Wok Wednesdays | Stir-Fried Bagels with Cabbage and Bacon

WW wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young

Yep, you read that correctly - b a g e l s.  The recipe calls for your standard plain Jewish bagel to be made into a delicious Chinese stir-fry. Crazy as it sounds, it works!

The recipe comes from Lejen Chen, of Mrs. Shanen's in Beijing. The original recipe is normally made with laobing, a type of Chinese flatbread. Lejen, having extra bagels on hand, decided to try it with bagels instead, and I thank her, for I'm sure the laobing would be hard to come by for me, if not downright impossible.

Mise en place.

Bowl 1: Ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, dried chili pepper

Bowl 2: Bacon

Bowl 3: Garlic

Bowl 4: Cabbage

Bowl 5: Soy sauce, rice vinegar

Bowl 6: Bagels

Bowl 7: Salt

The contents of bowl one are first stir-fried in a little oil to bring out their flavor, then the bacon is added and cooked just until it begins to crisp up a bit, then the garlic is added (the fat from the bacon is not thrown out! This is what helps flavor the dish), then the cabbage (which I would have liked more of), which is cooked just until it starts to wilt, at which time the soy sauce mixture and bagels go in, the wok is covered for a short time to soften the bagels (mine were extremely fresh - pillow soft, and I could have probably skipped this part), then a little salt is sprinkled in and tossed to combine. Voila! You now have an interesting and tasty side dish. 

I was thinking this would be good for breakfast too, served alongside or topped with a poached egg. I don't see why you couldn't prep everything the evening before so it's ready to go when you are. If you feel your bagels are too dry, just sprinkle some water over them before covering the wok.

Think of this as a deconstructed BLT sandwich - minus the T; though you could add some halved cherry tomatoes if you like - I wouldn't tell. :)

We have been asked not to post the recipes here on our blog. You will find the recipe on page 255 of  Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you can purchase at your local bookstore or find at your local library.  The recipe just so happens to be available here as well. :)

Wok Wednesdays | Chinese-American Stir-Fried Cabbage with Bacon

WW wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young

This recipe comes from one of Grace's friends, Tane Chan, the owner of The Wok Shop in San Francisco. If and when you are in SF, this is one store you must visit. It is a rather small shop that is packed to the gills with amazing goods. I myself have been there a couple of times. Tane is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to woks. There is a variety to choose from, and she will set you up with the correct wok that fits your lifestyle. It truly is a place not to be missed.

Mise en place.

Bowl 1: Bacon

Bowl 2: Garlic

Bowl 3: Cabbage

Bowl 4: Chicken broth

Bowl 5: Soy sauce

Bowl 6: Salt, pepper

This was a first. Starting with a cold wok. Normally, the wok is heated till a bead of water evaporates quickly (within a second or two), before any oil or food is added.

This is a dish that Chinese Americans were forced to make, when Napa cabbage and Chinese sausage were unavailable to those living outside of Chinese communities. They had to use regular green cabbage, and American bacon.

The cabbage gets stir-fried along with some cooked bacon and garlic, then some chicken broth is added and the wok covered, this is cooked for a very short time (30 seconds), then seasoned with the soy sauce, salt and pepper. A very quick and easy side dish.

The recipe can be found on SFGate, along with an article on Tane and her wonderful store. 

We are asked not to post the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will find it on page 229 of  Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge (or by clicking on the link above), which you can purchase at your local bookstore or find it at your local library. I highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed.  

Wok Wednesdays is an online cooking group. If you would like information about joining us, click here, or visit us on Facebook. Would love for you to wok along with us!

TWD: Alsatian Onion Tart

Tuesdays with Dorie baking through Baking with Julia
by Dorie Greenspan
Contributing Baker: Michel Richard

Well, this has the appearance more like a pizza than a tart - at least in my mind. When I think of a tart, I conjure up images of dough that has been pressed into a tart pan, and after baking, it comes out with beautiful ruffled edges.

OK. So looks aren't everything.

Taste. This does have taste going for it. It was quite delicious. 

This was very easy to make. You start with preparing the base (I did this while my onions were cooking) by rolling out puff pastry dough (yes - puff pastry - no tart or pizza dough here) until it is very thin, about an eighth of an inch, but no more than a quarter of an inch, and using a sharp knife, cut the pastry into a circle (I'm sure any shape you choose would work), about twelve inches in diameter.

The dough is pricked all over with a fork, this will keep the puff pastry from, well, puffing... it's all about the flavor. The dough is then refrigerated until you are ready to top it with the onion mixture.

The onion mixture is made from four very large onions that have been diced. I only used three, and was in a hurry, so I sliced the onions instead of dicing, and had more than enough. The onions are cooked in chicken broth until very soft, and then cooled, at which time you add a few tablespoons of heavy cream (I used half and half) and salt and pepper.

