Better Home Cooking Basics: #49 A Pinch of Salt Brings out the Flavors in Sweet Baked Goods.

The cookies have already started to appear in the kitchen at my office. I have no self control & eat one each time I go to refill my water. 'Tis the season for delicious baked goods. Even though these treats are sweet don't forget the salt (yes I love salt but this is valid for even those who don't crave it). A pinch of salt will bring out the flavors in your baked goods. Just a pinch will do.

What are you baking this holiday season?

Get more of my better home cooking basics here.

Morton Salt Girl Halloween Costume

umbrella (alternate options here & here)
yellow frock (alternate options here, here & here)
white tights (alternate options here & here)
yellow flats (alternate options here, here & here)

Here’s a little well-known fact about moi - I love salt. So what could be more perfect for a halloween costume (for me) than being the Morton Salt Girl - probably nothing. The best part about this costume is that you can buy or use pieces that you could wear in a non-costume context (read: in real life). So you’re not just investing in an expensive Halloween costume you’ll never wear again! Grab the links to my picks in the photo caption.

For more Halloween costume ideas check out my past posts here, here & here for inspiration! What will you be for Halloween this year?

Grilled Steak with Arugula, Parsley-Parmesan Salad

From time-to-time I cook steak for Chris. It’s true. I do. I found this recipe in Bon Appetit magazine & thought that it was a good marriage between the steak Chris likes to eat & the greens I’d like him to eat. I also think it’s a lighter option for steak eaters than a heavy creamed spinach side dish for steak - while yes it has greens it also has a ton of cream amongst other heavy ingredients. I amped up the original salad in this recipe with some arugula.  This salad is also great on top of chicken (how I ate it).

PS: We also had these potatoes, because if you have steak & you really should have potatoes!
PPS: Happy birthday to my beautiful friend Ashley!!! I love you :)

Crispy Salt-&-Vinegar Potatoes

I love potatoes & my subscription to Bon Appetit magazine. This post is a marriage of the two. I’ve made this recipe twice already - once for dinner & once for breakfast! I really don’t think there’s ever a wrong time of the day to eat potatoes - do you?

Grilled Eggplant Stacks with Lemon-Basil Ricotta

I found some adorable baby eggplants walking through a local farmers market with Chris this past weekend (as seen on my instagram feed).   I made these grilled eggplant stacks that give a tiny nod to eggplant parmesan but lighter for this end of summer version with my new found favorite chimichurri sauce.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Quinoa

Ask anyone at my office where I'm going for lunch & they'll usually say one of three places. The first would most likely be Pret A Manger.  I love Pret because they offer fresh food that's satisfying but doesn't make me feel stuffed to the brim after I eat it.  They also offer a lot of organic ingredients which is important to me.  One of my favorite go-to Pret items (besides coffee) is the quinoa pot they have available during breakfast. I could eat it at any time of day - I think it would make a great breakfast, lunch or dinner.  On that note I recreated it for brunch this past weekend.

What's your favorite versatile meal that works for breakfast, lunch or dinner?

Zucchini Noodles with Tomato, Garlic & Parmesan

I have this veggie peeler that makes me look like I have chef-like knife skills. It can be used like a regular vegetable peeler & in minutes you have finely julienned (fancy world for thinly sliced) vegetables. I use it to make zucchini noodles (read: thin strips of zucchini that look like spaghetti noodles). If you don't have this particular peeler you can use a regular peeler & call make wide noodles or call them fettuccine or pappardelle if you like - it will still make for a delicious dish.

I tossed mine with tomatoes, garlic, olive oil & parmesan cheese but they're great with pesto or even just a light drizzle of olive oil with salt & pepper. What's even better about zucchini noodles is you don't have to cook them. Nope, no cooking. 

Savory & Spicy French Toast

Around 5:30/6:00pm everyday I am reminded that I'm now an adult.  This revelation comes from the fact that I (not my mom) have to answer the question, "what's for dinner?" Last night I perused the web for an idea of what to make. I like to try new things as much as make things I've made a million times. This recipe for savory french toast seemed like a good mix of the two.

Chris loves breakfast for dinner so I thought I'd give it a try.  Note to self: when making french toast of any sort, make sure you have bread in the house. I'd like to give a special thanks to Chris for running out to get said bread last night to make this post possible. Thanks Chris!

I used the recipe I found on Food52.com (worth checking out if you haven't yet) as inspiration while improvising with the things I had on hand.  I served it with a salad for dinner. I think this is definitely a brunch worthy dish for the weekend as well so you have Saturday & Sunday coming at you why not give it a try? Check out my recipe after the jump.

Tzatziki Sauce

I love greek yogurt, cucumber & garlic, so it's only natural that I love tzatziki sauce which has all of these delicious ingredients in it.  It's great to dip pita in or to add to a sandwich instead of mustard or mayo. You can make it with 5 ingredients (7 if you include salt & pepper!).

