What Is A Bagel? Pt 1

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

A bagel is traditionally a hefty, dense ring of somewhat bland tasting
bread. But with different flours, such as rye and wheat, bagels take
on different tastes. Add raisins, blueberries, strawberries, dates  and
nuts for a dessert-like bagel. Add veggies, onions, poppy seeds,
peanut butter and other ingredients for an infinite variety of taste
combinations.  The popularity of bagels is as much attributed to what
you can put on  them and in them as to what you add to the unbaked
dough. They are  the perfect vehicles for spreads. Most often spreads
consist of a  cream cheese base that may be mixed with salmon or lox,
fruits,  vegetables and spices -- in myriad combinations. There are
regional  differences in how bagels are made, and ongoing arguments
about what  constitutes the "perfect" bagel and best spread
combination.  The traditional bagel sandwich consists of cream cheese,
lox, a slice  of onion and a slice of tomato. But that's only the
beginning. Bagel  sandwiches are so popular that bagel bakeries often
list 40 or 50  sandwich variations on their menus. then there are mini
bagels and  bialys. For catered bagel brunches, there are 3- to 6-
pound bagels  that are filled and then cut into pie shaped wedges.
Bagels have a lot going for them. They don't crush or smash while
being carried; they don't melt from the heat or suffer from freezing.
They're at their optimum goodness when fresh and hot from out of the
oven, but they're delicious, too, even when frozen, thawed and
toasted. If they get stale, they can be made into bagel chips or
ground into bread crumbs. They're an all-around convenient, no-waste
food product that is well suited to today's health conscious
consumers.  The plain water bagel is low in calories compared to other
traditional  breakfast foods. Estimates as to the number of calories in
a bagel  differ, and its size is a factor. Most bagels weigh 4 to 5
ounces,  and tally up to between 150 to 200 calories. The addition of
nuts,  raisins, berries, chocolate chips and other ingredients will add
to  the count. I saw a cracked wheat bagel in a health food store that
had 320 calories. Some bagels weigh 6 ounces. Mini bagels may be 1 to
3 ounces, so the calories vary accordingly.  It's the toppings and
spreads that shoot up the calorie tab, though  this can be tempered by
using light and fat-free cheeses, and spreads  without cheese. A
whopping dollop of cream cheese slapped onto each  half of a bagel (2
tablespoons of cream cheese have 10 grams of fat  and 100 calories)
will wipe out the innocence of the plain bagel. Two  tablespoons of
regular preserves (there are sugar free varieties,  too) can add on 50
calories but no fat. And peanut butter? Well, you  would rather not
know, if you're counting calories and grams of fat.  Still, you're
better off with bagels than with a doughnut, which has  176 calories
and 11 grams of fat. A homemade bran muffin (not the  giant restaurant
or bakery size) has 112 calories and 5 grams of fat.  A large croissant
has 300 calories, 17 grams of fat and 85 milligrams  of cholesterol.
The butter will do it every time. There is no butter  in a bagel
recipe. Only egg bagels have cholesterol; even that can be  eliminated
using egg whites instead of a whole egg (or 1/4 cup liquid  egg
substitute). But a sweet roll with nut and raisin Danish filing,  and
icing, can top them all with about 360 calories, 2.3 grams of fat  and
The Best Bagels are made at home Donna Z. Meilach ISBN 1-55867-131-5
Carolyn Shaw April 1996 From: Homenet Cook  ABOUT BAGELS -- GENERAL
DIRECTIONS  The process is simple. Initially, the boiling procedure may
seem  strange, but once you've done it, you'll wonder why you
hesitated.  Just boil a pot of water as you would for spaghetti, and
boil the  shaped bagel for about 2 minutes, turning once. Your first
few bagels  may not come out round and smooth on top, but they'll taste
good  anyway. Be patient. The second batch will look better; by the
third,  you mat think you're ready to go into business.  Basically,
these are the basic steps required to make bagels. We'll  go into each
in detail.  Mix, knead and first rise: Mix flour, water, salt, sugar
(or malt or  honey) and yeast, knead them and let the dough rise for
about an  hour. Mixing and kneading can be done in a bread machine, a
food  processor, a heavy duty mixer, or by hand. this same procedure is
used to make any yeast bread. Shape bagels: Form the dough into the
traditional bagel shape by rolling, poking a hole in a ball or using  a
bagel cutter. Second rise: Allow a short rest and second rise  period,
about 20 minutes. Boil or "kettle": Drop the bagels into  boiling water
for 1 to 3 minutes and drain. You can bake immediately  or refrigerate
for 1 to 24 hours.  continued in part 2

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