I have not been able to find that bagel again since we left CT as a family in the late seventies. For years I thought it was the result of living in the West. While it would seem as though our western friends wouldn't know a good bagel if it hit them in the head(and a real bagel would render them unconscious from the blow), there really wasn't a good one to be found in CT years later when I returned. And the times I would visit the city, none to be found. I have heard rumor there are still good bagels in the New York area. I have had people, mostly from Long Island, insist that good bagels are still being produced there.
Regardless, I decided to take matters into my own hands. About a month ago I was perusing a bread book I gave Lynn last Christmas to see if there was a bagel recipe. The book is "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" Sure enough there was a recipe in there. More importantly, a introduction written by the author on this bagel. He referenced the bagel of yore, the blight of the non-bagel in this country, so I had hope and tried the recipe.
Our friend Michele was visiting and I thought it would be a fun project for the two of us. I was right. The process takes two days. The fist day you mix the dough and actually form the bagels, the second day you boil and bake them. We decided on three different toppings; salt(of course), everything(I used an everything topping I purchased on the King Arthur's web site), and sesame.
The bagels turned out to be better than anything we had purchased throughout the country in the last 30 years. And while I was happy with the result as were all of our friends who ate them, it was still not the bagel of yore. I will more than likely be trying different recipes in the coming months to land that perfect bagel.
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| Michele kneading the dough |
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| Formed bagels ready to rest in the fridge overnight |
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| Ready to be devoured |
1 comment:
Those look yummy! You should send some back to CT with Michelle for all your CT friends to enjoy :)
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