Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Clean Eating #36: Bagels! Everything Bagels! Whole Wheat Bagels! Healthy Bagels!

Bagels, Bagels, Bagels!

Do you cringe every time you have to pay a fortune for decent bagels?  Especially when you know your kids are going to INHALE them the minute you get home?

You can use your regular bread dough to make bagels, or use this one I posted a while ago (Add about another 1/2 a much of Vital Wheat Gluten to this recipe to make them fluffier)  Or the "Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day" 100% Whole Wheat Bread Recipe... or just clean bread dough you already buy.

Now I can add bagels to my "Bread Variations" recipe post.  I can not believe I forgot about making bagels!

First, pinch off a piece of your refrigerated dough about the size of a small orange.
Quickly "roll" between your hands to form a tube
Press ends of your 'tube' together to form the bagel shape.
Set loosely covered for at least 20 minutes to rise.
Turn oven on to 375 degrees with pizza stone on the middle shelf.
Set a pan of water on the stove with a pinch of sea salt to boil.
When the bagels have risen, carefully use a spatula to transfer the bagels, one at a time, into the boiling water.
Boil for about 2 minutes on one side, then flip to boil the other side for about a minute.
I am never very precise on this part because I can't keep track of several things at once.  About 3-4 minutes is how long mine tend to boil!
After they are done boiling, use a slotted spoon to transfer to a clean towel, flip so the towel absorbs the excess water.
Place directly on the pizza stone & ADD ONE CUP OF WATER to a shallow pan on the shelf below your pizza stone.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Let cool... then slice and enjoy!
I made a few tiny baguettes as well to experiment and it was SO good.  Crisp outer crust with soft middle

Here is the bread we used from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  We'll now be able to pull some dough out each day for healthy "everything" bagels or pitas... or just bread!

Bread Ingredients & Directions:
7 Cups of Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
1 1/2 Tbsp Yeast
1/4th cup Vital Wheat Gluten (don't try to make 100% Whole Wheat bread without this!  It helps it rise)

Mix Dry Ingredients and desired seasonings well, then add:
3 1/4ths cups of warm water.

Mix well (no kneading), then leave lightly covered for at least 2 hours or until your dough doubles in size.
Then place bread in your refrigerator tightly covered and its ready to use.
The flavor and texture of the bread seems to get better with time.  I would leave it in the fridge for at least 12 hours before trying to use it.

Variations
Add cinnamon & dried fruit & nuts for fruity bagels
Shredded Apples & Pecans
Dried Cranberries & Almonds
Blueberries & Walnuts
Cinnamon Raisin

Everything Bagels:  My guys' Favorite!
For the "Everything" Bagels Seasonings, we added
Seasonings:
1 1/2 Tbsp Garlic Pepper Blend
1/2 tbsp Crushed Red Pepper
2 Tbsp Chives
2 tsp Celery Salt
1/2 Tbsp Sea Salt
3 Small Spanish Onions, diced
1 Red onion, diced

When they are ready to bake, you can brush with egg whites and sprinkle with sesame seeds, flax & chia seeds for extra texture!
I sauteed the onions for just a few minutes in a tiny bit of coconut oil before blending them with the EVOO.  I wasn't sure how having chunks of onions would work with trying to form the dough.  Patrick wasn't thrilled that I took away his 'chunky' stuff:)
Bread:  Dry Ingredients (mix WELL with a spoon before adding oil and water)
And by "we added"... I of course meant, my hubby added.  Hey, he's home from work today anyway, and I know he'll be the one to eat most of the bagels anyway:)
What I'd Do Differently:  Um, nothing.  These were DELICIOUS.  As soon as I get to the store, I will be making a lot of varieties of these! Oh, wait!  I would DEFINITELY remember to get my hubby's reaction on video.  He's so funny.  I know, I think I've said that before, but I keep forgetting.


There you go!  Snow Day #1 for this years big Tulsa Blizzard!!  Tomorrow I'll bake some of this and make some sort of meal to go with it.  I'm also going to make homemade tortillas:)