blog — molly yeh

breakfast

french yogurt "malabi"

Happy Friday everyone!!!!! Are you on your way to recovering from post-Olympic blues? We put in a great effort this week by taking up a Westworld habit and partying for Purim! I thought we’d be partying just the two of us but then we last minute found out about a little Purim party with a rabbi from Fargo and it was so fun! I dressed up as a hot dog and brought a weenie whistle for my noisemaker but then I dropped it on the ground and didn’t want to get cooties so I chickened out. I was also just way too sheepish to take out a weenie whistle in front of people I’d never met before. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Next year, with a weenie whistle!

Now I’m making bagels and getting ready for Mackenzie’s baby shower, but they’re cooling now so I thought I would bop in and post another quick little yogurt recipe! 

This is another recipe that was cut from Short Stack Yogurt. It is *so* simple, (and follows a similar format as another recipe in the book, which is why I think we ultimately decided to cut it) but the flavors aren’t anything you’d find in a typical yogurt section. At least not in America. It’s a recipe inspired by Malabi, the Middle Eastern milk custard that is commonly topped with rose syrup, crushed pistachios or other nuts, and shredded coconut. (I’ve got a version in Molly on the Range!) It’s refreshing and fruity and floral and also so pretty!! Pistachio + rose is easily one of my favorite combos ever, for looks and taste.

With this version, I’ve put these same flavors onto my new obsession, French style yogurt. French style yogurt is that yogurt that comes in the cute glass or ceramic jars. It’s not that way just for show, it’s actually cultured within those individual jars, as opposed to other styles of yogurt which are cultured in big batches and then portioned out. French yogurt is so rich and custardy and not at all tangy, so if you’ve been avoiding Greek yogurt because you don’t like its sourness then this is 4 u. (Yoplait’s French yogurt, Oui, came out recently which meant that I could suddenly for the first time buy French yogurt in Grand Forks and my life has been better ever since. But St. Benoit is another brand that I’ve had in California that is really good, and I’m sure if you live in New York or another big city you can find some various brands pretty easily.)

This is a healthyish dessert but also a passable breakfast I think because not only do you get yogurty probiotics, but you can also assemble it in a rush because it takes all of six seconds. Just make your syrup on a day when you have a little time and then keep it in your fridge to use throughout the week. And it comes together directly in your yogurt jar! How easy is that. Fit for a morning when your dumb alarm clock didn’t go off.

French Yogurt "Malabi"

makes 1 serving; easily scaleable

ingredients

1 tb Pomegranate Rose Syrup (recipe follows)

1 jar (~5 oz) plain French yogurt*

2 tsp shredded unsweetened coconut

2 tsp toasted pistachios, almonds, or another nut, coarsely chopped

2 tsp pomegranate seeds

A small pinch of cinnamon

A large pinch of lemon zest, optional but recommended

*I use plain yogurt here since the syrup is quite sweet, but vanilla or coconut flavored yogurt could certainly also work. 

clues

Spoon 1 tablespoon syrup over the yogurt and top with shredded coconut, crushed nuts, pomegranate seeds, a small pinch of cinnamon and a bit of lemon zest, if using, and serve. 


Pomegranate Rose Syrup

Makes about ½ cup

Ingredients

1 c pomegranate juice 

¼ c (50g) sugar

1 tb fresh lemon juice

2 tsp rosewater

clues

In a small saucepan, bring the pomegranate juice and sugar to a simmer over medium high heat and cook until reduced by half and syrupy, about 25 to 30 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and rosewater and let cool (this can be made up to a couple of days in advance and kept in the fridge). 

 


-yeh!

photos by chantell and brett!


Short Stack Yogurt, available here

new year's cookie cereal!

Hi! It's Molly of last week here, Molly of the present is on holiday break and not allowed to open up her computer until January 3. (There is a piece of washi tape holding it shut.) Present molly is definitely opening instagram every five seconds though. And, like, sitting on her couch eating cheese and butter sandwiches, getting them all in before the clock strikes 2018 when suddenly there is a little guilt in the air about eating bread, but shut me up, that’s all I’m saying about New Year’s diets. 

Molly of the present might be a little bit tan from a two day skip down to the great American Southwest, very full on pizza from a pizza party at Melissa’s (!!!! Omg past Molly is so excited), and awaiting results from her 23 and me test since she got one for herself and one for Eggboy to put under the Chrismukkah bush. Just for funsies! I know I’m half Chinese and part Hungarian but one time at Thanksgiving someone from my mom’s side said something about having Polish ancestors and maybe even some Spanish ones (!!). I can’t wait to find out. 

