Bagels with Vegetable Cream Cheese

It must be breakfast week on the blog.

I made these a few weeks ago, and now that they're gone, I'm living vicariously through this post. These bagels reminded me of Bruegger's Bagels. When I was in high school, I'd get a hot, fresh, plain bagel, nothing on it and unsliced, and eat it from the outside in. As in, I'd peel the crust off first, eat that, then eat the middle kind of like a donut. It's strange, I know. These bagels remind me of that.

These are kind of like my pretzel recipe. Probably slightly easier than my pretzel recipe, though equally tasty. I tried to make bagels using my pretzel recipe and failed miserably at it, but this one was much, much better.

As you might have guessed, making dough is strangely not my forte. I've had to throw entire batches of things out because I couldn't get the consistency right. I love my dough hook on my strand-up mixer, but it doesn't seem to love me. My bread maker, on the other hand, is a very close, good friend. We get along very well. Throw the stuff in, hit a few buttons, walk away, then poof! Dough in two hours.

I made these, boiled and baked them, and of course the smell brought Adam down the stairs. He tried one, responded with just "Yes", then took another one back up to his office. I guess that means that this is a winner? I'm ready to vary on the flavor, maybe a whole wheat, poppy, or everything, but this is a pretty simple enough recipe to be able to try 15 different ways if you want.

To go with it, I made some vegetable cream cheese. The first time I made this, it was because I had a basket of vegetables that my father had won at a family auction. I went up to congratulate him, noted how much was in it, and he promptly handed it to me, telling me I could probably do more with it than he could. So, one of the things I made with it was veggie cream cheese. Stupidly easy, and damn tasty. It helps that the base is regular cream cheese, and throwing in diced veggies and mixing it up are essentially the only directions. Who knew I could enjoy radishes so much?

Bagels with Vegetable Cream Cheese (recipes from allrecipes.com and foodnetwork.com)

Bagels (recipe adapted from allrecipes.com):

1 c. warm water (roughly 110 degrees)
1.5 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
3 c. bread flour (I didn't have enough bread flour, so I substituted 2 cups with regular white whole wheat flour)
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (one single serve package)
3 quarts boiling water
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. cornmeal
1 egg white
if you are interested in toppings, use 3 Tbsp. of your choice-poppyseeds, garlic, sesame seeds, etc.)

Place first five ingredients in the breadmaker with the liquid on the bottom and the yeast on the top. Select dough setting.

When dough is done, let it rest on a floured surface for about ten minutes. While the dough rests, boil the water and 3 tablespoons sugar.

Slice the dough into eight to ten equal pieces. Roll each piece into a small ball , then poke a hole in the middle using your finger. Make the hole and the bagel bigger by twirling it around your finger, then cover and let rest for ten minutes.

Sprinkle a baking sheet lined with parchment paper with cornmeal. Place bagels in boiling water for one minute, flipping over at the 30 second mark. Drain on a towel, then arrange on the baking sheet on top of the cornmeal. Brush the tops with egg white and sprinkle with toppings (if using).

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-15 minutes, or until bagels are nicely browned.

Vegetable Cream Cheese (recipe adapted from Food Network)

• 
  
• 2 8 oz. packages room temperature cream cheese
• 2 Tbsp. minced scallions
• 2 Tbsp. diced carrot
• 2 Tbsp. diced celery
• 2 Tbsp. diced radish 
• 2 Tbsp. diced red pepper
• salt and pepper, to taste

Place all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed until blended. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Cranberry Apple Butter

Fall is in the air. I'm not sure whether to be excited (because I can wear thick, warm sweaters and build a fire turn on the switch in our fireplace) or sad (because I love the sunshine, warm weather, and eating outside). I'm going to call that a draw.

This recipe, however, is a solid win (really, with the cliches?).

