Cooking from Scratch
It doesn’t look as if we’ve created many posts lately, but, we did finish the Black Forest Cake. With that going on, when we were thinking of snacks for our downtown walk on Monday night, we wanted something fairly easy, and something we could mainly make ahead. We couldn’t think of anything easier than some sort of scone.
Continue reading “Maple-Walnut Scones”
Mini Bialys, or, as we like to call them, Babialys, are a traditional Polish or Jewish bread product normally made with onions and poppy seeds. Well, maybe the mini part isn’t traditional, but making them smaller means you can eat more, so let’s do it. Now, you might never have had, or perhaps even heard of Bialys before, but don’t let that scare you. They’re similar to a bagel, but without a hole — just a depression filed with caramelized onions. And, they’re tasty! So, let’s scratch up a bunch of Babialys!
Continue reading “Mini Onion Bialys”
Who doesn’t like pretzels and beer? What about pretzels made with beer? We thought that would get your attention. Think about it: you can bring these pretzels on a road trip and enjoy the great taste of an India Pale Ale and pretzels, yet not worry one bit, because all the alcohol bakes out when you make them, so they’re perfectly fine to snack on anytime or anywhere. Naturally, if you’re at home, we suggest that you dip them in a bit of India Pale Ale Mustard, naturally.
Continue reading “Soft IPA Pretzel Knots”
Years ago, we read about Bagel Bombs® in Momofuku Milk Bar, by Christina Tosi, and thought that it was a great idea to make a cream cheese spread to use as a filling for round bagels. Now, we wouldn’t go as far as registering the name, but we aren’t in the business of selling these things; instead, we’re just trying to pass on great ideas to you. So, we choose to call ours bagel bomblettes (because we make them smaller; also, our name isn’t registered, so you can use it whenever and wherever you please), and say that ours are simply based on the idea of Bagel Bombs®.
Continue reading “Bagel Bomblettes”
This is what we wanted you to save leftover mashed potatoes for: lefse. We’ve wanted to make these for a while, but we never seem to have leftover mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes are just so good that we generally eat them all the same day we make them. But, this time we planned ahead, and made more mashed potatoes than we could eat. All so we could make lefse the next day. Want to see how to make lefse? Just follow along.
Continue reading “Lefse (Scandinavian Potato Flatbread)”
Nope, not misspelled. We are indeed making pletzels today. What, you’ve never heard of pletzels? Well, we hadn’t heard about them either, until we borrowed Modern Jewish Cooking, by Leah Koenig, from the public library. Now, we aren’t Jewish, but, that doesn’t matter much, because this book has a lot of great-sounding recipes, including pletzels, that can be enjoyed by anyone. Even if they’re Gentiles. So, what are pletzels, anyway?
Yes, easy wheat bread. We don’t claim that it’s whole-wheat bread, because it isn’t (it’s about 50% whole-wheat), but we will say that this bread eliminates just about everything that most people find difficult about making bread at home: the kneading and kneading. Yet, it’s a great bread with some of the best texture that we’ve ever had in a wheat bread, and it’s become our weekly recipe for making bread here at Scratchin’ It Central.
Continue reading “Easy Wheat Bread”