Also, we celebrated our third anniversary yesterday!! Hooray!!!!!! I think we went to IKEA. That’s the plan at least. And now that I think about it, I think that my favorite hidden talent of ours as a couple is confidently maintaining a perfect track record of never fighting in an IKEA. That’s pretty good, right??? It’s maybe either a testament to our level-headed reasoning skills or to the fact that as long as I get Swedish meatballs in my belly the world could end but I’d still be smiling. Either way, I am extra excited to spend the day looking at Hemneses and Vördas with my cool husband. 

Enough being mushy now! Let’s get crispy.

As you may remember, I spent a large portion of my February stamping out macroscopic heart shaped cookies to make valentine’s day cookie cereal:

This was a long repetitive process but extraordinarily satisfying. So I did it again only this time with a festive holiday/New Year’s day approach! The only real differences from the valentine’s day version are that the cookies have ground almonds instead of hazelnuts (as well as sprinkles to be like new year’s confetti), and the meringues are swirly and colorful. It’s all very almond-forward because that’s the flavor of the holidays and if you make it now it will definitely still be good by the time that New Year’s morning rolls around and you simply cannot be bothered to make a brunch or wait for a table at the Walker Brothers, but you still want something celebratory. 

I used a large round piping tip to stamp out my circles. I also added dried cranberries and cherries and pecans and marcona almonds but feel free to change those up based on what you have on hand. The only thing you really need to pay attention to is making sure the cookies and meringues are really good and dry before taking them out of the oven, that will help this cereal keep for a while and not get smelly when you bag it up and gift it to the person you forgot to give a gift to. 

Omg, see you in 2018!!!!!


almond cookie cereal

makes about 18 servings

ingredients

1 batch mini almond cookies, recipe below

1 batch mini meringues, recipe below

1 c chocolate chips

1 c toasted coconut flakes

1 c toasted almonds, coarsely chopped (I also threw in some pecans!)

1 c dried cherries or cranberries

milk, for serving

clues

gently combine all of the ingredients. 

serve in a bowl with milk!

keep in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. cereal should keep for a couple of weeks.


mini almond cookies

ingredients

1/2 c almond meal

1 3/4 c all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 c unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c sugar

3/4 tsp vanilla

1 large egg

sprinkles

clues

preheat the oven to 350ºf. line two baking sheets with parchment.

in a medium bowl, combine the almond meal, flour, and salt.

using an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugar until it is pale and fluffy. add the vanilla and egg and beat well to combine. with the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, beating until combined.

turn the cookie dough out onto a lightly-floured surface. using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out until it's about 1/2" thick, sprinkle the top with sprinkles, and then continue rolling until it is 1/4" thick. use a cookie cutter or large round piping tip to cut out tiny circles. place the circles on the baking sheets (they can be pretty close together), and bake until they're lightly browned on the bottom, about 10 minutes. re-roll scraps and repeat.

once all of the cookies are baked, reduce the oven to 250ºf and bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes to really crisp them up. let cool on the pans.


ingredients

120 grams (or about 1/2 c + 3 tb) sugar

2 large eggs whites

1/4 tsp almond extract

2-4 colors of gel food coloring

clues

preheat oven to 400ºf. distribute the sugar in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes, until the edges are starting to brown. while sugar is baking, crack your egg whites into a stand mixer. 

once the sugar has been in the oven for a few minutes, begin beating the egg whites in a stand mixer on high until they're foamy. reduce the mixer and gradually sprinkle in the warm sugar. once all of it has been added, add the almond extract. beat on high for a few minutes, until the meringue is stiff, glossy, and cold.

reduce the oven to 225ºf.

prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment. fit a pastry bag fitted with a 1/8" or 1/4" round tip and use a paint brush to paint vertical lines of the food coloring inside of the pastry bag. (for a video tutorial, see my IG story highlights!) Fill the bag with your egg white mixture, pipe tiny dollops onto the parchment, and bake for about 20 minutes, until the mini meringues are no longer shiny and they're crispy all the way through. let cool on the pans.


-yeh!

everything bagels and blueberry lox!

