Well, patient readers, resolutions have been made and, as it turns out, giving my ever-faithful Frau followers more content (any content at all…) wound up high on the list (especially after NKB told me to put it there in 140 characters or less sometime a few minutes before the ball dropped).
And really, it’s not that I haven’t thought about you. (I have). And, it isn’t as if I haven’t cooked. (I have). In fact, as my groaning hard drive can attest, I’ve even taken lots and lots of pictures of the makings of many a sumptuous repast. I don’t know…I’ve been busy? Let’s just agree to put it behind us and see if things don’t look up in this shiny new decade.
To that end, I’ll begin where I began on the morning of 1 January 2010. To welcome the new year, I awoke early to make bagels. I know, I know. Why didn’t I just run out and get bagels? Mainly because while we live in a region of country that is, for most of the year, a veritable cornucopia of delicious food, this is also a bagel desert. Not just a bagel desert, actually. The Sahara of bagel deserts. Lawrencians reading this will scoff. “There is an Einstein Bros. on Mass Street,” they will exclaim. “And a Panera!” Indeed. But, although those establishments may purvey circular bread-stuffs with holes in the middle, neither Einstein Bros. nor Panera produce anything that can be accurately called a “bagel.” I’m really not actually trying to be a typical, New York Times reading, latte-drinking, elitist, East Coast bagel snob; I’m just saying that if you can put cinnamon chips (whatever those are…) and bananas in it, it may be bagel-like, but be assured that it is merely a simulacrum.
So, having grown accustomed to the pleasures of consuming a chewy, savory treat every Saturday morning during our many years back east, I find myself feeling a kind of emptiness, an incompleteness, when I go too long without a proper bagel. And so, I learned how to make them. Several years ago. Like, when we first moved here. Since then, I have made them…thrice. I don’t know why I haven’t done it more often. It is ridiculously easy to do. Therefore, in addition to food blogging, I have resolved to remember how easy bagels are to make and to make them regularly in 2010. I thought that this might be a fitting way to resurrect All Things Frau.
Thus, without further ado, I bring you bagels, demystified. If you, too, live in a bagel desert, really, nothing should stop you from going into your kitchen right now and making these. The recipe upon which I have relied is, strangely enough, from an old issue of Cooking Light magazine. Go figure. Still, I have compared this recipe to several others and I still think it rises above the rest, if you’ll pardon the pun. It yields the perfect ratio of crustiness to chewiness and produces a nice, mildly yeasty flavor. I’ve altered the recipe a little, so find the improved version posted below. Use any beer you have in the fridge, except for a pilsner. Unless it has some real body, you’re not going to get much flavor from it. Having said that, I’ve used anything from Belgian white to oatmeal stout. (Generally, I use the fancy microbrew stuff that people kindly bring to the house for parties and that no one drinks because it tastes weird). So, friends, go forth and make bagels. They are INCREDIBLE right out of the oven, but keep well too. I imagine you could freeze them, if you should find yourself with any left over. The only thing you CANNOT do, under ANY circumstances, is put cinnamon chips and bananas in them. When you’re craving whatever that is, head out to Einstein Bros.
EVERYTHING BAGELS
Yield: 10 bagels
- 2 (12-ounce) cans/bottles brown beer (some kind of brown ale is ideal), divided
- 1 cup water
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast (this is the stuff that says “Rapid Rise” or “Bread Machine” yeast on the label and comes in a little glass jar)
- 1 large egg white, lightly beaten (mix yolk and 1 teaspoon of water in separate bowl and set aside)
- 4 ½ cups bread flour, divided (Alas, you really must use bread flour. You need the higher gluten content here for chew. I swear by King Arthur Flour for all things floury)
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- Cooking spray or neutral oil
- 4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon stone-ground yellow cornmeal
- Sesame seeds
- Poppy seeds
- Dried onion
- Kosher or coarse sea salt
- Dried Garlic bits
Directions:
1. Heat ½ cup beer and 1 cup water over low heat in a small, heavy saucepan to between 100° and 110°.
A digital kitchen thermometer really helps here (scroll down for my cheap equipment suggestions) but if you don’t have one and if you do have experience with baby bottles, bring the water to the temp to which you’d bring a milk bottle (test on the inside of your wrist). If you are not experienced with babies or their bottles, there is apparently an old trick that works just as well. Bring a spoonful of water up to your chin. If it feels hot, it’s there.