As always with our CSA, we get a ton of fruit or vegetables several weeks running. We have received apples for three weeks now. Three! I like to put apples in things, but I don't eat them as a snack, standalone. I'm not sure why, because I love things like pears, but there you have it. Apples are never my first choice in a fruit to just munch on. I knew that I had to put these apples in something to make me feel like they weren't wasted. Bread was fine, but I had made a banana bread a few weeks earlier and currently have a whole host of these, these, and these sitting in my fridge right now. I wasn't really interested in any more bread products (after all, I'm not really needing to carb-load these days, despite my baking that says otherwise!).

On Friday, I had to run to the store because we ran out of a few key items (you know, like milk wine) and while I was there I noticed that cranberries had arrived back in the produce section. Not craisins, but real, honest-to-goodness cranberries. All of a sudden, it hit me. I wanted to make cranberry apple butter.

A few years ago, when I was creating my annual Christmas goodie bag of baked goods for friends, I came across this recipe. I thought it looked pretty easy, and different, for that matter, and decided to give it a whirl. Though I only made one batch, I remember eating that stuff on almost anything-bread, muffins, a spoon-and was pretty sad when it was gone. This weekend, I went off in search of that recipe, and except for the fact that the recipe called for Granny Smith apples (which weren't in the CSA!) I realized I had everything else I'd need to do this. Just like that, it made it's way on my to-make list for sometime this weekend (yes, I make a to-make list of dishes and baked goods for the week that I try to do over the weekend. Don't judge).

On Sunday I felt a little chill in the air and got to work. I threw everything in a pot besides the apples, peeled and cored the apples (and tried not to nick my fingers in the process), and let it cook down for hours. Later, I pureed it using my hand blender, and voila! cranberry apple butter!

Massive amounts of cranberry apple butter. Anyone hungry?

I am pretty sure I'll still be eating this by the spring with the amount I have, but you're welcome to take some of it off my hands. That is, if you can pry it from my fingers first. It kind of gives my taste buds a little bit of pucker after giving it a nice small sweet sugar rush. It's not like most sweet spreads I've had (and to be honest, I'll usually only use raspberry jam anyway). I think it'd be especially perfect with a nice hot, buttery popover. Not that I have any fresh popovers in my kitchen...

...yet.

Cranberry apple butter (recipe adapted slightly from From the kitchen of the 13)

2 c brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 c. orange juice
2 c. fresh or frozen cranberries
10 apples of your choice (I used a combination of Macoun, McIntosh, and Cortlands, but the original recipe calls for Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and chopped into large chunks

*Add all ingredients except the apples to a large pot. Cook over medium heat and stir occasionally until the cranberries begin to pop.
* Add apples, turn the heat to medium-low to low and cook until apples get very soft and fall apart. Make sure you stir the mixture frequently to get everything combined together.
*Put the mixture carefully into a blender (let it cool a bit so it doesn't explode in the blender!) or use a hand blender or a potato masher until the mixture is thick and, for the most part, smooth (I always like a couple of chunks of apple or cranberry!). Spread on anything of choice, but hot, fresh bread or popovers never seem to hurt!

"Peanutella"

If you don't know my favorite candy, you may not know me all that well.

...

...

still thinking?

I'm a gigantic sucker for the chocolate peanut butter combination, so your guess of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups is spot on.
(I'm actually eating one now.)

On Halloween, I've gone trick-or treating with my nieces and my sister since they've been old enough to go. One year, quite awhile ago, I told my nieces this little secret of my favorite candy. Ever since, every year, they'll help me in my quest for peanut butter-chocolate euphoria.

"Auntie!" They'll shout, from the lucky houses. "They had Peanut Butter Cups! I got one for you!"

At Halloween, my pockets are stuffed with peanut butter cups and a few wrappers, from those I ate while I walked. I clean up at Halloween.

Today seemed like a perfect day to make this spread: Woburn had it's official Halloween parade this afternoon, we had an unusual freak nor'easter that produced several inches of snow, and I'm procrastinating from doing paperwork at home. I'm also trying to avoid breaking into the bag of peanut butter cups I bought for trick-or-treaters tomorrow. See? Win-win.







