PEPPER & CHEESE BAGEL

Personally I am a big bread-fan, and only go for European style which originates wherever from Germany or France (not those pastries). Rough and hard texture is my preference for the chewing and elastic bread texture; multi-grains or wheat flour made breads are beautiful, but a simple but delicious baguette is one of my favorite also. Bagel, is another kind of favorited breads, for its easy stocking and multi-purposed features. I have never tried to make any kind of bread, and my first made devoted to Bagels by the spontaneous idea made on my way back home from office one nigh !!! 

The result turns out to be with ugly and in different sizes and shapes (generally circle-round), but it's delicious honestly, and I think I have potential to make it more times :)

Just as I said the first time to get touch with bread-making, I discovered a complicated feeling towards the wet flour during the making process. It's a kind of disgusting when you are trying to shape the dough from mixing the water into dry flour, to beat the super sticky flour continuously by your hands. I had a feeling of 'can-not-get-rid-of-it-FOREVER' when the wet flour fully went around my fingers... After 5 mins? 10mins? I didn't calculate how long I was fighting with the dough with the little help of dry flour on the working platform. I found the extremely amusing feeling from the dough which started to be elastic and not-sticky. I even enjoyed throwing it heavily to get rid of it from my hand and tried to beat it heavily; 

such an idiot in the kitchen I am :D

Well, I hope you would like to have the same entertainment in the kitchen, and won't starve in the next few breakfast/lunch.

Ingredients (for 6-7pcs):

• 7g Dried yeast 
• 450g Bread flour
• 3 tbsp Icing sugar
• 2 tsp Salt
• Black & White Pepper
• White Cheddar Cheese

Baking:

• Dissolve the bread yeast with 100ml warm water in a large bowl; it will take around 10mins for the whole process, so you can just leave it aside when you are working on others.
• Add salt, pepper and cheddar cheese (shredded) into the bowl
• Pour 200ml warm water into the bowl then stir the bread flour inside partially. You can first add half potion of flour while starting to mix the flour into the water by your hands. Gradually add more flour if needed or more water (the other way around) and working on the sticky dough until it turns to be un-sticky and elastic

• Once it turns to be slightly ok as your hands' better feeling, prepare a clean and dry flour covered working platform for the raw dough, and keep on working on the dough by covering dry flour on the surface. You will feel the dough surface to be drier and firmer but inside it's still sticky and moisture
• Shape the dough into round-circle, just like normal bagels in the bakery or cafe
• Boil the water with icing sugar in a large flat pan (water full covers the pan bottom). Place 3-4 bagels once time (depends on how big your pan is) and be careful to make sure it's floating (as my experience, it has less chance to stick on the bottom for the boiling water)
• Water boiling for 2-3mins is more than enough. Dry up and cool down bagels on a baking tray, meanwhile warm up the oven in 250 degree
• Send bagels to the oven for 20-25mins. I turn them around once notice it turns golden, and always prefer to make the bagels look slightly 'burned'

For I make pepper & cheddar cheese flavor, it's perfect to have them just like what they are, but to serve with jam or cream, is also highly recommended. Also for my next few office lunches, they become the very important part of my sandwiches with tomato, avocado and cheese :P

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