Sasha's Kitchen: ShopRite, NYC Food & Wine Festival and Tyler Florence

I'm very excited that I am going to be part of the ShopRite blog panel. It is such a great opportunity that my blog was chosen and I look forward to tasting, cooking with and reviewing many new private label ShopRite products. This weekend, I had a great dinner meeting the other panelists at Abe & Arthurs in the meat packing district for dinner. Brad and I also had a great time on Saturday tasting all of the samplings at the NYC Food & Wine Festival that ShopRite co-sponsored.

At dinner with the ShopRite folks, we got to meet Tyler Florence from the Food Network, who signed copies of his new book. Below the photographs, I included some videos that I took (or Brad took) using the FlipCam handheld video cam that the ShopRite folks gave each of the bloggers. I hope to get better at using it so I can take some videos of cooking as well.  Another note - the whiskey sour pickles from Brooklyn Brine were amazing and can be ordered online (I plan to do so right away).

Sasha's Kitchen: ShopRite, NYC Food & Wine Festival and Tyler Florence

Sasha's Kitchen: Spice-Infused Heirloom Tomato Salad and NYC's Eataly (a review)

Heirloom tomatoes are one of my favorite summer treats. So delicious and the colors and shapes are unique and beautiful. I love the way they look when you slice them, and all the colors and textures. Their imperfections and details is what makes them so perfect and gorgeous. The taste is luscious and fresh - nothing like a regular tomato.

The heirloom tomato season is not very long, but they're still around in New York, so I picked some up at the new Eataly Market, to prepare this dish. Eataly, by the way, is an incredible Italian foodie paradise of grandiose proportions.  I've been quite a few times now, since it is so close to where I work in Manhattan.   I decided to create some Indian spice infused heirloom tomatoes using my produce from the marketplace. It's quite easy. Mix the various spices and herbs below with the balsamic vinegar and olive oil and add the tomatoes and a sliced kirby cucumber. Allow to soak for a minute or two before serving with freshly made mozzarella. I love the way the Indian spices mix with the fresh goodness of the heirloom tomatoes. It's a wonderful way to say goodbye to summer. The kirby cucumber by the way, is from the locally grown produce section of Fresh Direct.

Sasha's Spice-Infused Heirloom Tomato Salad

3 large heirloom tomatoes
1 kirby cucumber
fresh mozzarella
1 1/2 tsp fennel
1 1/2 tsp cumin
pinch of pepper
pinch of cayenne
1/3 cup olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar (I used fig-infused balsamic vinegar)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup cilantro
1 tsp diced jalapeno
1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger


And before you thought I forgot - a bit of a review of Eataly Market. I love Eataly - everything there is fresh, gourmet and absolutely screams out Mario Batali. There's quite a few restaurants there, and even though I have been about 5 times already, I have not tried them all. So far, I have tried the panini bar, La Piazza, Verdure, La Pizza and La Pasta. Next I'd like to try the raw bar restaurant (Il Crudo), the fish restaurant (Il Pesce), and the gourmet beef restaurant (Il Manzo). In fairness, I should warn readers, the place is a hot spot right now. It will cool off, but right now the crowds are pretty fierce, even at lunchtime during the week.

 On my first visit, I went to the panini bar and had a brasaole, arugula and pesto panini which was delicious (not pictured).  Then, I went back to the absolutely crazy Saturday night atmosphere with my husband. First, we stopped a the Piazza and enjoyed a sampling of parmesan cheeses with a glass of Italian spumoni. Next, we decided to try the pizza and pasta restaurants. I had one of the fabulous Italian sodas. I've tried a variety of the Italian sodas at Eataly - I've never seen any of them anywhere else in NYC, but the ones I've had so far have been fabulous - rhubarb, lemon, lime - a whole variety of flavors and not overpoweringly sweet like American sodas. My husband had a Moretti beer.

At La Pasta/LaPizza we both started with a fabulous dish of the homemade fresh pasta in a pesto sauce - it was one of the best pesto dishes I've had. Fresh and simple, but oh so good. Then we followed with a basic pizza, which was good, but perhaps a bit too much cheese. But oh that crust - it was irresistible. The cheese was still great though, and of course they make their own mozzarella fresh at Eataly every day.

I have also had the opportunity to try the gelato at Eataly, which despite the long lines, does not dissapoint. I had two favors that would seen not to go well together - Fig and Hazelnut, but they were actually both delicious and went together just fine. I love fresh figs and the fig gelato took me back to that day in Napa a couple years ago where I tasted fresh mission figs from the trees.

