INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board. Knead dough by hand,
adding more flour as necessary, for 10 to 15 minutes until dough is
smooth, shiny, stiff and elastic. Keep the board and your hands  dusted
with flour to prevent sticking.  Knead by pushing down on the dough
with the palms of your hands,  exerting pressure from your shoulders.
Lift the dough from the top  edge, turn it a quarter turn, fold it in
half, press again, turn,  fold, press, and repeat the process until
dough forms a cohesive  ball. When the dough is no longer sticky,
stretch it to help develop  elasticity. Knead it a few more times (by
now you should be about  ready to drop dead and buy frozen Lender's
<G>.) Drop it on your  board, lift it, pick it up again and drop it
again, continuing to  stretch, drop and knead a few more times. If it
becomes too stiff,  add a few drops of water; if too sticky, add a
little more flour.  When optimally kneaded and shaped into a ball,
dough will spring back  when poked gently.  Place dough in a lightly
greased bowl. Turn dough so all surfaces are  greased. cover with a
sheet of plastic wrap sprayed with nonstick  vegetable spray and let
rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour.  the test for proper rising,
which about doubles the mass of the dough  in size, is to poke two
fingers lightly and quickly about 1/2" into  dough. If dent stays,
dough is doubled.  Proceed to Shape Bagels  STEP 2: SHAPE BAGELS
Prepare baking sheets by lightly greasing them with nonstick vegetable
spray, or oil with a little vegetable oil spread with your fingertips
or waxed paper.  Reach into the bread machine pan and pull dough out
(if it is slightly  sticky, dip your fingers into flour first.) Some
machines punch dough  down automatically at the end of the rise cycle,
and just the act of  removing the dough from the pan is usually
adequate to remove gases,  but you may need to punch dough down to
remove any remaining air. Or,  remove dough from bowl or food processor
bowl and punch down.  Knead dough once or twice and let it rest for 5
minutes. If the dough  is still a little too wet and sticky, lightly
flour the bread board  or your hands and knead the dough manually,
until it has a smooth,  elastic consistency. Bagel dough should be
stiff but elastic; if it's  too stiff, sprinkle a little water on it or
moisten your hands and  knead the moisture into dough. After you've
made one or two batches  of bagels, you'll get the feeling of the ideal
consistency.  Roll and pull dough into a rectangle about 10x14" for a
1-pound  recipe and 14x18" for a 1 1/2-pound recipe, and let it rest
for 5  minutes. Sprinkle with dried fruits, nuts, vegetables, seeds,
spices,  chocolate, or any combination of flavorings. Roll dough into a
log  and knead the ingredients into the dough for a minute or so.  The
dough should weigh a little more than the size recipe you are  using.
Divide dough into pieces depending on the size bagel you want.  A 1
1/2-pound recipe yields 8 to 12 finished bagels, each weighing 2  to 3
ounces, measuring about 4 inches across. Use a food scale if you  want
consistency, or measure with a ruler. Cut smaller pieces for  mini
bagels. Knead in added ingredients well before shaping each  bagel. You
can also divide dough and add different ingredients to  each part so
you get a varied batch of bagels from one recipe.  Shape using any of
the following methods:  HOLE IN THE MIDDLE METHOD: Roll each piece of
dough into a ball, poke  a floured finger through the center to form
the hole, and then shape  top and smooth sides. Moisten your finger
with water, if necessary to  smooth. Pull gently to enlarge hole. The
resulting bagel is smooth  and there is no joint.  OR, press the round
on your floured board. Using the index fingers of  both hands, poke a
hole an pull dough until the hole is large, and  then round out the
bagel and smooth the top and edges.  THE HULA HOOP AROUND THE FINGER
METHOD: Create a circle without a  joint by flattening a ball of dough
slightly into a round shape,  folding the bottom edge under and
smoothing it until it looks like a  mushroom top. With a floured index
finger, make a hole in the center  of the circle from the bottom up.
Twirl the circle around your index  finger, or two fingers, like a
hula-hoop, to widen the hole. Pull out  and shape the round.  THE ROPE
METHOD: Roll each piece of dough into a rope by rolling it  on the
bread board or between your hands. Wrap the rope around four  fingers,
overlap and join the ends, and turn the circle inside out.  Until you
get this hand movement down pat, you may have to moisten  the ends to
hold them together. Initially the length may be lumpy and  the joint
will show. It takes practice.  continued in part 5

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