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Buckwheat Honey Bagels

Several things happened weird when I was making these, so stick with me as I explain my mistakes. First, I made this dough on Friday, but I wasn’t able to finish these bagels till Sunday. Because of this, there was a film formed on the Bagels, so I had to rehydrate the dough before I could continue baking. Beyond that, the film didn’t completely rehydrate, so there were bits of it throughout the dough. This created the rough texture on the bagels. You could not taste the difference, and the bagel’s interior was completely normal with no texture issues. I also boiled my bagels for 2 minutes per side, and that also helped contribute to the texture on the skin. The bagels were not any tougher externally, however the fact they soaked a bit too long also contributed to their not so smooth surface. I flipped them with chopsticks which kept the bagel’s shape, and finally, we only had to bake them for 45 minutes and they were completely done.

I used buckwheat honey for the flavoring in this recipe. These bagels are not sweet, and instead all you could taste was the flavoring from the honey. The buckwheat changed the flavor from white original, to whole grain or wheat. You can use other flavored honeys, but I recommend buying local. I like the buckwheat for this because the strong wheat flavor compliments bread very well. If you get the option for different types of honey locally, a wheat fed or grassy honey would work very well compared to a fruit or flower honey.

  1. In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 tsp yeast, 1 tsp honey, and 1 1/2 cup warm water (warm to the wrist but too hot to stay under the water). If you know your yeast is good continue, if you’re not sure, wait for it to bloom.
  2. Add 3 cups of flour, 2 Tbsp buckwheat honey, and a pinch of salt. Combine. Turn out onto a clean counter and kneed in another 1 to 1 1/2 cups flour until dough becomes stiff. Form a ball.
  3. Grease a bowl, turn dough in bowl to cover, and let rise till doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  4. Punch down dough. Flour your counter, and spray non-stick spray on a large baking sheet. Turn out dough onto counter. Roll the dough out into a log, and divide in half. Out of each half, cut 4 pieces, giving a total of 8 balls of dough.
  5. Create a hole in the center, and make it larger then you expect since it will shrink as the dough expands. Set on greased baking sheet, let rest until doubled, about 1 hour.
  6. Turn on your broiler, and bring a large pot of water to a full boil. Broil your bagels for 2 minutes on the first side, then flip and broil the second side for 2 minutes. Then remove from oven.
  7. Once broiled, turn your oven to 350 F.
  8. Add your bagels to the fully boiling water. Boil on each side for 1 minute, then remove to a metal drying rack. Let dry for 5 minutes before returning to your baking sheet.
  9. Bake your bagels for 40-50 minutes until golden brown exterior.
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Oriental Pork with White Rice

This oriental dish is made with ground pork and is full of traditional flavors. Using oyster sauce and soy sauce, this dish is mostly savory with some sweet flavors. I added onion for an additional flavor. You could also add any other vegetables such as bok choy, peas, broccoli, Swiss chard, or radish. Best served with a side of rice, this dish is full of flavor and very filling. The recipe I made makes 5 adult sized meals.

  1. Place 1/2 pound ground pork into a large sauce pan, and heat over medium heat. Add 2 Tbsp oil. Brown pork and break it up. Add 1 small diced onion (1/2 cup), and cook till translucent.
  2. Add 1 Tbsp oyster sauce and 1 Tbsp soy sauce, cook till dark brown. Add 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 dash red pepper flakes, and 1 tsp ground ginger. Stir.
  3. Add 1 cup water. Simmer until most water is evaporated. Serve with white rice.
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Chicken Nugget Casserole

Casseroles are always fun to me, but I like the variety of different textures and flavors. This dish has good variety and tastes like chicken parmasean and pasta. The chicken has it’s own flavor, the pasta has it’s own texture, the cheese adds a bit more savory flavor to the dish, and the dices tomatoes added more fresh flavor and additional texture. My chicken nuggets are always precooked, but your best bet would be to bake them early if you are nervous about them being cooked through, or you can bake for double the recommended time on your package. My nuggets said to bake for 15-20 minutes, so I baked them for 40. This dish created 4 1/2 adult sized meals.

  1. Heat a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add 8 oz Farfalle, and boil for 10-15 minutes until al dents. Strain and place into a 7 x 10 casserole dish.
  2. Heat oven to 350 F.
  3. Add to the pasta 10-15 frozen chicken nuggets and mix. In a large sauce pan, add 1 jar of pasta sauce and 1 can of diced tomatoes. Heat until hot and bubbling.
  4. Pour hot sauce over your pasta. Cover with 1 1/2 cup mozzarella, then bake for 40 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before eating.
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Macaroni Salad With Tuna

My mom started making this version of macaroni salad when my brother and I were little. We used to only make egg based macaroni salad, but then my mom found a recipe for imitation crab salad, and from there it became a tuna salad since tuna is a lot cheaper than even imitation crab. The tuna gives the macaroni salad a light flavor that is refreshing in the summer. We’ve also added celery to this in the past, especially if you or your family doesn’t like the flavor of onion.

  1. Boil 1 1/2 cup macaroni until al dente. Strain pasta and rinse with cold water.
  2. Transfer into large serving bowl. Add 1 1/2 cup mayo, 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 can of strained tuna, and 1/2 cup diced onion. Stir.
  3. Serve right away or refrigerate before serving.
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Mini Manicotti With Lasagna Noodles

Manicotti is a classic Italian dish. Last week I had a family member pass away, so to be able to do something productive, my mom and I made several meals to take as a gift. Besides bread and other family classics, we made lasagna. We had extra of everything, so I decided to make Manicotti as a different form of lasagna. I did make this dish with a meat sauce I had left from the lasagna, but you can choose to do whatever you wish. I also forgot this time when making them, but in the future, it would taste good to add an additional tablespoon of Italian seasoning. The green would be nice for the dish and the cheese would be a bit more varied with some seasoning.

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Break 6 Lasagna noodles in half using the edge of the counter.
  2. Generously salt water. Add broken noodles one at a time and stir continuously to keep from sticking together. Boil for 10 minutes until noodles are flexible.
  3. Rinse noodles and submerge in cold water. Set at your assembly area.
  4. Grab a 7 x 11 baking dish.
  5. Mix together in a bowl, 1 cup of small curd cottage cheese, and 1 cup mozzarella. Also, brown 1/2 pound of ground beef, mix in 1/2 jar of spaghetti sauce and set aside.
  6. Begin assembly by placing a cooled noodle in the bottom of your baking dish. Place 2-3 Tbsp of cheese mixture near one end of the noodle. Roll up the noodle starting on the side with the cheese mixture. Place in open spot in dish.
  7. Repeat step 6 until there is no more room in your dish, or until you run out of noodles. Pour over top the sauce and meat mixture. Spread evenly over the noodles. Top with 1 cup of mozzarella.
  8. Heat oven to 350 F. Bake for 30-40 minutes until cheese is melted and browning. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
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