Finally, I have tried Verdure (food pictured above),  the vegetable restaurant. There were so many great choices on the menu, including specials. However, I went with a lime flavored Italian soda and vegetables a la piatra, a dish that was composed of a variety of fresh market vegetables, from cauliflower to asparagus to sprouts to radicchio, to zucchini and just about everything else you could imagine. It was an amazing vegetable salad. The brushetta of the day was also amazing - fresh sweet corn with chives and black garlic.  The black garlic was amazing, with an almost balsamic/tamarind like taste - so exotic and delicious. I plan to make my own bruschetta using some later this week, since they sell it at Eataly market.

Sasha's Kitchen: Spice-Infused Heirloom Tomato Salad and NYC's Eataly (a review)

Sasha's Kitchen: Chicken Scarpariello

One of my husband's favorite dishes is Chicken Scarpariello.  He is especially fond of the Chicken Scarpariello at Acappella, an Italian Restaurant in Tribeca that we love to go to for special occasions.  While Acappella has some of the best Italian food in New York, I decided to try my hand at making a Chicken Scarpariello that my husband would enjoy for a lazy Sunday night dinner after the heartbreaking loss of the Gold Medal Hockey Game.  While team USA came up a bit short, this dish did not.  My husband loved it and it was both an enjoyable and easy to make meal.  I served it with spelt berries, an organic grain that I fell in love with for the first time when I had them with my duck confit brunch at the Flatbush Farm the day before.  They proved a great addition and gave a lovely and wholesome texture to this chicken entree.

Sasha's Chicken Scarpariello

1 package Empire skinless & boneless chicken breasts (about 1.5 lbs)

zest of 1 lemon

2 tsp lemon juice

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

4 cloves garlic, diced

1 cup white cooking wine

1 cup low sodium chicken stock

1/4 cup Italian parsley

1 small hot cherry pepper

1 cup spelt berries ( I used Bob's Red Mill Spelt Berries)

salt and pepper to season

Olive Oil (or Canola Oil)

2 tsp of flour

First, prepare the spelt berries the same way you would with rice - 1 cup of the wheat berries to 2 cups of water.  i also seasoned with pepper, salt and the zest of half a lemon.  Bring the water to boil and simmer until the water is gone, and remove the zest.

To prepare the chicken, I cut the chicken breasts into small pieces and seasoned with salt and pepper.  I seared and browned the chicken on all sides for a couple of minutes with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.  Then, I put the chicken aside (it gets cooked through later).

I added some more olive oil to the pan and added the diced peppers and garlic.  The hot pepper only ads a bit of heat, so if you do not want any heat, leave it out.  Conversely, if you want a spicy dish, add another hot pepper.  I sauteed the peppers and garlic for about five minutes, before adding the white wine, lemon juice, chicken broth and flour.  I also added the zest from the other half of the lemon.  

I then returned the chicken to the pan and allowed the sauce to simmer for about 20 minutes or so until the chicken was cooked through and the sauce was thickened and significantly reduced.  A little bit of flower helps the sauce thicken a little bit (although it is really not a thick sauce at all - it is very light and lemony).   Just towards the end of the process, I added the parsley.  I served the chicken with the spelt berries.  Enjoy!

Sasha's Kitchen: Chicken Scarpariello

Sasha's Kitchen: Crepes With Banana & Nutella

Last night, my husband and I prepared banana-nutella crepes.  After years of hearing about the amazing crepes my husband had years ago on a trip to Paris, and tasting some inexpensive but delicious crepes at the Crooked Tree Creperie in Manhattan, we decided to prepare our own.  The trickiest part of the recipe for crepes is, sure enough, preparing the crepe batter.  I have done this twice, and the mistake I made last night, was not carefully and patiently following the instructions like I did the first time.  They were still very tasty, but the batter for the crepes was a bit thick, resulting in thicker crepes than I intended.  I think the second stop where some trouble shooting could be done was that we should have chilled the batter a bit longer after preparing it, and poured the crepes a bit thinner.  So much for not waiting two hours as Martha Stewart suggested; I guess occasionally it pays to exercise a bit of patience!  Thus, my crepes were delicious, but a bit on the heavy or thick side.  In the post below, I am going to include my suggestions for making the crepes more how I hoped they would turn out (and the way they did when I made this recipe about a year ago).

