The Best French Bistro Salad Dressing

The other night I made the best French bistro salad dressing ever.  It was delicious!  And it was all because of a secret ingredient: soy sauce.  I had read somewhere that adding a little bit of soy sauce makes all the difference and it truly does.  It gives it just a touch of umami without tasting like soy sauce. You MUST try this recipe!

French Bistro Salad Dressing

1 clove garlic sliced in half
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
1 splash of soy sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper


Add all ingredients to a small container and shake vigorously.  Remove the clove of garlic.  Drizzle over dark salad greens (I used arugula but any field greens are fine) and toss to combine.  Enjoy!

Smorgasburg

This weekend Mike and I finally got a chance to hit up Smorgasburg in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  I've been meaning to go here since July!  Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day, perfect for eating outside!

Smorgasburg is located on Williamsburg's East River waterfront,

With gorgeous views of Manhattan.

We started off with donuts...

and Mike got his coffee.

Then we broke out the big guns: pork buns, chicken wings and grilled pork belly.

Teriyaki balls- essentially round pancakes with sausage or shrimp stuffed in the middle, smothered with teriyaki sauce and mayo.  Mike was obsessed with these.

There were many other tastings in between but they got eaten before I remembered to take pictures. But we ended the day with an ice cream sandwich from The Good Batch.

It couldn't have been a more perfect day.  You should definitely check Smorgasburg out!

Some New Recipes

Yesterday I was in major cooking mode and made some tasty things.  I was largely inspired from a conversation with my foodie friend, Liana.  Sometimes I get in such a huge rut with my cooking but all I need is a little encouragement and I'm all set.  The nuts are from an old Ina Garten recipe.  I added almonds to the mix in addition to the cashews.  They are soo good and are best served warm.  The chicken I adapted from a NY Times recipe.  I used a whole chicken that was pre-cut into quarters instead of a whole roasted chicken and I substituted the thyme for rosemary.  The absolute best part is the croutons that have soaked up the chicken juices.  As Liana said, it tastes like a chicken custard, savory and delicious.  She also recommended the brussels sprout recipe from Orangette.  How can you go wrong braising a vegetable in cream?  Yum.  The recipe links are below.

Thanks for the inspiration, Liana!

Rosemary Roasted Nuts

Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Chicken with Crispy Drippings Croutons

Cream Braised Brussels Sprouts

Smorgasburg

 

This weekend I will be hitting up Smorgasburg in Williamsburg.  As the title says, it's a Flea Food Market (with over 100 vendors!) and I can't imagine anything better to do on a Saturday morning.  

 

I will definitely be chowing down on one of these puppies- a stroopwaffle ice cream sandwich from The Good Batch- and there's even an Etsy booth that sells housewares.  I will be sure to post next week with a full update and pictures!

Monochromatic Fruit Salad

I've been craving watermelon like crazy so yesterday I picked one up from Fairway.  I didn't realize though, that I bought a yellow watermelon.  Have you ever heard of these?  I don't think I've ever seen one before! 

Anyway, it's delicious, just like regular watermelon and it looked so festive cut up with yellow pineapple.  I love the monochromatic look.  You could add some peaches and mango to continue the yellow theme. 

And this got me thinking about Martha Stewart's version of green fruit salad from their latest August issue.  It is made up of kiwifruits, green apple, honeydew melon and frozen grapes.  I think this looks absolutely beautiful. 

Red fruit salad could easily be made with red watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, and cherries.  And finally, I found this picture on Pinterest.  What a great way to serve your monochromatic fruit salad!

Diner en Blanc

Did you see the New York Times article on the Diner en Blanc in Paris?  Thousands of people converged in the plaza of Notre Dame and the courtyard of the Louvre, all dressed in white, to dine together.  Everyone brings their own tables and picnic dinners.  The most astonishing thing is that it is like a flash mob, suddenly everyone arrives and three hours later, the spaces are empty and left in immaculate condition.  Now it looks like New York will have it's own turn at Diner en Blanc on August 25th at an undisclosed location in Manhattan.  I've already signed up on their online waiting list!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Forget Peanut Butter Blossoms (you know, the cookies with the Hershey's kisses), you must try these Peanut Butter Cup Cookies instead.  First, I don't know about you but I hate Hershey's kisses...it's the worst excuse for chocolate ever!  Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are so much better.  And this cookie dough is deliciously rich and peanut butter-y.  They key is making them in mini muffin pans.  After you bake the dough in the muffin pan, you press the peanut butter cups into the still soft cookie and it creates a perfect little chocolate and peanut butter package.  Yum!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp. of baking soda
18 oz miniature Reese's cups, unwrapped (I used the dark chocolate variety but they can be difficult to find)

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream together both sugars, the peanut butter, eggs and butter. Add the flour and baking soda and mix thoroughly. Shape in to one inch balls and drop into a un-greased mini-muffin pan, one to a section. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes. Remove pans from oven and immediately press one miniature into each warm cookie. The candy should be fairly level with the top of the cookie. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes then remove to a wire rack.

