Sourdough Bagels From Scratch

These round little baked goods have a special place in my heart, and not because I love New York bagels or have strong opinions about what a bagel “should" be. Instead, it’s because they are a token from my high school years, when I would get home from class and set to work mixing flour, salt, water and yeast. My dad loved (and still loves) telling people that this was how his teenage daughter chose to spend her free time. I haven't outgrown the phase, apparently—only matured it, taking the last year to research and test a sourdough version. These naturally leavened bagels are my new go-to, with a chewy crust, great rise, and complex flavor.

Sourdough Bagels from Scratch

Published February 9, 2021 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 12   |    Active Time: 2 hours active cooking time; 25 total hours (including rising)

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Ingredients:

For the Levain:

500g bread flour

500g warm water

250g ripe sourdough starter (100% hydration) (For me, this is typically my entire jar of starter — that’s good, you will put some back in the jar after the first ferment. I’ve found this is a great way to reinvigorate my starter, too!)

For the Dough:

1000g levain (above)

360-480g bread flour

6g diastatic malt powder (optional, provides improved rise and golden crust)

17g salt

3g instant dry yeast

For Cooking & Topping:

Large stock pot of water

2 tablespoons honey (optional, gives bagels golden crust)

1 cup of toppings, such as: sesame seeds, poppy seeds, everything bagel topping, shredded cheese, cinnamon sugar, etc.

Directions:

1. This recipe includes a suggested baking schedule to help you plan, but you can adjust the schedule to fit your calendar. Feed your starter the night (or ~8hours) before making the levain.
2. 8 am: Make levain by combining bread flour, warm water and 250g of ripe starter in the bowl of stand mixer. Cover, and set in a warm place to ferment, 8 hours (if it’s a very warm day, cut this to 6 hours).
3. 4 pm: Move 250g of the levain back into your starter jar, leaving 1000g of active levain in the mixing bowl. Add 360g flour, malt powder, salt, and yeast to bowl. Place the dough hook attachment on your stand mixer, and mix until roughly combined. Turn mixer to speed 3 and knead, adding the additional 120g of flour in batches. The dough should be tough, smooth an elastic. If you notice the dough tearing, add a few small drops of water and stop adding flour. Knead for an additional 5-7 minutes.
4. 4:15 pm: Line a baking sheet with parchment. Divide the dough in 12 equal sized pieces, about 120-130g each. Shape each piece into a ball, and place on baking sheet. Cover with a damp towel and set in a warm place for 20 minutes.
5. 4:40 pm: Shape the bagels: working one at a time, use your thumb to poke a hole through the middle of each roll, and gently stretch to form a bagel shape. (Tip: once the initial hole is formed, I like to spin the loop around my finger and let gravitational pull do the stretching.) As the bagels rise and bake, the dough will puff, shrinking the hole in the middle, so make the hole a tad bigger than you want it to be in the finished product. Place shaped bagels back on baking sheet. Cover again with a damp towel, and rise for 20 minutes.
6. 5:05 pm: The bagels should be puffy. Test their rise by dropping one in a bowl of water: it should float. If it does not, allow to rise longer. Cover entire tray of bagels loosely with a plastic bag (or two), and place in fridge overnight (or up to 36 hours - the longer you wait the more sour they will taste).
7. 8 am (the next day): Prepare to cook bagels: Preheat oven to 475°F. As oven heats, bring a stock pot of water to a boil. Add honey. Prepare your toppings, by placing each topping in a wide bowl or on a plate that you can easily dip a bagel into.
8. 8:05 am: Boil bagels: Remove bagels from fridge. Gently lower 3 bagels into pot. Cook for 30 seconds, then flip, and cook for 30 seconds on second side (Tip: I set a stopwatch next to the stove so I can watch the clock). Using a slotted spoon, remove bagels from water, allowing excess water to drain back into the pot. Dip top of bagel into bowl of toppings, then set, topping-side up, on the sheet pan. Repeat until all bagels are boiled. Note: Boiling will slow with the addition of the cold bagels — keep the water warm enough to maintain a gentle boil.
9. 8:15 am: Bake bagels: Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown on all sides.
10. 8:35 am: Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool at least 10 minutes before slicing.
11. Serve to taste with butter, cream cheese, lox, capers, etc. Bagels are best fresh, but will last the week if stored well: Allow bagels to cool completely before storing. Once cooled, wrap tightly in plastic or place in an airtight container. Store at room temperature for up to 7 days.

