Making Bagels

If you ever wanted to know how many people it takes to add toppings to bagels, the answer is six.

A few friends came over on Saturday for a bagel making brunch.  I made the dough and all of us formed the bagels and added toppings (sesame seeds, poppy seeds, caraway seeds, onions, and salt).  Adding toppings seemed to be an especially engrossing task for my guests.  It was also the only chance I had to take a picture.  Luckily, the bagels turned out well and we all proceeded to eat way too much. 

There was much discussion of gluten and its role in good bagel making.  if you want to see hot gluten action check out the Exploratorium's Explore Gluten animated tutorial or try their Goodness Gracious! Great Balls of Gluten! experiment yourself. 

I bought way too much cream cheese.  There was, and still is, garlic cream cheese and a roquefort and parsley cream cheese from Zabar's along with plain and veggie cream cheese from Fairway.  I am going to be eating cream cheese all week.  That and orange-fennel salad, which was not a big hit amongst the guests.  Good thing I like it.

Update:  The ever-inquisitive Bagel in Harlem took notes and weighs in with photos and her take on bagel-making.

Extra Update:  Tien also weighs in on the bagels.

Comments

[tien]

there's nothing like cream cheese for dinner!

thanks again for inviting me. i had a great time.

[Joe]

Speaking of dinner, there's two bagels left. Hmmm...