HERE’S A BAGEL RECIPE #2

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Breads

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
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***** NONE *****

Once the dough has risen, turn it onto your work
surface, punch it down, and divide immediately into as
many hunks as you want to make bagels. For this
recipe, you will probably end up with about 15 bagels,
so you will divide the dough into 15 roughly
even-sized hunks. Begin forming the bagels. There are
two schools of thought on this. One method of bagel
formation involves shaping the dough into a rough
sphere, then poking a hole through the middle with a
finger and then pulling at the dough around the hole
to make the bagel. This is the hole-centric method.
The dough-centric method involves making a long
cylindrical “snake” of dough and wrapping it around
your hand into a loop and mashing the ends together.
Whatever you like to do is fine. DO NOT, however, give
in to the temptation of using a doughnut or cookie
cutter to shape your bagels. This will pusht them out
of the realm of Jewish Bagel Authenticity and give
them a distinctly Protestant air. The bagels will not
be perfectly shaped. They will not be symmetrical.
This is normal. This is okay. Enjoy the diversity.
Just like snowflakes, no two genuine bagels are
exactly alike.

Begin to preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.

Once the bagels are formed, let them sit for about 10
minutes. They will begin to rise slightly. Ideally,
they will rise by about one-fourth volume… a
technique called “half-proofing” the dough. At the end
of the half-proofing, drop the bagels into the
simmering water one by one. You don’t want to crowd
them, and so there should only be two or three bagels
simmering at any given time. The bagels should sink
first, then gracefully float to the top of the
simmering water. If they float, it’s not a big deal,
but it does mean that you’ll have a somewhat more
bready (and less bagely) texture. Let the bagel
simmer for about three minutes, then turn them over
with a skimmer or a slotted spoon. Simmer another
three minutes, and then lift the bagels out of the
water and set them on a clean kitchen towel that has
been spread on the countertop for this purpose. The
bagels should be pretty and shiny, thanks to the malt
syrup or sugar in the boiling water.

Once all the bagels have been boiled, prepare your
baking sheets by sprinkling them with cornmeal. Then
arrange the bagels on the prepared baking sheets and
put them in the oven. Let them bake for about 25
mintues, then remove from the oven, turn them over and
put them back in the oven to finish baking for about
ten minutes more. This will help to prevent
flat-bottomed bagels.

Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks, or on a
dry clean towels if you have no racks. Do not attempt
to cut them until they are cool… hot bagels slice
abominably and you’ll end up with a wadded mass of
bagel pulp. Don’t do it.

Serve with good cream cheese.

TO CUSTOMIZE BAGELS: After boiling but before baking,
brush the bagels with a wash made of 1 egg white and 3
tablespoons ice water beaten together. Sprinkle with
the topping of your choice: poppy, sesame, or caraway
seeds, toasted onion or raw garlic bits, salt or
whatever you like. Just remember that bagels are
essentially a savory baked good, not a sweet one, and
so things like fruit and sweet spices are really
rather out of place. Submitted By
HUNT@AUSTIN.METROWERKS.COM (ERIC HUNT) On 15 MAR 1995
064641 ~0700

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