Bialys

So many bagel places, thousands of bagels and good luck finding a bialy. If you do, they are the saddest things to look at: Small, thin and a quarter teaspoon of precious onions in the center. You'd think the onions were caviar.

After less than thorough internet research, the one thing I see that distinguishes an authentic bialy is the sourdough starter.

I have made bagels from scratch.



A lot of effort was involved and they were only incrementally better than what you can get fresh from the local bakery or bagel shop. With bialys, I pretty much have a clean slate because anything is better than nothing. Plus, I get to use a lot of buttery chopped onions.

The sourdough starter literally takes days to make. Using store bought pizza dough or pizzeria pizza dough I can get 90% of the result I am looking for with 90% less time and effort. The result was extremely good.

Pizza dough
Rye flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Yellow onion, finely chopped
Kosher salt

Put the pizza dough in a bowl and dust it with rye flour. It will help prevent  sticking and adds flavor. Cover the bowl and leave out at room temperature for 3-4 hours. Take the dough out of the bowl, flatten it slightly and cut into 6 pieces:

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Flatten each piece into a 5 or 6 inch circle. Dust generously with the rye flour.

While the dough pieces rest, melt the butter in a hot pan and saute the chopped onion for 7 minutes or until golden. Set aside.

Back to the dough. Flatten again. Use your thumbs to get a depression in the middle of the dough. Fill with as many onions as will fit. Pierce the bialy all over with a fork to prevent puffing up in the oven. Push the onions down with the back of a spoon because the dough will tend to spring back.

Sprinkle the bialys with salt. Place in a pre-heated 475 degree oven for about 10 minutes. This will vary from oven to oven. The important thing that the dough is cooked through. You test this with a knife by piercing the edge of a bialy and having a look. It should look airy and bread-like.

When you take them out, push the onions down one last time. I like a good salt kick so I will salt the bialys again while hot.



Serve with or without a schmear of cream cheese.