Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Foodie Non-Friday: Homemade Bagels...Because Clearly I Have That Kind of Time

So yeah...I haven't been around much lately. It's not for lack of wanting. It's mostly for lack of material.

That which I would like to write I cannot (by law and such...) so I haven't written.

Except my clever, some may call them pithy (I know you beloved readers would never...haters, they're gonna hate), posts on FB (You can "like" Mrs. Always Random on FB...did you know that? Tell your friends!)

Frankly it's the best my brain can do for the moment.

I'm ok with that because I know that other good stuff is going on in the lives of our family and the time I previously devoted to you, my lovely readers, is now devoted to The Little Man.

Someday, he will probably leave us and I'll be back to blogging more. (I'm sure you are all screaming, "WHEN? How soon can he leave? We MISS your beautiful and eloquent writing, Mrs. Always Random!" and to you I reply, "Patience, dear children...all in due time...")

I must confess that in addition to taking care of The Little Man, I have also been filling some of my time with extra attention to my kitchen.

And trying to cook a little bit healthier.

And fresher.

Christmas was kind of killer, I'll be honest...I'm trying to get back on the wagon.

I made yogurt for the first time in a few weeks...I have missed it.

My digestive system has also missed it...(Too much info too soon? Come come, we are among friends...)

And I've also introduced kale into our diets...much to my family's chagrin. I blame my friend MM, who apparently puts it in "everything".

("Kale is a super-food and it's special power is tasting bad..." ~ Jim Gaffigan...I know I have shared this before it bears repeating...)

So not to be outdone by MM, I, too, have, also begun using it.

Just to be clear, I have not put it in "everything"...mostly salad at this point.

And it's on the menu in the black bean and kale soup for later this week...I'll keep you posted. ("And I wanted to throw the bowl at her...")

But I didn't come here today to talk about kale.

I came to talk about homemade bagels...because who doesn't love that? Well, I suppose if you have committed to not eating carbs, or are gluten-free...but you don't have to be such a downer...you can still read and enjoy. Promise.

So yeah, I made bagels from scratch this afternoon. Because I have that kind of time...to sit around and wait for dough to rise.

And boiling water.

And boiling bagels (for one minute...no more, no less, apparently).

And baking bagels.

All just so they can be eaten.

OK, so I don't actually have that kind of time...but I blame my friend JP for posting the link I am about to post below. He posted it on his wife's FB page.

I didn't stop to ask if it was a joke, although knowing his wife, it probably was not. And she probably has made them. More than once. And they were amazing.

Because she's amazing...and I'm not just saying that because we're friends.

But I am not her. And I don't typically "make bread" unless it is a) a quick bread (which is really just cake that we eat for breakfast...no one is fooled here), or b) in the bread machine (which only requires me to put a list of ingredients in a specific order into a machine and hit a couple buttons. And in 4 hours voila...delicious bread).

In fact, I had to text the aforementioned MM (who is quite a domestic goddess...she cooks, she sews...I would kind of hate her if I didn't love her) to ask about using my Kitchenaid mixer for the dough. The picture in the link below (you'll see...I know, I'm such a tease) shows the paddle when it mentions "kneeding"...but I thought the bread hook (which, let's be clear, I had NEVER used prior to today...look at me being so brave). So she told me she uses the bread hook and then kneeds by hand.

Well, I'll go ahead and tell you that I used the paddle to mix and the bread hook to kneed and my hands never touched the dough until it was time to roll it into the greased bowl for rising. (which, I must add, was NOT a step she included, but in looking at the pictures, it appears that she did it...in case you didn't know, when the dough is mixed and kneeded, you scrape it into a ball and put it in a well-oiled bowl...and then you turn it over so the top of the dough is also oiled and won't dry out when it's rising.)

Also (and she didn't mention this so I thought I would) you should cover the bowl as the dough is rising.

AND...it will take about an hour or more for the dough to rise...important tip to know for all you fellow non-bread bakers out there.

Just so my mom doesn't feel that all my childhood was in vain, I did have a niggling memory from childhood of making bread with her (or maybe I watched...I don't recall that part exactly, but she probably had me help)...but I remember a big bowl that was green on the outside and white on the inside and that's what she used to let the dough rise, and I remember it being covered with a towel. So looky-there mom! Aren't you so proud?

So now after all this build-up, I shall give you the link I used. Sure, I could have just written out the steps for you myself...but I do not have the kind of time that would necessitate...so here you go:

My homemade bagel reference!

Ta-dah!

Well, please let me continue with my story...because we you may have recalled, I was only at the "letting the dough rise" portion of the event.

And yes, it was an event.

A couple other things I would like to mention before you jump on the bagel-making bandwagon:

* Don't forget about the oiled bowl for rising...and cover it too.
The "rising" part of the dough will take at least an hour...so don't rush it!
* Have some flour accessible to coat your hands when shaping the dough.
* Give plenty of time to get your water up to boiling...and use a larger pot otherwise it will feel as though this part takes forever.
* You can add all sorts of goodies to the bagel dough but I made plain for my maiden voyage.
* Your bagels will NOT be pretty...but they will be delish.

Thanks for stopping by!

My finished product...yes, some of them look a little bit scary.
And yes, all that work for 11 bagels.
But the PBA and Mr. AR all said they were "very good" so I think it's totally worth it...







1 comment:

  1. I very much enjoy your FB posts. As long as you keep that up, I'll be happy. (Not as happy as if you blogged, too, but happy. (Thought that needed clarifying.))

    ReplyDelete