doughnot

like a bagel factory. i actually woke up especially early to start these. the recipe comes from nigella's how to be a domestic goddess.
the dough for her bagels was only 50% hydrated, so it was quite dry, which made it easy to knead by hand without making a mess. and that was what i did. after 30 minutes of kneading, the dough was bucky and smooth.
the bagels were a little wrinkled because i didn't roll them nicely. but this was my first time doing a recipe that poached the dough before baking. this poaching water has baing soda and sugar to help create the glossy sheen in the final product, which i couldn't observe much anyway. but it was quite fun to poach the bagels; it's like clockwork - every 30 seconds there's something to do.
the bagels were indeed chewy like store-bought ones. too bad i didn't have any cream cheese spread, so i used an olive spread. on their own, they tasted quite nice too, but it's really tiring to keep chewing on them.