Sunday Morning Bagels

Long time, no post...

Its been a whirlwind, to say the least...  but it looks like Kitchen Hell will be moving up in the world!  No, not the blog-world, but the real world...  Let's just say that teeny tiny kitchen?  We'll be upgrading.  and the 2nd biggest greenmarket in NYC?  Right outside of our front door.  Cooking won't be the hell that it is today and we can't wait...

As a result of the impending move (to an apartment we chose 50% based on its kitchen alone), we've been hard-pressed to do much of anything in our current tiny, cramped, half-sized-appliance kitchen and as a result, there's been a lot of eating out, ordering in, frozen dinners and pasta (boxed) with red sauce (from a jar)...

Quite frankly, frozen Amy's dinners, while yummy in their own right, don't make for the best blog fodder...

Our weekend morning rituals haven't been much better than the dinners - pretty dependent on our local diner and bagel shop and when you can be served really good, still-warm-from-the-oven bagels by walking about  2 blocks from home (and barely beyond the store where you would have to fight your way through the crowds to buy anything to make at home) it's really hard to motivate to do anything different...

However, this past week, someone posted a bagel sandwich that looked so good that it was just the motivation I needed...  I needed that bagel sandwich...

This isn't earth shattering, it's not life changing, so why am I posting it?  Because, frankly, it was so good that we've already talked about how we should really be sure to keep these ingredients in the house from now on...  Even when cooking isn't the hell it is today.

With this one, the tiny smidgen of motivation it took paid dividends...

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Sunday Morning Bagels

courtesy of me
Click here to import recipe directly into Pepperplate

2 everything bagels

~1/2 c whipped cream cheese

1/2 of a ripe avocado, sliced

a few paper-thin slices of red onion

lemon pepper

***

Slice bagels in half

Spread half of the cream cheese onto each bagel - covering both sides of the bagel (i like a lot of cream cheese, 1/2 c might be more than most people need...)

put half of your avocado slices onto one side of each bagel

sprinkle a few slices of the red onion over the avocado (this is optional - Jordan doesnt like raw onion, so he skipped this...)

Sprinkle the avocado and onion with a generous shake of lemon pepper

Close bagels up, slice in half and enjoy

Just as impressive as fried.

Many moons ago, i declared that everyone should have a meal that they make that impresses people.  Mine was crab cakes.  If you asked me today, i'd still say it was crab cakes.  However, just a few weeks ago, the meat-eater and i realized that despite our 1.5 year relationship, i'd never made him my famously impressive crabcakes.

and yet he still proposed 8 months ago.  shocking, i know.

Last weekend seemed like a good time to remedy the situation, but with both of us on pre-wedding diets, fried crab cakes just were not in calorie budget.  So i took that old tried & true recipe and started looking around to figure out how i could convert it to a baked dish to save on the oil used in frying calories...

it actually wasnt that hard and by the time i was done cobbling recipes together, i ended up with some super yummy, super easy and super low cal crab cakes!  score!

Now that i think about it, if you wanted to save a few more calories, you could probably just use egg whites, but at 70 calories per crab cake, do you really need to?

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Baked Crab Cakes
courtesy of me


5 tbsp panko (or plain bread crumbs)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp parsley (dried)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/4 tsp cayenne


1/4 cup light mayo (not miracle whip!)
1 tbsp melted butter
2 eggs
1/4 cup carrot (minced)
1/4 cup onion (minced)
1/2 tsp worcestershire


1 lb crab


***


Preheat oven to 350°
Line baking sheet with parchment (if desired - makes for easier cleanup!)


Mix first 8 items (dry items)
Mix next 6 items separately
Combine dry and wet mixes
Add in crab meat and mix


Form into 12 patties
Place in oven at 350 for 15 minutes
Flip
Place back in oven for another 15 minutes


Note:  i saw a suggestion to make them in a muffin pan, so i did.  While it did work well to make them even, they stuck.  A LOT. even with a huge saturation of olive oil cooking spray.  So you can take that route, but i think that, in the future, i'll just form patties and use the cookie sheet instead.

downfall..

One of my "things" is that, in times of financial crunch, i splurge on food.. I rationalize that its food - its necessary and that it is not at all irresponsible to bring out the plastic for it...

this past month, i've been on a mission to not use the plastic - at all...
a week from now, this would be easy - the CSA distributions begin on Thursday and i expect to have more food than i know what to do with - but tonight was a challenge...

it was shaping up to be another night of angel hair with butter and garlic (nothing wrong with it - quick, cheap and yummy) but then i saw the gruyere sitting in my fridge, clearly thinking about sprouting some mold... $6 or so worth of mold... and in this financial crunch (i am nothing if not overdramatic) week, there was NO WAY i was letting that go bad...

originally it was going to be some ghetto-style mac & cheese but then i looked at the gemellis and their 12 - 15 minute cooking time and it seemed like too much... and then i saw the rice.

because if 12 - 15 minutes cooking time for gemelli is too long, its a much better idea to pick the rice, which takes 20 mins...

and then cheesy rice bake was born...

I was fully prepared for a 100% failure - but i wrote down the ingredients as i went along, just in case... lucky for me, this was an experiment gone right - i honestly wouldnt change a thing...

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Cheesy Rice Bake
courtesy of me

2 c water
1 vegan vegetable bouillion
1 tbsp butter
1 c rice

3/8 c gruyere, cut into 1 cm x 1 cm cubes (or smaller)
2 tbsp Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tsp ground flaxseed


For topping:
2 tbsp panko
2 tbsp Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tsp nutritional yeast
fresh ground pepper


Bring water, bouillion and butter to a boil
Add rice, return to boil and then immediately lower heat to super-low and simmer, covered, for ~ 18 minutes.

In the meantime turn oven onto 500° or broil.
Mix panko, 2 tbsp parmigiano-reggiano and nutritional yeast in a small bowl and set aside.

Return to rice:
Once most of the water has been absorbed, add gruyere, 2 tbsp parmigiano-reggiano and ground flaxseed. stir until cheese appears to be melted and is no longer distinguishable.

split rice & cheese mixture between 2 ramekins. Top each with 1/2 of the topping mixture and then pepper, if desired.
place in the oven (on a baking sheet) for ~ 5 - 6 minutes.

Serve hot.

*mom notes: you could probably leave out the flaxseed and nutritional yeast, if you want (or like my mom, have NO idea what those things are or where you would get them or why you would buy them...) you could also use another cheese... emmenthaler or fontina, or even a basic swiss would be similar. cheddar would be different, but most likely, still really good. You could also use any shredded italian-type cheese for the parmigiano-reggiano - i know i grew up with a lot of Pecorino Romano instead and i'm sure it would work just fine...

blog war!

its ON.

stay tuned for chocolate covered peeps and the biggest blog war this side of, well, philadelphia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my opponent???? the 'too cool for school' raspberry eggplant.

she's all highbrow and whatever - we'll see who's better at turning disgusting food into a gourmet treat! i've got my money on the girl who's used to CRAP - and thats me ;)