Junk Plates

Tonight is Junk Plate night. A junk plate is when you take leftovers from a few different nights and combine them on one plate. A really good junk plate has multiple different kinds of cuisine on one plate. Tonight would have been a really good junk plate night. We had Chinese, Turkish and American food. But alas, it wasn't to be. My wife ate the ham fried rice in her lunches. Then I went on a 20 mile bike ride with my friend today, and he ate up all the Turkish food. So we are going to have mediocre junk plates, with left over hot ham sandwiches and a fresh acorn squash. I froze the rest of the ham so next week we can start fresh.

Earlier today I made some bagels for breakfast which we spread with cream cheese. Unfortunately I don't have a really good bread book to recommend. I am still looking. Bakers don't like to give up their secrets. The following bagel recipe is a combination of a bunch of different recipes and techniques that I pryed out of bakers in New York and Chicago. If you haven't ever had a bagel in New York, then you haven't ever had a bagel. If you get them real early in the morning when they are still hot from the oven they are the best. They have a somewhat crispy outside with a chewy inside. Below is my recipe and it makes bagels that are as good as you can get if you are outside of New York.

Koko's Bagel Recipe

2 cups of warm water
2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 tsp. brown sugar
1/4 cup of oil
1 Tbsp. salt
5 or more cups flour (mixture of white and whole wheat)
4 quarts of water
2 Tbsp. of brown sugar

Dissolve the yeast in water and add the sugar. Let sit until bubbles form to be sure that the yeast is active. Stir in four cups of the flour. Add flour a little at a time until the dough is the right consistancy. Let rise in the oven.
Punch down, knead for a few minutes and divide into 18 pieces. Roll each one into a rope 1 inch in diameter and 6 inches long. Form rings, pinching the ends together firmly.
Preheat oven to 375º.

Bring some water to boiling on the stove and add 2 T brown sugar. Boil the bagels in the water a few at a time. When they rise to the surface let them boil a minute longer. Bake on a baking stone until the tops are golden brown.