Monday, July 25, 2011

Baking Recipe: Tana Ramsay's Home-made Bagels


Tana Ramsay's Real Family Food cookbook, wife of the toughie Chef Gordon Ramsay. In my opinion, he swears too much and that's quite a turn off. However, I'm sure he's a reliable chef. Now this book is more on home cook meals. Really ideal for singles like me, family and friends as well as parents with young ones. There will be a recipe for everybody am sure.

As I'm drafting this post, my whole house is filled with the most intoxicating smell of bagels baking away in my oven. Gosh, you really have to try this.When I saw Tana's bagel recipe, I knew I had to try it out. Ever since I kneaded my pizza dough, I'm now more eager on kneading other form of breads. Having the bagel turn out perfect will be another sense of accomplishment.

Something to work on: Not make the hole in the middle of bagel bigger. I just had to even out the thickness of bagel and that made the hole bigger [sigh..]. Note to self on next time, just leave the bagel as it is . Should have listen to Tana's advise when she said and I quote after her " Resist perfection at this point or you'll go mad". I certainly can relate to that and am definitely going to make them again and make sure I improve my skill.

This is my first time trying out this bagel recipe. So if you have other true and tested recipe that you constantly turn too, feel free to share them here ;). The texture of bagel? Crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. Lovely.. Nothing beats a freshly baked bread from the ovens of your home. Enjoy!

Recipe:
Adapted from Tana Ramsay's Real Family Food
yields 10 bagels

Note: I made 5 plain bagels with just egg washed and another 5 sprinkled with some mixed herbs and grated Parmesan.

For the bagel:

3 tbsp dry yeast
2 tbsp caster sugar
125ml warm water
250ml warm milk
450g plain flour/ all purpose flour, sifted
3 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten

To prepare the bagel:

1. Put yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar, milk and water in a bowl. Lightly whisk the yeast until it's dissolved. Place a side at a warm place for about 10-15 minutes until it begins to form bubbles.

2. Next in a large mixing bowl, add flour. salt, and the remaining of sugar. Create a well and pour yeast mixture into flour. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, mix flour and yeast mixture until well combine.

3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for another 5-10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic whereby dough will no longer stick to your fingers.

4. Place dough into a large bowl and cover with a damp tea towel and stand in a warm place for approximately 1 hour until it has doubled up in size. Be careful to not leave it for too long. Otherwise it will form a hard crust on the top which stops the dough from rising.

5. Flour the work surface and turn out the dough. Knead it for another 1-2 minute and divide into 10 equal balls.

6. Lay parchment paper on baking tray. Using your thumb, make a hole in the middle of each ball and massagee into a bagel shape. The hole in the centre should be approximately 2.5cm/1 inch in diameter and there should be equal thickness in the edges all around.

7. Place rolled bagels on baking tray and  cover with a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place for another 20 minutes to allow it to rise again.

8. Preheat oven to 190 Celsius or 375 Fahrenheit.

9. Bring a pot of water to a boil and lower bagels in batches into the water. Blanch them for about 1 minute, remove and place them back onto baking tray.

10. Brush top of bagel with some egg wash and sprinkle your desired seeds or herbs. Bake them for about 20-25 minutes or until they are golden brown in colour. Transfer to a cooling rack. Bagel is best consumed within 2 days. Preheat it back in the microwave and you're set to go with your breakfast or lunch. Enjoy!

xx

13 comments:

  1. Delicious and your pictures are beautiful (as always!) I just love bagels...

    ReplyDelete
  2. This looks so delicious. And your food styling ability is sheer perfection. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ann: You're really fast. Always the no#1 person in my comment list. I like ^.^.. sure makes my day. Hugs to you my new foodie friend!!

    Kim Bee: Thanks for the compliment. Never thought of my food styling to be a perfection. I'm constantly growing and evolving depending on my mood as well. I'll definitely keeping working harder to make myfood photos appear orgasmic and B E A U..tiful. LOLss..

    Cheers, Jo

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love bagels and this is fantastic recipe as well as your pictures and presentation! Very very tempting!:))

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gordon throw a lot of piss at Jamie. Well I think it's entirely appropriate (Sorry, gordon's fan here), which means that Tanya had to be better than Jamie. Otherwise Gordon will give a lot of sh%t at Tanya. I saw her book, it was quite decent indeed. And as for you, no I won't throw anything other than saying how great are your bagels and how you started to embrace the art of bread ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I <3 bagels so much, it hurts-- fresh bagels even moreso. I'll be attempting these, no doubt!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sandra: Bagels .. yummm.. Oh do try Tana's recipe out. I am really happy with her recipe. You'll get a crunchy crust outside and soft chewy inside. I really love the sound of fresh bread when you break into them.

    Pierre: Oh my!!! Did that happen to Jamie? Well I'm sure Tana's a talented wife. Her recipes looks pretty good. So I'm definitely going to be attempting other recipe of hers and maybe give a short review. In my opinion Gordon swears a tad too much, however as a chef, I do adore his profession. He shows you the real sh%t. Phew.. am glad you won't be tossing anything my way..hugs!

    Kate: Yeay.. we are bagel-maniacs..LOL. Please attempt it and resist perfection like I did. I was not happy cause I made my holes bigger trying to perfect my bagels. So you'll definitely see a second round of them. Instead of mixing the ingredients with wooden spoon which I prefer, since it's less washing up.. you can use your cake mixer and swap it with the dough hook at low medium speed if you have the Kitchen Aid, and let it mix the flour and yeast for you. It will be a little sticky so add a little more flour when it's time for you to shape it in to a ball.

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  8. These bagels look delicious and your pictures are gorgeous!!! Loving your blog, so glad you find mine so I could find yours! New follower! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Kelly! I'm so happy that you stopped by. I'm glad I found you. I believe I found you on Foodbuzz too. Just that I have not manage to visit everyone. Am certainly following you back. Yeay!!! xoxo..

    ReplyDelete
  10. There's nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread (: Just found your blog, can't wait to explore!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Shu Han! Am glad you found my blog ;). I think mine's pretty sinful..only the weekends mostly. LOL..Do buzz me anytime. Cheers, Jo

    ReplyDelete
  12. Bagels are so easy to buy, making them never even dawned on me.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sandra: Yeah.. I suppose in the States, you can find bagel in most bakery. However here in KL, only certain bakery bakes them. Unless I buy the frozen ones.. :). That's why I resorted to making them on my own. It was fun making them own my own - could only means 1 thing. I can have any type of toppings I want. Havea good week. xoxo

    ReplyDelete

Hey foodies! THANK YOU for leaving me with sweet comments. I hope to inspire you like how you inspire me. Cheers~

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...