Pumpkin Bagels

*For tips on baking fresh pumpkin check the archives. Click on the tap marked pumpkin.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup pumpkin (mine was a pretty soft puree)

1 cup luke warm water

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp yeast

5-6 cups flour

Directions.

In a large bowl add pumpkin.

Dissolve sugar in lukewarm water and add to bowl.


Add salt sugar and yeast.

Stir well.

Add 3-4 cups of flour and stir to combine ingredients. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time until dough is too stiff to stir.

Knead in bowl or on counter for 8-10 minutes (I like to put on a show on the portable dvd player and get in my upper arm workout while I'm listening to something :) Keep adding a little flour at a time if dough is sticky.

Cover and let rise until doubled in size. 1 1/2 -2 hours.

Divide into 16-24 balls depending on size preference.

Let rise 1/2 hour (Don't let them rise too much)

Using your floured finger, make a hole in the center of each bagel.

Pick it up and give it a little spin around your finger.

Meanwhile in a saucepan or wok (I actually like my wok best) heat 2-3 inches of water. Dissolve 2 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tbsp white sugar in the water. Heat until boiling.

Working in batches boil 6-8 bagels at time. Two minutes on the first side, then flip. Then two minutes on the next side.

I use a bamboo chopstick to flip the bagels and to take them out of the water.

After the bagels have boiled transfer them to a parchment lined baking sheet. Parchment paper is not essential, but it makes it so much easier to get them off the pan. Cooking spray just doesn't work that well. The bagels have a tendency to become glued to the pan. Parchment paper solves this problem.

Bake at 200°C or 400°F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

Enjoy toasted with cream cheese!

Cilantro Spicy Rice

This rice is only mildly spicy. I do not really like spicy stuff and I absolutely love this rice. Both my kids will eat it plain so that tells you it's pretty mild.

Ingredients:
½ hot green pepper, diced
½ red onion, diced
½ cup cilantro
3 cloves garlic
2-3 tablespoons water

salt or chicken bouillon

Directions:
Cook 1 ½ cups dry rice in a rice cooker or on the stove. You can add a little chicken bouillon to the water if you want.

In a small saucepan, sauté the diced hot pepper in a little water until tender. Do not drain.

Add to the rest of the ingredients, and pulse in a blender until everything is chopped and well blended.

Add to cooked rice and stir until well combined. Add salt to taste.

*Note: Thai rice works best with this recipe. This makes a great side dish or filling for soft flour tacos.

Homemade Tortillas

As long as you make the dough really soft and let the tortillas rest they roll out really thin.
These tortillas are perfect for gorditas, fajitas and eating out of hand.

Ingredients:
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup lukewarm milk

Directions:
Stir together the flour, salt and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.

Add vegetable oil to the lukewarm milk and whisk briefly to incorporate. Gradually add the milk to the flour, and work the mixture into a dough with a fork. It will be sticky.

If too gooey add a little more flour, but be careful not to add too much.

Turn the dough out onto a surface dusted with flour and knead vigorously for about 2 minutes (Or you can just knead in the bowl). The kneading will take care of the stickiness.

Return the dough to the bowl, cover it with a damp cloth or plastic wrap, and let it rest for 15 minutes. (This dough will not rise, but it needs a rest.)

Divide your dough into 8 balls of equal size, cover them, and let them rest again for about 20 minutes.

Keep the pieces of dough you aren't working with covered so they won't dry out.

Dust your work surface with flour. Working one at a time, remove each piece of dough and pat into a circle. With a rolling pin, roll out the tortilla, working from the center out, turning 1/4 turn every few rolls. Roll out until you have a 10 inch tortilla.

Transfer the tortilla to a dry skillet or griddle over low heat. It will begin to blister. Let it cook for 20 seconds, turn it, and let the other side cook for 15 seconds. It is done when it has small brown spots. Repeat for the remaining tortillas.

Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary

Ingredients:
4-5 yukon gold potatoes
1 bunch asparagus(optional)
1 red onion
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp dried rosemary
3-4 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Cut potatoes, onion (and if using, asparagus)into 1 inch pieces and toss together.

Add, minced garlic, salt and rosemary.

Toss together with oil.

Transfer to baking dish.

Roast in the oven at 375 F or 180 C for 30 minutes. Transfer to the highest rack. Turn the oven setting to Broil and turn the temperature up to as high as it will go. Roast for 10-15 minutes more, stirring every 4-5 minutes.

Parmesan Fried Chicken

(For the bread crumbs in this recipe I use left over pieces of baguettes. I cut them up into small pieces and let them get stale by just leaving them in an uncovered container for a day or two. Then right before I want to use them I either crush them in a ziploc bag or pulse them in the blender)

2 chicken breast cut into strips

2 cups bread crumbs

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 tsp salt

fresh ground pepper

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp cornstarch

oil

Cut up chicken into strips. In a bowl beat eggs together with lemon juice and cornstarch. In a separate bowl mix bread crumbs with cheese, salt and pepper.

Dip strips into egg mixture. Turn to coat. Then dip strips into bread crumbs. Let rest on a plate for 5-10 minutes to allow crumbs to set.

Fry in batches in hot oil over medium heat for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown.

Using tongs, turn strips over and cook on other side for about 3 minutes.

Drain on paper towels.

Place on a baking sheet in oven on a low setting to keep warm.

Tomato Cream Sauce

This is my sister's signature recipe. Everyone I have ever served it loves it. Even though cream is expensive in China I still make it every once and a while because it so wonderful!

1 tbsp butter
1 ½ cup diced tomatoes
1 ½ tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp dried basil
1 ½ tsp dried oregano
2 cups heavy cream

1 tbsp cornstarch

2 tbsp water
Salt to Taste (1- 1 ½ tsp)

Melt butter.

Sauté the tomatoes and garlic in butter for about 5 minutes until soft.(I absolutely adore this garlic press from IKEA. Everyone should have one. You have know idea how well it works and how much time it saves me.)

Add basil and oregano.

Deglaze pan with cream.

Puree in blender and then return to pot and simmer until thickened.

Add salt.

The cream in China is UHT cream and it is thinner than fresh cream So to get the sauce thicker, I will take it off the heat, add a little cornstarch mixed with water(1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water) and then put it back on the heat and let it thicken for a few minutes.

Serve over pasta noodles. (Tip: Drain pasta but never rinse the noodles. Rinsing noodles washes off the starch. Sauce will stick to the pasta better if you do not rinse the starch off of them)