Tuesday Dinners

Step by Step Directions

Start by activating your yeast, which just means heating up some water (like 30 seconds in the microwave) then adding your sugar and yeast and waiting 10-15 minutes. Pro tip: Use your tablespoon to mix the yeast, sugar and water together.

While the yeast is activating combine your salt and flour in a bowl and make a well in the middle (I don’t think this is necessary, but it’s how I learned to do it).

Once the yeast has activated dump it into the middle of your well.

Then using whatever utensil you want you should mix the wet and dry ingredients together until it forms a cohesive ball.

Once your mixture is somewhat uniform you should knead it. For those that don’t know what kneading is, it’s just working dough with your hands.

I’ve found one of the following usually works well for me:

• Fold and turn – Fold the end of the dough nearest you towards the end that’s farthest from you, push the ends together, turn the dough 90 degrees to the right and repeat
• Heel Rolling – place the dough in front of you and take your right hand and put it at the bottom right corner of the dough, using your heel (the bottom 20% of your palm, where the bone sticks up) push the bottom right corner towards the top left corner, keeping constant downwards pressure, then when you’ve fully extended your arm bring it back (still keeping that downward pressure) until you’re back where you started, then do the same thing with your opposite hand, repeating back and forth (you should be making a V on your work surface)
• Pinch and press – Pick up your dough in your hands, working clockwise take corner of the dough and fold it into the center, pushing your thumbs into the center as you do so, then continue with the next corner of the dough, repeat

We’re trying to create an elastic texture with the dough, it shouldn’t stick to your hands, and it should stretch without breaking.

Once you’re done kneading it then cover and let rest for an hour.

Once your dough has rested take it out and divide it into eight (roughly) equal pieces. You’re going to have create the bagel shape now. I’ve found that the best way to do this is to make a ball, stick one of your fingers all the way through it, and then widen the hole until you have a bagel shape.

I know some people prefer the “snake” method of rolling the dough into a snake and then combining the ends together to make the circle. It’s completely up to you.

Cover your bagel shapes and let them rest for another 10 minutes.

Boil some water in a pot. We are going to bathe our bagels in the boiling water. This is what separates the bagels from circular bread.

This recipe calls for just plain water with nothing fancy in it, which I recently discovered makes these “California” bagels. If you add Malt Syrup then you would get more a traditional NYC bagel flavor, if you add honey you get a Montreal bagel. The choice is completely up to you.

Throw your bagels in the water (they should float either immediately or within a couple of seconds). Once they’ve been in the water for 45-60 seconds flip them over and let them boil for another 45-60 seconds on the other side.

Set aside and let the excess water drain off of them.

Throw your wet/boiled bagels in a 425 degree oven for 25 minutes (or until they are as dark as you’d like them to be) and enjoy.

Variations

• If you have spices then add them (everything, poppy seeds, etc.), add when the bagels are still wet
• Add fruit or anything else on the inside you would want
• Make smaller/make larger
• Bake them for a second time with cheese on top

Unsolicited Feedback

• JF: You made these?
• CM: Why aren’t they perfectly symmetrical?
• NY: They don’t taste like the ones back home.