Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Bread Basket: Bagels & Giveaway!

*This Giveaway is Now Closed - Comment #19 was the final entry!*


I've been wanting to make bagels for quite some time but the task seemed a bit daunting and the unknown too challenging. But I finally mustered up the courage and dove right in and I wish I had done it sooner! It was so much fun and they turned out great!

I made a basic dough and then divided it into four piles so I could make different kinds of bagels. The recipe said it made 12 however, I made it into 16 bagels and while they weren't huge, they were the perfect size for us.



BAGELS
(Base recipe adapted from allrecipes.com)

3 1/2 - 4 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 Tb. yeast
1 1/2 c. warm water (about 110 degrees F)
3 Tb. white sugar
1 Tb. salt
1 Tb. white sugar

Egg Wash (for after boiling)
1 egg, beaten
1 Tb. water

In large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour and yeast. Mix water, 3 tablespoons sugar and salt together, and add to the dry ingredients. Beat with a mixer for half a minute at a low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl clean. Beat at a higher speed for 3 minutes. Then slowly add in enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes). (I let my mixer do this part.)

Divide dough into desired number of flavors. Knead in any additional flavors to the dough (ideas will follow).





Cover, let rest for 15 minutes.

Divide into 16 portions (I made 4 bagels of each flavor), shape into smooth balls. Poke a hole in the center with your finger, and gently enlarge the hole while working the bagel into a uniform shape. Cover, let rise 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, start a gallon of water boiling. Put 1 tablespoon of sugar in it, mix it around a bit. Reduce to simmering.

When the bagels are ready, put 4 or 5 bagels into the water, and cook 7 minutes, turning once.



Drain them. Place on a greased baking sheet, brush with egg wash, and top with desired toppings.



Bake at 375 degrees F  for 30 to 35 minutes (if using both oven racks, rotate once). Remove from oven, eat hot or cold.



These were absolutely delicious toasted with some butter or cream cheese!

I made Cranberry-Cinnamon, Everything, Parmesan-Italian, and Chocolate Chip.

Cranberry-Cinnamon
3 Tb. dried cranberries
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. orange zest (opt.)

Knead into the dough.

After boiling, combine 1 Tb. sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon and sprinkle on top of bagels after the egg wash.

Everything
1 Tb. poppy seeds
1 Tb. dried minced onion
1 Tb. sesame seeds
1/2 tsp. coarse salt

Combine. After boiling, apply egg wash and dip bagel into the seed mix.

Parmesan-Italian
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
5 Tb. Parmesan cheese, divided

Knead Italian seasoning and 3 Tb. Parmesan into the dough. After boiling, apply egg wash and bake for 15 minutes. Remove and egg wash again and top with remaining Parmesan cheese.

Chocolate Chip
3 - 4 Tb. mini chocolate chips

Knead chips into the dough. After boiling, egg wash and bake.

There so much fun to make and the sky is the limit on flavor combinations so be creative!

And now for a GIVEAWAY! In honor of the new year, we are giving away a 2010 Lang American Kitchen Calendar. It includes recipes and beautiful illustrations created from hand painted original artwork to inspire your creativity in the kitchen!



To Enter:
- Leave one comment telling us one culinary goal or wish for your kitchen this year.
- One entry per person.
- Make sure we have a way to contact you.
- This giveaway will stay open through Thursday, January 7.

19 comments:

  1. Wow, I always though bagels would be hard. They don't only look simple but delicious!

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  2. The bagels look so delicious. I will have to try this sometime.

    One goal I have for my kitchen this year is to learn how to can and possibly make applesauce and/or preserves.

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  3. Those look AMAZING!!! Yummy---I love me some bagels!

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  4. Those bagels look WONDERFUL!

    My goal is to make a big dent in the number of recipes I have saved/bookmarked to try. It just keeps growing, but I'm determined to make some progress with it and finish the year with fewer than I started it!

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  5. Bagels are amazing - thanks for breaking the process down!

    My goal is to add more veggies to our plates.

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  6. I made bagels once, they were delicious, they just didn't last very long (were eaten, not spoiled). They are like biscottis, easy to make but take a lot of time. My goal this year is to find and make a really good French Onion soup.

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  7. My goal in the kitchen is to get everything put back in it after the new cupboards last year. At Thanksgiving I realized that I had no idea where my pie pans were! Another goal is to learn and try all the features on my new oven (a benefit of the kitchen redo last year).

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  8. Thanks again for your great blog entries day after day!! Love it!! My cooking goal for 2010 is to learn how to cook different kinds/cuts of meat. Also, to continue to explore healthy cooking with grains such as quinoa.

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  9. My goal is to figure out a spell to have my kitchen magically clean itself. Something a la Harry Potter, but without the black magic. Poof!

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  10. I also tried bagels one winter and would love the motivation to do it again. Yours look lovey!!

    The one goal for the kitchen is to try and organizes my recipes so that I can pass them to our 5 daughters when they leave the home.

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  11. yum, I will have to make these!

    I like Ashley's idea. ;) Mine is- waste less. I tend to make lots of food & then we throw it out. I have gotten better in the last few weeks. Leftovers aren't that big a hit here so I have & want to become more creative with them. :)

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  12. After seeing the scrumptious looking bagels in your picture, I am inspired to try the recipe!

    My culinary goal for this year is to continue to build a repertoire of what I call "gold star" recipes. To earn a "gold star" the recipe must taste great, be healthy and economical and have a realistic prep time and ingredient list! Bonus points for seasonal ingredients and presentation!

    Your recipes and cookbook suggestions have helped me discover some new "gold star" additions to my file. Thanks!

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  13. Thank you for all the wonderful recipes. I have tried several of them. I have two goals this year. One is to re-organize my cabinets and get rid of a lot of stuff I never use so I have room for what I need daily. The second goal is to try a new recipe every week and try to get out of the rut I am in of fixing the same things over and over!!

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  14. Your bagels look wonderful!
    One of my goals is to learn the ends and outs of baby food making BEFORE my son is old enough to eat baby food. I want to try and make as much of it myself as possible.

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  15. I can't wait to try making the bagels. I have always wanted to but thought they were to hard. The calender is beautiful.

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  16. My kitchen goals for 2010 include regular meal planning and experimenting with more gluten-free baking.

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  17. Um... WOW! Those so beautiful and you make it seem do-able. I think I'll have to try it.

    My food resolution is making green vegetables that we actually want to it. We don't like many of them but I'm sure I just don't know how to do them well.

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  18. Girl, I am SO excited about the bagels! I was just telling someone the other day that I want to make some but had no clue where to start!

    question: I'm supposed to stay away from all things "all-purpose flour" - how tricky would a wheat flour substitute be?

    I may have missed the contest, but for the sake of participation: my goal for the year is to gain MAJOR confidence in the kitchen, so that I can actually have people over for a meal and not worry that I don't know what the heck I'm doing.... :s

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  19. My culinary goal is to spend all my days and nights in the kitchen and figure out vegan recipes to feed my husband's family for a weekend. I am a strict vegan and would like to help his family eat better, but I have to make really tasty dishes!

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