This was one of the weirder recipes I've ever made. Put toasted peanuts in the food processor and grind until it looks like peanut butter. Weird. Add cocoa powder and powdered sugar and salt and oil and blend until it looks like a spread. Too easy. Spread it on a piece of toasted challah bread shipped to you from your favorite island bakery. So very right.





Chocolate-Peanut Spread (recipe from Smitten Kitchen)
2 c. shelled and skinned peanuts (the recipe calls for raw; all I could find were salted and roasted. Those are fine too)
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt (if you find unsalted peanuts, you may need more)
2-3 tablespoons peanut oil

Turn the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the peanuts evenly over a cookie sheet and roast for about 10 minutes, or 5 if they are already roasted.
Transfer the peanuts to a food processor (I'm fairly certain this wouldnt work with a blender, sadly, but if you try let me know how you make out) and grind them for about 5 minutes. It will first look really grainy, then it will have more of a peanut butter look. Leave it alone until it looks like peanut butter and then grind it for another minute or so, just to be sure.

Add the cocoa, sugar, salt and two tablespoons of the oil to the food processor and continue to blend together for about 1 minute.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

Guacamole

Ah, Guacamole. The dip that signifies summer. I love guacamole, and for some reason this particular recipe is my favorite-my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I can't exactly recall what the reason was that I asked for it from my friend E so long ago, but I'm glad I did every time I remake the dish.





This recipe has proven to be a tried and true hit with family and friends alike. I brought this guacamole to a Christmas celebration one year after getting my annual Christmas avocado (among other things, my dad gets plantain chips and these gigantic avocados every year from a client of his, and hands them out to everyone in the family-I love that tradition) and am now requested to bring it to every.family.function. All the time. Then there was the time I made it over the fourth of July down in Dallas, got scoffed at by my friends there for bringing it, and by the middle of the party found the bowl nearly licked clean with comments about how the "Yankee" makes some good guac (all jokes, of course). This guacamole's even an award winner-when I worked at Tufts the teachers and staff had a "guac-off", so there were about 9 bowls of guacamole in the kitchen, and mine tied for first (I think it only tied because I was going against almost a pureed guacamole).



This is some good stuff.



I used to follow this with the recipe I wrote down-over the years I've ditched that method, and instead just glance at it before I begin, only to add more where I think I need it. It's one of the few recipes I'll do without a paper in front of me, and one of the few where I will continually experiment. Sometimes it's got too much lemon juice in it, so I'll add more salt. Too much garlic? Add a little more cilantro or lemon juice. Maybe one day I'll put in less onion than I'm normally used to, just because I don't feel like a lot of onion that day.

All I know is that it's really, really, really tasty and very fast. Start to finish I'd say it takes no more than ten minutes. I love this stuff-I'd eat it right out of the bowl with a spoon (wait, I would? Let's change that to I have.). And the best part is that it reminds me of sitting outside on a really hot summer day with friends, drinking beer or something else, just enjoying ourselves. Even if I am eating it with a full foot of snow on the ground outside.

Guacamole (origins unknown)

2 ripe avocados
juice from one lemon (maybe slightly less-depends on your taste)
1-2 cloves of garlic (I often use a spoonful of minced garlic)
1/4 c. cilantro, choped
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
jalepeno pepper, finely chopped, ribs and seeds removed (optional-I never use it)

pit and scoop the avocado out of it's peel. combine the all of the ingredients in a bowl, and mash and combine until desired consistency (I like it on the chunkier side). Taste as you go, adding more of ingredients as you feel you want them (I often feel like I need more lemon juice and salt, but you might want more garlic. Whatever floats your boat).
I usually serve this with corn chips, not tortilla chips, but they're good with either. Or on top of a burger, or in a chicken sandwich. It is stupendous, if I do say so myself.

Sundried Tomato Pesto

This pesto is what I think of when I want some sort of spread that isn't hummus or guacamole or something. Not so much mayo or mustard, but a different spread.



Sundried tomato pesto (well, this recipe, anyway) takes very little time to prepare, so much that it's to the point of laughable easy. Of course, this ease is made easier with the help of my trusty food processor-without one, I'm not sure it would be so simple-though I'm sure a blender could do the job quite nicely. This is not smooth-this particular pesto is pretty grainy and a little more chunky than your typical pesto. It's not runny at all.