Crepe Batter (using Martha Stewart's Recipe, here)

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

three eggs

5 T melted unsalted butter, plus more for skillet

Sift flour, beat eggs and whisk together the ingredients.  I am going to recommend the step I ignored and allow to chill for at least two hours (or overnight, if you prefer).  I did this the first time, and my crepes came out much thinner and perfectly. By allowing it to chill, this will thin the batter somewhat, and correct for the problem I encountered.

To prepare the crepes, heat about 1/2 a tablespoon of butter in a 8 or 12 inch pan.  Pour in about a 1/3 of a cup of batter.  We tried to make larger crepes using a bit more of the batter, but it just made them a bit on the thick side.  Cook like you would prepare a pancake, until golden brown in spots and lifted by pockets of air.  You should only need to cook for about one minute on each side, although obviously it took our somewhat thicker crepes a bit longer.

I filled the crepes with some diced bananas and melted nutella.  Even though they were a bit thicker than the first time, they still tasted great and looked pretty.  We enjoyed our crepes with a taste of Vidal Ice Wine from my trip to Inniskillin (article on Inniskillin wine-tasting here) which provided a lovely, sweet complement to the bananas and hazelnut cream.

Margie in Boston has also written about crepes, using a different approach - check out her article.  She presents some good ideas about swirling the pan in a circular motion, using a tilt.  I did not do this using my recipe, but I think doing so would improve the crepes by thinning out the batter.  I will try her technique next time.

Sasha's Kitchen: Crepes With Banana & Nutella

Sasha's Kitchen: Nobu's Spicy Shrimp Tempura

I am about to introduce the most unhealthy thing I have made since starting this blog.  All those sticks of butter in my cupcake frosting don't hold a candle to this one.  I really usually try to cook on the healthy side, so deep fried food is a rarity in my kitchen.  However, I couldn't resist trying out Nobu's recipe for spicy shrimp tempura, and I was not disappointed.  Like most things that are incredibly unhealthy, the deep fried shrimp, coated in a spicy mayonnaise, dipped in ponzu sauce, was mouth wateringly delicious.  In fact, I, the normally somewhat health conscious (or at least fat conscious) chef who cooks using only organic vegetables, am almost ashamed to be writing this one up.  I probably wouldn't share this recipe at all, because of the guilt factor, if it wasn't so good . . .

Nobu, the flagship restaurant of Chef Nobu Matsuhisa is one of my favorite Japanese restaurants in New York for its non-sushi dishes.  The black cod with miso is another favorite of mine (much healthier, too I might add).  The recipe below is from Nobu's cookbook, Nobu Now.   When preparing this dish, I made a couple of slight modifications from Nobu's recipe, while I scaled back the recipe so I would not have extra.    The dish was amazing, but given the cardio-scare from this dish, it is probably not something I will make again.  Then again, it's nice to treat yourself every now and then.  In addition, it is worth adding that I discovered that another blogger has done a very similar adaption from the original Nobu recipe.

Tempura Batter (adapted from Nobu Now recipe)
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup ice water
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp lemon juice

Spicy Mayonnaise
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp rice vinegar
1/3 cup canola oil
4 tsp sambal
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

3/4 lb shrimp
chives
ponzu sauce
lemon juice

To prepare this recipe, I first made the batter and set aside.  To make the spicy mayonnaise, I bet all the ingredients except the canola oil in a bowl, and then I emulsified by adding the canola oil slowly and beating with a whisk the entire time.  I added both sambal and red pepper flakes to get the desired heat.  You could certainly make it spicier if you like.

One of the things I dislike most about seafood is shelling and deveining shrimp.  However, the deveining process (which I detest) is absolutely necessary.  For that reason, I purchased fresh shrimp that were already shelled and deveined at my local fish market in Park Slope.  To prepare the shrimp, I dipped or dredged each shrimp in the batter and then deep fried it in our electric hot pot, with the heat setting for the oil at about 355 F.  My husband, Brad, actually did the deep frying - he used about 3 inches of canola oil for the small to medium sized shrimp that I had purchased.  Each one took about three minutes.

When the shrimp were done, I coated them in the spicy mayonnaise and served with chives, lemon juice and ponzu sauce.  My husband actually preferred simply dipping the shrimp in the mayonnaise because it stayed a little crispier that way.

This was delicious, but like I said, I prefer to eat to healthy to make this one again!  This was only our second venture at deep frying.  The first was out New Orleans Beignets (doughnuts).

This was a fun Japanese recipe.  I really enjoy all of the ethnic fusion cooking I have been experimenting with in many of my recipes lately.  I am really itching to do some international travel and taste testing on foot.  It's been almost a year since my last trip to Europe and I am feeling some wanderlust right now.  There's such a long list of places in the world I want to see and eat my way through, yet never enough time and money to do it all.

