Homemade Bagels with Maple Walnut Cranberry Cream Cheese and Smoked Salmon Spread

I used to make bagels before I started this blog. I remembered how impressed Adrian was. He was telling everyone that I made bagels - "handmade, not machine. I didn't even know that's humanly possible!?!" The lady whom I'm doing rehabilitation work with even suggested I should start selling; seeing the lack of quality bagels in Thailand. Although I'm flattered, but apparently there are tonnes of others in the world who make bagels, with hand, at home.

I'm doing it again after so many months because Adrian is craving for good bagels. He even asked Sandra to buy bagels back from The State after her Thanksgiving trip in San Diego. Let's say we established that's not possible. Eventually he decided to ask me to bake them. As all good wives do, I obliged.

This time I'm using the recipe from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice. This intimidating looking book is the only food book that I bought (or I made Adrian bought for me). It is a shame but I have to admit I haven't been making good use of the book since I got it through Amazon months ago. However, from what little I have gone through, I know it is THE book for amateur bread baker. It's full of recipes and instructions to experiment with artisan breads, also, basic concepts of bread baking, the science of bread, and information about equipment and ingredients. It also includes an extremely useful section on the twelve stages in the life of bread. What I like the most about this book is it helps me to understand why the recipe does what it does.

I made a mistake by making too many bagels at once: I forgot we have a small kitchen and refrigerator with limited space. Besides, 12 bagels is a lot of kneading to do with bare hand. Next time, I'm leaving the arm works to the American who craves for good bagels.

I made the bagels with two different toppings: poppy seeds and white sesame seeds to go with sweet filling such as Maple Walnut Cranberry Cream Cheese, and minced onions and garlic to go with savory filling like Smoked Salmon Spread.

I'm too lazy to type out the recipe but you can go to The Fresh Loaf for it. Nevertheless I'm happy to share our favorite bagel fillings:

Maple Walnut Cranberry Cream Cheese

Most recipes use a mix of sugar and maple syrup but why would you do that? I certainly don't.

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened at room temperature
• 1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
  
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
  
• 1/4 Cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  

Whip cream cheese until smooth. While continuing to whip, slowly add all of the remaining ingredients. Cover and chill until firm (at least an hour or two).

Smoked Salmon Spread

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 4 oz smoked salmon, chopped
• 1 Cup sour cream (lemon juice + cream)
  
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• 1 tablespoons capers, drained and chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon and zest
  

In large bowl, stir cream cheese until light and fluffy. Fold in salmon, sour cream, dill, capers, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Stir in lemon juice and zest. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce with Dried Cranberry

Living in non-seasonal, tropical region of the world means many things. One of it being: expensive imported berries. Hence my attachment with affordable locally-produced frozen berries; I just wish they can bring out more frozen blueberry than they do with frozen strawberry. Nevertheless I thank the farmers up in Northern Thailand whose hard works find their way into my list of homemade's.

I have made countless bottles of homemade strawberry jam and raspberry jam from frozen local produce. This time, it's homemade cranberry sauce with dried cranberry. Making your own cranberry sauce is simple and delicious. And it’s a great winter immune system booster. Not that we have that weather spell here but it is raining a lot, and heavily so, these days. My first encounter with cranberry was its expensive juice said to contain proanthocyanidins that can prevent the adhesion of certain bacteria, such as E. Coli, to the urinary tract wall hence prevention of urinary tract infections. This anti-adhesion properties of cranberry may also inhibit the bacteria associated with gum disease and stomach ulcers.

Getting hold of fresh or frozen cranberry is a challenge; it's rare and often expensive. That's why this recipe is so good. Just bear in mind that dried cranberries are often sweetened - be cautious about how much sugar you add; it could be overly sweet. I prefer it to be on the tart side and used no more 1/4 cup of sugar.

Updated: Some serving ideas -

Use it as filling and top with the crispy walnut crust from this Apple Crisp recipe.

Serve it with pesto in this savory baked Camembert and Cranberry-stuffed Eggplant.

Ingredients

• 2 oranges, juiced
• zest of 1 orange
  
• 2 C dried cranberries
• 1/4 - 1/2 C natural cane sugar
  
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 apple, peeled and grated

1. Wash the cranberries in a bowl of hot water, to remove any oil coating. Drain.
2. Put cranberries and orange juice with 100ml water in a pan. Cover and simmer very gently for 10 minutes, until the cranberries are starting to plump up. Leave covered for an hour.
3. Add 1/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon and apple, and simmer for 15 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.
4. Check for sweetness and add more sugar, if necessary.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

Technically, it's not a type of cheese. It's made from the by-product of cheese making - whey -. For those of us who lack access to cheese-making by-products, there is a very easy way of making Ricotta, without the needs for special cheese-making ingredients such as rennet. Most people would already have the ingredients at home: cow milk (or a blend of cow and goat milk), vinegar (or lemon juice), and salt. All you need to do is heat them up and drain. 30 minutes is all it takes for a delicious homemade warm fresh Ricotta.

Instead of using white vinegar, I use fresh squeezed lemon juice since it provides the acid needed for curdling just as well as vinegar. You can also make Ricotta using buttermilk without the need for acid. I adapted the recipe from David Lebovitz.

Ingredients:
(makes 2 C)

• 8 C whole milk
• 1 C homemade plain yogurt
• 1/2 C cream (optional)
  
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

1. In a saucepan, heat all ingredient to boil.

2. Turn the heat down to a gentle boil for another one or two minutes, until mixture is curdled.

3. Line a few layers of cheesecloth over a deep bowl. Pour the mixture over and let drain for 15 minutes, or less for a creamier texture.