The recipe calls for slab bacon to be diced and par-boiled. The store I went to does not have slab bacon, so I purchased thick-cut bacon slices - which worked just fine. I skipped the par-boiling of the bacon, and cooked it up normally (undercooked it a bit), then diced it. 

The tart was now ready for assembly! The pastry is first topped with the onion mixture, then the bacon is scattered over the top and pressed into the onions a bit, to help keep them from burning too much while baking. I had some diced jalapeño left over from the chili I made the night before, so I tossed those on as well - a good call if I do say so myself - it provided a nice spicy kick that I love. The tart is baked in a three-hundred and fifty degree oven until golden brown.

This was delicious, and would make for a lovely appetizer; though it can't really be made ahead of time for the bottom crust gets a bit soggy after sitting. It is easy enough to throw together at the last minute if you make the onions, cook the bacon, and prep the dough ahead of time - then assemble and toss it in the oven just before serving.

I was thinking a rectangular shaped tart would be pretty...

Don't forget to check out the results of my fellow bakers also! You will find their links by clicking here, or by going to the Tuesdays with Dorie website and looking for the BWJ LYL: Alsatian Onion Tart link. 

Five Star Meal

This week's puzzle night's dinner turned out to be fantabulous!

Andy made is famous barbecue chicken in which he cooked to perfection. My sister and I both went with new recipes for the sides. She thought my green bean dish was great and I thought her salad was awesome. The funny thing is that we both used recipes from Fine Cooking magazine, different issues no less. I tell ya, you cannot go wrong with a recipe from this magazine.

I only have a few pics for this post - I had no intention of blogging last night's dinner but everything looked so beautiful on the plate and it was just too good not to share.

Success meter (1-3): 3

Bitter Greens with Cherries and Pancetta

Green Beans with Cherry Tomatoes and Niçoise Olives

We finished off our meal with the coffee

ice cream I made over the weekend.

Life is good.

Book Sixty-Eight: All Around The World Cookbook

by Sheila Lukins


                 Roasted Pheasant with Prince Charles Sauce


I was fortunate to be the recipient of not only a few slices of homemade wild game terrine made from pheasant, duck and rabbit (before it was even presented to guests for Christmas!) but also a pheasant of my own!

This certainly brought back some childhood memories. My father was an avid hunter, fisherman, and taxidermist. If I recall correctly, my mother was not the happiest at having to clean the game my father brought home. Funny - one of my fondest memories is not of deer, pheasant, or frog, but a big box of Bartlett pears from a friend's orchard he brought back after one of his hunting expeditions.

The recipe calls for Drambuie, a liqueur which I substituted Grand Marnier. I was not about to fork over 35+ bucks for the small amount I needed for this recipe. I did find it at Bevmo for as low as 4.99 which makes one wonder...

My kitchen was filled with such a wonderful aroma while this was baking away; I even texted Andy to share the excitement of what was to come.

Pheasant is known to have a low fat content and can dry out quickly; hence covering it in bacon to moisten the bird as it cooks and while adding wonderful flavor. I'm not sure if basting the bird throughout is really necessary for that is the purpose of the bacon; as the fat melts it is self-basting the pheasant.

I was cautioned about finding possible buckshot from the shotgun shells. Call me weird, but I was so excited to find a small silver little ball while cleaning the bird! Good thing it was not my tooth that found it.

The sauce had an overpowering taste of honey. I really could not detect the flavor of the Grand Marnier, and I'm not sure if I would have had that much of a different outcome using the Drambuie. All things considered, this was a memorable meal.

Thank you Mr. Bell!!

Success meter (1-3): 3

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Clean your sink well, before and after rinsing your poultry.

The CDC now discourages washing your fowl for concern

 of cross contamination.

Buckshot!

I say my bird fits comfortably.

I left my bacon in the pan after removing from the

bird while it continued to cook and brown.

I love that my husband does

the dirty work for me!

I would forgo the Prince Charles Sauce and dip

the meat back into the pan-drippings.

 Maybe even make a gravy.

Book Forty-Five: The Top One Hundred Pasta Sauces

by Diane Seed


                    [Farfalle] alla Carrettiere

I received a wonderful box of farfalle from a friend whose family has gone into the pasta business. The recipe calls for spaghetti or tagliatelle but I was anxious to try this and it worked out perfect.

This sauce has really good flavor; then again how could it not when there is bacon included! While I was taste-testing along the way, I thought this would taste just as great if not better without the addition of the tuna for it seemed to mask the taste of the bacon somewhat. So if you are not looking to add extra protein to your diet, I would omit this.

Success meter (1-3): 3

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The sauce at this point was quite dry - 

just add a bit of pasta water to moisten it