Ugly Bagels

I love to bake and equally, I love bagels but I am terrible at making my baked goods look as good the ones you would get from a professional baker. Thus the Ugly Bagels were born. I found a recipe online at allrecipes.com that I felt fit the classic bagel requirements. It calls for the boiling of the dough prior to baking. In this batch we made three different flavors. Plain, kosher salt and sesame seed.

The first try was rough. I boiled the dough as instructed but I found the bagels too tough and chewy. On this batch I shortened the boil time with better results. I find the shortened time yields a lighter, softer center and doesn't leave your jaw sore from chewing. Give it shot, there are quite a few steps but overall an easy process. Let me know any tips you may have for making them look better than mine.

Homeskillet is killing it in Sunnyland

I love this grub! Everything I have had at Homeskillet has been awesome and I always feel welcomed. Plus they serve BEER! This particular day I ordered the Hot Green Mess. This crazy concoction must have originated in some herb-induced late-night munchies binge. It starts with the home-made mac n' cheese. The melty goodness is then topped with their spicy pork green chile. A wonderful mixture of roasted pork, chiles, peppers and onions. Then its all topped again with more cheese! 

They put a pile of perfectly fried tater tots on the side which you think would be over-kill by now but NO! It is a stroke of culinary genius as you mix a bite of the gooey-soft cheesy noodles with the spicy-savory chile and the salty pop of the tots. Fantastic! Bring a friend to share because the portion is LARGE! So will be your belly if you did as I did by polishing off each bite with a swig of vitamin R, which I do encourage, but you have been warned! I will be back to Homeskillet again and again and so will you. But please, for the sake of Kirby, Tina and the crew, come on a weekday. The weekends just get too jammed up.

Avenue loosens the B(e)LT

Classic BLT on a freshly baked ciabatta roll in itself sounds great but add stone-ground mustard and two over-easy eggs and you have yourself a party in your mouth! Avenue'sJames Street Cafe has been a favorite of mine for a number of years. The first time I tried the Sunnyland location I ordered this sandwich (the BELT). I consider myself well versed in all things sandwich and I feel this particular one hits on all levels. Starting with the bread, as all sandwiches do, is a wheat ciabatta baked fresh daily. It is soft on the inside with a slightly chewy crust. The bread holds up well to the filling. The bacon, the single-most important ingredient to the BLT, hands down, not debatable. Don't try and fool me with some vegan substitute or some crap made from turkey it has to be the real thing. Crunchy, salty pork bacon is the foundation of this great sandwich. The lettuce is crisp and lends a great counter-texture to the bread. The tomato is sweet and counters the bacon nicely. 

The eggs, although typically fried, I recommend getting them cook over-easy or sunny-side-up. Over-easy is a little less messy but the richness the yolk brings, covering each bite with a warm blanket of good morning, is well worth the extra napkins. The stone-ground mustard sends this breakfast grinder into the stratosphere. Playing the roll of savory and spicy all at once. Overall this is one of my top 10 sandwiches (a subject I will cover in a later blog) and would recommend it for your next adventure in eating.  

Dutch Oven Pizza

Considering making pizza and camping are two of my favorite hobbies, this a something I've wanted to do for a long time.

The start of any cooking venture is the preparation. I have here a 12" dutch oven with lid hook, tongs for briquette distribution, briquette chimney, fire pit and table to hold ingredients.

On the preparation table I have my homemade pizza dough (which I will discuss in a later post), cheese, meat, tomatoes, a board for dough prep, a silicon brush to spread the oil and a peel to receive cooked pizza.

While the briquettes reach perfection I prepared the dutch oven using olive oil to keep the pizza from sticking and to add flavor to the crust.

I fit the dough inside the dutch oven and added a bit more olive oil to help keep the crust from getting too dry.  One could use a tomato or white sauce here instead. I topped this cheese only pizza with a blend of mozzarella and sharp cheddar cheese.

Using the tongs place 4 to 6 briquettes on the fire pit floor (I used a small bbq grate because the ground in the Pacific Northwest is always damp). You don't need much heat on the bottom but be sure to evenly space the briquettes. Dump the remainder on the lid of the dutch oven. This will drive the heat down and cook your toppings without over-cooking the crust. As time passes you may need to transfer briquettes from the lid to the bottom. Cook time should be roughly 12 minutes. However you will need to check and rotate the dutch oven periodicity.

When cooking multiple pizzas using one dutch oven be sure to remove the oven from the heat and be cautious while building your next pizza in the hot dutch oven. The second and third pizzas were topped with olive oil, serrano ham, chorizo sausage, spanish salame, tomato, a blend of asiago, mozzarella, parmesan, provolone and fontina cheeses. The results are a crispy-thin crust with a moist top and a great chew. A light delicious pizza while you are roughing it.