I've been using bread flour instead of all-purpose flour in my bread recently, just to see if it makes a difference. (Of course, I still use about 25% whole wheat flour, which adds flavor and nutrition.) I've been really happy with the results both times I've done this, though I may have to try once more with a-p flour just to make sure it's not just that I'm doing everything else right, especially since bread flour is a fair bit more expensive...
Anyway, having bread flour around made me think of this bagel recipe, which I'd found long ago and decided to make at some point in the future. Well, yesterday I had some time, so I went for it. It turns out bagels are really easy to make! (At least if you're used to making bread.) I would highly recommend this recipe to anyone wanting to have fun and make tasty bagels, with two quick modifications: first, some of my bagels seemed a bit on the big side, so I might squeeze a good 18 out of the recipe instead of just 15; and second, I wouldn't let the formed bagels rise quite 10 minutes before boiling, because if the first ones rise for ten minutes, then because only a few can be boiled at a time the last ones sit around for a long time (this, I'm sure, contributed to the size problem). Actually, there was one other problem: the bagels got marked up, first from my picking them up off the counter, then from the spoon I used to turn them over in the pot and take them out (I also tried a spatula and a pair of tongs, with similar results), and then possibly from my boiling water (it's supposed to be hardly moving, but it's hard to keep a constant temperature when you keep putting things in and taking things out). But the marks are mostly superficial: except for the bagels I somehow accidentally flattened, they turned out great. Anyway, just for fun, I photo-documented the whole process.


Bagels Rising. Obviously, the ones in front were formed first. At this point, they look perfect: round and pleasantly, rustically lumpy. I knew they'd rise a lot, so I made the holes really big; but to no avail, as they closed up anyway. As you can see, I was also making yoghurt (in the Salton, much easier to make...).


This picture was going to be labelled, "Holy Bagels, Batman!" But they don't look as humongous in the picture as they did in person. These first two, especially, were too big, and squeezed each other a little bit into oblong shapes.


Okay, so I didn't document the whole process: they were too ugly to photograph before putting them in the oven. But here's the first batch cooling afterwards. I'll just pretend the obvious spoon marks are a new style... maybe this'll catch on? I'll charge extra for those ones. The two middle ones in the top row are bottom-up from when they were rising, as you can tell from the lumps: those are where I pried them off the counter. (Maybe I'll grease the rising surface next time...) Note Cicero's Somnium Scipionis (Dream of Scipio) and a Latin dictionary in the background. Those, of course, are integral to the cooling process.


The first one to be disposed of. For the True Bagel Test, I had to do half just normally with cream cheese, and half toasted with tons of butter. Both were delicious.


And finally, the Leaning Towers of... Bagels. As you can see, some are unfortunately flat (though they're actually not too overly dense... definitely still edible). Nate, the whole purpose of this post is of course to get you to visit earlier: you never know, I'm already down to twelve, and those could disappear in a week and a half...