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM & little baby Evie! I love you both.

Refreshing Israeli Salad

Living in Hoboken & working in NYC I am spoiled by food inspiration.  One of my guiltiest pleasures is the Taim Mobile that dangerously close to my lunchtime neighborhood. It's a ritual, I always order the falafel sandwich with everything on it in a whole wheat pita - because that makes it healthier!  On their amazing menu tacked to the side of the truck is a wide variety to sides & other dishes, one of which is Israeli salad made with tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley & a lemon mint dressing.  Sounded easy & spring enough for me to make it, so I did. It's great by itself of in a wrap (more on that later). Make sure to click through to get this super simple recipe.

PS: a special welcome to the world to little baby Jonathan! I can not wait to meet you!!

Two Bite Party Pretzels

I did it again. I made the pretzels! This time instead of looping the dough into pretzel shapes I cut them into 2 inch bite sized (ok maybe two bite) nuggets. Even easier! Being that this was my second time at the rodeo I baked them a bit longer & am pretty pleased with the almost-Williams-Sonoma-worthy-color I achieved.

Follow the same recipe as I did here & cut your pretzels into the perfect party snack. I'm bringing these babies with me to wine club tonight but if you wanted to make them for your next family gathering especially with little ones around I think they would be a huge hit. I'm going to pick up some dipping sauces too. I'm thinking a zesty coarse grained mustard & maybe a pesto. What's your vote?

Easy Homemade Soft Pretzels

The weather this weekend is what we've been waiting for.  Everyone had an extra skip in their step. There were more smiles around town & it was just a great time to be living in Hoboken. We picked up some bourbon molasses mustard by one of my fave brands Stonewall Kitchen.  The girl at checkout agreed that it looked good & asked what we were going to eat it with.  I hadn't thought about it but I knew I needed it in my fridge.

After some lunch & strolling Chris & I visited the Pilsener Haus & Biergarten (aka the beer garden in Hoboken). They have the best & biggest pretzels I've ever had & seen.  If I hadn't eaten lunch just before I'm certain I would have devoured one all by myself. When I got home I was still thinking about them. And then a light went off. I could eat my new mustard with some soft pretzels.  So I decided to make my own for the love of my mustard of course.

I found this easy soft pretzel recipe on Williams-Sonoma's blog. The recipe calls for 7 ingredients. One of which is water so that doesn't really count. The 5 of the 6 other recipes you probably already have in your pantry if you've ever baked something or cooked in your life.  The one thing that you may have to remember to buy is the active yeast - which comes in an easy little packet in the baking aisle of your grocery store, so pick up a few on your next trip. 

If you don't want to make this incredibly easy dough I'm pretty certain you could use store bought pizza dough and use the same method of making them.

Pasta with Sautéed Broccoli & Garlic

Pasta with sautéed broccoli & garlic I hands down one of my favorite things to eat. I eat it at home & order it at restaurants. It's my go to comfort food. We probably eat it about 4 times a month, so much so that I cannot believe that I haven't posted my perfected recipe yet.

After making this dish a bunch of times I've found a way to use less oil than I originally thought that this needed to have to be considered tasty and to not brown the garlic but to add it at the end of cooking instead. I add just enough cheese that melts in & seems to disappear so that sister-in-laws who hate cheese have no idea what's really in there (teee heee) but they don't care because it tastes that good.

No worries, the day has come, I'm going to share all those secret tips with you.  Get my fool proof recipe after the jump.

Bird in a Nest Breakfast: Made with Love

Truth be told I'm not a huge Valentine's Day fan, but I do love incorporating graphic design elements into my daily life & food. This weekend I whipped up some birds in a nest (an oldie but goodie) but jazzed it up with some heart shaped cutouts.

If you are keen on Valentine's Day this is a great way to start your romantic day.

Make this recipe for your valentine with my easy recipe after the jump.

Green Beans Gremolata

I've been putting Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa FoolProof recipes to good use lately. I will definitely be making different renditions of these green beans gremolata  again. Next time maybe with asparagus instead of green beans or for a fun summer twist change up the gremolata combo with lime, cilantro & manchego cheese.

These beans are easy to make & great for a crowd because you can prep all of the stuff before you serve them & heat them up right before you want to serve.

Get the recipe & peep more photos after the jump!

Tomato, Cheese & Egg Crêpe Squares

I love finding inspiration from fellow bloggers, mostly because I like to think they're just like me, a real person who probably lives, eats, dresses & sleeps in an apartment. I've had the pleasure of meeting the creative mind behind Downtown Romantic in the past through my friend Christine. Although I haven't seen Laney in quite some time I enjoy checking in on her blog & chic lifestyle every now & then. Besides her luxe taste in clothes, the girl knows how to eat & everything seems so decadent.  So this past weekend I tried my hand at the crepes recipe on her blog with my own twist with some spicy sriracha salt my sister-in-law gifted me for Christmas.

