Bialys

Yesterday I shared my recipe for Bronx bagels. I also make bialys, which might make me one of the last 4 or 5 bialy bakers left.  For some reason bialys never became as popular as bagels. One reason might be that they get very stale and hard quickly. If not frozen and then toasted, it's like eating a hockey puck. The process is less complicated than that for bagels. Making bialys is like making cocktail size pizzas. The onion "schmear" prevents the entire piece of dough from rising.

So, expats in my small village in northern Thailand have access to both fresh bagels and bialys, where in NYC it is almost impossible to find both. That is unless you want to make the trek down to Kosar's, Russ and Daughters or a few other specialty delis. 

Also, is civilization as we know it coming to an end when spell check doesn't recognize "bialy" and"schmear"?

Bialys

13-14 x 70 gram bialys.

Onion Schmear

2 1/4 teaspoons vegetable oil
12 tablespoons (3 ounces, 90 grams, ¾ C) onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon poppy seeds

1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Black pepper to taste

Final Dough (65% Hydration)

600 g  Bread Flour

390 g Water

12 g Salt

1 tsp. Instant Yeast

 Added 50 gms of the dry ingredients to the water in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix the ingredients on speed 3, using the whisk attachment, until a light froth is obtained, about 1 minute. 

Used spiral dough hook and add the remaining dry ingredients. 

Mixed at the lowest speed (“Stir”) until all the ingredients are incorporated, about 3 minutes.  

 Increased to medium/high speed 3 for 6 minutes until the dough is mixed to full development.  The desired final dough temperature is 76-78ºF. (The dough will weigh about  980-1000 gms)

 Placed dough in a lightly oiled, covered container and allowed to ferment at 78ºF for 1 hour and 40 minutes. 

 Made 65-70 gm rolls. Proofed for 2 hours. Flattened rolls twice during proofing. At one hour and at 1 ½  Hours.

 Placed on baking sheet lightly dusted with flour and cornmeal. Flattened into 4″ in diameter, resembling mini pizza shells.  Pressed center hard with cap from a prescription bottle.and made a few hash cuts with a knife (To prevent center from rising during baking) Put 1/4 teaspoon of the onion schmear in the center of each dough piece. :

Placed the baking directly on hot oven stones (I use non glazed ceramic floor tiles). Baked @ 450-475 F degrees for 15 minutes. Had a nice mottled brown color.

Let cool for 15 minutes. Sliced and froze whatever I wasn't going to eat immediately.