Bialy Recipe for Glenn:
Here's a recipe that I developed for my book (Pizza, Focaccia, etc, etc, From
Your Bread Machine Perfect Every Time). I have to caution you that you'll
probably never be able to match exactly the taste and texture of a real NY
bialy, but these get exponentially better as the distance between you and NY
City increases. You can get a free sample of my Bread Dough Enhancer and
Relaxer by emailing me at blanche007@aol.com: Lora Brody
For the dough:
2 teaspoons yeast
3 cups all purpose flour (I use King Arthur all purpose)
2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 rounded tablesppon Lora Brody's Bread Dough Enhancer
2 rounded tablespoons Lora Brody's Dough Relaxer
10-12 ounces water to make a soft,supple dough after 5-6 minutes of kneading.
Prepare the dough in either a bread machine, stand mixer or food processor,
kneading until a soft, supple ball forms. Rest 15 minutes, then knead for
another 3-4 minutes. Rise in a warm place until double. Meanwhile prepare
the filling:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped (to make about 1 1/2 cups)
2 rounded tablespoons poppy seeds
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Heat the oil in a skillet and saute the onions until they are limp and
translucent. Off the heat stir in the poppy seeds and salt. Cool to room
temperature.
Transfer the dough to a well-floured board. One key to success is not to
skimp on the flour . Cut the dough into 3 equal pieces and roll each into a
6" rope. Cut each rope into 3 equal parts and roll each into a ball.
Sprinkle the balls with flour, cover them with a clean dish towel and let
them rest for 10 minutes.
Sprinkle two heavy duty baking sheets liberally with cornmeal. Flatten each
ball into a 4-5 inch circle. Place the circles on the prepared sheets about,
leaving about an inch of space between each. Sprinkle with flour, cover with
the dish towel and let them rise 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450F
with the rack in the center position. Use your fingers to firmly push in the
center of each circle to form a 1/2" deep well about 2" across. Fill the
well with the onion filling. Cover and rise 10 minutes. Just before placing
the sheets in the oven use your fingers to push the indented onion-filled
area down one more time.
Bake the bialys 17-20 minutes of until they are puffed up and just vent
slightly browned. Eat hot or warm or toasted after they have been cooled.