Bring New York deli flavor to everything

Everything Bagel Mix on a Pickle (Mary Elizabeth Williams)

You don’t need an expensive new piece of equipment, or an obscure ingredient you have to hunt for. You just need a fresh way of preparing an old favorite. In "One Way," we’ll revisit classic ingredients and dishes, giving them a new twist with an easy technique you haven’t tried before.

Fall may be for pumpkin spice, but everything bagel mix knows no season.

The everything bagel — showered in an extravagant portion of seeds and spices — is the quintessential kitchen sink delicacy. Legend has it that back in 1980, a teenage Brooklyn bagel shop worker named David Gussin had a eureka moment when cleaning out the oven's debris at the end of the day.

And just like that . . . an icon was born.

While there's nothing quite like that bottom-of-the-oven flavor you get from a great bagel purchased at a bagel shop (the main thing that continues to tether me to New York), a homemade mix is cheap, easy to throw together and even easier to throw on everything you love to eat.

Over the past few years, the "bagel" part of the equation has become optional, as the crunchy mix has enjoyed broad crossover appeal. Like salty, oniony things? Like stubborn poppy seeds between your teeth? That experience is now as close as a Trader Joe's spice section.

For some reason, I find that most homemade recipes omit the caraway seeds, though I consider them to be part of the everything bagel canon. I wouldn't make you buy a whole jar of the stuff just for a single purpose, but if you're pro-caraway seeds, they add so much to the whole experience.

Of course, this mix was made for avocado toast and eggsquisite eggs. I also love to generously coat chicken or pork tenderloin with this stuff before it goes in the oven. And stirred into plain yogurt with chopped tomatoes, it makes for a luxurious breakfast that's almost better than bagels themselves.

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Inspired by Minimalist Baker

Everything Bagel Spice Mix

Yields

 20 - 30 servings

Prep Time

 5 minutes

Cook Time

 0 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1 1/2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
• 1 1/2 tablespoons black sesame seeds (or just double the amount of white sesame seeds)
• 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
• 1 tablespoon dried minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
• 1 tablespoon flaky salt (or 1/2 tablespoon of fine sea salt)

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients in a small lidded bowl or jar and combine thoroughly. Store sealed. Your bagel mix will keep about 3 months in a cupboard or 6 months in the fridge.

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