2. Combine beer mixture and yeast in a large bowl, stirring until yeast dissolves. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in egg white.
3. While the yeast is resting, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Keep ¼ cup of the flour in a separate bowl.
4. Add 4 ¼ cups flour and salt to beer mixture; stir until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a floured surface.
5. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of remaining ¼ cup flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands. The finished dough will still feel a little sticky—tacky is the perfect word, I think—but it will be pretty elastic and will form a generally smooth ball.
6. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray or oil, turning the dough ball to coat top.
This step is important because you want to prevent a crust from forming on the dough. The crust will inhibit rising. So, be sure to coat the entire thing with a thin film of oil.
7. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If an indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.)
8. Preheat oven to 400° an hour before baking. I go ahead and throw the pizza stone in the bottom of the oven but don’t fret if you don’t have one.
9. Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes.
10. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 10 equal portions.
11. Working with one portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), shape each portion into a ball. Make a hole in the center of each ball using your index finger. Using fingers of both hands, gently pull dough away from center to make a 1 ½-inch hole. With the bagel on the board, move your fingers around in a circle until the ring of dough is kind of rolling around. This will stretch the dough out with minimal hassle and make a nice looking finished product.
You can also roll your dough pieces out like a breadstick (think about how you made play-doh snakes as a kid…) and then, looping them around, pinch the two ends together.
12. Place bagels on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 10 minutes (bagels will rise only slightly).
3. While the yeast is resting, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Keep ¼ cup of the flour in a separate bowl.
4. Add 4 ¼ cups flour and salt to beer mixture; stir until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a floured surface.
5. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of remaining ¼ cup flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands. The finished dough will still feel a little sticky—tacky is the perfect word, I think—but it will be pretty elastic and will form a generally smooth ball.
6. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray or oil, turning the dough ball to coat top.
This step is important because you want to prevent a crust from forming on the dough. The crust will inhibit rising. So, be sure to coat the entire thing with a thin film of oil.
7. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If an indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.)
8. Preheat oven to 400° an hour before baking. I go ahead and throw the pizza stone in the bottom of the oven but don’t fret if you don’t have one.
9. Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes.
10. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 10 equal portions.
11. Working with one portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), shape each portion into a ball. Make a hole in the center of each ball using your index finger. Using fingers of both hands, gently pull dough away from center to make a 1 ½-inch hole. With the bagel on the board, move your fingers around in a circle until the ring of dough is kind of rolling around. This will stretch the dough out with minimal hassle and make a nice looking finished product.
You can also roll your dough pieces out like a breadstick (think about how you made play-doh snakes as a kid…) and then, looping them around, pinch the two ends together.
12. Place bagels on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 10 minutes (bagels will rise only slightly).
13. Meanwhile, combine remaining beer, 4 cups water, and brown sugar in a Dutch oven or stock pot. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to a simmer (180 degrees if you have a thermometer).
14. After the bagels have risen for 10 minutes, gently lower bagels (I put in no more than 3 at a time to keep the water up to temperature) into simmering beer mixture. Cook 45 seconds. Turn each bagel with a slotted spoon; cook an additional 45 seconds.
Don’t worry if you cook them a little longer. The goal here is to boil them enough to seal in moisture without fully cooking them, so just keep it to under a minute on each side.
15. Transfer bagel to a wire rack lightly coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining bagels.
If you don’t have a rack, try to find some way to get the bagels laid out so they are not sitting in their own water. Maybe an inverted cookie sheet with something under one corner so the water rolls off?
