovely images for this blog were captured by Orin Salah.

Bagels!

A few weeks ago Orin and I were having a lazy weekend morning and headed over to a neighborhood bagel shop for breakfast. While we sat in the shop and enjoyed the toasted doughy treats, I got to thinking.... “How do you even make bagels? Is it difficult?” It’s not something you hear about many people doing in their own at home, so I assumed that it must be some lengthy, involved, complicated process that only really experienced bakers in professional shops would attempt. A few days later, my curiosity got the best of me and I started doing a little research. I found a few online articles with directions and recipes, all of which made the process seem relatively easy. And so, I took the next logical step and decided to give it a try for myself.

As I do before attempting almost anything new in the kitchen, I turned to The Joy of Cooking. I have found The Joy of Cooking to be a great resource for basic recipes and directions, although I rarely follow Irma’s instructions and ingredients to the T. I often use the recipes as a starting point only, adapting each recipe to my own preferences and needs. That being said, the bagel recipe found in the JOC turned out to need only a few minor adjustments.



Knowing very little about doughs or bread-making, I decided to try and follow Irma’s exact recipe for bagels. So, I blindly added each ingredient at the specified amounts and ended up with a very dense and dry ball of useless dough. I promptly tossed the pitiful lump and decided to give it another go. From then on, I used my own judgment when it came to the amount of flour that was needed. Thus I learned that one of the basics to dough making is adding flour gradually in small amounts and only until the desired texture is achieved.



By my third attempt, I finally figured out what that desired texture is and how to go about achieving it. With bagels, that desired texture is best described as smooth and elastic. The simplest way that I have come up with to determine when the dough is just right is to remember these three things: knead for at least 5 minutes and as much as 10 minutes, the dough should be uniform and easily shaped into one large ball, the dough should not stick to your hands.





Shaping the rings of dough was intimidating as first. I wanted my bagels to look nice as well as taste yummy. It took some practice, but I eventually developed a technique that works quite well. With the dough divided into equally-sized portions, I rolled them out into dough snakes of about 8-10 inches long.
*Orin and I tried two different sized bagels at this point. The JOC recipe calls for 8 bagels per batch, but we found that to result in some small bagels. So, we made batches of 6 and 4 bagels each. *



Then, I wrap the dough around the back of my hand and overlap the two ends of the snake in my palm.



Next, I roll that portion of the dough until a good seam has been formed. The key here is to make sure that the dough ends have “fused” together, otherwise they can split when the dough is boiled and baked.



Once the rings of dough have risen, it’s time to boil the bagels! This well-known step is what makes a bagel a bagel. This part of the process is just as simple as it sounds. I used a large slotted spatula to maneuver the dough rings in and out of the water.



I was surprised at how much the bagels puff up during their boiling bath. They got quite a bit larger and started to resemble a completed bagel. While the bagels were wet, I added toppings such as sesame seeds or dried onion flakes to some of the batches.



Due to the crazy nature of my unpredictable gas oven, I have had to pay special attention to the baking process. Some of the smaller bagels only required 8 minutes of baking on each side, while the larger bagels needed a full 10 or 11 minutes on each side.



The result? Lots of yummy, good looking breakfast treats that we can enjoy for up to a week. I still prefer mine rather simple, with cream cheese. However, we have experimented with fried egg bagel sandwiches, cheese, fruit, and marmalades. You may have also noticed that I experimented with some other bagel ingredients, adding blueberries to the dough and toppings before baking. All of the additions seemed to work out well and have only encouraged me to continue experimenting.



Try it for yourself! Happy kneading!

Preheat oven to 425⁰
Lightly oil a large baking sheet

Combine the following in a medium sized bowl and stir until well dissolved:
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons warm water (105°-115°F)
1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast
2 ½ teaspoons sugar

Stir in:
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil or melted butter
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
1 ¾ teaspoons salt
1 cup bread flour



Stir until well blended, then 50 strokes. Add any flavor ingredients at this point. (onion/garlic powder, raisins, cinnamon, blueberries, etc.)

Gradually begin adding between 2 and 3 cups of additional bread flour. The amount of flour will vary. Always add flour in small increments. Once you have the first additional cup of flour added, you should be able to transfer the dough onto a floured working surface. Continue adding flour gradually as you knead the dough. Kneading can be tricky. You want to try and stick to a few simple motions. Press the dough down with the heel of your hand, then fold the dough over from the top onto itself and press again, then repeat over and over. Knead for at least 5 minutes and as long as 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place in a bowl, cover, and let rise for 15 -20 minutes.

Once the dough has risen, knead out any air bubbles and cut into either 6 or 8 (depending on how big you want your bagels) equal sections of dough. Roll each section of dough out into 8-10 inch lengths. Overlap the ends of the dough and press together until well fused. Set the dough rings on a lightly floured surface, cover, and let rise for 15 -20 minutes. Fill a large pot with water and place on the stove to boil.

Once the dough rings have risen, you will place them in the water to boil (2 or 3 at a time, whatever will fit in the pot without overlapping). Boil for one minute on each side, remove from the water, then let dry.

Once the bagels are dry, place them on the oiled baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes on each side at 425⁰. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

Store in an airtight container to retain freshness up to 5-6 days!

Credit for all of the amazing photos goes to Orin Salah. Thanks for all of your help and support!