Bagels and schmear.
All it took was a 10,000 mile trip to New York and a feet stampingly cold day. A fleeting moment during our two week stay made mostly memorable by that wonderful balance between plate gazing at fancy restaurants and sky gazing up at iconic buildings that once belonged only in the realm of books and movies.
It took just one afternoon as we sat in the park with friends and ate plump chewy bagels smeared with cream cheese and topped with smoked salmon. I recalled dogs on leashes drifting past in coats thicker and fancier than mine. I even remembered declaring before the first bite, that I’d never really been a fan of bagels (beagles on the other hand..!). Amazing how time and place can change your mind.
Ever since that day, I’ve longed to relive our New York experience. The current cooling weather has me yearning for another return trip. This time I want to taste ALL the amazing apples at the markets, and we have yet to try a hot dog from Grays Papaya or a pizza from Roberta’s. I also need more Reubens and pickles in my life, and bagels with schmear eaten while perched on park benches.
In the mean time, I have this recipe to use whenever I’m feeling nostalgic, enjoyed with repeat applications of schmear of course. The schmear is basically good quality cream cheese mixed with whatever flavours you fancy and mine is a mixture of many things I’m currently obsessed with.
Pickled onion and herb schmear :
1 block (250g) cream cheese (at room temperature)
1 tablespoon pickled onion juice
2-3 pickled onions, chopped
1 handful of mixed herbs or peppery leaves (eg cress, radish leaves, parsley, chives) chopped
pinch of chili powder
pinch of sea salt
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and process briefly until smooth. Apply thickly on sliced bagels, toast or plain crackers.
Tags: bagel, bread, cream cheese