Shrimp

Sasha's Kitchen: Nobu's Spicy Shrimp Tempura

Sasha's Kitchen: Best Manhattan Foodie Spots

In no particular order, the following are my favorite and most highly recommended Manhattan restaurants, in a variety of price ranges. This is not meant to be a list of the best or top restaurants in Manhattan, just some of my favorite dining experiences that I have had since moving to New York nearly nine years ago. I will (at some point) do a separate list of my favorite inexpensive, budget eats, as well. Here are my favorite Manhattan dining experiences, in no particular order.  Just a note: This is not meant to be a cheap eats guide, though there are a few of those mixed in here.  I will, at some point, do a top 25 favorite New York Cheap Eats list.  But for now, happy dining!

1. Blue Hill (Village)- I have already written an entire review of Blue Hill, which might just be my favorite Manhattan restaurant, and the perfect choice for my birthday dinner.  A recap - the seasonal farm-to-table ingredients, artful recipe design and presentation, combined with the friendly and attentive staff make Blue Hill one of the best places to eat in Manhattan - or anywhere.  In terms of the food, this is on par with some of Napa's best restaurants.

2. Tabla (Gramercy/Flatiron)- Tabla is an Indian-American fusion restaurant that is one of my favorite culinary fusion restaurants in New York.  A less expensive alternative is Bread Bar at Tabla.  They make all of their own chutneys - my favorite is the green apple.  Their crabcakes (which I have made myself, using their cookbook) are incredible.  Everything at this upscale restaurant is a treat because of the artful cusine and presentation.  Plus, their use of Indian ingrediants and spices - from tamarind to chat masala is creative and delicious.

3. Lupa (Village) - I have already reviewed Lupa and my favorite dish at this midrange Italian restaurant - the bucatini all' amatriciana.  Delicious, reasonably priced Italian, but you will need a reservation unless you want to eat very late.  This is one of my two favorite Italian restaurants in New York. 

4. Acappella (Tribeca) - Acappella is my other favorite Italian restaurant.  From the loud Happy Birthdays to every step of your meal, the staff could not be friendlier at this high-end Italian.  The cuisine is traditional Italian, and everything is delicious from the veal marsala to the chicken scarpierello to the lamb chops.  They always bring out Italian cordials at the end of what will be one of the best meal that New York can give you.  The caesar salad, lobster arriabiata, and pastas (especially the pesto) are all mouth wateringly delictable.

5. Balthazar (Village)- Balthazar gets French Bistro right on the NYC high-end circuit.  This was another spot for a great birthday dinner (my husband's two years ago) and they have a delicious (and more wallet-friendly) brunch.  The scene is busy, just like a Parisian bistro, but all the bistro dishes from the goat cheese carmelized onion tart to the cote de beuf are excellent.

6.  Stanton Social (Lower East Side)- This is a new restaurant, to me anyhow.  My husband and I had brunch here about six months ago with fellow writer Eric from Jersey City and his girlfriend Jenn.  We were not disappointed.  The entire brunch (like all meals at Stanton Social) consists of small plates - from grilled pizettas to lobster benedict and some pretty outrageous sliders.  The kobe beef sliders were out of this world.  The cocktails are creative and delicious, too.  A bit pricy for brunch, but totally worth every bite.

7. Geisha (Upper East Side) - Geisha is my favorite upscale sushi restaurant in NYC.  No one seems to know it, but the sushi at Geisha is just as good at the top sushi places in Manhattan.  My husband and I consider eating out here to be a real treat.  It is a gem.

8. Sushi Seki (Upper East Side)- Most Manhattan foodies consider Sushi Seki to be among the best sushi restaurants in Manhattan, and I won't disagree with them.  This sushi is a pretty amazing meal, all prepared the authentic Japanese way.  The quality of the fish here (whether omikase, pieces, sashimi or a roll) is second to none.

9. Bouley (Tribeca) - Bouley is considered by most to be one of Manhattan's finest upscale restaurants.  It's not stuffy at all - the presentation is elegant, artful and romantic.  We dined here for one of my husband's birthdays and enjoyed our candlelight meal.  We had the tasting menu which at the time included a wonderfully presented lobster appetizer and a fois gras.  Everything here is artfully presented and perfectly prepared.  Eating here was a culinary delight, although an expensive one.