Hi and welcome to a big moment in my personal bagel and lox journey! This journey began at the beginning of this year when I made the decision to move bagels and lox from the category of “things best left up to the experts and eaten only in new york” into the category of “things we can make at home because ughh flights to new york take so longgg and absolute bagel drone delivery doesn’t exist yet.” What took me so long to make this decision? A few things: 

-Requirements for special ingredients that aren't readily available at the Hugo's Family Marketplace down the road

-All this talk of maybe needing special “New York water”

-A general lack of fish knowledge

-Fear of recipes that require multiple days to make

Eventually my bagel craving got too big however, so I started researching, listening to bagel podcasts, reading recipes, and talking about my imminent journey to anybody who would listen. Two bagel experts emerged in town: Robert, who used to own a bagel shop in Idaho, and my friend Dave, a New York native and fantastic bread maker. Robert and I began making bagels every Sunday at our sadly now closed co-op, and Dave served as my recipe and special ingredient consultant. I learned what I could about the bagel shops that used to be in Grand Forks (one of them apparently flew bagels in from New York every day?!) and started listing features of a good bagel and lox: chewiness, doughiness, plumpness, a bit of sweetness, some texture that fights you but not too much, a very small if not closed up hole, bagel-y flavor (whatever that is), fluffy cream cheese, thinly sliced aggressively salty lox, capers, tomatoes, onions, Sunday morning chill. At one point after I spoke about my journey on Unorthodox, this Star Tribune recipe appeared in my inbox from Jonathan, Mark the Host’s brother, affirming that this was my “path to bagel heaven.” (The recipe I now use is a descendent of this one!) 

All you need is high gluten flour and barley malt! Is what I learned from Dave. No New York water necessary. Just flour and a syrupy substance, two easily Amazonable things, and a few basic pantry staples, I had no excuse. So I bought 50 pounds of high gluten flour and got to work on my at-home bagel practice. 

Some things I learned about bagels:

-Barley Malt makes bagel-y flavor! I like adding it to the dough and to the water when boiling them. It lends that distinct bit of sweetness that makes bagel flavor so good. 

-Once the dough is formed into bagels, they get really sticky. So when I tell you in the instructions to line your pan with parchment and grease it, do that and do it well!

-But they don’t stick to the toppings! So Dave and I use egg wash to help them stick. (Vegan bagel-ers, what would be a good substitution for this?)

-One minute on each side is a perfect amount of time to boil your bagels to get a deliciously chewy crust and doughy inside. Any longer and the crust fights you a little too much.

-I’ve had the most success letting the dough proof overnight in the fridge and then shaping them and boiling. Some recipes have you shape the night before and then refrigerate and then boil and bake. Mine always fell flat when I did this. Any thoughts?

(flat bagel 👆🏼)

-Bread flour can be substituted for high gluten flour, says Dave, simply knead for a few minutes longer to develop more gluten in the dough. 

-I suck at the shaping method where you make a long snake and then roll the two ends together (I think this is more traditional??) so I stick to the method where you make a ball and poke your thumb through, as demonstrated in the above video. Both taste great :)

-These bagels freeze beautifully!! 

After a few months of bagel practice, my journey took me to Alaska for salmon!! It was one of the best trips of my life (thank you, Copper River!)! Gerry, Nik, Alana, Kristan, Rob, and I stayed in the itsy bitsy town of Cordova, right near the Copper River, where some of the world’s tastiest wild salmon is caught, and learned about and ate salmon all day. I knew nothing about salmon before this trip and I didn’t actually really like it except for in lox (omg I’m sorry!), but now I can’t get enough of it.

Here are some pics from my trip!

Some things I learned about salmon and lox:

-Lox = Salmon cured with salt. Gravlax = Salmon cured with salt, sugar, dill, and spices. I wasn’t sure what name to go with for this blueberry recipe at first, but since there are no spices or dill and since we’re eating this on a bagel, I’m going with lox. But I think gravlax will totally work too, right?

-Wild salmon is pretty much only caught in the Pacific Ocean. (Salmon from the Atlantic is usually farmed.) And most of the wild salmon that we eat in the states comes from Alaska.

-Wild salmon is caught at the end of its life cycle, while it’s making the journey back to its birth place (somehow it remembers and knows to do this?!). Since the Copper River is super long, salmon need to be extra fatty in order to make that journey, making it super flavorful. (Check out Gerry's and Nik's posts about our trip to learn more about this process!)

-Filleting is hard! Fisherman Ian and Kinsey from Copper River both showed me. I know that you should have a flexible knife. But past that I'm useless and definitely need some practice. Thankfully, fishmongers will fillet it for you and get all of the pin bones out. 

-Any salmon that you’re going to eat uncooked (like lox or sushi) should be frozen for at least 24 hours before preparation to kill any bad cooties. 

-Cutting lox is hard! Getting it as thin as they do at Russ and Daughters is something I may never be able to do but I have a deep freeze full of bagels and an endless appetite for lox so I have time to practice... 

