Wednesday, June 27, 2007

I'm Late, I'm Late, Oh Wait!


"I'm late, I'm late for a very important date!" rang in my head during my lunch walk. Had I missed the bagel post? Was I a bad Daring Baker in my first month of becoming one? Would I shamelessly apologize like crazy to post late? Would my nervous breakdown finally come to tears flowing down my face?
Of course I came back to my cube and found that today was the post. A sigh echoed through my lips. Safe, but my pictures were at home. Well, you can't win them all can you. (They'll be up tonight I swear.)
Thankfully when I was making bagels, I wasn't in my current mood because I'm sure I would have cried.
To me bagels = Breakfast, or snack.
They are the one thing that I miss about NYC on a weekly basis because honestly Einstein Bagels are a poor substitute for real bagels.
In January, I was able to get NYC bagels in Phoenix, and I so wanted to take a bag home. Especially there Sun-Dried Tomato bagel. My ultimate favorite.
When I first read the challenge of the month, I was saddened that we couldn't do flavored bagels. That is because Sun-dried Tomato is inside the bagel and not outside. Of course my 2nd favorite is Cinnamon Raisin, so that was out, too. However, I was not going to be persuaded not to bake.

I began with a brainstorm. Savory bagels, savory bagels. Well, I could try an Italian bagel, a garlic, a plain, sun-dried tomato on top. So after the trip to the store I came and begun my quest for a bagels. An adventure into yeast and back.
The recipe recommends using your hands to mix the ingredients I did. Which honestly was fun, but a little gross. It was sticky! And took several minutes to get off my hands. I let them rise. Then took batches, poking holes in them. I found with this that they had a tendency to close the whole. I tried reshaping, but like chocolate and peanut butter, the sides came together.
Like many other of us Daring Bakers, my bagels floated like a little boat on the water. I wasn't worried about it at the time, but I should have been.
Afterwards I dressed them with parmesan, garlic, cheddar, or left them alone. I left them bake in the oven. Of course this was done in batches. Small kitchen doesn't lend well to eighteen bagels. My pot could only hold three at a time.
Oh and some didn't boil properly. I don't even know went on there. I also, learned that the shelf life on them was short as well. However, I enjoyed destroying my kitchen and thankfully there were no fires or smoke filled rooms with this adventure.
To see the recipe please visit http://www.jewish-food.org/recipes/brea0007.htm


27 comments:

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Mine all floated both times.
No pictures, OK, I'll come back.
But Oh Wait did you get bagels that tasted good, bad, OK or not at all?
Welcome to the challenge ... friends do make disaster or success fun.

Laura said...

I'll be back for some pictures!

Elle said...

Mine floated, too and the kitchen was a mess by the end, but they tasted pretty good.
Glad that you were successful in the challenge...you did it and got to the end. Glad you are a Daring Baker! Looking forward to the photos.

Amanda at Little Foodies said...

Will be back for the pics. I loved the taste of these bagels, though the texture wasn't what I was expecting. Saying that I've never had a regular bagel habit so can't really compare them to a true bagel. My bagel memories include one time in NYC and one time in N.London where I've had real bagels. The rest have been supermarket stuff, not always great it has to be said!

Kelly-Jane said...

I couldn't do the sticky fingers - so I used a big fork! Will come back for pictures :)

breadchick said...

Mine floated too! I'm so glad you didn't miss your post date! Congrats on your first challenge!!! Will be back to see the pictures.

Helene said...

Glad you made it to the challenge! I vowed to try and try again until them all sink, dammit!!

Morven said...

Congratulations - you made it! I'm with you on liking cinnamon raisin bagels and I think I may make them next time when I don't have the constraint of challenge guidelines.

Well done.

Jann said...

My hat is off to all of you that made the bagels~they look so professional~better late than never!

Thistlemoon said...

Mine floated too! Glad you made it on time! I was down tot he wire too!

Jenny said...

Great job! And hey, now that you've done the challenge, you can do it again, adding the sun dried tomatoes into the bagels!

Lis said...

Congrats on your first post, Jerry! Way to go! =)

Mine didn't sink either.. I'm thinking that's the general concensus of everyone.. wonder what those purists did to get their to sink?

Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this and I look forward to baking with you again next month!

xoxo

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Terrific Jerry you have bagels.
I'm thinking the purists maybe tied weights to the bagels to make them sink!!

Sara said...

I had all floaters too. Sun dried tomato bagels sound yummy, I'll have to remember that.

Elle said...

Nice photos! They look like they are cheesy. Are they?

sher said...

Oh, mine floated too! :) But, they are fabulous, aren't they? And that bread dough was very sticky--could use it to glue wallpaper on the walls. (You can make them again and put your flavorings in the dough when you do.) :):)

Ilva said...

Great start to your career as a Daring Baker!

Peabody said...

I just had the one sink and I too had a messy kitchen. It looked like Chirstmas time with white(flour) everywhere.

Alpineberry Mary said...

You are official one of us now, sticky doughy fingers and all! Nice job on your first challenge.

Veron said...

Mine floated too. And they are what are now famously called "flat ass" bagels...
Congratulations on completing your first challenge as a Daring Baker!

Cheryl said...

Congrats on completing your first challenge. Well done.

Amanda at Little Foodies said...

Yay - you got your pics up!

Anonymous said...

I agree, the taste was superb! No worries on the kitchen destruction, or floating bagels - I dare say most of us were in the exact same boat!

Congrats on completing your first DB challenge!

Anonymous said...

Very funny, Jerry! Congratulations on completing your first DB challenge!

KJ said...

I think it was a very rare Daring Baker that got a sinker. I didn't find them too messy, but that's relative to what I usually get up to in the kitchen. Glad they came out well in the end.

Glenna said...

The look very good to me! I think we all figured out that they're harder to get the perfect shape in our heads but the recipe tastes great.

Anonymous said...

You did it! Great first DB post! Those look really tasty.