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A while back, my husband had his home office redecorated and organized in exchange for some work he did for an interior designer. He arranged for this to be done while he was out of town, so I got to spend most of the time helping the designer and the organizer make sense of his office. We had a wonderful time, and to thank them for their efforts, I made them pizza. Not too long after that, my husband went into his networking group with my baklava and bagels (B theme anyone?). After these twin exposures to my cooking, the designer has been really after me to figure out how to do something that would marry my love for cooking with my need to earn a living. She's very persistent, and since her motto is, 'We are our own biggest obstacle!' She's very good at not letting me 'get in my own way', as she puts it.
Which leads me to the reason for making bagels tonight.
Tomorrow, the interior designer is having a sort of antique-y, shabby chic rummage sale at her house. She told my husband that my presence is expected, because they like me better than him, and my bagels would be hugely appreciated. Will it lead to anything? Who knows? It was fun to bake today and it'll be fun to browse and gossip tomorrow.
This is the base recipe that I use, but I'm adding dried toasted onions that I picked up at Penzey's while vacationing with a bunch of crazy Kossacks in Santa Cruz last month.
Bagels, like most things I've highlighted here, are
a) shockingly easy to make
b) astonishingly inexpensive
and
c) so much better than store bought, it's almost criminal to make the comparison.
This recipe makes about 10 bagels and costs me about $1.50 to make.
So, let's watch this (flour, yeast, salt, sugar, dried onion, water, agave syrup, and egg whites):
become this:
First, heat the water to between 120-130 degrees. This heat will promote yeast fermentation. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer, and then add the water.
Starting out with the paddle attachment, mix the dough until it becomes sticky. Then switch to your dough hook or begin kneading by hand. You will most likely need to add flour - I add up to a cup more, slowly. At this stage, I also add about 1/4 cup of the dried onions. Once dough is not sticking to your hands or the side of the mixer bowl, turn out into a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Allow to rise at room temperature for about an hour, until at least doubled in size:
During the last 20 minutes or so of the rise time, prepare your water bath - bring 3 qts of water to a boil, add sugar or malt syrup, and reduce to barely a simmer.
Prep your bagels. I've found the easiest way to get bagels to be roughly the same size is to weigh the dough and do the appropriate division, separate, and weigh the individual pieces. So each of these pieces is roughly 4 ounces. Let these rest for about 10 minutes, covered.
Now, there are two popular ways to shape bagels. If you want a more uniform shape, the traditional (and slightly harder) method is to take the pieces and roll them into a rope and pinch the ends together. I don't use that method for this recipe. Instead, I do what the recipe suggests, which is shaping the dough pieces into a ball, flattening them and using my thumb and forefinger, tearing a hole in the center.
After another 10 minute rest (and turning the oven onto 400), you're ready for the water bath. Using a slotted spoon of some sort, lower bagels into lightly simmering water bath until you have two or thee in the pot. Turn them after 30 seconds
and using a slotted spoon, remove to a towel after a minute total or so.
Transfer to a baking sheet, either prepared with parchment paper (my preferred method, but I'm out right now) or cooking spray and cornmeal:
Brush each bagel with egg white wash, which will give the bagel a shiny finish and allow your toppings to stick. Bake for 25-30 minutes. The recipe suggests flipping the bagels over halfway through the baking time to give the bagel a more rounded appearance. I've found that this doesn't work for me, but what I do, since I don't have the bagels all on one baking sheet, is at the halfway point, I rotate the positions of the baking sheets in the oven.
and voila!
Without further ado, here are tonight's top comment nominees:
from i like bbq:
who thought that this comment by vacantlook regarding the Obama administration's approach to political chess was apropos. (From WGLB- Jim Crow is alive and well and apparently running the Department of Justice!
from jnhobbs
In Jed's front page post, GOP congressman, media pick fight with television character, Cvstos weighed in on Steven Colbert's congressional appearance.
my picks:
This anecdote from Over50Lib is all too common and is so illustrative of the general ignorance of our populace - and how Faux rushes to fill that void. It's from DaNang65's most informative diary.
