Montreal vs. New York Bagel Showdown

This week I was presented by a unique opportunity to conduct a side by side taste-test of Montreal bagels and New York bagels. As I'm home for break we can get St. Viateur bagels at a local grocery store and my dad's intern went to Long Island for the weekend and brought us some New York bagels. Neither were day-of fresh, but both samples had traveled similar distances and lived comparable shelf-lives. What is the difference, you may be asking. A bagel is a bagel is a bagel, isn't it? Certainly not!

As you can see in the picture, Montreal style bagels are small and dense, in contrast with puffier New York style bagels. In many New York bagels the hole almost disappears due to the puffyness but Montreal bagels are decisively ring-shaped. Montreal bagels are boiled in honey-water before baking and contain sugar, lending them a sweeter flavour, while New York bagels tend to be saltier, boiled in plain water. Montreal bagels are baked in a wood-burning oven, and are attractively browned in places, while New York bagels are baked in a standard oven and have a more uniform look. Traditionally, Montreal bagels were either sesame or poppy-seed, though there are more varieties today (including the abomination that is the whole-wheat bagel). New York bagels come in a range of flavours, perhaps most deliciously pumpernickel and everything.

A word about other bagels: Some bagels do not deserve to be in either category. While I am a Canadian college student and so frequent Tim Horton's, their bagels are simply not in the same league, but by their sheer blandness make every bite of a true bagel, New York or Montreal, so much better. I had high hopes for a Bagel World that was to open near campus, but those high hopes led to grave disappointment when it finally opened (it has since closed). Montreal bagels can be ordered from St. Viateur and some excellent grocery stores (like Pete's Frootique in Halifax) stock them. My Market Bakery in Toronto's Kensington Market makes a good Montreal bagel. I have not found a great New York style bagel in Canada, but I haven't been looking too hard.

Sesame New York bagel toasted with butter and cream cheese:


Poppyseed Montreal bagel toasted with butter and cream cheese:


I will admit my bias, if it has not already become clear. Montreal bagels are one of my favourite foods, and as soon as I have my own freezer it will be forever stocked with mail-ordered St. Viateur's. They are dense, chewy and slightly sweet-to me they are what a bagel ought to be. New York bagels are chewy but in a very different way-they are breadgels. They can never achieve the crisp excellence of a toasted Montreal bagel due to their sheer bulk. This bulk can come in handy if you simply want a tasty vessel for whichever sandwich meats strike your fancy, but in pure, classical applications of the bagel (toasted, with cream cheese or butter), Montreal wins by a landslide. I realize that the bagel wars are divisive and I can appreciate that both have their strengths-it really depends on what you are looking for in your bagel, and in large part this is shaped by what you grew up with. Both are delicious topped with cream cheese and smoked salmon (but really what wouldn't be?), though in a simple preparation, there is no contest.

Blueberry Coffee Cake with Lemon Spice Streusel

Do we have any blueberries, I wondered, as I opened the fridge door.
Oh yes. Oh my.

This recipe comes from Cooking with Les Dames d'Escoffier. Les Dames d'Escoffier are a female culinary association dedicated to the advancement of women in the field. Some of their luminaries include Julia Child, Alice Waters and Dorie Greenspan. This is a collection of their favourite recipes for home cooking, written very accessibly. So you know it's going to be good. I actually took this out of the library but it has quickly moved to #1 on my wishlist. Tons of great recipes along with wine pairings which is crucial for me, because I am absolutely clueless and unsophisticated when it comes to wine. The book is also peppered with personal anecdotes about these women's careers as chefs, restauranteurs, food writers, photographers, caterers, as well as some great kitchen tips. There are very few photos but, hey, I trust them and this cake did not disappoint. Also a way to use up some of the buttermilk I bought for the waffles this past weekend.

Buttermilk Berry Coffee Cake with Lemon Spice Topping
For the cake:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 2/3 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (frozen works too, could also use raspberries, blackberries, etc.)
• 2 tsp lemon juice

For the streusel:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 3 tbsp butter, room temperature
  

1. Pre-heat oven to 350˚ and butter a 9-inch springform pan. Cream butter and sugar in large bowl of electric mixer or by hand (check out our old school mixmaster and understand my longing for a KitchenAid).
2. Add the eggs one by one. Beat in the vainlla.
3. Sift together your dry ingredients and alternate adding them and the buttermilk, gradually, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Do not overbeat.
4. Pour half of the batter into pan, and try to make it as level as possible. Toss together lemon juice and blueberries, sprinkle on top and add remaining batter over top.
5. For the streusel, combine dry ingredients in small bowl and cut in the butter until you have a nice crumb-y streusel texture. Sprinkle over top and bake approx 1 hour 10 minutes, checking doneness with a skewer. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for at least 15 minutes. Undo the springform and serve warm or at room temperature.

You raise me up

Home-made waffles for breakfast ceases to be a good idea when you realize that means waking up at 8 on a Sunday. This batter for yeasted waffles can be whipped up the night before and left to rise 12-24 hours in the fridge, making quick work of a delicious project.

Yeasted Waffles

• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 8 tbsp/1 stick/1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Heat milk and butter in small saucepan over medium-low heat until butter is melted, 3-5 minutes. Cool until warm to touch. Meanwhile, whisk flour, sugar, salt and yeast in large bowl to combine. Gradually whisk warm milk-butter mixture into flour mixture until batter is smooth. In small bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla, and then add to batter and whisk until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
2. Heat waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions, remove batter from fridge once iron is hot (batter will have risen-make sure to use LARGE bowl). Whisk batter to recombine and deflate, and bake waffles according to manufacturer's instructions. To hold waffles place on wire rack on top of cookie sheet covered with dishtowel in 200˚ oven.

Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring...

Bananabread!

My work was getting rid of an absurd amount of over-ripe bananas and I seized the opportunity and did not ask questions.

My first project?

Banana bread-from Cook's Illustrated

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
  
• 1 tsp nutmeg (optional)
  
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed well (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 2 large eggs
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Pre-heat oven to 350˚. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan and dust with flour, tapping out the excess. Melt the butter so it has time to cool.
2. Spread walnuts out on cookie sheet and toast in oven until fragrant, 10 minutes. Let cool.
3. Whisk together dry ingredients and walnuts in a large bowl.
4. Mix all wet ingredients together in a separate bowl. Lightly fold the banana mixture into the dry ingredients until just incorporated and batter is thick and chunky. Scrape batter into loaf pan with spatula.
5. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temp.

Breakfast for dinner

Possibly the ultimate lazy/delicious dinner: breakfast. The meal so nice I ate it twice.

Poached eggs on toast + bacon=heavenly and ready in 5 minutes. Poached eggs have become my thing lately. My mom always ate them and the texture grossed me out, I preferred my 'scrambled egg on toast', not really scrambled eggs but an egg fried into toast shape and then pre-cut (egg and toast!) by my dad...Poached eggs on toast is my way of proving I'm almost a grown-up now.

Real ICE CREAM post tomorrow.