Honey-Poached Onion Bagels
Serving Size, Ingredients and Equipment:
For a dozen bagels:
- 2 Medium Onions, sliced into paper-thin rings (a mandolin can help with this)
- 1 Medium Onion, diced
- 1 small pinch of salt
- 1 small pinch of pepper
- 1 Tbsp of flavorful, fruity olive oil
- 21 g active dry yeast (or 42 g fresh yeast)
- 3 Tsp brown sugar
- 375 ml warm water
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 4 cups flour from a warm climate (at least 14 g protein per cup - this is essential)
- 2 Tbsp malted barley sirup
- 1/4 cup dark honey
Cooking Instructions and Methods:
First, place the paper-thin onion rings, spread apart, on a baking sheet. Dehydrate in your oven for two hours at 55 ° C / 130 ° F. After dehydration, the onions should be only slightly bendable before snapping. Let cool and then mince.
In a frying pan, add the third diced onion the olive oil along with the pinches of salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat until just slightly starting to camelize, but without any burning. Set aside.
Mix your yeast with 1 Tsp of the brown sugar and set aside for about 10 minutes, until bubbles form on the mixture.
In a separate bowl, add the remaining 2 Tsp sugar, 2 cups of the flour and the Tbsp of salt. Add the yeast mixture and the rest of the flour. Add the pan-roasted diced onion. Knead on a lightly floured countertop for 5 minutes until the dough is shiny and smooth.
Let the dough rest for 1 hour. If you can stretch a small pice of dough until it becomes transparent without it ripping, then the dough is ready.
Divide the dough into balls of about 5 cm / 2 inches in diameter.
Roll each ball into 15 cm / 6 inches long cylinder about 1.5 cm (1/2 inch) thick.
Connect the ends with a pinch and let rest while the oven preheats to 260 ° C / 500 ° F.
Bring a deep-sided pan of water to a boil. The bagels will float, however, and you want to use the least amount of water necessary. Add the 2 Tbsp malt sirup and 1 /4 cup honey. Poach each bagel in the liquid for 30 seconds, giving the bagels a shiny surface. Turn over and continue poaching until the desired bagel shape looks fully formed. Remove and place the bagels on a floured baking sheet and sprinkle with the dehydrated onion topping.
Bake at 260 ° C / 500 ° F for about 10 minutes until golden brown. Turn over and do the same on the other side. At some point, for example as you turn the bagels, you may want to cover them with foil to prevent the onion topping from burning.
Options and experiments to try: add some baking soda to the boiling water, or try adding butter or honey to the dehydrated onions for improved sticking and flavor.
