Food column: Bagels, hummus and pita

Why doesn’t everyone who lives in New York City weigh at least 500 pounds?

I ask because Michael and I recently took a trip to NYC to see family and friends. We did a lot of the typical touristy things – walk through Central Park, go to the Natural History Museum, ride the subway, etc. – but we also stopped to eat…a lot.

Seriously, from the cakes at Magnolia Bakery to the giant cookies at Levain to the crusty baguettes of Alf Bakery at Chelsea Market, we happily ate our way across the city. In fact, other than seeing family, I would say the food was the best part.

Don’t get me wrong. You can do plenty of good eating in Iowa, as well. Still, there’s just something about eating while on vacation. Everything tastes fresh and new and exciting, even if it’s something you’ve eaten a hundred times at home.

Take hummus and pita, for example. I’ve been eating hummus since I was in graduate school in the 1990s. But there is nothing like the hummus you get in NYC, especially when visiting a place like Balaboosta. Balaboosta (pronounced “Bal-a-BOOST-a”) is Yiddish for the perfect housewife and mother. It is also a tiny restaurant in Greenwich Village where we celebrated Michael’s daughter-in-law’s birthday.

Everything there is fantastic, but the hummus is to die for. It has an earthy/garlicky flavor that store-bought dips cannot match. It was so good that I would have gladly eaten it with nothing but my fingers.

Luckily, I didn’t have to. The hummus plate came with four perfect little pita loaves—yes, loaves, not rounds—that we used to convey the dip to our taste buds. I would have gladly skipped my entree and simply kept ordering the pita and hummus all night.

The same is true of the bagels. We had bagels for breakfast every morning during our trip. It wasn’t hard to find a good bagel. There was a bagel shop on pretty much every corner. The bagels they sell are fresh and chewy with just a bit of a crust. It’s something I could eat every day if given the chance.

And you can. While a bagel or hummus made in your own kitchen may not taste quite the same as one eaten while staring out at Central Park or Greenwich Village, they are still pretty great. Below I’ve included a few recipes that can help you enjoy your own culinary vacation. They are all relatively easy to make.

So give your taste buds a vacation! Your palate will thank you.

New York City Bagels

This recipe comes from the website “The Sophisticated Gourmet.”

Like I said above, this is an “easy” bagel recipe that you can finish in a few hours. In other words, it is no more difficult than baking bread. That said, there are some differences.

Bagels have to be boiled before they are baked. This gives them a wonderful, chewy texture. There is some debate as to what to boil the bagels in, however. Some say to add maple syrup to the boiling water. Others suggest barley malt syrup. Still others go with baking soda. I am going with baking soda here because it is something you probably already have in your kitchen.

The shaping method is also something of a controversy among bagel makers. Some recipes recommend rolling the dough into a rope and then pinching it together to make a circle. Others go with the poke method. This means creating a ball of dough and then poking your finger through the center to create the hole. The latter one is easier, and so I am going with it.

Otherwise, you should be able to see that making your own bagels is not that hard. There aren’t many ingredients, and the method is pretty simple. Get bageling!

Ingredients

1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast

4 ½ teaspoons sugar

1 ¼ cups warm water (roughly 100-110 degrees)

3 ½ cups bread flour

1 ½ teaspoons salt

For finishing the bagels:

2 quarts of water

1 tablespoon of baking soda

Optional toppings like toasted sesame seeds or everything seasoning

Dissolve the yeast and the sugar in ½ cup of warm water. Let it sit until it begins to bubble (about 5 minutes).

While the yeast is “blooming,” mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture, followed by the remaining water. Mix or stir (I use the paddle attachment on my mixer). Once the mixture has combined, switch to the dough hook (or turn out onto a floured countertop). Knead for 8 minutes by machine or 10 minutes by hand. At the end, you want a smooth and elastic dough.

Grease a large bowl, and add the dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled (roughly 1 hour).

Punch the dough down. Let it sit for 10 minutes to relax. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Then, coat your index finger with a little flour and poke it through the center of each dough ball, tearing a hole in each one. Gently stretch the dough into a bagel shape, until the hole in the center is about an inch in diameter. Place the bagels on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Cover with a clean towel and leave them to rest for another 10 minutes.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Bring the 2 quarts of water to boil on the stove. Add the baking soda (the water will bubble furiously for a moment).

Working 2 at a time, place the bagels in the boiling water. Cook on one side for 45 seconds, and then flip them over. Remove from the water to your prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining bagels.

If you are seasoning your bagels with the everything seasoning or sesame seeds, now is the time to do it. Sprinkle the seasonings over your bagels evenly.

Once all of the bagels have been boiled, place them in the oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes until nicely browned (the recipe says 20-25 minutes, but my bagels were a bit overdone after 20 minutes, so use your best judgement).

Allow bagels to cool.

Makes 8 bagels.

Hummus

This recipe is from the website Leites Culinaria. While it is not quite as good as the hummus I got at Balaboosta, it is pretty darn close. It’s also something you can throw together with relative ease.

To make things simple, I’ve opted for the version that uses canned rather than dried chickpeas.

Ingredients

3 (14.5 oz.) cans of chickpeas

1 cup water

1 large garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped

3 tablespoons tahini

1 ½ to 2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil (divided)

¾ teaspoon kosher salt (or more to taste)

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

Pinch of black pepper

1/8 teaspoon paprika (for garnish)

Drain and rinse the canned chickpeas. Place in the bowl of a food processor with the water, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, 1 ½ tablespoons of olive oil, salt, cumin, and black pepper. Process until smooth.

Spoon hummus into a serving bowl. Drizzle with the remaining ½ tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle with paprika.

Serve with pita or with fresh vegetables.

Michael Knock is a food columnist for the Iowa City Press-Citizen.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Food column: Bagels, hummus and pita