Multi-Grain Bagels

Saturday is my day to get "one ahead" where I try to get at least one meal made that will carry into the coming week, but this week I had crazy weekends. So I was grateful for a school closing this week that helped me to make up for it and I decided to make bagels.
Baguette and croissants are staples that can be found at almost any bakery in Niger and while they taste good all that white flour and refined sugar can be really hard on your system. So any chance I get I try to make add whole grains to my bread recipes. This is a recipe that I have adapted from the Wycliffe International Cookbook.

In a large bowl combine yeast, sugar, salt and water. Stir in flours until dough is kneadable. This will use most of your flour but you should have about 1/4-1/2 cup (75-125ml) left to knead with.Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead. Kneading dough is one of those therapeutic aspects of cooking. You get to take out all your stress on the dough and give your arms a work out. I like to turn on some good tunes and get a good rhythm going.  You basically fold the dough in half and push it into the working lightly floured surface turning as you go. The kneading is finished when the dough is neither sticky or dry but elastic (8-10 minutes).

Smear the teaspoon of oil into bowl. Place the dough back into the bowl turning it once so the top of the dough is greased. Cover with a clean tea towel and let rise in a warm dry place. I usually use my oven if it hasn't been used for something else (making it too hot). Dough should double in size in about 30-40 minutes.

This time I mixed Red River Cereal with ground flax seed but you can come up with your own mix

Punch down the dough and separate into 16 pieces. I usually cut the dough into 8 equal pie pieces and then divide those pieces in half to create balls. The cereal is then worked into the dough. I sprinkle a teaspoon of the cereal (instead of flour or if you have a sticky surface with a little bit of flour) on my kneading surface and push the balls into it like I kneaded the original batter.

When the cereal has been incorporated into the piece, roll the dough into a ball and stick your thumb through the middle. I usually spin the dough around my thumb or roll it like a tire on my other palm to get a hole that is about 1/2-1 inch (1-2 1/2 cm) to form the bagel. Let rise on a ungreased baking sheet for 20 minutes. (Dough doesn't need to completely double in size because it will continue to rise while boiling and baking.)

Place 2-3 bagels at a time in a large pot of boiling water that contains the other tablespoon of oil. Flip these after 30 sec-1 minute and remove after the same amount of time. Place on ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with remaining cereal. This sprinkling is optional but I include it so that my boys know that these are my bagels and not ones that we have bought from a friend who makes plain bagels. (The boys have decided they don't like my friend's bagels because she usually sticks them in plastic bags before they cool completely and the condensation tends to collect in centre making them a little soggy if they are placed like that in the freezer. The secret to avoid that is to let them cool completely on the rack before freezing and freeze on cookie sheets or racks before putting them in sealed plastic containers.)

While you are boiling the bagels in small batches, preheat oven to 400-500F (205-260C). Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the bottoms are nicely brown. I tend to use a 400F oven because my oven can be on the hot side and I like to have the tops nicely golden without burning the bottoms.


Multi-Grain Bagel (Adapted from The Wycliffe International Cookbook)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons dry yeast (30ml)
6 tablespoons sugar (90ml)
2 teaspoons salt (10ml)
2 cups warm water (500ml)
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (625ml)
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (625ml)
1/2 cups Red River Cereal or combination of whole grains (125ml)
I teaspoon and I tablespoon of vegetable oil (20ml)

Combine yeast, sugar, salt and water. Stir in flours until dough is kneadable.
Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until elastic (8-10 minutes).
Place in a greased bowl and turn over so top of the dough is greased. Cover with a clean tea towel and let rise in a warm dry place (30-40 minutes).
Punch down dough. Separate into 16 pieces. Shape into balls and work a teaspoon of cereal into each ball. Stick your thumb through make a 1/2-1 inch hole (1-2 1/2 cm) to form a bagel. Let bagels rise for 20 minutes.
Put 2-3 bagels at a time in a large pot of boiling water with 1 tablespoon of oil added (15ml). Boil bagels for 1-2 minutes turning after 30 sec - 1 minute.
Remove from water, place on ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with remaining cereal.
Bake at 400-500F (205-260C) for 15-20 minute until brown on bottom.

Why?

Almost ten years ago we moved to Niamey and at the time I thought that I knew how to cook from scratch. After all, I had made cakes, cookies and brownies without using mixes. I had been canning with my family since I was a kid and I even made bread with my dad at Christmas. But I really wasn't prepared for cooking in Niger where convenience foods are hard to come by or so outrageously expensive that you can't afford to use them on a regular basis.
It was one of the hardest adjustments that I had to make in my life and I can remember thinking that I was a horrible mother having turned baguette and nutella into a standard meal. So I am writing about what I learned about cooking in Niger in order to help others that follow me and for the sake of my boys who haven't learned as much as I would like about the art of cooking when they are going to need it in the near future. I guess I am also writing for me because it is so hard moving back and forth and not being able to find the recipes that you want where you are.
So hopefully you will enjoy it too...