Watch Out NYC! Brasilliant Rocked the Bagels

Jesse and I got up around 7:30am today, because his cousin, Jeremiah, and his wife are coming into town. Naturally, we didn't really get inspired to clean the apartment until the very last minute. Also, I had delicious bagels resting in the fridge. I couldn't wait to get started (after my morning coffee kicked in).

It is hard to capture boiling, steaming bagels in a photograph. Despite my best efforts, they all came out a little fuzzy. In case you're wondering, that's a 9-quart dutch oven. Those suckers are big!

After boiling, Jesse expertly topped the bagels with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and half with salt. Then, I put them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes to crisp up. They turned out to be exactly what I was going for when I first looked for bagel recipes -- New York deli style. They're shiny and crisp, yet chewy on the outside, and the inside is dense, moist, and perfect. They're not bready at all, unlike the other recipe I tried.

I truly feel that if they were a little more uniformly shaped, I could throw them in a nondescript brown paper bag and nobody would know that they didn't come from an authentic NY bagelry. Hands down, the Bread Baker's Apprentice nailed this recipe. I have a feeling that this book might be a keeper.