The Bagel Hole

Things I took for granted in NYC:

• free stuff to do
• clean-enough-to-walk-on sidewalks
• crosswalks
• shoe shopping
  
• pizza
• pickles
• bagels

Listen, I knew that I was lucky to live in NYC and I tried to savor every experience but I got lazy. I stopped doing all of the free stuff, like movies in Bryant Park, in favor of Blockbuster in bed. I didn't buy nearly enough pairs of shoes. I didn't go to Bleeker St. Pizza often enough, and I never got around to trying Gus's pickles. But what I really missed out on was the abundance of fresh bagels, baked daily by the experts. Sure, I had one here and there but now that there is no bagel in sight, I could just kick myself!

So I made some. These didn't taste exactly like they came from a NYC deli, but we can definitely work with what we've got! These turned out a little small for me, but yummy. As it was my first time, I made half of this recipe, which yielded 4 bagels.

• 2 cups bread flour
• 1/2 T. sugar
• 3/4 t. salt
• 1/2 T. veg oil
• 1 t. instant yeast
• 3/4 c. warm water

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until a dough begins to form. Turn out onto a floured surface and kneed for 10 minutes.

Cut into 4 balls and let rise for about 15-20 minutes.


Briefly kneed each ball again, poke a hole in the middle of the ball with your thumb and flip around on your finger to make the hole bigger. Let rise for another 20 minutes.



Bring a large pot of water to a boil and drop in the bagels - boil for 2 minutes on each side (don't crowd them). Remove from water and set on a towel to dry for just a moment.


Place bagels on a greased non-stick baking sheet and bake at 425F for 10 minutes, flip and bake another 10 minutes.

We wanted sesame seeds on ours, so we brushed the bagels with egg white after boiling and sprinkled with the seeds. We flipped them after 10 minutes and the seeds stayed in place.


Mmm...perfectly browned bottom. (How's that for a round-thing-in-your-face?)


We made sandwiches and took these on a picnic. Mine was tomato (with a touch of basil) and Finlandia light cheese. Guille had good ol' egg & cheese.


So what have I learned from all this? Well, I suppose that I learned how to make bagels. But I also learned that I better eat my fill of empanadas and gelati while I'm here. These moments are fleeting, poppets. Eat to live.