Citrus Blossom Salad

In the middle of winter, most salads fail to hit the spot because the produce isle is generally sad and farmers markets are closed (though this roasted sweet potato and kale salad is usually a good bet). Around January citrus finally hits the shelves, freshly picked and shipped from warmer climates. It’s in that window that this salad should take the spotlight, a perfect stage for citrus varieties you can’t easily find other times of the year.

Orange flower water adds a subtle, elegant twist to the vinaigrette in this recipe (and also how it got its name). It smells incredible and one bottle will last you forever (plus, you’ll be one step closer to making baklava).

Serve this salad with with roasted chicken, a panini, or a warm stew like tagine to make a meal.

Citrus Blossom Salad

Published January 4, 2021 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 4   |    Active Time: 15 minutes

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Ingredients:

1 head tender romaine lettuce, washed and spun or patted dry

3 oranges (for a fun pop of color, mix-and-match a variety of oranges: cara cara oranges for pink, blood oranges for deeper red, valencia/navel for traditional orange)

¾ cup chopped walnuts, toasted

1/2 cup feta crumbles

1 tablespoon minced parsley leaves

Optional: Freshly cracked black pepper to taste

For Orange Blossom Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon Orange Blossom Water

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Arrange lettuce on 4 plates, optionally tearing with your hands to remove any tough stem pieces.
2. Segment the oranges by slicing off the peels with a knife, and then carefully cutting segments out from between the pith. It can be helpful to do this over a bowl, to catch any juice. Reserve the left over pieces — we’ll use them to make the vinaigrette. Here is a good video on how to do this. Arrange orange slices over the lettuce.
3. Sprinkle walnuts and feta over each salad, and sprinkle with parsley.
4. Prepare vinaigrette: Squeeze as much juice from the remaining orange pieces into a bowl. Add salt, orange blossom water and olive oil, and whisk to combine. Drizzle to taste over salads.
5. Top with freshly cracked pepper to taste, and serve immediately.

Beet + Wild Rice Grain Bowls

It has taken me seven days to put fingers to keyboard on this one, and before that, three weeks to slow down for long enough to take photos. Despite being forced to slow down in 2020, life—the world- still feels very chaotic. This makes it hard to write about something as simple as a grain bowl. Where do you begin when there are so many important things happening in the world?

Yet here, on planet Earth—the ground we all stand on- we must still eat. Food is a symbol of its own: a cultural symbol, a mark of a movement, a taste of history, a connection to the ground. When I think of this recipe, my mind goes to the earth. It boasts deep flavors that remind you of where your food came from (nutty wild rice, sweet and earthy beets, buttery feta cheese), and in that way, this meal is grounding.

I grow a small patch of beets in my garden every year. They are one of the easiest vegetables to grow, resilient and hardy. This dish puts beets, such a humble root, on show. Eat it warm on a rainy evening, or cold for a mid-day work lunch.

Beet + Wild Rice Grain Bowls

Published July 30, 2020 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 4   |    Active Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

4 beets

2 cups cooked wild rice (for serving cold, allow rice to cool first — for serving warm, rice can be freshly cooked or reheated)

1 cup cucumber, sliced

1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles

1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted

1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved or roughly chopped

1/4 cup parsley, minced

For vinaigrette:

Juice of 1 lemon

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

Generous pinch of salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

Directions:

1. Cook beets: Pierce each beet with a knife (this allows steam to escape during cooking). Place beets in a large microwave-safe pyrex with a lid, and add 1 cup of water. Microwave until softened through, about 10-12 minutes. When done, beets will be softened and a fork or knife should easily go through. Allow to beets to cool 5-10 minutes.
2. While beets cool, make the vinaigrette: combine ingredients for vinaigrette in a jar. Secure lid, and shake until well mixed.
3. Dice beets into bite-sized pieces, then assemble bowls: scoop 1/2 cup of rice into each bowl. Divide beets, cucumbers, cheese, walnuts, and olives amongst bowls. Garnish with parsley, and drizzle vinaigrette to taste. Serve hot or cold.