For a housewarming party I threw a couple of weeks ago, I decided to have a dessert theme and recreate some childhood desserts for my guests. I thought we could have some good clean fun - catchphrase, Wii bowling, and some cookies and milk. In preparation for the party, I had to think about the desserts I ate as a kid - Oreos, Nutter Butters, Vienna Fingers, Rice Krispie treats, brownies…(now you know why I was such a fat kid). Since I had a great experience at Bouchon and knew they had great cookies (Nutter Butters AND Thomas Keller Oreos), I looked up the recipes online to make them for my party. My dear friend Julia kept insisting I should just save a ton of time and buy them from a super market, but I really wanted to try to recreate Thomas Keller’s cookies (in preparation for The French Laundry, of course). I found the recipe for Thomas Keller’s Oreos (TKO’s) on curiously ravenous’ website.

TKO’s
from The Essence of Chocolate
makes about 3 dozen sandwich cookies

For the cookie:

1 1/2 cups plus 3 Tbsp all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
15 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 3/4″ cubes, at room temperature

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt, and mix on low speed:

Note: make sure your bowl is big enough so everything doesn’t splatter!

With the mixer running, add the butter, a piece at a time:

The mixture will be dry and sandy at first, but over 2 minutes, will form pebble-sie pieces that start to cling together. Stop the mixer and transfer the dough to your board (no pictures here because it was too messy and I was working by myself).

Preheat oven to 350F. Separate dough into 2 pieces. Roll each piece of dough between 2 pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper to 1/8″ inch thick. Using a fluted cutter, cut into rounds. Scraps can be pieced together and rolled out again. Place 1/2″ apart on baking sheets lined with Silpat liners or parchment paper.

4. Bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating halfway through baking. Remove and cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Cool completely.

For the Filling:

1/2 cup heavy cream
8 oz. white chocolate, chopped

Chop 8 ounces of white chocolate (Whole Foods sells white and milk chocolate bricks by the ounce):

In a small pan, bring the cream to a boil:

Remove from heat and add the chocolate:

Let stand for 1 minute, then whisk to melt the chocolate until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl, and let stand for 6 hours to thicken up.

I stuck the filling in the fridge (because I am very impatient and it was 4 in the morning), but the mixture turned out really well. Here are the cookies:

The cookies are amazingly crisp, simple, and delicious. If I make the cookies again, I’d probably use less salt in the cookie dough mixture. They were a big hit at the party (I also made a green tea oreo) and everyone thought they were a great treat!

Today, I went to Chelsea Market (my new favorite hangout) to pick up some skate for dinner. While I was there, I was tempted to stop by Milk Bar to have some ice cream and an egg in the hole, but I remembered Milk Bar only serves their egg dishes for breakfast during the weekdays (they’re served all day on the weekends, if you’re interested). Instead of waiting until the weekend, I decided to buy the ingredients to make the dish myself. I asked the guys at the counter of Milk Bar if they knew where they got their bacon and cheese, but they told me their meat and cheese came from a store in Brooklyn that only sells wholesale.

Since I wasn’t getting very far on my egg in the hole adventure, I decided to pick up a loaf of whole wheat bread from Amy’s (they were sold out of rye bread!!) and improvise. On my way out, Adam Roberts, the host of The FN dish (and author of The Amateur Gourmet), stopped me in the street to chat with Robin Miller, host of Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller. We started talking about making eggs in the hole and Robin gave me some tips (I’ve never made one before, but it seemed like an easy task). After chatting with Robin and Adam, I stopped by Murray’s cheeses for some cheese and bacon (Grafton cheddar and applewood bacon). Here are all of the ingredients:

Any type of bread will do, but I really like the taste of rye with this dish. Since rye wasn’t available, the next option for me was whole wheat (just as tasty and it has more of a bite than white bread). I originally bought some turkey bacon, but when I was at Murray’s, I saw Niman Ranch applewood bacon without nitrates or nitrites, so I picked it up as a special treat (at $10 for 9 slices, it’s expensive!). You can use turkey bacon (or regular bacon) if you can’t find applewood. Grafton cheddar is aged for a year and I think it’s sharper than other cheddars. If you can’t find Grafton, try using a sharp cheddar instead. You’ll also need eggs (organic are the best but any egg will do) and butter.

