Bagels
Both I and the Slate author used this recipe for our bagels. I halved the recipe because I wasn't planning on feeding a horde (and wasn't sure how these would turn out).
Makes 5 bagels.
3/4C bread flour
0.6 oz compressed yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tablespoon salt
3/4 C hot water (80-90ºF)
3 quarts water
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
toppings: sea salt, shredded cheddar cheese, minced onion, cinnamon/sugar
1. Mix flour, salt, sugar together in mixer bowl.
2. Melt compressed yeast in the 3/4 C hot water. Add to mixer bowl. (Note: my yeast cake came straight from the freezer, really I should have thawed it the night before in my fridge but it was an impulse decision to make bagels, what can I say?)
3. Mix for 2 minutes.
4. Add flour until dough pulls away from side of bowl, and is no longer very sticky to the touch (my dough was still a little tacky when I called it done). Knead 10 minutes.
5. Put in oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until it has doubled in size. (This took two hours for me, but I blame it on my frozen yeast. I also had to go to an NFL draft party after this, so after it had risen I stuck it in the fridge for the night).
6. Bring water to a light simmer, with sugar added to this.
7. Punch down dough. Divide into 5 pieces, roll the pieces into balls, and allow the balls to relax for a few minutes.
8. Flatten into discs and punch a hole in the middle of each, shaping it look like a bagel.
9. Cover the shaped bagels (with plastic wrap form the rising) and let rest until they have risen slightly.
10. Lower the bagels into the boiling sugar water with a skimmer. Simmer for 1-2 minutes, flipping the bagels once during this time.
11. Remove bagels, let drain on a dish towel, transfer to a cookie tray that has been greased and coated with cornmeal.
12. Brush water on the bagels, then sprinkle toppings on.
13. Bake in 400º oven for 25-30 minutes, until brown and shiny. The recipe called for flipping them once, but I didn't do that, mostly because I was afraid of my toppings falling off!
Verdict: Easy enough to do, and reasonably tasty bread product, but not quite like Noah's. For one, I didn't get a beautiful color on mine, although I think it's because 1) I didn't use malt barley syrup in my water bath and 2) I used water instead of egg white-water mix for the wash. The cheddar cheese topping looked exactly like an Asiago bagel though so that was awesome! The onion topping came in second place, although the onions fell off quite a bit while I was eating the bagel. I hear coating them in oil first helps with the cooking and may help them stick better? I'd make them again if I craved bagels, but bagels aren't usually something I crave =)
Granola
Again, taking after the Slate author, I made this recipe for granola. Actually, I've never had a burning desire to know how to make granola, but after the glowing description of it in the article ("world-beating, super-crunchy cereal, worth every calorie and penny"), how could I resist?
Makes 5-6 cups of granola
3 C rolled oats
1 C slivered almonts
1 C cashews
3/4 C shredded coconut
1/4 C + 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
1/4 C + 2 teaspoons maple syrup
1/4 C vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 C raisins
1. Mix dry ingredients (oats, almonds, cashews, coconut, sugar) together.
2. Mix wet ingredients (syrup, oil) and salt together.
3. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
4. Spread on two baking sheets.
5. Bake at 250º for 1 hr 15 minutes, mixing things around every 15 minutes for even browning.
6. Put in bowl, mix in raisins. Eat.
All the dry ingredients except for the sugar and almonds came from Safeway's new bulk bin section. They totaled $3.40. Amazing! Of course, once you add in the cost of the maple syrup ($9 for about 3x what I needed) and almonds ($4.69) and brown sugar ($1.39 for a box), the total really came to ~$10 for the entire batch. It was really really tasty hot out of the oven - we'll see how it holds up overnight.
Verdict: Super easy, very tasty. Sort of spendy, but will probably be my snack for the next couple of weeks and sure is healthier (and still cheaper) than the twix bars I've been rabidly consuming from the vending machines.
Yogurt
My favorite! Followed Harold McGee's suggestions, but this was pretty much the easiest thing I've ever made and the cost-tastiness ratio was mind boggingly low.
1/2 gallon whole milk
1 serving vanilla yogurt (I used lucerne's vanilla flavor, it's purely for the bacterial culture)
1. Heat milk to 180-190ºF. I used a candy theromometer for this, but it was basically the point where the milk got frothy. Try not to let it scald at the bottom of the pot.
2. Cool milk to 110-120º.
3. Add 4 tablespoons yogurt (mix with some milk first so it's pretty liquid for even dispersal in the milk). Mix well.
4. Swaddle lidded pot with a large bath towel. Let sit undisturbed for 6 hours at room temperature.
5. Eat tasty yogurt!
I confess, I didn't leave my pot undisturbed. I opened it at hour 4 to have a peek and was sure it wasn't working - the milk wasn't any noticeably thicker. I covered it back up and resigned myself to having wasted a whole lot of milk. But than at hour six - Beautiful! It had firmed up nicely - definitely a solid now, but not quite as firm as the commerical brands. I decided I didn't want mine very tangy so I stuck it in the fridge at that point. But not before serving myself up a taste.
Verdict: It has a beautiful creamy texture, but not much tang (still somewhat milk-y in flavor in other words). I mixed mine with some strawberries and added some white sugar and it was LOVELY. The best yogurt and fruit I've ever had. Considering how little effort it took, I don't see any reason why not to do this every week. Especially since the milk + yogurt cost a grand total of $2.50 and I have more yogurt right now than I really know what to do with. I thought it would be like cheese and I'd get much less yogurt out than what I put in, but the whole pot settled up into a lovely consistency. I read about straining it for thicker yogurt, but right now it's perfect for my strawberries.
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