Guest Tuesdays: in the kitchen with Melissah's kale bagels!

Since I'm now living in a house with 3 other girls, I thought about starting this new thing where I post some of the recipes they make! Up this week are Melissah's kale bagels, which came out amazingly well! Toasted up with some cream cheese they are absolutely delicious, and taste as good as- if not better than- bagels you find at the grocery store. More recipes to come... woohoo Guest Tuesdays!!

For the bagels:

One bunch kale, about 8 ounces (225 g), stems and ribs removed, torn into small pieces, thoroughly cleaned
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon tamari
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon tahini
1 large clove garlic, grated

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 cups bread flour, plus more for kneading

Combine kale, yeast, tamair, olive oil, tahini, and garlic in a large saucepan, cook on medium-high heat until wilted and tender, about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally. Transfer and pack down really tight (with a spoon) into a glass measure, and cover with water until reaching the 2-cup mark. Blend with an immersion blender, or transfer to a countertop blender. Check that the temperature is at about 100°F , and stir in the yeast. Set aside for a couple of minutes.

Combine kale/water mixture with salt and flour. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 8 to 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed, until the dough is smooth and pliable. Shape into a ball.
Lightly coat a large bowl with about 1 teaspoon of any oil, turn dough around to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, 60 to 90 minutes.

Punch down dough. Divide it into 8 equal portions, shape into balls by pulling at the dough from the sides onto the bottom, to cloak. If the dough retracts when you try to shape it, give it 5 minutes to rest until it cooperates.

Insert your thumb in the center of each dough ball, and twirl dough around it until the hole reaches about 1 1/2 inches in size. Let rest for about 15 minutes.

In the meantime, bring water to a boil in a large saucepan. Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare a couple of large baking sheets with parchment paper, a silicone baking mat, such a Silpat, or grease them with a little oil. Once the bagels have rested, place 4 bagels at a time in the saucepan, and let boil for 1 minute in all, flipping them over after 30 seconds: try to avoid having them get too close to one another.

Scoop out bagels with a slotted spoon. Place on prepared baking sheets. Repeat until all bagels have been boiled. Bake for about 24 minutes, one sheet at a time, until the bagels are golden brown and sound hollow when the bottom is tapped. Let cool on a wire rack.

Recipe from have cake will travel