Step 1:

After you assemble all of your materials, slice a piece of bread (about 3/4 inch thick) and use a cup to cut a hole in the center of the slice. Robin Miller uses a biscuit cutter to make the hole, but I have no biscuit cutter and have no intention of buying one anytime soon. You can use a cookie cutter to make cool designs if you have them. After I made the hole in the bread, I toasted it and spread butter on both sides.

Step 2:

Bacon on the skillet - I don’t use extra butter or oil because there’s so much fat already (but you’re welcome to do so if you’d like).

Step 3:

Place the bacon on paper towels to get rid of excess oil. There should be a little puddle of oil in the pan - don’t pour that down the kitchen sink!! Put it in a container and throw it out in the garbage (otherwise the fat will congeal and it’ll be a huge mess). It’s okay to let the bacon cool because we’ll be putting it on the egg in the hole and throwing it in the oven.

Step 4:

Crack the egg and place it in the pan with the bread. There might be some leakage of the egg white, but it’s okay!!

Step 5:

I like a runny yolk so I didn’t flip over the toast, but if you have children, it’s a good idea to cook the egg all the way through. After the egg is cooked for about 2 minutes (you’ll notice that the egg white is cooked through on the bottom), put a piece of cheddar on top and add the bacon as well.

Step 6:

Throw the skillet into the oven (I set it on broil). I let it go in for about 3 minutes, but it depends on your oven (just watch to make sure the cheese melts).

Step 7:

Out of the oven!

Step 8:

Gooey egg yolk!

Success!

If I were to make it again (and I will be making it again in the morning), I’d make sure cheese covered all of the bread (healthy, I know). Also, I’d add another piece of bacon.

I hope you enjoyed my egg in the hole tutorial - I’m going to try taping some of them for a youtube/vimeo show soon and I’ll post them here once I finish. Let me know if you try making eggs in the hole and whether or not it was a success!

If you’ve seen the movie Spanglish, you must remember the scene where Adam Sandler makes a late night sandwich with a side of beer. If you don’t remember, you can view the scene here (it’s around 0:54). The director of the film, James L. Brooks, commissioned Thomas Keller, one of America’s most famous chefs, to make a mouth-watering sandwich that would be easy enough to re-create at home. Thomas Keller came up with a glorified BLT, which I recreated the other day. It’s quite an simple recipe and fun and easy to make.

First, the ingredients:

I sliced one whole tomato, washed some boston lettuce, bought 1/3 lb of Monterey jack cheese, bought some mayonnaise, and fried some turkey bacon (regular bacon is just too fatty!) Other important ingredients are bread (either a sourdough or or a rustic bread - I bought whole wheat from Whole Foods), and eggs over easy (probably the most important part of the sandwich!).

First, I wanted to put the bread in the oven to get it toasted with the Monterey jack cheese:

It only takes 3 - 4 minutes, so watch the oven closely! (You don’t want to burn the bread or the cheese) While the bread was baking, I fried the bacon (you’re supposed to get thick cut bacon for the sandwich, but you can go with any kind):

While the bacon is frying, clean the lettuce, cut up the tomato, and get the bread out of the oven!

Now that all of the ingredients are basically made, you can start putting the sandwich together. I put mayo on the piece of bread that didn’t have the Monterey jack cheese and started layering the other ingredients (tomato, lettuce, then bacon). After the sandwich was layered, I made the egg, which brings the sandwich together. One important thing to remember about making the egg is to leave the yolk runny. If you overcook your egg, you should start over (the sandwich is good because the egg drips from the top of the sandwich all through the ingredients). Here’s the sandwich put together with the egg on top:

I had to fry two eggs because my first egg I left on the stove too long. Here’s the final product, runny egg and all:

The sandwich was REALLY delicious - if I would change anything for next time I make the sandwich, I’d probably try to use the rustic bread that was recommended because the bread might have been a little too tough (and not crunchy enough).

Hope you guys have fun recreating the recipe!

Hope everyone enjoyed their middle of the week Independence day celebration! New York had drizzly weather and I missed the fireworks, but I had an indoor picnic and enjoyed lots of corn, raspberries, strawberries, watermelon, blueberries, and this wonderful sandwich I created:

What’s in it and how did I make this masterpiece, you ask?