It's perfect for using with crackers, and it works well as a sandwich spread. I'd even say it's good for putting over pasta, though I've never tried it. It's got a bit of tang to it, so be prepared-this is not a mellow pesto!



I made this originally on Thursday for my friend's birthday party, and decided that although I left the container half full at her house, I wanted to make some for myself so I'd have something different to snack on this week. I'm not sorry I had to make it again. Forgive the picture quality though-my camera I normally use to take these pictures ran out of battery power, so I used my other one. You get the idea, though.

This whole recipe, from start to finish, takes roughly 5-10 minutes-all you have to do is measure the ingredients in the bowl and start the processor. You have no reason to wait. No lie, this post took me longer to write than making this sundried tomato pesto did. Stop reading this and get up from the couch and go make it for yourself. You will thank me later.

Sundried Tomato Pesto (from www.recipezaar.com)
2 c. sundried tomatoes (if you get the ones packed in oil, make sure you drain first-I have used both-the ones that are in oil and ones that aren't. I don't notice too much of a difference.
1 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/4 c. packed basil (it doesn't need to be chopped)
1/4 c. packed parsley (again, unchopped)
1/4 c. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, whole
ground pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until blended. Cover well and refrigerate until ready to use.

Eggplant Marinara

Years ago, I had made something I was quite certain was called easy eggplant parmesan. I remembered it as a sauce with eggplant in it, served over pasta, with cheese. For the life of me I couldn't find it though. I either never printed it out and followed the recipe from my computer screen or I printed it and threw it away by accident. Either way, I had only had it once but I couldn't stop thinking about it.

Fast forward to a few days ago, when I was looking something up on my old hard drive (long story short, my old computer decided to stop working but the hard drive was still usable, but being too lazy to actually copy all of my files to my new computer, I only put a few over and kept the drive aside to plug in as I needed it). I noticed on this drive I had a file folder I had titled "recipes" and curious, I opened it.

And there it was: eggplant marinara.



Of course. Eggplant marinara, not easy eggplant parm (though I suppose the two are somewhat synonymous). I looked at the recipe, and indeed, it was the one I hadn't been able to locate all those years. It was almost like I had hit the lottery. I figured I could make it, freeze it, and use it as needed. In the meantime, I'd print the recipe out (again) and file it like I normally do. Jackpot.







Eggplant is most decidedly my favorite vegetable. I love it best fried (What's not good fried, I ask you? Nothing.) but it's really tasty-and I know I might be in the minority because I know people for whom eggplant is not their favorite. But if it's not, just try this one: it's mild and innocent enough that I think you miss some of the texture (which turns some people off)-although there is texture- and get more of the taste.

This recipe is easy and doesn't take that many steps, and marinara freezes well, which makes this even better. That is, of course, if you don't plan on eating it straight from the container with a spoon (or over your choice of pasta) :) Start to finish (not including the roasting time for the eggplant) this dish took me roughly twenty minutes, which only adds to the appeal.



Eggplant Marinara (recipe courtesy of Rachael Ray)

* 1 large eggplant
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 onion, chopped
* 3 cloves garlic, chopped (I used a spoonful of minced garlic)
* 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
* 6 leaves of torn or chopped basil
* 1 c. grated Parmigiano Reggiano

To roast the eggplant: Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut eggplants in half and spread a little bit of olive oil with a pastry brush and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Place eggplants on a baking sheet and put in the oven for about 45 minutes or so, until they're a nice golden color. Remove from the oven and let cool.

While eggplant is cooking or while it is cooling, heat a pan over medium-high heat. Spray a little bit of butter spray in the pan and add the onions and garlic and cook until soft.

While the onions and garlic are cooking, scoop the eggplant out from the skin and mash with a fork in a bowl. Add the mashed eggplant to the pan with the onions and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Add the crushed tomatoes and the torn basil and the cheese.

Freeze for future use, serve over pasta, or just grab yourself a spoon.