Mmmmm.... Bagels

I've decided that if I don't post my kitchen adventures every now and then I'd be a failure as a blogger. And, since we made bagels for dinner tonight (which, before about a week ago I considered to be un-home-make-able), I've decided to share the experience.

My sister gave me this recipe. She got it from google. So it's been in the family for a solid couple of months, I suppose we'll claim it. (Since we modified it to make them our way, that's not plagiarism right?) just go here, for the real recipe with measurements and such. Does anyone remember Bayside Bagels in Provo? I miss them oh-so much. Especially when I was pregnant. Curse them for closing down! These bagels are the closest thing to Bayside's yummy bagels that I've had since they closed their doors. I'm pretty excited about them. Anyway,

First, you'll need a helper:

Because you couldn't call them home-made if they were completely free of toddler germs, right? (Kidding Ginger, kidding ;) of course, he washed his hands!)

Next, put your water, sugar and yeast in a small dish together and let it sit for about five minutes (it will go foamy and sort of nasty looking):

Here is where I cheat, the recipe says to mix it with a wooden spoon, but why would you do that when the kitchen-aid has a "stir" speed? Of course, that means if you don't have a kitchen-aid, you are actually just following the real directions! - So you dump the yeast foam in, add the flour slowly until you get a stiff dough - and they really do mean "stiff":

Then dump onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10-15 mins (after about 3 minutes, I was thinking "Has it been 15 minutes yet?" needless to say, we only kneaded for 10). Then cover with some plastic, and let the dough rest for 15 minutes. Next, roll it into a big log, and cut it in the middle, then cut each of those pieces in the middle, until you have 8 pieces.:

Roll each piece into a ball, and poke your finger through to make a hole. Stretch your holes, so when the bagels rise, they wont close up. Let them rise fot about 15 minutes.
Depicted here in classic, and toddler style, respectively.

In the meantime, get your kettle water going, and turn your oven on to pre-heat at 450. Kettle water is water with salt and honey in it (go figure). The recipe calls for liquid malt, but I couldn't even find that at the grocery store, (probably because I wasn't sure what I was looking for) and our baker cousin Lydia said honey would work. I have no idea what the salt and honey do, but the bagels turned out yummy, so we are afraid to eliminate them.

Boil each bagel for 45 seconds on one side, then flip them over, and do 45 seconds on the other side. Take them out and set them on a clean lint-free cloth. This is where you add your toppings. I like asiago best, so we just globbed a bunch of asiago cheese on top, then transfered them to our prepared baking sheet. Cornmeal keeps them from sticking to the pan, and is just as easy as parchment paper (plus I don't normally buy parchment paper).:






Last time we tried some jalepeno cheddar and some sesame seed too, and those were also delicious. I was thinking next time, some cinnamon sugar would be fun to try, or onion. Anyway, you bake them on 425 for 15-20 minutes (depending I suppose, on your toppings, and your oven) and then you have yummy yummy results! :

We fried some eggs to go with ours, and called them dinner. We are attempting to hoard some long enough to eat them for breakfast tomorrow, but the outlook is not so good, those last few are calling to us from the kitchen...