I have to admit my head was all over the place when I made this. I had intentionally wanted to make onion bagels, but realized that there was no egg in the house (yes, I know) for eggwash and I really [really] couldn’t be bothered to go get some, and so I stumbled on a recipe for a cousin of the bagel’s - a bialy. Distinct differences can be seen straightaway; bialys has no hole going through it and has a crater that’s usually filled with onions or breadcrumbs. It is never sliced in half - you spread whatever it is you want to serve it with (cream cheese, butter?) on top.
Back to where my head was. It must have been preoccupied with something because I read the recipe wrong and didn’t give the dough a second rise and then left them in the oven for too long, which resulted in a, uhh…charred overly-caramelized filling. It still tasted good though, so that’s a consolation of some sort.
BIALYS (Recipe heavily adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s)
BIALYS DOUGH:
[ 2 cups all-purpose flour + 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast + 1 1/4 teaspoon salt + 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (if needed) warm water ]
In a bowl, whisk together the flour and the yeast, then whisk in the salt
With the dough hook, on low speed, gradually add the water, mixing for about 1 minute or until the flour mixture is moistened.
Raise the speed to medium and continue mixing for 7 minutes. The dough should clean the bowl but be soft and elastic. Add a little extra flour or water if necessary.
Place the dough in a container or bowl that’s lightly greased with cooking spray or oil. Press down the dough and lightly spray or oil the top. Cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap.
Allow the dough to rise for 1 hour or until it has doubled.
Dust the surface of the dough with flour and cut off a 3 oz piece of dough (about the size of a peach) and shape it into a ball.
Repeat with as many bialys as you want to bake. Let rest on floured surface for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the onion filling:
ONION FILLING:
[ 1 1/4 teaspoons vegetable oil + 3/4 medium sized onion, chopped + a small handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped + 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds + salt and pepper to taste ] OPTIONAL: Sesame seeds to sprinkle on the buns.
In a small saute pan, heat the oil. Add the onion and saute over medium heat, stirring often, for about 5 minutes or until translucent. Add in the parsley and sautee for another minute.
Remove from the heat and add the poppy seeds, salt, and pepper to taste. Set aside to cool.
After the time has lapsed, dust the surface of the ball with more flour and quickly shape the balls by holding each piece of dough with both hands, with your thumbs in the middle and almost touching and pinching the center of the dough tightly between your thumbs and first two fingers and stretch the dough to 4 1/2 to 5 inches in diameter, forming a crater in the center.
About 20 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450F with a baking stone on the middle rack and a broiler tray on the bottom rack.
Place the bialys on the lined baking sheet and spoon 1 teaspoon of onion-poppy seed filling into the center.
Slide the bialys directly onto the hot stone, making sure they are spaced out so they have room to expand.
Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray and quickly close the oven door.
Bake for about 12 minutes, until just golden brown. cool on a wire rack before serving or eating.
BIALYS DOUGH
[ 2 cups all-purpose flour + 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast + 1 1/4 teaspoon salt + 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (if needed) warm water ]
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour and the yeast, then whisk in the salt.
- With the dough hook, on low speed, gradually add the water, mixing for about 1 minute or until the flour mixture is moistened.Raise the speed to medium and continue mixing for 7 minutes. The dough should clean the bowl but be soft and elastic. Add a little extra flour or water if necessary.
- Place the dough in a container or bowl that’s lightly greased with cooking spray or oil. Press down the dough and lightly spray or oil the top. Cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap.Allow the dough to rise for 1 hour or until it has doubled.
- Dust the surface of the dough with flour and cut off a 3 oz piece of dough (about the size of a peach) and shape into a ball.
- Repeat with as many bialys as you want to bake. Let rest on floured surface for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the onion filling:
ONION FILLING:
[ 1 1/4 teaspoons vegetable oil + 3/4 medium sized onion, chopped + a small handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped + 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds + salt and pepper to taste ]
- In a small saute pan, heat the oil. Add the onion and saute over medium heat, stirring often, for about 5 minutes or until translucent. Add in the parsley and sautee for another minute.
- Remove from the heat and add the poppy seeds, salt, and pepper to taste. Set aside to cool.
- After the time has lapsed, dust the surface of the balls with more flour and quickly shape the balls by holding each piece of dough with both hands, with your thumbs in the middle and almost touching and pinching the center of the dough tightly between your thumbs and first two fingers and stretch the dough to 4 1/2 to 5 inches in diameter, forming a crater in the center.
- Slide the bialys directly onto the hot stone, making sure they are spaced out so they have room to expand.
- Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray and quickly close the oven door.
- Bake for about 12 minutes, until just golden brown. cool on a wire rack before serving or eating.
First use of the kimchi that was made yesterday (well, technically second since I ate some last night). Kimchi bokkeumbap or fried rice is probably one of the easiest Korean food to make once you get your hands on some kimchi, and it taste oh so good. Although it is also said that however good the rice may be, the highlight of a plate of Kimchi fried rice is actually the fried egg, which is why I’m going to include a method of cooking a dressed-up sunny-side that I sort of learnt from my mother - unfortunately I overcooked it in this post, which does it no justice whatsoever. Lesson learned : always watch your eggs.
