Do you like bagels? I LOVE bagels. When I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes in 2011, I was told that bagels were a thing of the past for me. But with a little research, I found that I did not have to give up bagels altogether. Those of us with Type II Diabetes can still enjoy our bagels. We just choose whole grain bagels instead of bagels made from processed and refined grains. Balance your whole grain breakfast bagel with fresh fruit or protein (a scrambled egg) and you are good to go. I would not suggest having a bagel, even a whole grain bagel, every morning. But once or twice per week won't hurt. Most days my breakfast consists of 1/2 cup of grapefruit and a piece of whole grain toast with no dressing. It's really not as bad as it sounds. I rather enjoy it, strange as that might sound.
But enough of that. We are talking about steaming bagels today. I heat them in the toaster. I microwave them. I even brown them in a skillet, cut side down, with a little butter. But steamed is one of my very favorite ways to enjoy them and I will share with you today how I do that.
Find a small saucepan. This little Calphalon saucepan works perfectly. Add about one inch of water in the bottom of the saucepan and place your steamer in the water. Then, place over a medium-high flame and let the water come to a boil. It will not take long for one inch of water in a small saucepan to boil. It is almost instantaneous.
Slice your bagel and place it in the steamer over and around the center handle. Now we know the reason for the hole in the middle of the bagel.
Place the lid on the saucepan and let your bagel steam for about one minute. Test it with your finger after one minute. If it still feels hard, leave it in for another 30 seconds and test again. Continue this until it has reached the perfect softness. Remove the pan from the flame and lift your bagel out of the steamer with a fork. It will be quite hot to the touch, so use a fork or other device such as a small pair of tongs to remove the freshly steamed bagel.
Here is my bagel at the perfect doneness. You will notice that the outside of the bagel has "wrinkled" a little during the steaming process. Perfectly normal and really a good indicator that your bagel is ready to be removed from the steam.
Place on a plate and enjoy with some cream cheese or butter. Preserves would be good, but sugar free preserves for those watching their weight and/or glucose level. You could also use two different flavors of cream cheese. Above we have Honey Pecan on one half and plain cream cheese on the other.
If you were serving bagels for brunch, you could use a large pot to steam multiple bagels at once. Add one inch of water to the bottom and use the same steamer which would open to full size in a larger pot thereby giving you the ability to steam up to a half dozen bagels, depending on the size of your pot. In a large crowd where you are steaming several bagels at once, remove them from the steam and place them in a bread basket lined with two or three linen towels and cover them to keep them soft warm. Serve with ramekins of room temperature butter or cream cheese. Never serve butter cold, straight from the refrigerator. Even if it is a soft, spreadable blend. Leave it out for at least 30 minutes before time to serve.
But enough of that. We are talking about steaming bagels today. I heat them in the toaster. I microwave them. I even brown them in a skillet, cut side down, with a little butter. But steamed is one of my very favorite ways to enjoy them and I will share with you today how I do that.
Find a small saucepan. This little Calphalon saucepan works perfectly. Add about one inch of water in the bottom of the saucepan and place your steamer in the water. Then, place over a medium-high flame and let the water come to a boil. It will not take long for one inch of water in a small saucepan to boil. It is almost instantaneous.
Slice your bagel and place it in the steamer over and around the center handle. Now we know the reason for the hole in the middle of the bagel.
Place the lid on the saucepan and let your bagel steam for about one minute. Test it with your finger after one minute. If it still feels hard, leave it in for another 30 seconds and test again. Continue this until it has reached the perfect softness. Remove the pan from the flame and lift your bagel out of the steamer with a fork. It will be quite hot to the touch, so use a fork or other device such as a small pair of tongs to remove the freshly steamed bagel.
Here is my bagel at the perfect doneness. You will notice that the outside of the bagel has "wrinkled" a little during the steaming process. Perfectly normal and really a good indicator that your bagel is ready to be removed from the steam.
Place on a plate and enjoy with some cream cheese or butter. Preserves would be good, but sugar free preserves for those watching their weight and/or glucose level. You could also use two different flavors of cream cheese. Above we have Honey Pecan on one half and plain cream cheese on the other.
If you were serving bagels for brunch, you could use a large pot to steam multiple bagels at once. Add one inch of water to the bottom and use the same steamer which would open to full size in a larger pot thereby giving you the ability to steam up to a half dozen bagels, depending on the size of your pot. In a large crowd where you are steaming several bagels at once, remove them from the steam and place them in a bread basket lined with two or three linen towels and cover them to keep them soft warm. Serve with ramekins of room temperature butter or cream cheese. Never serve butter cold, straight from the refrigerator. Even if it is a soft, spreadable blend. Leave it out for at least 30 minutes before time to serve.
