Buns and Such

With burgers on the menu, I had the brilliant idea of baking my own buns for no other reason than having never done it. Once again I consulted The Bread Baker's Apprentice and found three recipes for hamburger/hot dog buns each a slight variant of the theme of enriched (the inclusion of eggs and milk) bread. Here's how they turned out:

Perky buggers. Charmingly rotund. Little shiny pates sprinkled with seeds that look nothing like hamburger buns. The buns themselves were subtly sweet, rich without being overly dense and perfectly sized for sliders, my favorite burger portion. Here's one dressed with meat and veg:

While not entirely hamburger-bun-like, my buns did bear the uncanny resemblance to baos, the Chinese yummy version of Hot Pockets. Filled with either a sweet or savory filling they're found in every Chinese bakery and any good chinky boy or girl can relate the childhood ritual of peeling the parchment square off the bottom (preventing sticking during baking) and quickly consuming their bready goodness. Kid Bro and I ate them on our bi-annual provision shops in the big city with Momma. A typical bakery would have a narrow floor plan with a long glass display case behind which curt over-worked women, armed with racks of freshly baked treats would take your order. Momma would make her selections which were placed in a flimsy pink cardboard box efficiently tied with a bow of red cotton string . At home we'd package them individually in plastic sandwich bags sealed with twist ties and freeze them to be reheated in the microwave for afterschool snacks. *sigh*
So with nostalgia on my mind and a package of sweet bean paste in the fridge: I made baos.

Pretty stinkin' cute and really good eats.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Homemade Bagels

Disappointed by a recent bagel purchase (a person who shall remain anonymous) pronounced with a flick of the wrist and a tone full of dismissal, "It's just bread."

Enter Peter Reinhart's heavy-hitting book The Bread Baker's Apprentice, a home baker's compendium and instruction manual of all things related to baking stellar artisan bread. I found his bagel recipe a while back, back when I didn't own a stock pot large enough to accommodate boiling rings of dough. Today I'm happy to report that things have brightened in the gear realm of my kitchen and with gray skies and rain outside what could be better cozy makin's than bagels.

The entire process spanned two days the first was spent putting the dough together and kneading it well before retarding it in the fridge overnight. The next day I boiled and baked.

And the results? Spot on—all that the ho-hum supermarket bagel is not; complex flavors of malt with twinges of sourdough; pliant resilient texture; and the pleasure that comes with warming your house with baking. Maybe you'll be lucky like me and set off your hardwired (i.e. no batteries to take out) smoke detector no less than 6 times. If you need more convincing visit smittenkitchen or Clotilde and they too will confirm this recipe (and Peter Reinhart's) greatness. But in the end you might find yourself waiting until confronted by inferior bread circle before taking my advice.

Peter Reinhart's Bagels
adapted from The Bread Baker's Apprentice
Makes 12-14 large bagels

Sponge
1 t. instant yeast
4 C. unbleached high-gluten or bread flour (I used bread flour)
2 1/2 C. water, room temperature

Dough
1/2 t. instant yeast
3 3/4 C. flour (the same flour used for the sponge)
2 3/4 t. salt
1 T. malt syrup I found this at Whole Foods you can substitute honey

Finish
1 T. baking soda
optional toppings: sesame seeds, poppy seeds, kosher salt, rehydrated minced onions or garlic


Day 1: Making the sponge
Stir the yeast into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Add water, just until it makes a sticky pancake-like batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubbly. It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the countertop.

Making the dough
In the same bowl, ass the additional yeast to the sponge and stir. Then add 3 cups of the flour, all the salt and malt syrup. Stir (or on low speed in your mixture) until the ingredients form a ball, slowly work in the remaining 3/4 cup of flour. The dough will be very stiff.

Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for at least 10 minutes (or 6 min. in the mixer) I found this to be more like 15-20 minutes. The dough should be firm, but still pliable and satiny smooth. There should be no raw flour. The dough should pass the window pane test and register 77 to 71 degrees F. If the dough seems too dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough seems tacky or sticky, add more flour to achieve the stiffness required

At this point Peter says to divide the dough into 4 1/2 oz. portions, I didn't, I just placed the dough back into the mixing bowl and covered with plastic wrap and into the fridge.

Day 2: Baking
Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper misted lightly with spray oil. I used silicone baking liners.

Weigh out the dough into 4 1/2 oz. balls (around 125 grams) Poke a hole in the center of the ball and gently stretch out the hole until forming a ring. At this point stretch the hole out more than you would think because they like to shrink. Let the shaped bagels rest at room temperature for 20 minutes covered with plastic wrap. Check to see if the bagels are ready by placing a ring in a bowl of room temperature water. If the bagel floats within 10 seconds you're ready to boil, if not dry off the wet bagel and let them rest for another 10-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. With 2 racks in the middle of the oven. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the baking soda. Have a slotted spoon nearby and your toppings ready to sprinkle. Gently place 3 bagels into the boiling water (it should float) After 1 minute flip the bagel over and give it 1 minute more. Scoop out the bagel and immediately sprinkle with your topping and place on your prepared baking sheet. Once the bagels are all boiled, place pans in preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes, then rotate the pans and give them a 180 degree turn. After turning, lower oven to 450 degrees and bake another 5 minutes, or until the bagels are lightly browned.

Cool bagels on a rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.