Click through for my version of Downtown Romantic's crepe squares recipe & photos of how I did it.

Almond Butter with Cinnamon

Last night was Fashion's Night Out, but I opted to go home & make butter out of nuts. (God I'm getting old!)

But seriously, ever walk by the fresh peanut butter machine in your grocery store & think I should do that at home with my food processor? [crickets, do I hear crickets?]

Ok, so maybe I'm alone here but I'm into eating non-chemically things, I think they just taste better (& give me better peace of mind & don't have crazy side effects). So I give you HeatherOMade Almond Butter with Cinnamon. 

Ingredients:

• 3 cups raw almonds
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Make it!

1. Add whole almonds to food processor.
2. Blend well. At first it will look like almond powder, keep blending.
3. Scrap the sides of the food processor occasionally.
4. Add cinnamon & salt when large clumps form.
5. About 15-20 minutes later you'll have rich creamy almond butter.
6. Store in an air tight container in your fridge.

Things I plan to do with my almond butter:

• eat it with slices of green apple
• make these yummy treats
• swirl it with vanilla ice cream
• spread it on some bread & top it with honey & sliced bananas

Fresh Guacamole

Everything I learned about guacamole roots back to Trader Joe's & table side restaurant guac prep.  Trader Joe's sells a great little kit with everything you need to make your very own fresh guacamole at home.  After you've used that kit enough you don't even need a recipe & you're able to fly on your own at other grocery stores to buy the ingredients for fresh guacamole all by yourself.

The one & only ingredient that can really make or break your guac is (clearly) the avocados.  Avocados need to be firm yet impressionable (so when you press your thumb into the side of it it should have a little give -not be rock hard or super mushy but just right).  So if your avocados are too hard no amount of mashing is going to make a great guacamole, post pone it or go on a hunt for some more avocados & in the mean time leave your avocados to ripen in a brown paper bag. If they're the other end of the spectrum & are super mushy use them fast before they brown.

Ingredients:

• 1 large (or 2 small) avocado(s)
• 1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 shallot (chopped)
• 1 jalapeno pepper (ribs & seeds removed, chopped finely)
• 1 lime (zest & juice)
• 2 tomatoes (or 1 large) (seeded & chopped)
• salt & pepper
• red pepper flakes (optional)

Make it!

1. Cut the avocado(s) in half & scoop out the yummy goodness, discard the seed & shell/skin.
2. Mash avocado, garlic, shallot, jalepeno, lime zest & juice together (use whatever works for you, I used a fork, but a spoon for muddler will work too).
3. Stir in the tomatoes.
4. Season with salt, pepper & red pepper flakes.
5. Eat this with everything & on anything. Store in an airtight container (if there is any left).

Crab Salad & Mango Sandwich

Summer maybe coming to a close & Labor Day looming,  I'm still craving summer seafood like this crab salad & mango sandwich.  I made these for dinner the other night when I came home late from work.  Luckily, they're super easy to mix together (ahem, no cooking ok a little if you count toasting bread) & even easier to eat so they're perfect for dinner in a pinch.

Happy Labor Day to you all & especially to those who made it possible. Ciao ciao summer.

What are you making for your Labor Day barbecue or picnic, maybe a crab salad & mango sandwich?  Just in case I jotted down the recipe for you below.

Crab Salad & Mango Sandwich Ingredients

• 2 cups crab meat (I used the stuff from a can!)
• 1 tablespoon mayo
• 1 shallot (finely chopped)
• 1 lemon (zest & juice)
• 2-4 whole wheat rolls (depending no the size & portion control you're after)
• salt & pepper
• 2 cups baby field greens
• 1/2 mango sliced (do yourself a favor & get the pre-sliced container at your deli it can cost more than a whole one but if you haven't mastered cutting a mango yet (like me) you'll save more money this way!)

Make it!

1. Combine crab, mayo, shallot, lemon zest & juice of half a lemon.  Season with salt & pepper.
2. Cut rolls in half & toast under the broiler (or skip this step all together).
3. In a separate bowl toss the baby field greens with the rest of the lemon juice & season with salt & pepper.
4. To create each sandwich cover the bottom half of the roll with slices of mango, top with a heap of crab salad.  Then pile the greens high & cover with the top of the roll, squish it down & cut it in half. Serve & enjoy.

Parsnip Puree

"Let's talk about parsnips" - I believe those were the exact words that came from my friend Kara's mouth when I saw her a few weeks ago.  I can always count on Kara for a good conversation about how yummy veggies really are.  It's no secret I'd chose a veggie over meat any day, they just taste better to me.

Parsnips, if you've never had them, look like white carrots but are a little spicier & sweeter.  Turns out parsnips are packed with good-for-you-things like vitamins C, E, K, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese & tons of other things to make my mom proud that I eat them.

I like to eat parsnips mashed or pureed (think mashed potatoes, mmmmmm mashed potatoes - but with parsnips instead). Check out my recipe after the jump.