Cooking with Bwog’s Matt Powell is back to feed you again–this time, with BAGELS.

There are many foods that people associate with New York City: New York Cheesecake, Chocolate Lava Cake, Nathan’s Hot Dogs, Lobster Newburg, even Baked Alaska. But there is one food that stands out above the rest—the bagel. While New Yorkers love to argue about which shop’s bagels reign supreme, there is no doubt that bagels on the East Coast are far superior to those found on the West Coast (believe me—I’m from San Diego).

Although it is perfectly acceptable to eat your bagel with a slathering of cream cheese, this does get boring! While not a bagel elitist of any kind, I do enjoy a bagel made right. Here are some tips on preparing a top-notch bagel.

1. The Classic Smoked Salmon:


Ingredients:

1 Everything Bagel

Cream Cheese

A few slices of smoked salmon

A few slices of red onion, sliced almost paper-thin

Handful of Mache (in this case, a mixture of spinach, frisee, red lettuce, and radicchio)

Black Pepper

Directions:

1. Toast the bagel.

2. Spread the cream cheese on top of your bagel. Layer salmon on top and arrange the red onion slices and mache. Sprinkle with black pepper.

2. The Prosciutto Arugula Bagel:

Ingredients:

1 poppy seed bagel

Cream cheese

A few thin slices of prosciutto

¼ lb. hen-of-the-woods mushrooms

2 tbsp. of olive oil

Handful of arugula

Directions:

1. Toast the bagel.

2. While bagel is in the toaster, sauté the mushrooms in the oil on medium-high heat for about 4-5 minutes.

3. Once bagel is finished toasting and mushrooms are sautéed, spread cream cheese on the bagel. Layer the prosciutto on top and arrange mushrooms and arugula on top.

3. Midnight Snack Bagel with Sage Tisane:


Ingredients:

1 cinnamon bagel

Pumpkin butter

5-6 sage leaves

A drizzle of honey

1 cup of boiling water

Directions:

1. Toast the bagel and spread pumpkin butter on top.

2. Meanwhile, bring the water to a boil. Place sage leaves in a cup and pour the boiling water over the leaves. Allow the sage to infuse the water with flavor for 4-5 minutes. Sweeten with honey.