Don Quixote de la Bagel
I’ll be a better baker in 2006. Some people resolve to lose weight over the New Year, or clean out the garage, or be more financially responsible. I’m going to bake good bagels.
I’m also going to bake good baguettes, croissants, and maybe even pastries. The sweets don’t interest me as much as the bread side of the baking world, but I’ll dabble with it here and there. I’ve been making a pretty mean pizza for ten years now, and I’m overdue for learning about other kinds of breads. So I’ll be baking something three or four times a week, over the course of next year. If practice doesn’t make perfect, at least the family won’t starve.
The home made pizzas came about because I got sick of eating half assed pizza in California. My definition of good pizza, like everyone else’s, goes back to the pizza of my youth. If you’re from Chicago or New Haven, you have certain criteria that defines good from dreck. I grew up near New York City. That also explains my bagel mission. I’m not gonna be an East coast bagel whiner. I will control my own bagel destiny, mwaaa ha ha ha….. ha!!
[Insert sound of crickets chirping]
Sooo… that’s a really high bar to set for myself. But I’m off to a decent start. I’ve been using Peter Reinhart’s Crust and Crumb for guidance. The crust didn’t come out as crisp as I wanted, nor did I get thousands of tiny blisters on the surface. I shaped these too tall to start with, but that’s an easy problem to fix. The interior had a nice, toothy pull and chewed with a firm resistance from the high gluten flour I used. This was an ok first attempt, but can I ever nail it, with no stand mixer, and a crappy gas oven in a rental home? It might never happen, but I’m gonna keep tilting at windmills.
Call me Don Quixote de la Bagel.
Salt bagel
Onion and sesame bagels
December 22nd, 2005 at 8:57 am
Professor, you are my hero. Bagels are my favorite form of bread (well, aside from Iranian bread) and you’re pictures look so good. Looks like you got a pretty good chewy crust on them. Nice! If you ever have “left overs” , I know a good place for them.
December 22nd, 2005 at 11:12 am
Professor, you amaze me! I miss H & H, but I bet your bagels will make me forget H & H. And your pizza quest, I’ve been there and very disappointed in CA. No Stromboli’s, Pintaile’s, or even Eduardo’s here. I used to make foccacia incessantly to try an approximate this foccacia I ate in the Cinque Terre. What if we open a restaurant? You bake, I cook?
December 22nd, 2005 at 12:14 pm
Well, you both understand the magnitude of this challenge. I’ve taken the first step of a long journey.
The journey of a thousand miles
begins with a single “oy.”
December 22nd, 2005 at 3:30 pm
Oy Vey!
Or do you mean… Oy-sho!
Man, oh man! I love BAGELS! But then again, I love all things CARB! =) Learn how to make Cheese Bagels, pretty please. Those are my favorite!
Yeah, that’s what I want for Christmas…a nice big heavy KitchenAid free stand mixer! =D
January 7th, 2006 at 6:09 pm
Im going to try the bagel recipe from bread bakers apprentice. Peter Reinhart says in that book that he improved the recipe that was in crust and crumb. When I lived in Santa Monica I bought my bagels at Western Bagel, when I lived in Long Beach, I went to EastCoast Bagels. Both were very good, NY style bagels.
January 7th, 2006 at 6:10 pm
They look good. Have you tried Johnny’s NY pizza? That was my favorite pizza. I was born in NY and grew up in Florida( where everyone is from NY) so I craved that type of pizza and bagels.
January 30th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
Those are beautiful … hope you keep up the incredible baking (esp. bread) in 2006!