I loved this comment by TrueBlueMajority about framing the GOP's Pledge to America, and I loved the response to same by mmacdDE. From BruinKid's diary.
This comment posted by JekyllnHyde is spot-freaking-on.
Top Mojo excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, Cheers and Jeers, and Mojo Friday:
1) they don't have to enforce law that has by slinkerwink — 175
2) Ayn Rand Paul is a whining coward by MD patriot — 123
3) Great work RP by MadRuth — 100
4) From Huffpo by CornSyrupAwareness — 91
5) Did he ever speak or make comments? by JFinNe — 89
6) The Justice Department took action, by Rusty Shackleford — 89
7) You might want to repost this again in a by lineatus — 85
8) I wrote this almost viscerally by teacherken — 81
9) Get serious by Christy1947 — 80
10) Did you hear the camera guy say by MarciaJ720 — 77
11) A Well-Deserved Slap in the Face by JekyllnHyde — 77
12) Your suggestion is not only well taken, by DaNang65 — 75
13) I love that you transcribe these for us, by Guadalupe59 — 73
14) I think once he by gabie — 72
15) Good lord. by Blue Boy Red State — 71
16) This was one of the stupidest moves by this Admin by SallyCat — 70
17) This is indeed a gross injustice by slinkerwink — 69
18) In Celebration of Two Years Legally Married by Predictor — 69
19) So why is Attorney General Holder so adamant by tnichlsn — 68
20) I am part of the LGBT base. I am donating ONLY by SallyCat — 68
21) Glenn Beck All the Way by JekyllnHyde — 67
22) *cough* torture prosecutions cough by Uberbah — 66
23) Once the President publicly announces by JesseCW — 63
24) Thanks by Rural Progressive — 62
25) Yes by Rural Progressive — 62
26) Obama enforces all laws, apolitically... by GreenSooner — 61
27) The left are precisely the people . . . by keikekaze — 61
28) Spoiled meat artificially reddened for quick sale by chimpy — 61
29) But as someone who still supports Obama, and by blueintheface — 58
30) YES! What OPOL says by War on Error — 57
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) Tip Jar by Rural Progressive — 469
2) Tip jar for transcribing that. (n/t) by BruinKid — 413
3) Tip Jar by jpmassar — 273
4) Tips for me and... by weatherdude — 266
5) Tip Jar by jpmassar — 256
6) Tips for standing up for ourselves! by One Pissed Off Liberal — 244
7) Tips for SAFE FOOD and defeating UNSAFE Senators by MinistryOfTruth — 234
8) Camus: by kestrel9000 — 233
9) Tip Jar by Nobody — 210
10) Tip Jar by DaNang65 — 210
11) they don't have to enforce law that has by slinkerwink — 175
12) Tip Jar by TomP — 161
13) We must stop the Republican crazies by FishOutofWater — 159
14) Tip Jar by teacherken — 154
15) And before the influx of usual suspects arrives- by GLBT and Friends at Daily Kos — 137
16) Ayn Rand Paul is a whining coward by MD patriot — 123
17) Tip Jar by Forrest Brown — 117
18) Tips/Flames by Rimjob — 102
19) Great work RP by MadRuth — 100
20) From Huffpo by CornSyrupAwareness — 91
21) The Justice Department took action, by Rusty Shackleford — 89
22) Did he ever speak or make comments? by JFinNe — 89
23) Mojo Mug by TexDem — 89
24) You might want to repost this again in a by lineatus — 85
25) I wrote this almost viscerally by teacherken — 81
26) Get serious by Christy1947 — 80
27) CC Is Watching by TexDem — 80
28) The Lounge Is Open by TexDem — 79
29) Mojo Friday Wants You by TexDem — 78
30) Did you hear the camera guy say by MarciaJ720 — 77
31) A Well-Deserved Slap in the Face by JekyllnHyde — 77