4. Serve it warm or refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Homemade Labneh

Labneh is a recipe from the old-world. It is basically salted, drained yogurt. Not only is it easy to make, but also easy to preserve - you can store them for months! You can eat it as it is, or mix in chopped garlic, fresh herbs, pepper flakes, or anything you would for herbed cheese. Or simply drizzle it with olive oil, some lemon juice and cumin and serve it as dip. Either way it is so delicious I think every household should have it as staple.

It would be really unwise to throw the drained liquid away. It's a natural component of cultured yogurt called whey. Whey contains some of the most important vitamins and minerals in yogurt. I keep it for use for soup and blend it into smoothie.

I used my homemade yogurt instead of Greek. Hence, it took me up to two nights to get the consistency of cottage cheese. It's kind of like draining it into Greek for the first night, and further transforming it into labneh for the second night. Remember the portion will be reduced by half after draining; if you are expecting 1 cup labneh, you may want to start with 3 cups yogurt.

Ingredients:
6 cups Greek Yogurt or Homemade Yogurt
2 teaspoons sea salt

1. Pour yogurt over a bowl and stir in salt.
2. Spoon the salted yogurt to the center of a piece clean cheesecloth. Pull and tie the corners tightly.
3. Suspend it from a stationary object over a bowl to catch liquid. Let it hang for 12 hours (or up to 2 days if you are using homemade yogurt). When done, yogurt will become cottage cheese-like.
4. Remove from the cloth. Store covered in refrigerator until needed.
   

Homemade Spiced Pecan Milk

It's dairy free, vegan, and it's raw. You can drink it warm, chilled, or with ice; pour it over a bowl of cereal; or have it in place of milk or soy milk over an espresso. What is it? It's Homemade Spiced Pecan Milk.

Pecans are jam packed with antioxidants, proteins and unsaturated fats. The plant sterols in pecan have been shown to lower high cholesterol level. And ladies, listen up: a diet rich in nuts helps lower risk of gallstones in women. Men, save yourself.

Nutrition aside, this is so super cool. You can do the same with other tree nuts and even sunflower seeds. If you intend to use the milk for other purposes, simply omit coconut milk and the spices. If you'd like a smoother beverage, pour the pecan milk through a sieve lined with cheesecloth. You can do a few things with the strained pecan meal: dehydrate it, turn it into flour and throw in to your bread or pastry.

When I made the milk I realized how many unnecessary ingredients there are in commercial non-dairy milk (as the almond milk carton in the refrigerator shows). Not only is there lots of sugar, but also ingredients that I don't recognize. Besides, it hurts whenever Adrian craves for almond milk; it's insanely expensive. I may not have the mathematics worked out, but it doesn't take a genius to figure the cost of making it at home is less than buying from store. I think I'm on to saving big money.

Updated: I made almond milk in pretty much the same way: blend together soaked almonds, water and honey. A few questions:

1. Why the need to drain the soaked water and blend with fresh ones? Why is it ok to retain pecan-soaked water but not almond-soaked water?
   
2. Why the need to add salt in soaking pecan but not with almond?

Anyway I did add some salt eventually: it brought out the otherwise missing nutty flavor in the milk. Speaking of which, do you know the almond we buy are actually mutant from its potentially toxic wild bitter almond? This common, domesticated, delicate almond has evolved from its Mediterranean/ Middle Eastern origin - it grows and matures under much colder horizon.

Back to the milk.

I strained the milk of its almond meals, roasted them in the oven and am looking for ways to use them in future baking. As they baked, they continued to give out sweet smell from the honey - I found myself inhaling deeper each time I tossed them around.

Without wasting time, I immediately put the fresh homemade almond milk to good use: Vegan Chocolate Pudding! Yum Yum Yum =))

Ingredients:
1/4 C pecan
4 C water
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup raw honey
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Additional honey for sweetening.

1.)Combine the pecans, salt, and water in an air-tight container. Seal and leave to soak in the refrigerator for overnight.

2.) Pour the soaked pecans and the water mixture into a blender. Add the honey, coconut milk, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Process on high for two minutes or until the mixture is well combined and smooth. Sweeten to taste and store in the refrigerator. This will last one week refrigerated in an air-tight container.

Baked Pumpkin Puree

"Why buy when you can make it at home?"- this has been my motto since I took over the kitchen. I have been thinking of ways to get rid of the 1/4 pumpkin left in the fridge since Pumpkin Risotto. Another soup, or salad? What about something sweet? I once tried baking pumpkin pie but I forgot to add coconut milk. Took some of it to visit a friend at hospital. She and her husband had good words for it. I don't know.....

Anyway, instead of making another pie, I decided to make it a breakfast treat. But before that, I need to have pumpkin puree. Here goes:

1. Cut pumpkin into halves, scoop out the seeds and stringy membrane.
2. Cut pumpkin into large wedges and place on a baking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes at 175C or until pumpkin is soft. Let cool.
   
3. Scrape the soft pulp from the skin into a food processor. You may add some water or milk to ease processing. Pulse until evenly pureed.

Reheat if serving immediately or refrigerate and use within 3 days. The puree may be frozen in an airtight container or zip-top bag for 10 to 12 months.

Savory Pumpkin Puree: Add butter, salt, and pepper to taste to the pumpkin puree. Add brown sugar for a sweeter side dish. Makes a great menu substitution for mashed potatoes.

Pumpkin Pie Puree: add cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and brown sugar, or pumpkin pie spice.