From the Big Apple to the Lone Star State: In Search of Bagels

One of hubby's favorite things about living in New York City was the bagels. Since moving to Fort Worth, he has been on a mission to find delicious bagels but has been sadly disappointed. While Einstein's has great schmears and a wider selection of flavors than some of the New York shops, the bagels just aren't the same. We tried a local bagel shop, but their focus on menu variety takes away from their bagel prowess. Then hubby heard about a Jewish deli, Carshon's, that served bagels.

We went to Carshon's for breakfast one day in hopes of finding our go-to bagel place. We each ordered an egg dish with bagels on the side (the best of both worlds). Our only bagel option was plain, but we were willing to love plain if it was good. The omelet was nothing to write home about, and the bagel didn't reach our possibly unrealistic standards. Carshon's seems to have potential as a deli, but as a bagel place, it fell flat.

From the outside, Carshon's had promise as a great hole in the wall for bagels.

The restaurant was fairly empty, which should have been the first sign that something was wrong.

My spanish omelet with peppers and onions was fresh and light, but the bagel didn't reach its potential.

Hubby's breakfast was also okay but not up to his standards.

Instead of looking at another disappointment as defeat, I decided to try my hand at making bagels from scratch. I had read recipes for making bagels many years ago and was always a little curious. Smitten Kitchen had posted Peter Reinhart's bagel recipe back in 2007, and I decided to use that one since it sounded like it might result in the most authentic bagels. The recipe seemed complicated, and I definitely suggest reading it through all the way first. As I looked through it, I found that it really wasn't that bad.

Bread making in general requires a lot of time with rising and kneading, so I began the bagels on Saturday for our Sunday breakfast. I followed the instructions and ingredients the best I could, using bread flour and honey instead of high gluten flour and malt syrup. I took the steps one at a time and put my soon-to-be bagels in the fridge over night. I kept telling hubby to expect rocks shaped like bagels since I didn't want to let him down.

Sunday morning, I got ready to boil the bagels (this step sets them apart from bread rolls) and bake them. Once they were out of the oven, hubby and I let them cool before hesitantly taking the first bite. They weren't quite up to New York standards, but they were a great first try. Hubby even said they were better than the bagels he has had in Fort Worth, which I take as quite a compliment. For lunch, hubby made a sandwich with one of my homemade bagels, and he said they got better with time. Next time, we are going to try to pump up the flavor and maybe wait just long enough for flavor to develop (though that might be tough).