#BagelAdventure time!

Tonight is a follow-up to my last bagel: egg bagel toasted brown with cream cheese, Greek inspired blend, and pickle juice, but this time with more pickle juice and some dill.

Verdict?

The flavor I was looking for! That good pickle taste with the complexity of the blend really hits the spot, even if it is an easy chew.

#BagelAdventure time!

Egg bagel, toasted brown, a drizzle of pickle juice, a bit too much genuine olive oil, plenty of cream cheese, and Greek inspired blend.

Verdict?

Good, but lacking the pickle flavor I wanted. Vlasic makes a very crunchy pickle, but they have a lighter, fresher flavor that wasn't what I was hoping for here.

#BagelAdventure time!

Tonight is an egg bagel toasted brown with plenty of cream cheese and Kikkoman soy sauce. Please pardon the crumbs and bit of Marmite drizzle from my toast immediately before; that's not part of my "but I'm still hungry" being presented here. In my defense, it's not pretty to begin with. XD

Verdict?

It tastes more or less like a crab rangoon. I don't know what I was expecting. XD

Seriously, no rangoon in my life has ever made me leap out of my seat and shout "THERE'S SO MUCH ARTIFICIAL CRAB IN THIS!" The difference is subtle, but you're not going to make this and think it's absolutely ruined without the vague suggestion of artificial crab meat mixed in somewhere. If you have a craving, this will probably do.

#BagelAdventure time!

Tonight is an egg bagel toasted brown with a sesame oil drizzle, plenty of cream cheese, a sprinkling of applewood smoked salt, and a heavy drizzle of honey.

Verdict?

Nice! The end stage of the last one. The fruitiness is gone, but the salt enhances rather than flavors and the cheese feels like a part of the whole this time, blending the flavors. It's sweet, but no flavor dominates, even the smoke, yet all contributes to an enjoyable whole. It's not the best I've ever made, but it's a clear 9/10 endgame.

#BagelAdventure time!

Tonight is an onion bagel that I wanted to use up, toasted brown, with plenty of cream cheese, a sprinkle of applewood smoked salt, and a drizzle of honey.

Verdict?

It's fine. Not the best uses of these ingredients. The onion is a bit distracting. The honey-smoke combination feels like it has the most potential, lending an almost fruity note I didn't expect from wood smoke, but the salt is too coarse to add more without the salt going overboard. Honey-smoke feels like a fantastic combination waiting to happen with something else like sesame oil.

#BagelAdventure time!

Tonight is an onion bagel toasted brown with Bertoli Balsamic vinegar (which I believe to be from an improperly strong batch), sesame oil, and Thai basil.

Verdict?

Awful. Seriously, nothing short of awful. The kind of thing you question if you really have to eat it.

BUT! I decided to try fixing it. Onion powder did nothing, but Himalayan black salt (Kala Namak) saved the day! Adding it COMPLETELY changed the flavor profile, bringing out the smokiness of the oil and making it taste wonderfully flame broiled. You normally don't get flavor like this from anything but a charcoal grill! Easily in my top 5 creations!

#BagelAdventure time!

Tonight is an egg bagel toasted brown with a drizzle of sesame oil, plenty of cream cheese, a bit of celery salt, and a dusting of onion powder.

Verdict?

A bit strange, but I think I like it. It feels like it needs less of something rather than more and I'm not sure if it's the salt or the onion. I tried the celery salt and onion powder on bread and butter earlier and liked the result, but I feel like the onion and oil do absolutely nothing for each other and the salt is a bit strong, giving just a bit too much sharpness. I think to really understand this I'd need to do pure celery seed and either strictly limit or forego the salt. Something feels like it's not quite working here and I'd kinda like to figure out what.

#BagelAdventure time!

Tonight is an egg bagel toasted dark brown with plenty of cream cheese, Deliciou brand Bacon Seasoning, and Simple Truth Organic Mushroom Umami Herb rub, with a dash of black truffle salt.

Verdict?

Fantastic! I might make this again just to have! The "bacon" flavor is absolutely "artificial bacon" flavor because it's an herb blend, but I knew that going in and was working around it. The flavor is rich and in want of nothing. Would recommend, and I imagine artificial bacon bits would add a fantastic crunch with the same flavor.

#BagelAdventure from earlier. Egg bagel toasted brown, plenty of cream cheese, Greek Inspired Blend, Chimichurri Blend, and a drizzle of real olive oil?

Verdict?

It's... fine. The flavor is subtle and light and a bit thin, to be honest, giving a tantalizing bit of richness that was enough to show the potential, but left me wanting more. I tried adding a bit of sesame oil to one after the first bite, but that totally drowned out all the other flavor. Just a bit for dipping rounded things out a bit more, but still wasn't the best use of everything. These two blends are similar and seemed to cancel a bit somehow, but I think the biggest issue was the cream cheese. The oil of course beaded on the powder and rolled off, but the bagel absorbed it nicely. I might try again without the cream cheese.