16. Now…to flavor. At this point, if you are a purist, or cooking with boring eaters in mind, you could just brush with the egg wash you made by mixing the yolk and a bit of water together. Or, if you are really making bagels, you can set up a nice little assembly line by putting the toppings in little bowls or plates. Brush the bagels with egg wash and then, sprinkle or dip or whatever you like with as much flavor as you want in whatever ratios you prefer. Just remember to finish off with a sprinkling of salt.
17. Place bagels on a baking sheet coated lightly with cooking spray or oil and then sprinkled with cornmeal.
18. Bake at 400° for 17-20 minutes or until golden.
19. You can either cool these on a wire rack or you can hastily tear into them, which I suggest.
14. After the bagels have risen for 10 minutes, gently lower bagels (I put in no more than 3 at a time to keep the water up to temperature) into simmering beer mixture. Cook 45 seconds. Turn each bagel with a slotted spoon; cook an additional 45 seconds.
Don’t worry if you cook them a little longer. The goal here is to boil them enough to seal in moisture without fully cooking them, so just keep it to under a minute on each side.
15. Transfer bagel to a wire rack lightly coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining bagels.
If you don’t have a rack, try to find some way to get the bagels laid out so they are not sitting in their own water. Maybe an inverted cookie sheet with something under one corner so the water rolls off?
16. Now…to flavor. At this point, if you are a purist, or cooking with boring eaters in mind, you could just brush with the egg wash you made by mixing the yolk and a bit of water together. Or, if you are really making bagels, you can set up a nice little assembly line by putting the toppings in little bowls or plates. Brush the bagels with egg wash and then, sprinkle or dip or whatever you like with as much flavor as you want in whatever ratios you prefer. Just remember to finish off with a sprinkling of salt.
17. Place bagels on a baking sheet coated lightly with cooking spray or oil and then sprinkled with cornmeal.
18. Bake at 400° for 17-20 minutes or until golden.
19. You can either cool these on a wire rack or you can hastily tear into them, which I suggest.
Okay, see how easy that was. “18 steps easy,” you retort. I know, there are some 18 steps, but that’s because I broke each little thing down into its own step so you could see exactly how easy it is. Really, the whole thing takes about 45 minutes of active preparation. The rest of the time, you’re just waiting on things to rise and rest, during which time you can be doing your own rising and resting.
If the thought of this much activity before brunch gives you the shivers, you could do much of this work the night before. You’d then put the dough in the fridge after the main rise and let it stay in overnight. This process arrests the development of the yeast, and while I haven’t done it yet with this dough, I have used this method to great success with cinnamon roll dough. So, I set my alarm, stagger out of bed long enough to turn the heat on in the house and get the dough out of the fridge to warm up, and go back to bed. An hour later, the dough will be ready to proceed with remaining steps.
Finally, I promised some advice about equipment. A good digital thermometer and a cooling rack are invaluable tools for the home baker. Happily, both can be purchased at reasonable prices. The anal-retentive “product testers” at Cooks Illustrated give major props to this Polder digital thermometer. (Okay, so the words “anal” and “thermometer” have no place in the same sentence on a cooking blog…). Anyhow, we use one very much like it from CDN because I was impatient and couldn’t wait for Amazon to send me a package when I was in my cheese-making phase last year (that’ll have to be a retroactive post). As for a wire rack, they are super-cheap. My only preference is size (big) and nonstick. Here’s what we have.
And with that, post #1 of the ‘Tweens comes to a close. I hope that 2010 brings us many opportunities to gather around tables, both virtual and real. In the meantime, eat hot bagels with abandon. It’s cold outside and you need the carbs.
1 comment:
I'm a big fan of the inclusion of photographs for those of us that have no confidence in our abilities. I find it reassuring to see that indeed my concoction looks right. I am so happy you have returned to serve as a frau mentor for the rest of us.
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