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Joined: March 29th, 2010


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January 16th, 2011

Roasted Polenta from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant

I agree that the recommended temperature of 275 seems too low for roasting much of anything. I presumed it was a typo and went for a temperature of 375 right off the bat. I poured my polenta (prepared... read more >


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mandelicious' Reviews


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Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day

By Peter Reinhart
Ten Speed Press - 2009

4th April 2010 (edited: 4th April 2010)

Bagels : page 74

The hardest part about making these bagels was waiting for the, to cool for 30 minutes before eating them (that and waking up early to boil and bake them the morning of). The bagels were crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside and had a great flavor. I will definitely be making these again, especially now that I have a large jar of malt syrup to use up.

I made one batch of these using the recommended barley malt syrup. I had no trouble kneading a single batch of dough by hand, but could see how it might be challenging to double the recipe without a mixer. Reinhart describes two methods for forming bagels from the dough. I followed the supposedly preferred method of rolling out a rope of dough and connecting the ends to form a loop. My first bagel had a visible seam, but I got the hang of it by the second of third one. The bagels passed the 'float test' immediately the next morning.

If you have easy access to a great bagel shop, it might not be worth the effort to make your own. But if your options for good bagels are limited, these are far superior to anything that comes out of a plastic bag or grocery store bulk bin. (And doesn't it sound impressive to say you baked your own bagels?)

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