return to the bagel.

Now that my bagel dough is loving tucked under my 2 down blankets I can bestow the rest of the recipe on you.

Day 3.
Take the dough out of the refrigerator and let sit 30 minutes at room temperature before shaping.

Shape the dough and let it rise for 20 minutes. Set a sheet of parchment paper or lightly floured towel on a counter top near the stove top.

Transfer the dough to an unfloured surface. cut it in half and place one piece covered in the fridge. Cut the dough into 5 equal pieces and allow to rest for about 10 minutes.

there are two methods you can use for shaping
a. form each piece of dough into a tight ball. turn the ball over so the seam is at the bottom, stick your index finger all the way thought the center of the ball, to make a hole. hook the bagel over your thumb and insert the finger of your other hand into the hole, stretching and rotating it to make a hole about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.

b. for slightly more chewiness, roll each piece of dough on an unfloured surface into a 12 inch long rope. make a ring over lapping the ends by 2inches and joining them by pressing down and rolling on the overlap until you have the same thickness as the rest of the dough ring. there will be a one inch hole in the center. this method produces rounder higher bagels with smaller holes.


* i always use method b.

working with once piece at a time keep the remaining pieces covered (with plastic wrap). place each as you shape it on the parchment or floured towel, and cover gently with oiled plastic wrap or a second towel.

Preheat your oven to 500* F 30 minutes before baking. use the lowest level and place a baking stone or baking sheet on it before preheating.


Water Bath and Topping
molasses 2 tbs
baking soda 1 tsp

Glaze and Topping
2 Large egg whites
cold water 1 tsp
your choice of bagel toppings 3-4 tbs

Boil the Bagels.
Bring a large pot to boil. stir in the molasses and baking soda until dissolved. with a slotted spoon transfer the bagels one at a time into the boiling water, without crowding them; cook in batches of 2 or 3 so they can swim around without touching each other. boil for 30 seconds to 2 minutes on each side, gently flipping over with the slotted spoon. remove boiled bagel shaking off excess water and set onto the parchment paper or unfloured towel to drain. half a minute later using a pancake flipper move them to the prepared baking sheet.

whisk together the egg whites and cold water to break up the whites and brush each bagel with the glaze. brush with second coat and sprinkle the toppings on top.

Baking
Lower your oven temp to 450* and bake for 20 minutes. Turn off the oven (with out opening it) and let the bagels remain for 5 minutes. Then open the oven door and leave the bagels in for another 5 minutes.

Cool.
Remove your bagels and set them on a wire rack to cool. Bring the oven back up to 500* and shape, boil, top and bake your second batch.

These bagels will keep for 1-4 days, but in my experience they go quickly.

Levy's Bagels

Oven fresh bagels. If you ask me, there's really nothing better. Not on your life. I was born and bread in the great bagel state of NJ home of HOT BAGELS & MORE. Nothing makes me happier then salmon, a bit of butter, avocado and red onion on an everything bagel. nothing.

I started my bagel quest in June and in four-five short months later, I believe I've got it down
I've tried a variety of recipes in my search but the best I've found is Rose Levy Beranbaum recipe for Levy's Bagels in The Bread Bible its easier then it looks.

this is how i make 12 bagels using her recipe.

day 1/3

Dough Started (Sponge)

instant yeast 1 tsp
water at room temp 2 1/4 liquid cups
King Arthur bread or high gluten flour 3 cups

Whisk together in a mixing bowl 2 minutes, until very smooth; scrape down the sides. the sponge will be very thick. cover with plastic wrap. set aside.

Flour Mixture
King Arthur bread of High Gluten Flour 2 1/3 cups
instant yeast 1 tsp
sugar 1 tbs
salt 1 tbs
black pepper 1 tbs

combine and add the ingredients for the flour mixture. sprinkle the mixture over the sponge; do not stir. cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 1 to 4 hours at room temperature, or, for the best flavor development 1 hour at room temp and refrigerate over night ( i ALWAYS refrigerate), or up to 24 hours.


day 2.
take the sponge/flour mixture out of the fridge and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
with a wooden spoon or your hand, stir the flour mixture into the sponge until it becomes too stiff to mix. Knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together, then scrape it onto a lightly floured counter. Knead the dough for 5 mintues just to begin to develop the gluten structure; scrape and gather the dough as you knead it. At this point it will be sticky. Cover it with teh inverted bowl and allow it to rest for 20 minutes. (This rest will make the dough less sticky.)

Knead the dough for another 10 to 15 minutes or until it is very smooth and elastic. It should be barely tacky ( slightly sticky) to the touch.


Let the dough rise.
Place the dough in a 4 quart lightly greased bowl. Press the dough down and lightly coat. Cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise for 1 -2 hours ( ideally at 75-80*) or until doubled.

Deflate the dough by firmly pushing it down. Give it a envelope turn and set it back in the container. Oil the top of the dough, cover it, and refridgerate for atleast 4 hours or overnight.

if you want to make the bagels later, at this point the dough can be wrapped and chilled for two days.



im gettin started on day 2's steps right now, so there's more to come.

did you hear that?

it turns out that a big food company in Britain is patenting a substitute snack for the not so healthy potato chip. the patent is for a meat based chip that is high in protein and has less calories then the standard potato.

tasty.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123962280

volunteer in service

hub city farmers market.

today i continued working on some of the in-class material we will be providing for the arcadia school garden project. im working on a set of cards that will reflect the rasied beds located in the schools yard. this isn't the first school garden hcfm has put together, and it seems they have a pattern.

i have create control (so far) over the cards, and im having fun. So far i have completed side b of all of the cards. they contains various bits of information like planting, growing and harvesting information as well overall temperment of each cultivar. its been fun putting these out. i sit and type, and plant little garden in my mind.

one day i'll figure out how to use the office scanner, then i can draw a garden for you.

thrills

in an exciting bit of culinary news i'll be heading to asheville this weekend, ali and i are attending the ASAP marketing conference being held at my alma mater.

craft brews, mimosas, literature readings, friends and farmers here we come!

the right bacon muffin

last week i took the week off from the kitchen. cooking for one was feeling a little grey, so i ate beans, avocados, rice, eggs and german pumpernickel bread for most of the week. i did spruce up the beans with garlic, onion, cayenne pepper and (mistakenly) cloves*.

*i was talking to my friend amy [about eating beans] and i swear she mentioned using cloves- it sounded weird but i figured "she's the expert", so i went with it. the cloves didn't ruin the beans but i did have to compensate with extra cayenne. yow za.

other then that my culinary escapades where meager.

friday night before the hacienda generationals and floating action played at the hub-bub i completed my long awaited bacon muffins. i used a basic recipe with a few special things in tow.

2 cups AP flour

1 tbs baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1tbs sugar

3/4 slices bacon

1 cup milk

2 eggs well beaten

those special ingredients i used were both south carolina bacon (caw caw creek pastured pork) and raw milk.

when i took the muffins to the bub, folks didn't really seem to be as excited as i was that these ingredients where locally produced. maybe it was because the muffins could have used more bacon (i only have 2 pieces0.

in retrospect i should have waited to add the bacon until i had spooned out 1/2 the mix into the tins- that way 6 of the 12 would have been more bacon-y.

oh well.

bagels coming up soon.

get ready...

if i were a grad student/lived in CT

maybe somehow i could be part of this agrarian studies program at yale. luckly we can look through the syllabus!