Like Strawberry Wine...

Ahhh, a new year.  You know what that means….a new scone recipe, obviously.  It’s been quite a while since I made a new flavor so you had to know I was due.  I went on my first big shopping trip tonight since before the holidays, and before heading out to restock the cupboards, I did some inventory of what I needed to get rid of.  Figs!  I had totally forgotten about the couple bags of dried figs I had from when I made challah a few months back.  Well the beauty of dried fruit is that it lasts for-freaking-ever (if you store it properly), but it was definitely time to use them up.

You see where I’m going with this.  I got this recipe from the same blog where I found the challah – she too likes figs it seems.  This is a super simple recipe, though let me warn you – it is stiiiiccckky!  I thought I’d make my scones cute and truly single-portion sized by using a round biscuit cutter rather than just shaping and cutting the dough.  Well, the dough wasn’t stiff enough to stay in the biscuit cutter cut-outs, so I had to roll/pat them into shape.  I kind of ended up with what looks like large cookies, except they are still that amazing flaky scone consistency.  Regardless of their looks, they taste SO GOOD.  I really don’t think you can go wrong with figs and honey.  Give them a try.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking oats)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg
¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup diced figs (fresh or dried)

NOTES: Since I can’t ever leave a recipe as is – I added ½ tsp vanilla extract to the wet ingredients.  Pretty much every sweet baked good needs vanilla.  Also, I substituted fat-free half and half for the heavy cream because that is what I had.  It worked fine and it can’t hurt to eliminate that extra fat.  Finally, I only used about 1 ½ tablespoons of granulated sugar.  Figs are pretty sweet, they don’t need much sugar.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and canola oil together. Add the honey and mix until combined. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and fold together with a rubber spatula to combine. Add the cream and mix together (the dough will be a little wet). Cover the diced figs with the sugar and gently fold into the dough.

4. On a well-floured surface, and dusting the top of the dough with more flour, pat the dough out into a 7-inch circle. Cut into 8 triangles. Place on the prepared baking sheet.

5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container, but they are best the same day they are made.

Recipe adapted from www.browneyedbaker.com 

This month I decided to go savory rather than sweet.  The shipping period happened to coincide with Hanukkah so I figured, why not bagels?  I’m not into deep frying so no donut-making for me, and I’m sure there are some guys out there who would appreciate something other than Christmas cookies this time of year…

For years there has been a bagel debate – New York or Montreal?  Seriously, check out this article dating back to 1987: 

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/13/garden/in-montreal-bagels-like-none-other.html

And this one from 2009: 

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/montreals-bagels-square-off-against-new-yorks/

Well, the answer to that question may depend on the answer to what you like on your bagel.  Cream cheese or butter?  What do you like it topped with?  Cheese, salt, poppy seeds, plain (c’mon, who likes plain??), everything, even jalapeños or spinach these days.  The Canadians go simple.  There are generally only three varieties – plain, sesame or poppy seed.  The major difference between the bagels you and I are used to (New York) and the Montreal style is honey.  There’s honey in the dough and honey in the water you boil them in.  Because of that mild sweetness, the preferred way to eat them is toasted with butter – again, simple, and I gotta say – pretty darn delicious.

I’m afraid I can’t share the recipe with you this time.  I bugged my Montreal bagel expert for his recipe multiple times, which is one his family has used for years, and I said I would keep it under wraps.  The recipe in the first article above is quite similar to what I used though, so at least you’ll be able to get close!  Since I’m not all that familiar with what these are supposed to taste like, I brought in the expert for a critique (nerve-wracking!) and here’s the verdict:

APPEARANCE:  Good color, good seed disbursement (should be on both sides), good size, but not quite the crisp crust they should have.  Argh!  I have learned that a baking stone is the way to go rather than cookie sheets.  And no need to preheat it as you usually do with pizza - just put the bagels on and put it all in the oven at once.

SMELL:  This made me nervous.  The initial assessment was, “These don’t smell like Montreal bagels.”  Uh oh.  I totally blame the bag.  I had made them earlier in the week and froze them for a few days so they wouldn’t go stale – I think the smell test was unfair J

UNTOASTED FLAVOR:  Good reaction!  They tasted the way they should and even warranted me a high-five.  Nice.

And the final test…

TOASTED WITH BUTTER:  Immediate reaction - “MMMM!”  Score, me!  That was all I needed to hear.

I definitely think I can perfect these bagels – not in flavor, but in technique.  I have some baking tricks up my sleeve that I have yet to pull out.   The good thing is, while time consuming, they are really fun to make – the kneading, the rolling, the boiling, the seeding…it’s a process but definitely one that pays off.

