Smoked Salmon Party Dip and Chips: Deconstructed Bagels & Lox

Do you like Bagels and Lox? Perhaps, “yes.” Maybe, “no,” Or, “What is this?” In any event, you will love my tasty, “Smoked Salmon Party Dip and Chips.” My husband can easily devour the traditional Jewish breakfast “sandwich” food made of smoked salmon, cream cheese, red onions and capers spread onto bagels. While conducting an internet search for, “Appetizers to serve on Super Bowl Sunday,” I found an interesting recipe idea. The party dip was based on deconstructed Bagels and Lox. The sandwich fixing ingredients, including smoked salmon, were recombined back into a party dip. Bagels were sliced and toasted to make homemade bagel chips. Delicious1 My husband consumed the entire container himself recently on Super Bowl Sunday.

Grand-grandfather Louis’s Bagels & Lox

Bagels & Loxs has been a favorite breakfast food of my husband’s family for years. I can remember visiting my mother-in-law and discovering — early one morning — that my 1-1/2-year-old son had wandered into the kitchen. His elderly (92-year-old) Jewish Russian and great-grandfather, Louis, had lifted up the toddler and put him into his high chair. The toddler was contently snacking on small pieces of smoked salmon fed by the grandfather. The look on my son’s face was somewhat of confusion, but, nevertheless, he was chomping away and quietly enjoying his meal. I guess the taste for smoked salmon will continue to “run in the family.”

Recipe Inspiration — Too many bagels

The inspiration for this recipe came from a recent shopping trip of my husband to Costo’s. He returned home with four dozen bagels. I love the bagels from Costco — they are softer than most bagels (rather than chewy) — with lots of flavor varieties. However, 48 bagels is a lot for the two of us to consume. Well, I mused, perhaps we can eat all of these before they became stale. Wrong. The soft Costco’s bagels molded quickly, As I watched the first spots of mold appear, I realized that we needed to move quickly or we would have to throw them away. What a waste. I remembered the internet “Super Bowl Sunday appetizer” recipe idea. Stale bagels were turned into bagel chips. And, I already had most of the ingredients for the salmon dip. Let’s make this appetizer.

Ingredients for Smoked Salmon Dip

I already had all the ingredients for the smoked salmon dip except the salmon. And, that ingredient was easy to acquire at the grocery store. For those who aren’t sure, “lox” is synonymous for “smoked salmon.” Since the salmon is smoked, no further cooking, frying or baking is needed. It is “ready-to-use.” Smoked salmon has a wonderful smoky flavor and definitely gives the dip a unique flavor.

Bagels & Lox usually includes dill weed, capers and red onions. It also contains tomato slices — but I’m skipping that ingredient. This recipe included a small amount of lemon juice and salt. (However, the capers were salty — I omitted the salt.) Tabasco Pepper Sauce is hiding in the background and can optionally be added if you like a zip of heat. Milk is used sparingly to thin the dip.

Making the Salmon Dip

Making the salmon dip is easy. I used a food processor to mix the ingredients. The only pre-prep is to chop up the red onions, cut the salmon into chunks, drain the capers. Plus, it is important to let the cream cheese sit at room temperature for several hours to soften. It blends up much easier this way.

To make the dip, blend the softened cream cheese and chunks of smoked salmon in a medium-sized bowl of a food processor for just 5 to 7 pulses. Then add the remaining ingredients. If the mixture is too thick, add a couple extra tablespoons (not too much) of milk.

Transfer to a container and chill. The dip can be prepared a day ahead of time. (It is even better this way.)

Making Honemade Bagel Chips

Making the bagel chips was easy, too. Since my husband was behind our massive bagel inventory, I gave him the chore of salvaging the bagels. His job was to find and scrape off the mold and then slice the remaining bagels into 1/4″ rounds.

I placed the bagels on a foil-lined, rimmed sheet pan and added flavor by brushing the rounds with a combination of melted butter and vegetable oil. I tried using olive oil to brush the rounds; but liked the butter/oil combination better.

I baked the rounds in a 350 degree oven until they were toasted and brown. This didn’t take long — perhaps 10 minutes. After the chips cooled to room temperature, I stored them in a ziplock bag until ready to use. The chips turned out great; I had to hide the bag of chips — so they didn’t get eaten before the Super Bowl party.

This recipe made a wonderful dip — the flavors of red onions and capers plus dill paired perfectly with smoked salmon and cream cheese. Nothing was overpowering. Plus, the homemade bagel chips were the perfect way to use leftover bagels.

Whenever I think of bagels & lox, I think of great-grandfather Louis. His father was snuck out of Russia in an ice chest during the pograms and he settled in Milwaukee in the late 1800s. He emigrated through the Port of Philadelphia. When he saw a stature of Benjamin Franklin, he said, “Ahah, I admire that man,”– and changed his last name to “Franklin.” There are some fascinating stories in our ancestry.

I believe that bagels & lok is an acquired taste. It must be due to the texture of the smoked salmon. It took me many years to learn to appreciate this breakfast “sandwich.” However, my husband loves it — so we eat it from time to time. My smoked salmon dip is a great way to enjoy all the ingredients of Bagels & Lox without the texture of the salmon. I’m sure that my toddler son don’t remember eating Bagels & Lox with his great-grandfather, but I bet he still enjoys them.

In addition to Super Bowl Sunday, this appetizer can be served really for any occastion.

Enjoy!