Personally, I prefer the cocktail sauce version over BBQ sauce.
And especially with it being the holiday season, I really need to try making my gramma’s cheeseball recipe. Basically, equal parts cream cheese and cheddar, some green onions, Worchestershire sauce, and coated in crushed walnuts. Serve on crackers.
Sister in law makes it that way but also puts tiny cooked shrimp over it.
I loved the bagel dogs, with cream cheese, from the bagel cart. We would stop there on our way to or from the Kingdome for an M’s game, or when we were downtown for a concert.
Yeah that’s basically how the Seattle-style hot dogs started, apparently. Over time people ditched the bagel part and these days it’s usually found on a regular bun. But a bagel dog is fantastic.
I haven’t had one for many years, but I would love to have one again. They were so good!
Chronos: Can explain the interactions of all the sub atomic particles and can calculate Pi to 100 decimal places. In his head. Discovers cream cheese at an advanced age.
I bought bagels for the first time in years a few days ago. Now wifey insists they must be kept in stock. We keep both the plain and Garden Veggie varieties of cream cheese on hand. The veggie cream cheese makes for a nice addition to scrambled eggs.
Philadelphia makes a smoked salmon cream cheese that’s terrific on bagels. A goodly schmear of that, some thinly sliced tomatoes, and bit of bacon. Then sprinkle some dill over it. Or if you’re a purist, buy the smoked salmon and layer it with plain cream cheese on your bagel and top as noted above.
As for cutting oneself when slicing a bagel: slow and easy with a bread knife does it, making sure to keep your fingers away from the hole. I’ve never had a problem in the 30 years or so I’ve been eating bagels.
Not a cook, but chiming in to say that cream cheese lasts a surprisingly long time in the fridge.
I also agree that it’s great with eggs. One of my favorite breakfast items at my local bagel chain is the Ranchero wrap, which features 3 fried eggs, bacon and pepper jack cheese, with jalapeño cream cheese spread over the inside of the wrap. The standard version includes spicy salsa, which I decline, and instead ask for a bit more of the jalapeño cream cheese.
At that bagel brunch I mentioned in the OP, I tried lox for the first time, and discovered that I liked it.
And my method for slicing bagels is to hold it flat against the cutting board, with my hand on top, and cut sideways with the knife. A bit slower, but perfectly safe.
This is delicious and I don’t even like salmon normally.
I take two shallow bowls, I put the bagel in one and use the other as a lid, and slide a bread knife in-between. It cuts straight and my hand is on the top bowl so nowhere near the knife. That’s how I cheat. Otherwise I suck at it.
This is as far as I read. It’s as far as I need to read.
I have to try this.
And Lox, don’t forget the Lox!