KIMCHI FRIED RICE:
[ 3 cups cooked rice, chilled + 1/3 cup shrimp, shelled and de-veined + 1/4 cup soy sauce + 2 tablespoon fish sauce + 1 teaspoon lime juice + 2 tablespoon sesame oil + 2 cups of kimchi, julienned + 2 tablespoon green chili, sliced into rings + 1/4 cup chopped green onion or scallions + sea salt and white pepper to taste + 2 tablespoon vegetable oil + 4 eggs ]
Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the shrimp until it turns pink. Set the shrimp aside.
Heat a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sesame oil and warm for 1 minute. Add the shrimp, kimchee and sliced chili peppers and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Add in the soy sauce, fish sauce and lime juice and continue to stir.
Add the rice and break it up with the back of a wok ladle, tossing constantly to prevent it from sticking to the wok. Add a tablespoon or two of kimchi juice if the rice looks a little too dry.
Add the scallions, and season with salt and white pepper. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Heat another nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add the other tablespoon of vegetable oil and warm for 1 minute. Now, you can simply just crack the eggs into the pan and cook sunny side up until done and season it with salt and white pepper.
OR
You can dress the egg up a bit by first separating the whites from the yolk.
Then add sliced chili, green onion, shallots or whatever it is you wish into the eggwhite. Stir it a bit just until all the vegetables are submerged…
before plopping the yolk back in.
Fry it over low heat. Season with salt and white pepper.
Whichever way you decide to do it, in the end place a mound of fried rice on 4 separate plates and top each mound with a fried egg.
Garnish with the sesame seeds and serve immediately
Enjoy!
Valentine’s Day Breakfast Series: Potato & Chicken Hash, Stuffed French Toast, Eton Mess and Almond-Banana Doily Pancakes.
I know what you’re thinking - as if French toast isn’t hefty indulgent enough as it is. Perhaps you’re right, but if there are days of the year where you can choose to be indulge in some creamy, custardy bread filled with smooth cream cheese and tangy jam, then let it be on Valentine’s. Having said that, the choice of filling is entirely up to you. Be it a classic like pear, ham and cheese, or something a little less conventional. Chocolate too, perhaps?
STUFFED FRENCH TOAST:
[ 1 loaf French bread, cut into 8 diagonal slices or 8 slices of any stale bread + 1 cup cream cheese, softened + 1/2 cup fruit jam or preserves + 3-4 eggs + 1/2 cup milk + 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon ] OPTIONAL: Strawberry slices, or any other fruits.
Spread cream cheese evenly on all 8 slices of bread.
Spread jam over cheese on each slice. If you’re using fruits, top the jam with the fruit slices.
Then fold the bread in half within itself, so you have what looks like a bread pocket.
If your bread is too stale and can’t be folded, then spread the cream cheese on half the amount of bread, top it with jam and fruits then top it with the other half amount of bread to make a sandwich. Pinch to seal the edges if you can.
Beat together eggs, milk and ground cinnamon in a shallow dish just large enough to hold bread pockets.
Place pockets in dish and soak each side with egg mixture.
Heat oil in non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. Fry pockets until golden brown, 2 1/2 to 3 minutes per side.
Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.
Enjoy!
Estimated Nutritional Information:
Serves approx 4
Per Serving:
Total Calories: 405kcals
Carbohydrate: 60g
Fat: 19g (9g saturated)
Protein: 9g
Cholesterol: 45mg
I don’t know why, but I think poached eggs are the most romantic looking eggs, though I’m pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that its arguably the hardest method to cook eggs. Really, I think if you slap poached eggs on anything it instantly looks like you’ve been slaving away on it. So this one may be a little uninspired, I’ll admit, but it’ll be good for those who like to start their day with something a bit more filling than your average fare.
POTATO & CHICKEN HASH:
[ 4 large potatoes or 2 handfuls of new potatoes + 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, minced + 2 cloves of garlic + 1 spring onion, sliced + 1/3 cup diced red peppers + 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil + salt & pepper to taste + paprika or cayenne pepper ]
Wash potatoes and place in a large pot. Cover completely with water and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes or until fork tender.
Drain and rinse potatoes with cold water. Cool completely, then cut into tiny cubes.
Heat oil in a large skillet. Minced the garlic and add it tot he oil and cook for 2 minutes. Add in the chicken and cook until the chicken is browned.
Add in the chopped pepper and cook for another minute.
Add potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Lastly add in the spring onion and cook for another minute.
Keep the hash warm in the oven while you either poach or fry some eggs to serve it with.
Alternatively, you can always make little wells in the hash and crack in the eggs, and then bake it in the oven until the eggs are just cooked.
Enjoy!
Estimated Nutritional Information:
Serves approx 4
Per Serving:
Total Calories: 315kcals
Carbohydrate: 32g
Fat: 3g (1.6g saturated)
Protein: 31g
Cholesterol: 70mg