First, the ingredients:

1. One loaf of organic ciabatta bread
2. One ripe avocado
3. Jalepeno pecan pesto
4. One ripe tomato
5. Two balls of fresh mozzarella
6. 1/4 lb. smoked turkey

First, prepare all of the ingredients that need to be cut (avocado, tomato, and mozzarella). I’d save cutting the bread for last (otherwise the filling may become a little dry/stale). Cut up all of the ingredients, remembering to slice the mozzarella, avocado, and tomato very thinly so you’re not opening your mouth as wide as you can to take a bite. After everything is cut and prepared, cut the ciabatta bread and put a thin layer of jalepeno pecan pesto as the first layer. The jalepeno adds a little kick to the sandwich since all of the other ingredients are mild. Then begin layering (I layered keeping colors in mind so there was some variety in presentation, but it’s not necessary - you can layer any way you want to!).

We were going to pack the sandwiches and picnic on Roosevelt Island, but since the weather was so dreary, we had an indoor picnic instead. The sandwich would be even tastier if I had a panini grill, but for now, eating the sandwich cold is just as good. It’s an easy to make sandwich that’s very transportable!

After AVENUE Q, the three of us headed to Balthazar for dinner (we’ve only been to the restaurant for brunch and wanted to check out the options for dinner). The restaurant was packed, but luckily, Chris made a reservation before going to the show so we were seated right away. Since we saw a matinee, my mom and I didn’t really have time to eat lunch and apparently, neither did Chris. By the time we got to the restaurant, we were all starving. We started off with king crab legs:

Balthazar is my favorite Keith McNally restaurant so far (beating out Pastis and Schillor’s Liquor Bar) but Chris and I still have a couple to check out before making a final decision. The king crab legs were chilled over ice and seaweed and served with a side sauce and lemon. I loved the lemon juice with the crab legs and it was a great way to start the meal. We also ordered Brandade De Morue, which is a combination of salted cod and mashed potatoes with lots of cream and roasted garlic, served on toasted bread:

An interesting combination, right? It was really tasty (especially with the toasted bread…carbs on carbs!). It’s a great hors d’oeuvre and I’m going to make it the next time I host a party (….most likely in North Carolina). For our main courses, my mom ordered the grilled brook trout with spinach, lentils, and asparagus:

My mom really enjoyed the fish and it tasted very fresh. The asparagus was also really tasty, and the only complaint was that there might’ve been a little too much vinegarette on the fish.

Chris ordered the cheeseburger:

It was tasty, but I was a little disappointed with the bread. I love love LOVE Balthazar bread (seriously, it’s the best) but the bread for the cheeseburger was a little too crusty. I think the bun should’ve been softer on the inside (the core) but maybe it was just toasted a little too long. Chris liked the bread, so that’s all that matters.

I was originally going to order the duck’s Shepard pie, but at the last minute, I decided to order the Saturday dinner special: braised short ribs with mashed potatoes:

Oh. My. God. My braised short ribs were freaking AMAZING! The vegetables (carrots, leeks - possibly, and onions) were all really delicious as well. The mashed potatoes were so buttery and creamy and paired well with the short ribs (which were marinated with red wine and then braised). The meat literally fell off the bones (I took them home for my roommate’s dogs) and the meat wasn’t too salty (which is sometimes a problem with braised meats, in my opinion, since you’re cooking it with all these sauces for such a long time). The mashed potatoes were perfect (not too salty and just creamy enough that you could still taste some of the potato chunks) and the braised short ribs just melted in your mouth. Wow…it still makes my mouth water as I think about the dish. My mom and Chris agreed that the dish was awesome as well.

After dinner, we were all so stuffed that we didn’t order dessert (maybe next time!). Balthazar is such a great place to go after a long day of shopping in Soho, or a safe place to get a great meal. It’s also a great spot for brunch on the weekends or coffee on the weekdays (it’s a celebrity hangout during the week and many celebs/producers have their own tables). It’s great for a first date (maybe a blind date!) because if you can’t think of anything to say, you can look up to the ceiling and mention how quirky the playing cards that are sticking to the ceiling are. It’s also great for a party because there are so many different dishes for everyone at the table to order, or a great place to just enjoy some awesome bread (or if you can’t get to Balthazar for their bread, check out Whole Foods - they stock the brioche breads!).

How to get to Balthazar:

Balthazar
80 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012
212-965-1414