The videos above are a culmination of my bagel and lox journey, and I’m so excited to share them in time for Yom Kippur!! (I'm already plotting out part 3, a how-to for fluffy bagel shop cream cheese...) The lox takes about three days to cure so if you get started *now* it'll be ready for Saturday evening. Happy bagel and lox-ing everyone!

Everything Bagels

Makes 12

Ingredients

2 c (474g) warm water (105º-110º)

2 tsp active dry yeast

2 tb (25g) brown sugar

1 tb salt

2 tb (42g) barley malt, divided

6 c (762g) high gluten flour, plus more for dusting

1 tb baking soda

Topping

2 tsp poppy seeds

2 tsp sesame seeds

1 tsp dried minced garlic

1 tsp dried minced onion

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp caraway seeds, optional

1 egg white, beaten

Clues

In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, and a teaspoon of the brown sugar and let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the brown sugar, salt, 1 tablespoon barley malt, and flour and mix to form a stiff dough. Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and slightly sticky. Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. 

Let the dough sit at room temperature for an hour and then turn it out onto a clean work surface. Divide it into 12 equal parts and stretch them into smooth balls, making sure to seal any dough seams well. Shape the bagels by sticking your thumb through the center of each ball and using your fingers to gently stretch a 2” hole. Cover the bagels with a towel and let rise for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450º. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the baking soda and remaining tablespoon of barley malt. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and grease them well. Also lay out a clean kitchen towel near your pot of boiling water.

Working with 3 bagels at a time, boil them for 1 minute on each side (use a timer for this). With a slotted spoon or spatula, transfer them briefly to the kitchen towel to catch any excess moisture and then transfer them to the baking sheets. 

To make the topping, combine the poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic, onion, salt, and caraway seeds, if using. Brush the bagels with the egg white and sprinkle with the topping. Bake the bagels for 10 minutes, switch racks and rotate the pans 180º, and bake for 6-8 more minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool slightly and enjoy! 

Leftovers can be frozen and reheated in the toaster!


One of the best things we ate in Alaska was BLUEBERRY LOX, made by Diane Wiese, an amazing cook in Cordova who comes from a family of fisherman. The lox had the most beautiful blue edges, a faint blueberry flavor, and was super smoky, almost bacon-y. I couldn’t stop eating it!! So when I got home, I figured, if I’m going to make lox from scratch, it should definitely be blue! So this lox recipe is inspired by Diane’s blueberry lox!

Blueberry Lox

Makes 1 fillet

Ingredients

1 c (230g) kosher salt

3/4 c (150g) sugar

2 c (280g) frozen wild blueberries

Zest of 1 lemon

1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped

1 1/2 tsp liquid smoke

Black pepper

1 salmon fillet (about 3 pounds), pin bones removed and halved horizontally 

Clues

In a large bowl, combine salt, sugar, blueberries, lemon zest, cilantro, liquid smoke, and a bunch of turns of black pepper. Lay a large piece of plastic wrap down on a work surface and place a small handful of the blueberry mixture in the middle (I recommend wearing gloves for this). Place half of the fillet skin side down over the mixture, top it with most of the remaining blueberry mixture, and then top that with the other half of the fillet, flesh side down. Cover the top and sides with the remaining blueberry mixture, making sure that all parts of the fish are covered. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, place on a rimmed baking sheet, cover it with a cutting board, and weigh it down with something heavy (a few bricks, some cans, a cast iron pot). Refrigerate it for 3-5 days, flipping every 12 hours and pouring out any juices as they accumulate in the pan. It’s ready when the fish is firm to the touch. Rinse off the curing mixture, pat it dry, and slice it as thinly as possible. Enjoy! Keep leftovers wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 5 days. 


-yeh!! 

Big huge thank you to Copper River for such an amazing trip, videographer Rob for making these videos, Dave the bagel maker, Fisherman Ian, Diane Wiese, and everyone else involved in my bagel and lox journey!


pssst... molly on the range turns one next week!!! and i'm doing a big silly giveaway about it. head over here to enter!

hazelnut sugar cookie cereal

i come from a family of toast people, hole in the middle people, and leftover pizza for breakfast people. breakfast growing up was always a hot meal, save for the few bites of cold pizza that you'd eat while you waited for the rest of the slice to heat up in the microwave. the hot breakfast rule obviously extended to weekend bagels, too: if they weren't still warm from the bagel store, they got promptly toasted and served alongside whatever coffee cake or buckle that mum baked before the sun came up.

