Let’s pretend…

that you find yourself hosting a breakfast unexpectedly.

And your house is a mess.  And you haven’t been to the grocery store in ages.  And your significant other is MIA.  And you can’t back out now.

But you’ve got flour in your pantry, assorted jams in the fridge, and a block or two of cream cheese in the drawer.

Takeoff-minus-2-hours until guests arrive and you’ve got dustbunnies blowing through your living room and an inch of dust on the mantle.

This bagel recipe yields a fantastic result in about 1.5 hours.  They don’t taste *quite* as developed as my other bagel recipe, but that difference is subtle.  I mean, really, who can complain about a freshly baked bagel?  And in under 2 hours?  Yeah.  This one’s a keeper.

Parisian Bagels (adapted from a Jo Goldenberg recipe)
-I made 4 large bagels and 2 mini bagels by halving the original recipe.  Below is the recipe posted to produce 10 large bagels

3 cups bread flour
1/4 – 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 packages dry yeast
3 tablespoons,sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 cups hot water (I actually boiled a potato in 2 cups of water for this ingredient; the starchiness released by the potatoes makes yeastie-beasties so very happy)
3 quarts water
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg white – beaten with 1 teaspoon, water
dry minced garlic, freshly ground pepper, sesame seeds, poppy seeds
cornmeal for sprinkling on the baking sheet

In the bowl of your electric mixer, sift together the first 5 ingredients, exlcuding the whole wheat flour.  No need to prove your yeast here (if your yeast is in date and has been stored appropriately, that is). Add your warm water and turn the mixer on.  Knead 2 minutes until the dough comes together.  Gradually add the whole wheat flour until the dough is firm and has pulled completely away from the mixer bowl.  Knead 10 minutes.

Let dough rise at room temperature for 1 hour.  When that time is up, preheat oven to 400*.  Divide dough into 10 equal peices and roll into balls.  Place on a baking sheet and cover with saran wrap; let rest 10 minutes.  Form the bagels by flattening the dough balls between your palms.  Gently form your thumb through the center of the bagel and form a ring by stretching (NOT TEARING!) the dough.  Let rest 5-10 minutes (covered in saran wrap) white you bring 3 qts. water to a boil stovetop and add sugar.  Reduce heat to make a gentle simmer.

It is important not to let your bagels over-rise during this final rest.  If so, when you place the bagels in the simmer water, they will not sink.  If this happens, don’t panic, just move along and adjust your timing for your next panic-induced-brunch-get-together.  So, place 2-3 bagels into simmering water and boil 1 minute after they’ve risen to the top, turning bagels over one time.  Drain on a clean kitchen towel.

Brush the eggwhite wash over the bagels and sprinkle desired toppings on top.  Place on a center-placed oven rack and cook for 15 minutes.  Remove bagels from oven and turn over if you desire fully rounded bagels rather than flat-bottomed and return to the oven for 8 more minutes.  If you are too consumed with cleaning your bathroom for the soon-to-arrive-guests, just bake 22 minutes start to finish.

Once cooled, store in a paper bag.