Believe it or not, I did not make up the name of this dessert.  And quite frankly I have no idea why it’s called this because I made an apple pie a couple months ago and this pie/cake was just as involved, if not more so.  It’s an odd recipe – for one thing, it was in metric measurements and for us here in the US who are not engineers, metric makes no sense, not to mention it just says to bake “at medium heat” – wtf?!?  Also, there is virtually nothing in the recipe to flavor the cake, except for "vanilla sugar" which doesn’t even have a measurement listed next to it.  I converted the measurements to terms I could understand and took the flavoring into my own hands.  All in all, not bad.  Not a cake I would crave or likely make again anytime soon, but it was fun to do something different, and the birthday boy I made this for (who is Serbian) was quite pleased – in the end, that’s all that matters.  

Ingredients

14 Tbsp margarine/butter (1 ¾ sticks)

7 Tbsp lard (I used vegetable-based Crisco)

1 ¾ cup sugar

4 eggs, separated

2 cups milk

2 ½ -2 ¾ cups AP flour

2 tsp baking powder

2+ lbs sour apples, grated (I used granny smith)

Powdered sugar for topping after baking

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract – my addition

Cinnamon & Nutmeg – my additions

Instructions

Stir together the margarine/butter and lard.  Add 10 Tbsp and egg yolks and continue stirring until well mixed.

Add milk, vanilla extract (if using), flour and baking powder.  Stir well.  Batter will be thick.

Pour slightly more than half the batter into a greased 9x13” baking pan.

Beat the egg whites with the remaining 4 Tbsp sugar just until you get firm peaks.  Spread the egg whites over the batter in the pan.

Mix grated apples with cinnamon and nutmeg (I highly recommend the spices here) to taste.  Distribute evenly over the egg whites.

Pour the remaining batter over the apples and with a rubber scraper/greased spatula, spread the batter evenly to completely cover the apples.

Bake at 350º for about an hour, but start checking it after about 25 min and keep adding 5 minutes at a time until the top is browned, a little crackly, and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let cool for about 5 minutes then sprinkle the top of the cake with powdered sugar.  Let cool another 15-20 minutes or so then sprinkle with another coating of sugar.  Enjoy!

Link to the original recipe:  http://www.serbiancookbook.com/food-recipes/desserts/sweet-pies/lazy-apple-pie/

*Ed. note - sorry for the picture quality this time around...not the best lighting!

[Ding ding ding!] RAMEN: ROUND 3! [More boxing bells]  Yes yes, yet another ramen shop has recently opened in DC, this time on the other end of Adams Morgan on Columbia Road (www.taandc.com).  Since I’ve reviewed the other two major players (Toki Underground and Sakuramen), of course I had to check this place out too.  Sooooo….

The décor is nice.  There’s a warm funky feel to it.  Good ambient lighting with old cameras and doors adorning the walls and shelves.  Not sure what theme they are going for exactly, but I’m someone who enjoys antiquing (no, not the urban dictionary definition though that’s kinda funny) on occasion (I know, how old am I?!?!  Just an old soul, I swear) so I like things like that.

The service was great. I went on a cold night and the only available seating was right by the front door.  There was a space heater pointed directly towards me and the hostess said they were “working on a curtain” for that area.  As soon as a table opened up further back in the restaurant, she offered it to us and we gladly accepted!

On to the food.  We started with corn fritters for an appetizer – basically some corn mixed in a batter and fried.  Pretty tasty – the corn flavor came through the grease flavor which is essential!  There was a spicy aioli type sauce served with them – kind of like a sriracha mayo – and it was a nice accompaniment.

I ordered their basic triple stock ramen, but substituted the pork belly for chicken confit.  The chicken was super tender and really tasty.  The soup?  Not so much.  It was good, for sure, but the broth just wasn’t as rich as I’d hope it would be.  It was in fact a little bland.  

My dining buddy got the vegetarian ramen and as you can see, it was cream based.  The menu did specify that it was “cream corn soup” but this was some thick cream.  Not necessarily a bad thing, but a little strange for a noodle soup.  And while also good, there was the same issue with blandness.  

We requested salt and our waitress said she would look for some – really?  A restaurant doesn’t have salt back in that kitchen?  Maybe not as she returned to the table with some chili powder, sesame oil, sriracha sauce and soy sauce.  I used 3 of the 4 and was able to achieve more of what I was looking for.  My veggie friend did the same and was able to improve the flavor as well but we agreed that we shouldn’t have to be adding so much extra flavoring in order to enjoy the food!  I don’t want to totally knock the ramen as it was certainly still edible.  The noodles were cooked perfectly, it was filling and there were some tasty add-ins in mine such as pickled cucumbers and a soft egg.  Also, had we actually gotten salt, that may have been all we needed to bring out the other flavors.  Here’s the final breakdown:

Would I go back?  Yes – I’d try it one more time after they’ve been open a little longer to see if they’ve worked out the kinks.  But if I had to judge now, I’d say Toki #1, Sakuramen #2 and Taan #3 – with potential to move up.