The Caleb & Vladi's Cooking Show

Patty Cake, Patty Cake, Baker’s Man

Bake me a cake as quick as you can!

Copyright Vladimir Kagan, September 27, 2015

 

"Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man", "Pat-a-cake", "patty-cake" or "pattyc", "Pat-a-cake", "patty-cake" or "pattycake" is one of the oldest and most widely known surviving English nursery rhymes."

   

What are the two of the most important gifts that the Jewish people have bestowed upon their Christian neighbors (other than the Bible and the Ten Commandments???)

 

Answer: Bagels and Chopped liver

  

This is an ecumenical Blog with my friend Caleb Cressman (not Jewish) teaching Vladimir Kagan (Jewish) how to make New York Style Bagels and in the same  show, Vladimir reciprocates with a lesson in making chopped liver into a sexy cognac laced paté.

 

 

Some of you will recognize Caleb as the accordion player in the Coq Au Vin Band.

 

 

Caleb’s Bagel recipe

Ingredients:

1 kg flour. I use King Arthur all purpose.

50 grams of sugar

25 grams of salt

11 grams of yeast

Mix these together

Add a little less than three cups of water.

 

Preparation:

Mix

knead for five or ten minutes

Let rise for an hour

Separate into 110 gram balls.

Now shape the dough balls into bagels by getting a hole in them and flattening slightly. Be creative.

Let sit for ten minutes.

Now throw a few at a time into the big pot of boiling water you put on at the beginning of this process. But first add a few table spoons of sugar to the water. This give the bagels a nice sparkly sheen. Flip the bagels after about 45 seconds to boil the other side. Scoop out of the water and let dry a bit on a counter. Paint side with an egg wash made from one egg white mixed with a teaspoon of water. Sprinkle on your toppings of choice and bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

 

    

 Kneading the dough and shaping the bagel's hole. This looks easy, but it "aint" (See my results below)

My friend Betsey's and my attempt at making bagels on our own. We labelled them "Really Ugly Bagels by Vladi) and hope to market them. P.S. they really tasted delicious!

Vladi’s chopped liver recipe Chicken Liver Paté (borrowed from Jacques Pepin's cookbook. "Everyday cooking with Jacques Pepin)   Ingredients: 1 Pound of chicken livers 2/3 Cup thinly sliced onions 1 Clove of garlic, peeled and crushed 2 bay leaves crushed 1/4 Teaspoon thyme leaves 1 Cup chicken broth 2 Teaspoons of salt 1-1/2 Cups (3 sticks) butter, softened Freshly ground pepper 2 Teaspoons Cognac or more! 1 envelope unflavored gelatin for aspic   Preparation: Place the livers, onion, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, broth and 1 teaspoon salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and cook at a bare simmer for 7 or 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes. Take out the solids with a slotted spoon and place them in the bowl of a food processor with metal blade. Be certain to fish out the bay leaves as they do not chop up smoothly  (Reserve and strain the liquid to make the aspic) Start processing the liver, adding the butter piece by piece. Finally, add the second teaspoon salt, the pepper, and a generous splash of Cognac process for 2 minutes so that the mixture is very creamy and completely smooth. Pour into a mold and refrigerate to set and serve.  To preserve freshness and give a professional look to my paté,  I make an aspic. (this is the fun part of the process as it makes me look so professional.) Aspic: Boil up the remaining broth and residue from the liver. Add the bag of unflavored gelatin and stir frequently to dissolve the gelatin. Next, beat a raw egg into a froth and stir it into the boiling liquid to clarify it. Once the broth is clear, strain it through a sieve lined with a layer of paper towels. Allow to cool but not harden, then pour it slowly over the cooled paté. Make certain not to melt the underlying paté with the liquid aspic.   There's nothing like a little handwork mushing the ingredients into the pot   Stirring the ingredients over a simmering stove Testing livers to be certain that they are still pink inside adding just a dash of salt into the Cuisinart pouring the smooth pate into ceramic bowls   If the Pope  had visited NANTUCKET, he would surely have enjoyed our joint effort!   ****   This memorable event was recorded for posterity on video by my friend, Joanna Hay, who some of you will recognize as the nibbled-fingered violinist in the Coq Au Vin Band. These photos are out-take from her documentary film. I know it will make Caleb and me stars on the cooking network!    Joanna Hay is a documentary filmmaker and a superb violinist             Epilog: Kneading Bagel Dough is infinitely more work than chopping liver in the Cuisinart!