i think that for the few times when we had cereal in the house, it was probably a result of stoopie or me feeling like we *should* have it, on account of we were kids and the cookie crisp commercials during zoog disney were super catchy, and we, too, wanted to have part of that *complete breakfast*, and duh we needed the prizes that came in the box. i can remember really foaming at the mouth for peanut butter cap'n crunch, before mum got her peanut allergy, but other than that i'm pretty sure that boxes of cereal were bought on a whim, cracked into once or twice, and then left to get a little stale while we got down with scrambled eggs.

occasionally i'd have cereal in the afternoons at my friend gracie's house, which was exciting because cereal in the afternoon feels a little naughty, and her kitchen was like a cereal buffet at all times. but i always felt obligated to drink the room temperature milk at the bottom of the bowl because she did and, errrm, 😝.

since then i've used cereal in various recipes (puppy chow, rice krispies treats), but, goodness, the last time i had a bowl of cereal was probably like 20 years ago.

about a year and a half ago however, a really sweet reader emailed with the idea to make homemade cereal. "I love a bowl of homemade granola as much as the next girl but I'm thinking good old Kellogg's style breakfast cereal," she said. i loved that idea so much! partly because i'd never seen it done and partly because it'd mean i'd get to make millions of miniature baked things, and you know how i feel about miniature baked things. so for a year and a half i sat on this thought, and then around the holidays when dominique ansel had his super adorable christmas morning cereal for sale, i decided it was time to make a valentine's day cereal.

this recipe is essentially cookies. lots and lots of little crispy hazelnut cookies, hanging out with mini almond meringues that kind of turn the milk pink, and some chocolate chips and coconut. and i threw in some dried fruit for chewiness and hazelnuts to have it be something that remotely resembled a nutritious start to the day. of course, take whatever liberties you'd like with this, because you're basically making a sweet trail mix. change up the nuts, fruits, cookie shapes, and add any more goodies you'd like. the cookies take forrrever to stamp out (i used a 3/4" heart cookie cutter from michael's, but i think i need one of these cookie cutter sheets), and the meringues took kinda a while to pipe. but throw on the la la land soundtrack, hang out with your roomba daughter, and it's all very meditative and therapeutic. i recommend eating this in small quantities since it's best when it's crispy, not soggy...errr but i guess that's part of the charm in cereal? i don't know. but make a big batch, put it in cute jars, and give it as valentine's/galentine's gifts to all of your friends. and if you're a real overachiever, gift it with a bottle of homemade nut milk or fresh milk from bessy your cute pet cow.


hazelnut sugar cookie cereal

makes about 18 servings

ingredients

1 batch mini sugar cookie hearts, recipe below

1 batch mini meringues, recipe below

1 c chocolate chips

1 c toasted coconut flakes

1 c toasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

1 c dried cherries or cranberries

milk, for serving

clues

gently combine all of the ingredients. (I ended up only using about 2/3 of the meringues because i liked that cookie:meringue ratio. the remaining meringues were kept aside for noshing and cake decorating!)

serve in a bowl with milk!

keep in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. cereal should keep for a couple of weeks.


mini sugar cookie hearts

ingredients

1/2 c toasted hazelnuts

1 3/4 c all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 c unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c sugar

3/4 tsp vanilla

1 large egg

clues

preheat the oven to 350ºf. line two baking sheets with parchment.

in a food processor, grind the toasted hazelnuts until they are finely ground. add the flour and salt and pulse to combine.

using an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugar until it is pale and fluffy. add the vanilla and egg and beat well to combine. with the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, beating until combined.

turn the cookie dough out onto a lightly-floured surface. using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out until it's 1/4" thick, use a cookie cutter to cut out tiny hearts. place the hearts on the baking sheets (they can be pretty close together), and bake until they're lightly browned on the bottom, about 10 minutes.

once all of the cookies are baked, reduce the oven to 250ºf and bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes to really crisp them up. let cool on the pans.


ingredients

120 grams (or about 1/2 c + 3 tb) sugar

2 large eggs whites

1/4 tsp almond extract

a tiny drop of red food coloring

clues

preheat oven to 400ºf. distribute the sugar in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes, until the edges are starting to brown. while sugar is baking, crack your egg whites into a stand mixer. 

once the sugar has been in the oven for a few minutes, begin beating the egg whites in a stand mixer on high until they're foamy. reduce the mixer and gradually sprinkle in the warm sugar. once all of it has been added, add the almond extract and the food coloring. beat on high for a few minutes, until the meringue is stiff, glossy, and cold.

reduce the oven to 225ºf.

prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment. fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/8" or 1/4" round tip with your egg white mixture. Pipe tiny dollops onto the parchment and bake for about 20 minutes, until the mini meringues are no longer shiny and they're crispy all the way through. let cool on the pans.


-yeh!