Bagels

Waking up on a weekend morning there is few things that taste better than a dense, chewy bagel toasted with cream cheese. The ring shaped bread with its variety of toppings and flavours has its origin in Poland and has since the 16th century spread around the world and is now mostly associated with cities in USA, Canada and UK with a big Jewish population.
For me bagels brings back memories of been a teenager and going to cafes to meet my friends for tea/coffee and having toasted sesame seed bagels with cream cheese and ham or turkey. Even before I tried a bagel I just knew I would like them. These days I don't eat too many bagels since they are rich in white flour and carbohydrates, but on a weekend a treat is a must and bagels really does the trick. What makes them so chewy and dense is the process of boiling the bagels before baking, sound a little tricky but it is easy enough and definatley worth the effort.

8 bagels

250ml water, luke warm
8 grams salt
8 grams sugar
7 grams dried yeast
400 grams plain flour

seeds, cheese, nuts...

Dissolve yeast in water and add sugar and salt. Add flour and bring together to a dough, Knead the dough by hand for 10min. Let prove under a damp cloth for 1h. Divide the dough into 8 equally sized pieces and shape little round buns. Let rest for 10min. Make a whole in the middle of each bun and pull gently to make it a little bigger and even. Let prove again for 30min.

Turn the oven on 250C. Bring a pot of water to the boil with 2tbsp of sugar. Gently drop bagels in to the water and turn the heat down to let the water simmer. Cook the bagels for 1min on each side, lift up from the water and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Sprinkle topping of your choice on top of each bagel. Turn heat down to 220C when you put the bagels in to the middle of the oven and bake for 20min.