Last weekend I had a uncontrollable craving for fresh baked bagels. There was only one problem. Mother Nature dumped 24 inches of snow on the Jersey Shore. I couldn’t see my car, let alone get it out of the driveway and drive to my favorite local bakery.

I made my mind up to tackle something that I had always been a little afraid of…making bagels from scratch. I didn’t have to look very far to find the perfect bagel recipe. I found the perfect one on Recipezaar. The recipe was very easy to understand and no detail was left out.

Home-Baked Bagels

1 1/2 cups water
2 packages yeast
1 1/2 ounces sugar (you need a kitchen scale for this)
1/2 ounce salt (you need a kitchen scale for this)
3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 quarts water, to boil
1 egg white
cinnamon (optional)
raisins (optional)
poppy seed (optional)
dried onions or garlic (optional)
sesame seed (Optional)

Mix yeast, sugar and warm water together and let stand 3 minutes.
Mix 2 cups of flour with the salt in a large bowl and add the yeast mixture.
Stir until combined and slowly mix in the rest of the flour (If making cinnamon raisin bagels, add these to dough now).
Knead on a floured surface for 5 minutes, adding additional flour if needed, dough should be firm.
Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until double.
After rising punch down and divide dough into 12 balls.
Allow to rest for 4 minutes.
Bring 2 quarts of water to boil.
With your thumb, make a hole in each ball of dough and pull open about 2 inches, making a bagel shape.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place the shaped dough onto a cookie sheet and cover for 10 minutes.
Lower heat under water for it to be simmering.
Drop 2 or 3 bagels at a time into the water for about 45 seconds, turning each once.
Drain and place on greased baking sheets.
Brush tops with beaten egg white and top with optional toppings.
Bake for 35 minutes, turning once for even browning.
Bagels are done when they are golden brown and shiny.

I only made a few changes to the recipe. To make a shiny, crisp crust on the bagels I added a tablespoon of baking soda to my boiling water. I also cooked the bagels in the boiling water for twice the time recommended. To add some spice and bite to my bagels I used Montreal steak seasoning for my topping. The crushed black pepper, sea salt and garlic were divine! I also made large sandwich style bagels and only got 7 bagels out of this recipe.

I have no idea what I was afraid of. Making fresh baked bagels at home is easy-peasy. I really should have tried this recipe long before now. These bagels were so delicious that now I have to go break up with my favorite bakery. Our love affair is over. I can have delicious, hot and chewy bagels without even leaving my house!

The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry.

No matter how good your plan is, things can still happen to make the plan fall apart.

Things have fallen apart for me in a good way. The soap business has really taken off for me and I’m loving every minute of it. In the process of being very busy making soap there hasn’t been much time left over for any creative cooking. I’ve been slapping meals together at the last minute and not being very original. Seriously, who wants to read about grilled chicken breasts, salad out of the bag, frozen pasta and Chinese takeaway?

Guest bloggers are still lined up for posts in the future. It just seems like all of my friends are just as swamped as I am right now with work and projects. I’m looking forward to getting back on track and getting back in the kitchen. I really hate it when I loose my desire to be creative in the kitchen.

Today I leave you with one of my favorite quick meals….San Bei Ji. Better known as three cup chicken.

San Bei Ji

1       tablespoon sesame oil
2       tablespoons olive oil
20     garlic cloves, minced
10     slices thin fresh ginger
1       Serrano pepper, thinly sliced
2       lbs chicken breasts cut up into bite-size pieces
1/2     cup soy sauce
1/2     cup rice wine
3       tablespoons sugar
2      cups Thai basil
1/2   pound fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced
1/2   pound yu choy, roughly chopped
1      cup sliced lotus root
2      single serve (5.6 oz. each) fresh yaki-soba noodles

1. Heat up the olive oil  in a wok on high heat.
2. Add garlic, ginger and Serrano pepper, stir fry until fragrant ( 3 minutes)
3. Add the chicken pieces and cook 5 minutes.
4. Stir together the soy sauce, rice wine and sugar in a bowl, pour over chicken.

5. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to low. Cook uncovered for 15 minutes.
6. Add yu choy, lotus root and mushrooms.
7. Let cook, uncovered, until sauce thickens, about 15 minutes.
8. Turn heat back up to high and add basil, sesame oil and yaki soba noodles cook for another 5 minutes.

The dish turns out kind of ugly as you can see in the picture above…but the taste is out of this world! Very simple and very delicious.

What is your favorite quick Asian inspired dish?