10. Mesa Grill (Flatiron) - Mesa Grill is Bobby Flay's flagship restaurant.  I enjoy eating here (especially brunch) and cooking from Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill cookbook, which is the feature cookbook of this southwestern NYC classic.  If you enjoy Iron Chef America on the Food Network, you will enjoy eating here.

11. Kuma Inn (Lower East Side) - Kuma Inn is an fairly inexpensive Asian small plate restaurant.  It's BYOB so bring some Sake or Singha beer to enjoy with your meal.  Make a reservation in advance as it is a small restaurant.  All of the dishes are delicious Asian fusion dishes, perfect for sharing. (cash only).

12. Otto Enoteca (Village) - Otto is Mario Batali's reasonably priced pizza place.  Great and unique pizzas, fine selection of cheeses, gelato and an excellent selection of Italian wine.  I once saw Michael Stipe from REM here too. My favorite pizza on the menu is the spicy, cheeseless Marinara pizza.  They have olive oil gelato here too, which sounds weird, but is delicious (just trust me on this one).

13. Second Avenue Deli (Murray Hill) - This is my favorite deli in Manhattan (although I haven't been to Katz's Deli).  It used to be on Second Avenue in the Lower East Size, but now has moved to Murray Hill.  This is the place to get that true NYC pastrami sandwich  and matzah ball soup you have been craving, but they are quite large sandwiches.

14. Delfriscos (Midtown) - Manhattan's best steakhouse is a class act.  This is an expensive meal, but a steak at Delfriscos is a steak like no other.  In addition to all of the excellent cuts of steak, the sides are all equally delicious.  This is a classic steakhouse, and certainly one of the best NYC has to offer.

15. Strip House - Manhattan's other best steakhouse is a bit less traditional than Delfriscos with a bit more of trendy vibe.  Still, the strip steak, filet mignon and chateaubriand are second to none.  Also, the sides here are equally delicious, especially the black truffle creamed spinach, and my sister-in-law loves the tuna, as well.

16. Paris Commune (Village/Meat Packing) - Paris Commune does not take brunch reservations so get there early if you do not want to wait.  This is my favorite reasonably priced brunch in Manhattan.  The restaurant has that wonderful downtown French bistro kind of feel to it and the food is delicious.  Be sure to order a side of the fresh gingerbread, because Brunch at Paris Commune isn't complete without it.  I also highly recommend whatever frittata is currently on the brunch menu.
17. Corner Bistro - Best burger in NYC, hands down.  It's that simple.  If you want a great burger, come here.

18. Babbo - Mario Batali's classic Italian restaurant.  This is a bit pricier than Lupa, but basically a similar vibe and ambiance.  The food is also similar - Italian cooked Mario Battali style.  My favorite dish on the menu is the Lamb Love Letters.  I came here a couple years ago the night after a U2 Concert at the Meadowlands, to find Bono and his entourage eating a couple tables away.  Babbo is Mario Batali Italian at its best.

19. Sushi of Gari (Upper East Side & Midtown) - Sushi of Gari is another great sushi place.  I used to go here at the time when we lived in the Upper East Sice, and now they have a second location in midtown.  The sushi omikase has wonderful toppings, and the Tuna of Gari is wonderfully fresh and enjoyable as well.

20. DBGB Kitchen & Bar (Lower East Side)- Wonderful brunch, great burgers, and delicious, creative Sundae Desserts.  This is everything that a new Daniel Boulud restaurant should be and more.  We came here for brunch with my friend Eric a few months ago, but I have been meaning to make it back for dinner.

21. Shake Shack (Bryant Park, Midtown, Nolita, CitiField, Upper East Side etc...) - Shake Shack is NYC's quintessential perfect roadside burger.  The freshly made shakes and sweet and delicious as well.  Shake Shack, owned by who else by Danny Meyer has become such a NYC tradition, loved by locals, that there is even one at Citi Field (though as a Yankees fan, I recommend going to the one in Bryant Park).

22. Markt (Chelsea) - No Belgian food is ever going to come close to the food and all the college memories that I have of Monk's Cafe in Philly, but Markt and B. Cafe (No. 23) almost come close.  This restaurant has excellent Belgian classics, belgian beer and a wonderful ambiance.

23. B. Cafe (Upper East Side) - See No. 22.  B. Cafe is that perfect Belgian place.  There's no pretense, this is just a great place to have a belgian beer like Delirium Tremens, Chimay, Kwak etc... with some steak frites, terrific mussels, belgian fries and a belgian waffle with chocolate for dessert while hanging with some old friends.

