The neglected bialy is getting it’s heyday recently with appearances in places outside their usual NYC residence like San Francisco’s Wise Son’s Deli as well as showing up on articles about new restaurant food trends. But a bialy isn’t just a bagel with some onions thrown into it, it’s a delicious creature all it’s own. With a center depression (but no hole) and a direct bake in the oven (without boiling them first like you do with bagels), bialys make a great savory breakfast or pretty much any time of day snack option. Traditionalists will probably quibble with the poppy and sesame seeds and be slightly horrified that I add a dash of black pepper as well. Feel free to use whole wheat or white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour to give the bialy a little more bite of flavor, but these will be awesome with just plain all-purpose. One more thing about my recipe, traditional bialys are made in commercial kitchens where ovens can be cranked really high. The resulting steam released and trapped in the commercial ovens helps to form a crust. Chef Elizabeth Falkner actually prefers to make hers with a wood-fired oven which can get even higher in temperature. Being a mere mortal at home with my cheap-o oven that came with my rental apartment, I resorted to a simple home baking trick. Take a metal 9 x 13 inch baking pan (the sort you make brownies in) and turn it upside down and place a brick, cast iron skillet or heavy oven-proof pot on top. The weight of the brick or skillet traps the steam from the dough inside the pan, which in turn makes for a great chewy crust. It’s a similar trick to using the Dutch oven to make artisan bread (which is what inspired me to come up with this method). However if you find the baking pan and brick too fussy, you can just skip it, but I think it really does make a difference in the final product. We’re talking bakery style bialy results folks with this method! To make this recipe you need to create a poolish starter the day before you make the bialys. Keep this in mind when planning.