I had one of those "hey, that's me" moments while reading Slate today. I was flipping through their headline articles and came across an article about the cost effectiveness about home baking. It's quite a good article, and quite interesting - the author, Jennifer Reese, actually did a fairly comprehensive cost comparison of six different foods she regularly eats. But the best bit is this:
Bagels
There's so much mystique surrounding bagels (water vs. egg? How should you shape them? etc.), I doubted my attempts to bake them would amount to much. But aside from shaping the dough into tidy rings, which I find unaccountably impossible, bagels are one of the quickest, easiest breads you can make. I tried five different recipes, from Jewish cooking guru Joan Nathan's to the fabled Montreal bagels, which are heavier and sweeter. But the one I fell for, and have now baked a half-dozen times, is from Bernard Clayton's New Book of Breads. These are "Jo Goldenberg's bagels," named for a restaurant-deli in Paris (figures) where they were once sold. You can start these chewy, flavorful bagels at 8 on a Sunday morning and serve them to brunch guests at 11. They will be awestruck.
There's so much mystique surrounding bagels (water vs. egg? How should you shape them? etc.), I doubted my attempts to bake them would amount to much. But aside from shaping the dough into tidy rings, which I find unaccountably impossible, bagels are one of the quickest, easiest breads you can make. I tried five different recipes, from Jewish cooking guru Joan Nathan's to the fabled Montreal bagels, which are heavier and sweeter. But the one I fell for, and have now baked a half-dozen times, is from Bernard Clayton's New Book of Breads. These are "Jo Goldenberg's bagels," named for a restaurant-deli in Paris (figures) where they were once sold. You can start these chewy, flavorful bagels at 8 on a Sunday morning and serve them to brunch guests at 11. They will be awestruck.
Cheaper than store-bought? Dramatically. If you break down the cost of Clayton's recipe, it works out to 23 cents per bagel. Moreover, if you use bulk yeast, which you should if you do much baking, the price drops to 15 cents. By comparison, one of Thomas' so-called "bagels" is 45 cents. A fresh bagel from Noah's in San Francisco: 75 cents. At H&H Bagels in New York City: $1.20!
Better than store-bought? These are by far the best bagels I've ever eaten.
Make or buy? Make.
I have two main thoughts about this.
Number one, I have actual acknowledgement that it is impossible to get smooth rings, which no one ever mentions in recipes. I've never been able to do it, so I've felt somewhat inadequate in that I've never been able to do it. So at least someone has come out and said it. Phew.
Number two, she's totally backing up my feeling that bagels are way easier to make than commonly thought and are way better than buying.
So don't just take my word for it - take Jennifer Reese's too.
(I've now even added it as a "thing to go" when we all get together! Yay, I'm now officially obsessed. Woo hoo!)
1 comment:
ALL RIGHT!! A Bagle-Bash in the backwoods! I'm already looking forward to the event.
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