What's on your bagel? [General]

2009 May 6
Just for fun...this morning's Kettleman bagel as I really like...

How would you like yours?

2009 May 6
Cream cheese and smoked salmon!

2009 May 6
An Israeli friend showed me one of my favourite ways to eat a fresh bagel: dipping it into plain yogurt topped with Zatar(sp?)and good olive oil...

2009 May 6
I find that sesame bagels go really well with just salted butter.

But cream cheese and smoked salmon is really good, and also cretons. There's something deliciously wrong about spreading pork product on a bagel.

2009 May 6
1) cream cheese, hot smoked salmon, capers, onion
2) broiled cheese - until browned & crispy (halloumi, cheddar, swiss, the list goes on and on...)
3) goats cheese & fresh herbs

2009 May 6
1. fried egg (with still a bit of runny yoke), old cheddar cheese, fresh tomato.
2. hot-smoked salmon, lemon juice, capers, red onions.
3. whipped cream cheese, raspberry jam.
4. like momomoto, salted butter (which has to be applied immediately after the bagel has emerged from the toaster so each little air hole is dripping with melted butter. mmm).
5. my kids' favourite - the "Special", we call it - sliced hard-boiled egg, marble cheddar, sliced ham (again the pork and bagel thing...), and a bit of ketchup. sort of a glorified egg mcmuffin (egg mcbagel?).

what's on yours, andy, is that lemon curd and dried cranberries?

2009 May 6
My #1 choice combines the following:

1)bagel with raisins
2)peanut butter
3)St-Albert cheddar

A classic!

2009 May 6
my rotation:

1) bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo
2) fried egg, hot sauce, ketchup, cheese
3) butter
4) herb and garlic cream cheese


2009 May 6
what i've been adding lately:

1) peanut (or pumpkin seed) butter and mustard, or (faux) wasabi paste. (mustard goes surprisingly well w/ pb, imo.)
2) turkish veggie spread (mildly hot), with chili flakes or vietnamese chili-garlic sauce, and some nutritional yeast.
3) jam with a sprinkling of chia-seeds.

The first two choices are obi-esque in their heat/spice quotient. The last is pretty filling and (apparently) nutritiously dense.

2009 May 6
All very interesting combos, for sure; some of you are classic lovers of the bagel, some adventurous and some just plain need help to get on track and off of the peanut butter/mustard/wasabi/bagel wagon! =;0)

I think my wife would fall into the cream cheese/salmon loving camp, I am definitely of the salted butter and toasted sesame camp and not in the bagel-as-sandwich camp, and love any cheese on a toasted bagel and some cheeses broiled on said bagel, yet I can smack my lips over the zatar (or perhaps some dukkah, I'm thinking) and the raisin/pb and cheddar (I've done sandwiches with that combo), but pb and mustard has me wondering if that really could taste good. It has no breakfast appeal to me but I'm starting to think it might be better later in the day when the sweet and savoury flavours just might be appreciated, so maybe you're OK after all itchy feet. And, pray tell, just what is that Turkish veggie spread?

To answer greenqueen my bagel this morning was indeed lemon curd and dried cranberries. The curd was leftover from some lemon tassies I made for my dw's Weekend fundraiser (I also made chocolate ginger and tried some lemon-ginger tassies).

2009 May 6
And here are the tassies (with the ginger filling, some of which is under the chocolate ganache, which I had on my bagel yesterday).

2009 May 6
hehe, i guess PB / mustard can sound a bit of a stretch, but try it and see what you think. I tried it on a dare as a kid, and have continued to eat it on/off since. Use just enough to give the PB a bite / some tart.

As an adult, rediscovered the combo once i started messing around w/ peanuts in thai and Indonesian dishes, which confirmed (to me) that peanuts go with just about anything. And, if the Japanese can inject wasabi into ice-cream, why not combine it w/ pb?

The Turkish Veggie spread is a fairly simple puree of eggplant, red peppers, some olive oil, etc. Perfect for bagels, imo. You can find it at Produce Depot -- i suspect its not the highest quality spread or anything, its probably high in sodium, etc., but i've been consuming a jar a week! :)

2009 May 6
LOL@obi-esque

personally on a bagel:
1)nutella
2)pesto and cold sliced roast pork or veal
3)ackee and saltfish, hot sauce
4)salamon grundy, sirrachia
5)the finest butter I could find
6)gjetost and roasted peanut oil (PB in a pinch)
7)burger patty, grilled pineapple and caramelized onions (sorry my Oz friends, I still can't do the beets)
8)grilled spam, onion sprouts and wasabi mayo
9)crabmeat/sardines, wasabi mayo and nori strips

was going to do my top 5 but I like the number 9

2009 May 6
itchy, I've long been a fan of the Produce Depot at Bank/Hunt Club but don't remember seeing it - any hints as to where I might find it? And is it called Turkish Veggie spread or what?

2009 May 6
hmm, don't know about the bank/hc location (i'm closer to the carling store), but here's what it looks like (sorry for the poor focus ... snapped the photo quickly).

2009 May 6
hmmm wasabi ice cream!
i gotta pick some up next time at WaKiu

2009 May 6
Ajvar! i think it's more popular in places like Croatia/Bosnia/Serbia/Macedonia than in Turkey, but it definitely originated in the Balkans. i eat it mainly on meat (sorry itchy :\ ) and in fact i added it to Ottawa Foodies awhile back Ajvar. never used it on a spread in sandwiches but a lot my Croatian friends do.

in addition to Produce Depot you can also find it at most European grocery stores or delis.


