First of all, did you know my first cookbook got published? It’s called Cookbook #1: A French Girl’s Cooking Adventures in Her Kitchen, and it’s available online, you’re just a click away, RIGHT HERE!
A good Bagel is obviously first about the quality of your bread. But one must admit it also has a whole lot to do with what you fill it with. The very first real and good American Bagel that I’ve ever had, was at the Barney Greengrass Delicatessen in New York City in the Upper West Side. Beside, the atmosphere of this 100 year olds place added up to the joy my husband and I felt eating bagels that day.
As a beginner in the Amazing World of Bagels, I’ve started with 2 parallel recipes that seem pretty much the same in surface, but taste actually quite different in the mouth. Even though the choice of meat is similar in both cases, the other ingredients have the advantage to set their very own marker on the dish.
For the bagel dough recipe, first CLICK HERE to open in a new window.
Now the fillings !
A good bagel must oppose the soft and the crunchy, the spreads and the solids. In order to prevent the solid ingredients from sliding out of the bagel at the first bite, the spread must be generous and be used as the “glue” for the bagel.
By spreads, we hear most commonly : cream cheese, mayo, mustard, Savora (for the French, that’s like the US version of sweet mustard), thick Greek yogurt, crushed avocado, etc.
By solids we hear : smoked salmon, turkey or beef pastrami, big pickles (Russian Molossols), turkey slices, cheddar cheese slices, scrambled eggs, grilled vegetables, and so on.
Recipe #1
Choose to make a bagel bread topped with cereal grains. Open the bagel, spread a regular layer of Dijon mustard on both sides. On the bottom bread, pile up 3 slices of beef pastrami, then 3 slices of chicken breast, and arugula leaves. On the other bread, generously spread a nice layer of cream cheese, and top the arugula with that bread piece. Cut your bagel in half, close your eyes, take a good bite and feel New York City running through your palate !
Recipe #2
Make a bagel bread topped with Poppy Seeds. Spread Savora or American sweet mustard on both sides of the bread. Pile up all ingredients in the following order : 1 cheddar cheese slice, 3 turkey slices, 3 turkey pastrami slices, slices of large Russian sweet pickles, and 1 slice of cheddar cheese, then the bread. Prepare yourself for Paradise, because this is OBVIOUSLY where this bagel will bring you to !
Again, before you leave, the bagel dough recipe is available right HERE.
Created and Written by Sophie Rebibo-Halimi, © 2015 All Rights Reserved.
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