4.17.2010


Soooo I've been taking the "sometimes" in thesometimes nibbler quite literally. "Sometimes" like, once every few months. I'm just going to jump right in - if you remember, a little before Christmas, I had two goals. I wanted to make macarons (check!) and bread. Not sure why, but the whole idea of having to bake with something that is, well, ALIVE (don't call PETA yet, I'm just talking about yeast) just scared me. I'm sort of a control freak and I can't really deal with failure. I always imagined each packet of yeast having its own little personality - always erratic of course (yes, I always assume the worst).
Anyway, last weekend I was inspired! I went to visit a Bagel restaurant my friend opened up in Shanghai- EGGHEAD BAGELS. It's warm little establishment, bustling with towering stacks of bagel-wiches (oh, and I won't even BEGIN to get into it's offering of gourmet cupcakes faite par C'est Cupcake). Our table ordered three turkey clubs with extra Swiss Cheese, and the matching-gloved couple next to us opted for a pair of toasted plain bagels with whipped butter. Memories of shuffling across the icy sidewalks, toes freezing because this (half) Taiwanese girl didn't know any better than to buy a pair of non-water-proofed Uggs...even before the sun had a chance to loiter up the edge of Lake Monona, I'd make a pit-stop at Einstein Bros. Bagels on State Street. A toasted cinnamon raisin bagel, crusted to perfection with a healthy lick of salted butter. I think I was able to down that baby before I even got to Memorial Library.
So there I was, inspired in a Bagel Shop in Shanghai, with memories of Madison - that's all it took for me to finally introduce myself to my very first yeast-ed bread.
As with everything else, I watched youtube videos, studied blogs and tried to understand the science of it all. What kind of flour to use and why? Why are bagels boiled? What's the story behind the "cement doughnut"? I'm not going to bore you all with those things here...but basically, there are two types. The Montreal Bagel and the holier than thou New York Bagel. That's right, I'm putting my foot down. I probably never tried a real-deal hard-knock New York-styled bagel before, but after reading about their Canadian frenemy, I'd say they better start worrying - a bagel baked in a wood burning oven MUST have some extra oomph! Just to make things clear, I definitely didn't make any Montreal Bagels - and I can't claim to have conquered the NY ones either (I wouldn't dare). I went with a simple bagel recipe from Thibeault's Table - it was totally perfect because they were mini!

Easy-peasy "you don't scare me" Bagels - (my name)

2 cups warm water
2 packs active dry yeast (I used Instant, one "pack" is 7 grams, so two packs would be 14 grams! So easy!)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
Around 5 3/4 cups bread flour (unsifted - finally!)
3 quarts water with 1-2 tablespoons of sugar
Cornmeal (no, I didn't have any)
Vegetable oil (to grease the bowl and baking sheet)
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon of water (this is for the shiny eggwash that gives the bagels a shiny golden coat)

  1. Pour the 2 cups of warm water into a bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the surface of the water and mix together lightly so all of the yeast particles are coated...I think that's the point of this. Anyway, you're trying to proof the yeast to make sure it's alive and kickin'. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.
  2. When you come back, it should have a thick-ish foam on top of the water. Yep, it stinks. If it has foamed, then congratulations, your yeast is alive, and it's probably going to be your friend today.
  3. Stir in the sugar.
  4. In a larger mixing bowl, mix together 4 cups of the flour and the salt. Just a reminder, salt will de-activate the capabilities of the yeast, so no direct contact!
  5. Pour the yeast and sugar mixture over the flour and begin to mix with a wooden spoon. The recipe I looked at called for a standing mixer, but I'm without my KitchenAid here in SH, so I rely on my guns.
  6. Slowly mix in another 1 1/4 cups of flour.
  7. No, sprinkle your work surface with lots of flour and drop your dough onto the counter.
  8. Knead (I recommend watching this on youtube - seriously) - pull up the dough and pressing down with the heel of your hand to form a ball. Do this for around 15 minutes. Feel free to throw it against the table...
  9. Place your ball of dough in a greased bowl and cover with a slightly dampened kitchen towel. Let it rise till it has doubled (40 minutes - 1 hour). The kitchen I was working in was actually quite cool, so I placed the bowl in an oven that was switched off, it sort of trapped the warmth of the dough in the oven? Meh I don't know, I'm not a professional!
  10. After it's doubled, punch down the dough.
  11. Divide into thirds.
  12. Set 2/3 of dough on your floured work surface and cover with some plastic wrap.
  13. With the other 1/3, cut into 16 pieces.
  14. Shape into bagels! youtube this please, but what I did was, ball up the dough in my palms and punched a hole with my forefinger and thumb. Then, I pulled at the sides of the hole to even it up.
  15. Let the raw bagels stand for around 20 minutes.
  16. Set the water and sugar to boil and grease your baking sheet. My sous-chef Jefferson added quite a bit of vegetable on to the baking sheet, this actually helped to crisp the base of the bagel I think!
  17. Preheat the oven now at 204 C or 400 F.
  18. After 20 minutes, turn down the water so it's just simmering, lightly drop 3 bagels at a time into the water.
  19. Cook for 30 seconds on each side. Larger bagels will need to cook for 1 minute on each side. They should be floating at the top while you do the cooking.
  20. Strain the boiled bagels and dry off on a paper towel.
  21. Place bagels onto the baking sheet and brush over with the egg wash. You can sprinkle some sesame, poppy seeds, garlic powder...etc over your bagels now if you'd like!
  22. Bake for around 20 minutes. Mine took about 17 minutes, but every oven will be different.
REAL bagels are actually supposed to "retard" over night in a refrigerator, but I wanted instant gratification - and gratification I got! Give it a go and let me know how your cement doughnuts turn out!!!