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Bialys

Jeff Dwork <jeff@jeff-and-reggie.com>
Sun, 02 Mar 2014 22:10:18 -0800
v114.n009.3
Today I made bialys from the recipe in "Inside the Jewish Bakery" by 
Stanley Ginsberg and Norman Berg, ISBN 978-1-933822-23-5. If you get 
this book - we like it - be sure to check the errata list on the 
book's website <http://insidethejewishbakery.com/>.

Bialys
Makes 12 bialys, 3 oz each

Bread flour    5 cups/24 oz/680 g/100%
Ice water      1 1/2 cups/13 oz/370 g/54.0%
Instant yeast  1 tsp/0.1 oz/4 g/0.6%
Salt           2 1/4 tsp/0.5 oz/14 g/2.0%

1) Combine flour, salt and yeast in bowl and blend with a whisk or 
the flat paddle at low (KA 1) speed. Add water and continue blending 
until evenly blended and the forms a shaggy mass, about 1 minute.

2a) By machine: Switch to the dough hook and knead for 10 to 12 
minutes (KA 2) until the dough is smooth and elastic and stretches 
when pinched and pulled. Turn the dough onto your work surface and 
knead by hand for 30 to 60 seconds.

2b) By hand: Turn the dough onto a well-floured work surface and 
knead until smooth and elastic and stretches when pinched and pulled, 
about 12 to 15 minutes.

3) Shape the dough into a ball and turn into a bowl. Cover with 
plastic wrap and ferment until more than doubled in bulk, 2 to 3 hours.

4) Turn the dough onto your work surface, degas gently and divide 
into a dozen 3 oz/85 g pieces. Form each into a ball. Arrange the 
dough balls on a parchment-covered baking sheet and cover with 
plastic wrap. Let proof until the balls have doubled in volume and 
the dough feels as though it's about to collapse when a finger is 
pressed gently into the surface, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Anything 
less will cause the shaped bialys to blow up into softballs and the 
cavity to close during baking.

5) About one hour before bake time, preheat your oven to 500F/260C, 
making sure your baking surface is in the top third of the oven.

6) Pick up a piece of the proofed dough in both hands and press your 
thumbs into the middle so that they almost touch your fingertips, 
gently rotating and stretching the dough into a circle about 4"/10 cm 
in diameter with a paper-thin center and thick rim. Place on 
parchment or a lightly floured peel. Repeat until all the bialys have 
been shaped.

7) Spoon about 1 tsp of onion filling (recipe below) into the center 
of each bialy. When all have been filled, slide them into the oven 
and bake for 8 to 10 minutes until they are a rich brown. Have plenty 
of cold butter and/or cream cheese standing by. Bialys are best eaten warm.

Onion filling

Traditional bakers used dehydrated chopped onion because (a) it's 
easier to store and avoids the spoilage problems and extra work of 
fresh onions and (b) it contains less moisture allowing for better 
control of the product.

Makes 1 cup/6 oz/170 g

Dehydrated chopped onion  1/2 cup/1.5 oz/45 g
Boiling water             1 1/2 cup/12 oz/340 g
Vegetable oil             1 Tbsp/0.5 oz/14 g
Black poppy seed          1 1/2 tsp/0.3 oz/10 g
Table salt                1/4 tsp/0.1 oz/4 g

1) Add the water to the dried chopped onions, stir to blend and let 
soak 30 minutes. Drain through a strainer and spread the onions out 
on a paper towel to remove excess moisture.

2) Combine rehydrated onions, oil, poppy seed and salt, then mix 
well. The mixture will keep refrigerated in a sealed container for up 
to two weeks.

*************************************************************

These were very good. We eat them plain - butter or cream cheese 
would obscure the flavor! I made 1/2 of each recipe to get 6 bialys. 
It was just on the edge of being too little dough for the KA mixer. 
Next time I'll knead the dough in our old vertical pan Zojirushi 
bread machine. I used more of the filling, probably about 1 Tbsp, 
which used up about 1/2 of the amount I made. We found the filling a 
bit dry - next time I'll add a bit more oil or try one of the fresh 
onion variations.

One of the authors (Ginsberg) has a website <http://nybakers.com>. 
Under "resources" are links to some videos, including this one about 
making bialys: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqJLExaX0yc>.

Jeff