Montreal Bagels
I found a recipe for them in my new book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François. I have never heard about Montreal Bagels. According to the book, "these differ from American-style bagels by the addition of malt powder and honey, and the fact that the toppings are on both sides." Fascinated. First of all I have never made bagels neither. I knew a secret of bagels' unique texture: boiling bagels before baking. I thought it would be an interesting project.
The instructions for the recipe was easy to follow although I ran into a disaster. After boiling bagels, "place on clean kitchen towel that has been lightly dusted with flour. This would absorb some of the excess water from the bagels." Alright, I did. Then, I tried to move bagels to dredge them in poppy seeds. Oh, NO! Bagels were adhered to the towel! I tried to gently remove them off from the towel, but most of the bottom parts remained on the towel. The parts were a nicely cooked layer by boiling. They were gone... (technically, the cooked layers on the top side were safely reserved.)
Meanwhile, the oven was ready. Before recovering from the unexpected shock, I dredged some bagels in poppy seeds and some in whole wheat flour, and baked them. Done.
I had no idea that these bagels were supposed to look like them or taste like them, but I really liked them after all. They were slightly sweet and had a great flavor and texture. I liked both toppings of crunchy, nutty poppy seeds and simple earthy whole wheat flour.
I will definitely make these Canadian bagels again by using a non-stick silicon sheet.