2009 May 6
Lots of cream cheese. If they're straight out of the oven from a place like St. Viateur or Fairmont then I'll eat one plain.


2009 May 6
Thanks itchy feet! Ajvar, well whatta ya know. I had never had it but heard about it sometime in the last year on CBC radio I think, maybe All in a Day's D is for Dinner? Sounded good at the time so I searched out some recipes for it and had saved them but hadn't made it yet. I'll put it on the grocery list for my next trip to PD!

monty, as I recall the person who was making it was using it as a dip for crudites - how's that sound to you?

2009 May 6
Lemon curd and dried cranberries - YUM! that looks so good.

I ADORE the blueberry cream cheese at Kettleman's. It has whole blueberries in it.

In a pinch I'll get a cinnamon-raisin bagel with strawberry cream cheese from Tim Horton's, but nothing beats a fresh St Viateur bagel with plain cream cheese and a slice of tomato.

Tomorrow morning after my run it's going to be Pacific smoked salmon smuggled back from Seattle and whipped Philadelphia cream cheese. Can't wait!

2009 May 6
It was good Pam, much better than Kettleman's lemon cranberry bagel. Funny that you mention Timmy's cinnamon raisin bagel - that's about the only thing I'll order there, but I have mine with mmm-mmm peanut butter mmmmmm. Not the best bagel in the world but it is the best thing Horny Tim's sells.

2009 May 6
Obi i forgot totally about nutella! mmmm mmmm mmmm. add that to my list too. it's just been a while since i've indulged because i have a tendency to spread one spoonful of it on the the bagel and put 5 spoonfuls directly in my mouth, and now that bathing suit weather is around the corner, well...

good suggestion on the gjetost also. haven't had it in years and love it.
Andy i love the look of those tassies. yum.

and i certainly need to get me some ajvar. sounds great.

2009 May 6
Andy: that sounds about right. it's a versatile condiment! a must have in anyone's fridge. check out Podravka brand.

2009 May 7
Sorry about the sloppy attributions on the "turkish veggie spread" (too much commotion) and thanks for the clarifications, Monty. I'll try that Podravka. I'm a convert...

One point is jar in the above photo does actually indicate "Product of Turkey", so that gets me wondering if this is one of those pan-European "spreads", perhaps known by different names and adapted w/ slight variations?

Speaking of its versatility, my motivations (when i stumbled on it at Produce D.) were that the ingredients brought back vague memories of a northern Thai chili paste (nam prik noom): looks different, but shares some ingredients in common, namely eggplants, peppers and chili as in the following example:

www.khiewchanta.com

The Thai version is (or can be) quite a bit spicier, so my addition of Viet. hot sauce represents a (VERY) lazy attempt to recreate the nam prik noom that would take too long to make from scratch.

This all got me wondering further whether there's a lineage that connects Ajvar (and its sister spreads) back to India and SE Asia via the spice trades that brought together eggplants (India) and peppers (New World), and a later dissemination via traders and other itinerant groups (e.g., the Romani aka "gypsies")?

Well, that's pure speculation and too much digression for a bagel thread, so to bring back on-topic, i'll suggest Nam Prik Noom as one further (albeit non-traditional) bagel topping. Break out the mortar and pestle...

2009 May 7
For me, nothing more than obscene amounts of salted butter applied as soon as it comes out of the toaster! Delicious!

2009 May 7
YUM plain butter on sesame. My favorite is PB on pumpernickel.
I used to love the No Name smoked salmon cream cheese (NOT Philadelphia) but they must have discontinued it, haven't seen it in awhile.

2009 May 7
My fave is lots of fresh basil, chopped sundried tomatoes and minced fresh garlic, a touch of cayenne all mixed up and added to goat's cheese and spread on thick!

2009 May 7
Something else that's delicious - cream cheese with green olives (well drained) and walnuts mashed in. YUM! My mom used to eat bagels like that all the time when I was growing up and I thought it was disgusting but now I love it!

2009 May 7
Sourberry, my wife grimaces when I make a cheese and green olive sandwich; I may as well add the walnuts and make it even better - great idea.

itchy feet I picked up the hot Cedar Ayvar this afternoon at Sultan's at Bank/Hunt Club (as well as some Mexican supplies, Syrian Baklawa, spices, etc. also wanted a tin of Gulab Jamon but the tins were past their BB date). What a crazy store.
Now why oh why didn't I pick up some bagels when I was in town???

2009 May 7
oh, i forgot to say i also love ottawa bagel chop's gourmet smoked salmon spread. it's great on a fresh warm bagel...

2009 May 8
sesame bagel from kettleman's, toasted, feta spread.

the feta spread i make from a recipe given to me by the perth garlic festival. my husband calls it crack it is so addictive.

1 block of feta
1 clove of ontario garlic

- put that into a food processor until finely crumbled.

add 1/4 cup light mayo (or regular) just NOT miracle whip!

- blend.

if it is really thick, add more mayo. my mom thins her's with milk.
add some fresh ground pepper and spread. this is also great on burgers.

if you ever buy the feta spread at the garlic tent at landsdowne farmer's market, this is the same recipe they use. so delicious.

2009 May 8
I was through Prince Edward County this week and picked up some Garlic and Chive 'Bagel Chevre' from Fifth Town Cheese. It's great. (I'd like to find it in Ottawa and will have to look.)

Normally I have cream cheese or thinly sliced hard cheese (gouda if I have it, or whatever's handy).