Vegan Chinese vs Hamburger Joint

I had dinner at Garden Fresh Restaurant, http://gardenfresh.us/,  last night for dinner (and leftovers for dinner tonight because the portions are huge!)   For some reason, I hadn't been there in several years.  Everything on their menu is vegan.  The so-called "meat" is made with wheat gluten or soy protein.  We started with scallion pancakes that were very good, but not very healthy because they had been deep fried.  They were crispy and reminiscent of onion rings; not a bad thing!  The minced veggies and "ham" in lettuce cups was OK, but needed something more.   I added hoisin sauce with the leftovers and it improved them.   The "chicken" and vegetable chow fun was very good with the flavor I think you only get from a well-seasoned wok.  We certainly didn't miss having real chicken.  They also gave us a large serving of steamed brown rice which had a better texture than the usual brown rice.  A great place to go to make sure you get all your veggie servings and if you have vegan or vegetarian guests, but also just a good neighborhood Chinese place.

About a week ago, I shared a hamburger at Clarks in Mountain View, http://www.clarkes.com/.  A lot of people think the hamburgers there are great, but I think they are just OK, a little dry and oddly seasoned.  This time I noticed they had sweet potato fries; don't know if they are a regular or seasonal.   They were wonderful.  Those fries and a chocolate milk shake would make a great splurge lunch!  Who needs the hamburger?

Bagels this morning

Last night, on a whim, like I didn't have a million other things to do, I decided to make bagels.  I had made them several times over the years, was never particularly satisfied with the results, yet never worked on perfecting them.  But I had lox, cream cheese and no bagels.  So I decided to give them a try using Peter Reinhart's method from The Breadmaker's Apprentice.  (Peter was my "Breads" instructor at the California Culinary Academy.)

Bottom line:   the bagels were wonderful; chewy, flavorful and surprisingly easy to make.  I mixed and kneaded the stiff dough in the breadmaker.  After giving the dough a brief rest, rather than using the traditional rope method,  I formed bagel shapes using an easy method of making rounds, punching a hole in the center, and stretching,  After resting at warm temperature for 20 minutes, they were "retarded" in the refrigerator overnight.   This morning, they had a 2 minute dip in boiling water and were baked 10 minutes.    I had fresh, warm bagels this morning in less than an hour after I woke up.   I would never have gotten dressed and over to the bagel shop that early.