24. Crooked Tree Creperie (Lower East Side)  - Such a causual place may not typically be included in a list like this.  But if that's what you are looking for then Crooked Tree is perfect.  For $16 you can enjoy two crepes, a dinner creme and a delectable dessert crepe.  It's not quite Paris but really, what is?  And for such a price you can have a quite enjoyable meal at this lower east side creperie.

25.  Blue Smoke - Another Danny Meyer restaurant, Blue Smoke is my favorite BBQ in Manhattan (and I don't really like BBQ that much).  Everything here is excellent from the desserts, brisket, pulled meat sandwiches and even the chocolate chip cookies.  There's a great Jazz Club here too, called Jazz Standard.

Places I would like to check out but haven't yet: Del Posto, Momofuku Ko, Mas Farmhouse and Gramercy Tavern (can't believe I've never been)

Sasha's Kitchen: Best Manhattan Foodie Spots

Sasha's Kitchen: NYC Bagels (and cookies too)

Tonight I tried an interesting experiment that worked - I made bagels, from scratch. This is, however, not the most practical recipe. It was actually relatively easy, but doesn't necessarily make sense since I live in New York and could buy some of the world's best bagels fresh in a snap for about .60 cents a bagel. If you don't live in New York and don't have such access, perhaps then this is a good solution. However, I have been told that they key to amazing New York bagels comes from the mineral content of NYC tap water (since bagels have to be boiled in this water), which is obviously not available outside of New York.

I have been eating bagels for years and after nearly 10 years in New York, I think I've tasted some pretty good bagels. In all fairness, I have tasted some pretty bad bagels. As a small child in central PA (not bagel country, certainly), my Dad made me lenders frozen blueberry bagels with peanut butter for breakfast for awhile. For some reason, rather than telling him I didn't want to eat these (I was like 7 or 8 and ate like a bird as a kid), I decided to stuff the bagels inside the radiator vents in the kitchen. I might have done this about 15 times or so when I finally got caught. Not please, my Dad asked me if I had ever done this before. Not wanting to get in trouble, I assured him this was a one time mistake which I would not repeat. My days of eating frozen lenders bagels were then over, thankfully and I soon completely forgot about my bagel-hiding. Years later, in about 1998 when I was in college, my parents redid their kitchen. They were quite surprised to discover 15 or so completely petrified (12 year old) bagels still inside the radiator. Amazingly, they had not had any other problems (mice, radiator fires or bugs) over the years.

To make bagels, I pretty strictly followed the recipe I located on Chow. This recipe calls for the following ingredients to make a dozen bagels (I cut it in half and made 6):

1 1/2 cups warm water
4 small packets of dry active yeast (I used 2 for 2 cups of flour, which is fine)
4 cups bread flour
2 T malt syrup
2 T kosher salt
4 T sugar
1 egg white

The full recipe I used with instructions is here.

I do not have a professional bagel cooking machine so I just boiled in a large pot. In addition, I used King Arthur Bread Flour, which is just about the best bread flour out there. I could not locate malt syrup at the grocery store where I shop(I am sure I could have if I hunted it down a bit). The guy at the store had no idea what I was asking me for and kept suggesting that I buy maple syrup or chocolate syrup. I did find online that unsulfured molasses is a good substitute for malt syrup, in that the viscosity and sugar content is similar (perhaps a tad sweeter), so I substituted that. To get the glossy color, glaze with an egg white, mixed with 2 T of water, using a pastry brush, before bakign at 425 F for about 25 minutes.

Following the instructions on the recipe, the bagels were pretty easy to make and fun. They cam out slightly lumpy, but general bagel-like. I am not quite sure how they measure up to the very best New York bagels, as I think that a place like H&H has a distinct advantage. However, they were pretty tasty and made for an enjoyable meal with lox and cream cheese.

In addition, I also made some pretty good cookies tonight - Quince Walnut Thumbprint cookies:

1 1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup splenda-sugar (lower sugar content than sugar, as you can also use 1/2 cup regular sugar)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup pureed walnuts

To make the dough, first blend the butter and sugar in the basin of that artisan mixmaster I've been talking about. Then blend in the other ingredients. The walnuts should be processed first into a powder.

Next, let the dough chill for 1 hour in the refrigerator. Then form into cookies and press an indentation or "thumbprint" into each cookie and fill with jam. I chose to use quince jam. The bake for 13-15 minutes until lightly golden at 325 degrees F. Quince is a somewhat sweet, but also tart fruit. Obviously other jam flavors could be substituted.

Sasha's Kitchen: NYC Bagels (and cookies too)