Bagels

This is my uncle Charlie. He went to Alaska and caught a lot of salmon. He had a bunch of it made into lox. I went and visited and I made bagels to go with the lox. It was absolutely delicious.

Even  if you don't have freshly caught salmon to make into lox (although it is the best if you've caught it yourself) bagels are totally worthwhile to make and delicious in their own right.

Bagels are slightly more complicated than bread but the first steps are very similar.  It is good to sprinkle the yeast on the warm water so it dissolves completely and doesn't clump.

The recipe called for six cups of flour but I found this a little excessive and the dough really hard to knead so you may want to use a little less and adjust.  It is easy to add flour but basically impossible to remove it.

After kneading though I did get a nice smooth dough.  Up until now, very much like bread but then we shape them like bagels.  The first thing to do is get 12 even pieces.

Probably the best way to do that is to flatten the dough into a rectangle and cut it.

Now you have 12 pieces to shape into little doughnut shapes.

Things get even weirder here.  The thing that makes bagels so chewy is that they get boiled first.

They still don't look very delicious yet though.

So we bake them too.  They get golden brown on the outside and stay chewy and delicious on the inside.

Bagels

1 pkg active dry yeast
1 1/2 cup water, room temperature
3 tsps salt
3 tbsps sugar
6 cups regular all-purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1. Dissolve yeast in water. Add salt and 2 tbsps sugar. Stir to dissolve.
2. Add 5 cups of flour. Use remaining cup of flour while kneading and add as much as necessary (may not use entire amount). Knead about 10 minutes
3. Let rise in a greased bowl about 30 minutes.
4. Punch flat and form square of dough about 1 inch thick. Use a sharp knife to cut into 12 equal strips. Roll each strip between the fingers until it is about 1/2 inch in diameter. Join ends to form a doughnut shape by wrapping loosely around three fingers. Overlap ends a little and squeeze together. Work into a uniform shape.
5. Cover all with a towel and let rise 30-40 minutes.
6. Place 1 gallon of water in a deep pot with 1 tbsp of sugar. Bring to a boil.
7. Keep water just under boiling and add bagels one at a time. Cook 4 at once for about 7 minutes. Remove from water with a fork and place uncovered on a towel to cool.
8. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until browned.

From Sunset Cook Book of Favorite Recipes
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