Bagels

[Gaybutton]

In Pattaya, if you're a bagel lover, you probably are aware that bagels can be found. They're usually around 20 baht apiece and often already gone when you want to go and buy them. I wanted to try making my own. I found the following recipe on the internet and this morning I gave it a try.

I made a half recipe and got 4 bagels from it, two of which are already now being digested. I used my bread machine to make the dough. They're really simple to make and they do come out quite good, even without New York water being available. Of course, right-out-of-the-oven fresh does a very good job of compensating up for the lack of New York water . . .

Here's the recipe:
____________

Water Bagels

4 cups bread flour

1 Tbls sugar

1 1/2 tsps salt

1 Tbls vegetable oil

2 tsps instant yeast

1¼ - 1½ cups of warm water.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. You don't have to worry about soaking the yeast when you use
instant yeast (most yeast sold these days is instant yeast). The dough should feel stiff, but add
the extra water if it's really stiff, or you can't get all the dry flour incorporated.

Plop the dough down onto the counter, and knead for about ten minutes, or until the dough is
uniform and smooth.

Cut the dough into 8 equal sized balls, and let rest for 10-20 minutes. Pre heat your oven to 425.

Now, take each of the dough balls and using two hands, roll it into a little snake on the counter.
When the snake is longer than the width of your two hands, wrap it around your dominant roiling
hand. The dough rope should be wrapped so the overlapping ends are together at your palm, near the start of
your fingers. Now take the two overlapping ends, and use your palm to squish/roll these two ends together.

(I squished down the entire bagel, not just the ends. I like a bagel that isn't too thick and
they came out just the way I like them. It's also easy to make the hole in the center as
small or as large as you wish. - GB)

Once the dough is fused, you should have a perfectly circular bagel-to-be! This is the only part of the process that
can take a little practice before your bagels will look really professional. Don't get discouraged if they
don't look perfect, it just takes practice!

Let your bagels rest on the counter for about 20 minutes, and meanwhile, bring a pot of water to
boil, and grease a large baking tray lightly. You can just rub a splash of vegetable oil and rub it
around.

After the 20 minute wait, your bagels will start to look puffy, and it's time to get them boiling!
Add them as many at a time as you can to your boiling water without crowding them. Boil for about a
minute, turn them over, and boil for another minute. Take them out a let dry for a minute and then
place them on your oiled baking tray. Repeat until all the bagels are boiled.

Add the tray to the oven, and after 10 minutes, flip the bagels over, bake for another ten minutes;
and they're done!

Let them cool for at least 20 minutes, get the cream cheese ready, and feast on what's got to be
one of the best weekend brunch treats possible!

You can add any toppings you like to these. To make sesame, onions, poppy seed, caraway etc. etc.
bagels just have a dry plate ready with the seed or spice topping spread out on it. After the
bagels have come out of the boiling water, place them face down onto the seeds, and then place the
seed side up onto the baking tray. Bake and flip as for plain bagels.

[lvdkeyes]

Here is my recipe for bagels using a mixer instead of a bread machine. There are a few minor variations. The sugar in the boiling water helps with producing a nice glossy golden color to the bagels. The forming is a bit different too. Make a full recipe and freeze the remainder, but slice them before freezing them. That way you can put them right into the toaster directly from the freezer without waiting for them to thaw. Don't forget the smoked salmon and thinly sliced red onion.

Bagels
1 tbsp dry yeast
1 1/3 cups warm water
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp salt
5 1/2 cups bread flour
Cooking spray
2 tbsp granulated sugar for boiling water
Cornmeal for dusting the sheet pans

Directions

Sprinkle yeast over water in mixer bowl. DO NOT USE TEMPERATURES ABOVE 110 F. Mix well. Let stand 5 minutes; stir.
Using a wire whip, add sugar and salt to yeast solution; stir until ingredients are dissolved.
Using a dough hook, add flour; mix at low speed 1 minute or until all flour is incorporated into liquid. Continue mixing at medium speed 13 to 15 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. (Dough will be very stiff). Dough temperature should be 78 F. to 82 F.
Cover; let rest 15 minutes.
Place dough on unfloured work surface; divide dough into 8 pieces; knead briefly; shape into balls by rolling in circular motion on work surface.
Place balls, on ungreased sheet pans.
FERMENT: Cover. Set in warm place (80 F.) about 15 to 20 minutes or until dough increases slightly in bulk.
MAKE UP: Shape bagels like a doughnut; flatten to 2-1/2-inch circles, 3/4-inch thick. Pinch center of each bagel with thumb and forefinger and pull gently to make a 1-inch diameter hole and a total 3-1/2-inch diameter, keeping uniform shape. Place on ungreased sheet pans.
PROOF: At 90 F. until bagels begin to rise, about 20 to 30 minutes.
Lightly spray sheet pans with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle each pan with cornmeal.
Add water to 3 qt stock pot, filling 1/2 full; bring to a boil; reduce heat to a simmer. Add 2 tbsp granulated sugar to water. Stir until dissolved. Gently drop bagels, one at a time, into water. Cook 30 seconds; turn; cook 30 seconds. Remove bagels with slotted spoon; drain.
Place on sheet pans.
BAKE: 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown and crisp in 400 F. oven. Remove from pans; cool on wire racks.

[Gaybutton]

Your recipe looks good too. Either way, after making my own, I think that's how I'm going to have bagels around here from now on. It sure beats running out to buy them. And if you have a mixer or bread machine, making the dough is so easy to do. If before I realized how easy it is to make bagels, I would have been making them for years already. And the stiff dough means hardly any cleanup to worry about. You don't even have to go out to buy the smoked salmon. MJ's Smokehouse sells 100gm packages for 100 baht and it's higher quality than I've found in the grocery stores, less expensive, and they deliver.

I'm going to do a little experimenting. I'm going to try your sugar-in-the-water trick for the next batch. I'm also going to try all purpose flour instead of bread flour and see which of the two I like best. My recipe calls for boiling the bagels for a full minute each side. Yours calls for simmering for 30 seconds each side. I'm going to play around with that too.

MJ's Smokehouse: http://mjsmokehouse.com/

[lvdkeyes]

Also, try my way of forming them. I have done it both ways, but like the seamless version better. Not that it makes any difference really.