Yield: approximately 5 dozen cookies.

(Recipe from Coconut and Lime)

Birthday Treats

Last week was my brother's birthday so I made some tasty treats and dropped them off at his office so he could share them with his co-workers.  I decided to go the savory route instead of sweet so I made my famous Bacon Crisps and Parmesan Rosemary Icebox Crackers topped with melted Gorgonzola crumbles.  Yum!

Would you prefer a box of savory treats instead of cupcakes for your birthday?  Personally I always choose salty over sweet...if there was a salt lick for humans I would have one.  Weird, I know. 

April is National Grilled Cheese Month

Those of you following my Twitter will know that I recently found out that April is National Grilled Cheese Month! (via my friend Jessica from Nutritioulicious.)  I'm one of the biggest grilled cheese fans out there so I thought this definitely was entitled to a full post.  So here we go:


You can try my favorite recipe for the Best Grilled Cheese. Ever.  Or check out these other great recipes:

Double Cheddar with Tomato Jam grilled cheese.  Yum.

This Green Goddess Grilled Cheese by Panini Happy looks scrumptious with all it's herb-y goodness.

Pioneer Woman swears by her grilled cheese.

And of course, you can't forget the tomato soup.  This one by Smitten Kitchen looks delicious.


If you're in LA, you can celebrate by attending the Grilled Cheese Invitational.  (Seriously, could this could be my all time favorite food festival theme... wish I lived in LA!)  Or you can visit The Commodore which was voted best grilled cheese by New York Magazine for 2011.  Whether you make at home or enjoy out, make sure you celebrate grilled cheese this month.  Happy eating!

How to Make Really Good Croutons

I'll admit, my favorite part of salad is the croutons.  Who doesn't loves croutons?  And homemade one are the best.  Here is my recipe:

Start with a loaf of really good, day old bread.  I used ciabatta bread.  Next, cut into cubes.  Mine are rather large, but you can make them as big or as small as you want.

Next, melt 1/4 stick of butter in a large saute pan. 

Chop up two cloves of garlic and add to the melted butter.





Now here's my secret ingredient that makes all the difference in the world.  It's anchovy paste in a tube.  Don't get scared... anchovy paste doesn't taste anything at all like fish.  It just gives a great salty, rich flavor (the background flavor that you get in Caesar salad dressing).  You must give it a try. 

Here it is in the pan.  Doesn't look so appetizing, does it?  Don't worry...

It melts right in so it just looks like you have brown butter and garlic.

Next, toss in the bread and coat with all that wonderful butter.  Right about now your kitchen will be smelling great.

Finally here are the last ingredients, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

Toss the bread soaked with butter on a foil lined baking sheet.  Drizzle with a little bit more oil (if you need) and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  You can also sprinkle with Parmesan cheese for even more flavor.  I didn't have any on hand but usually I do load it up with cheese.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 degrees for 10 minutes stirring once.  And voila, you have croutons!

I use these in regular salads and I also make a delicious panzanella salad with these croutons.  Enjoy!

Shopping in the City: Eataly

Mario Batali's latest venture, Eataly is a combination high end food court slash Italian grocery store.  It's a fun place to browse and I always pick up a few Italian goodies when I'm in the area. 

Eataly is huge... it takes up 50,000 square feet and has five restaurants.

I love the high stand-around bistro tables... so European.

Salumi and Cheese counter.

Mmm... fresh bread. The focaccia is fantastic.

Fresh fruits, artfully displayed.

This is one serious cappuccino machine!

We can't forget the fresh pasta...

Or the aisles and aisles of dried pasta too.  A sight to behold.

I love the colorful bottles of the imported sodas...

and the bottled water.

But my favorite part of Eataly?  It's the section of imported Italian candies.  I adore the packaging and the tiny tins. 

And it looks like I'm not the only one who spotted these pretty tins.  See what was featured in last month's Martha Stewart magazine:

So pick up some pretty Italian candies and save the tins!

Eataly
200 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10010
(Entrances on 5th Avenue and 23rd Street)
212.229.2560

Open everyday 10-11