Sandwiches

I’m doing this thing–not sure if I told you–where I cook alongside Bravo’s new show, Around the World in 80 Plates (which airs each Wednesday at 10pm/9pmc on Bravo!!). Wherever they go, I go…kinda sorta.

Each week they’re in a different international city cooking away and competing, stressing out and being judged, while I stay home, turn on some music, make a dish (corresponding with each city), all while intermittently checking Instagram and texting away–it’s fun!

This week’s show takes place in the gastronomy capital of the world, Lyon, France. Um…this location had my brain in knots because it’s like the equivalent of someone letting me loose in fifty combined Chanel boutiques and saying, You can have whatever one thing you like. Too many options! Too much pressure!

I had lots of elaborate dishes on my brain, but I kept circling back around to my favorite salad ever: Salade Lyonnaise. This salad is everything. There’s frisée tossed in a bacon mustardy vinagrette topped with a perfectly poached egg. And sprinkles of salt and pepper make it extra pretty. Nothing fancy. Total simpleness at its best.

I now welcome you to the sandwich version…

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Last Friday my stove decided to have a tantrum and stopped working. Kind of annoying…I had serious cooking plans for a picnic. Instead I just ate wine and half a cupcake. It worked out juuuust fine.

Cut to this week: still no stove…I kinda started hoping it needed to be replaced. How dreamy are those O’Keefe and Merritt stoves?! In pale blue?! Hello cuteness!

Sooo…I dug out my toaster oven and started putting stuff on toast. All sorts of stuff. Possibilities…endless.

And then, as soon as my stove was fixed, I made this poached egg and put it on a piece of bread with some salt, pepper and parmesan. Runny eggs are just swoon-worthy, aren’t they?!

Almond butter and sliced strawberries. Delicious. Sweet. Killer combo.

I’m not even gonna start by telling you that turkey bacon compares to regular bacon. It just doesn’t. It can’t. Impossible. It’s healthier, though, so there’s that.

BACON > TURKEY BACON/EVERYTHING…for life.

But I just bought a few bathing suits this week and have yet to try them on. Ugh.

So here you have it: turkey bacon, a few basil leaves, a swipe of veganaise and a few sliced tomatoes on toast.

P.S. I don’t try bathing suits on in stores anymore. The lighting is heartbreaking. So now I just buy a bunch on a credit card, try them on at my apt, and take the ones that don’t work back to the store. Total game changer. Have you tried this?

Avocado on Toast is an all time fav.  Adding some ricotta to the mix took it to a whole other level of amazingness.

In other news, this weekend I’m gonna celebrate my reunion with my kitchen by making something crazy…can we say doughnuts?! I dunno…they might be in mini form, they might be girly and pink, or they might have sprinkles in them, maybe even some amazing glaze on top. Who knows…the world is my doughnut…or whatever.

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I’d like nominate Sundays as the best day of the week.

A good Sunday should be drenched in a late sleep, strong coffee, brunching, watching favorite TV shows (specifically Breaking Bad), judging celebrities and especially, this tuna melt.

Can I share my favorites from last night? I loved: Cate Blanchett, Mila Kunis, Mandy Moore (hello! where has she been?).  Your turn…!

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Did you see the movie Morning Glory? It’s okay if you didn’t, but let me just tell you there is a lovely scene where Harrison Ford makes a frittata and gives a dissertation on how wonderful they are. I love this. Because I love frittatas and I really, really love Harrison Ford. He can make a frittata for me anytime, even if he is in his 60s. Oh, Han Solo…

Okay, sorry about that. Moving on.

Wanna know why frittatas are awesome? Because you can use them to clean out any vegetables in your fridge that are about to go bad. Because you can cook eggs until they’re brown and tough and they’ll still taste good. Because you can put the frittata between two pieces of bread and call it a sandwich. I did this. True story.

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Whoaaa! Meatballs!!!

After watching 7 straight episodes of The Jersey Shore, I decided I needed to make meatballs. I had never seen the show before and after the first episode I literally couldn’t pull myself away. It’s incredible.

I learned all about “GTL” and how to avoid “grenades.” And what “t-shirt time” means. My favorite part is kinda how The Situation cooks Sunday dinners for all of them.  And he always, ALWAYS make meatballs. I can’t even try and pronouce meatballs the way they do.

And no, this recipe didn’t come from The Situation, whom by the way, just came out with a book that supposedly promises recipes for all of the food he cooks on Sundays. Umm…can we say Christmas present? Yeah, I’m pumped.

This recipe came from The Pioneer Woman because I’m not sure she’s ever made a bad meal in her life. And because she says funnier and whittier things than all of us combined.

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Pulling a muscle in your back totally sucks. Especially when you do it on a Saturday morning. Even worse is when your fiancé is sick with a cold at the same time. Yeah, we had a super awesome weekend.

Thanks God for Law & Order SVU marathons.

And take out pho noodle soup.

And easy to make California avocado sandwiches.

I’m not gonna lie, I totally ripped this off from Atlanta Bread Company. And I really wouldn’t’ have had a problem buying one of theirs except there isn’t a single one in Los Angeles. Ironic, considering they’re the ones that named this the California Avocado sandwich. So they left me with no choice, I had to make it on my own.

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You guys have seen the movie Spanglish, right? Came out a few years ago, about a maid who sort of falls in love with her married boss, who coincidentally happens to be the “best” chef in America.  The movie isn’t terrible; Tea Leoni is kinda funny in it. And the relationship between Adam Sandler and Paz Vega is interesting, but the most unforgettable part of the movie is this sandwich.

One evening after a late night at the restaurant, Adam Sandler’s character comes home and makes a sandwich. Not just any sandwich. But the best sandwich ever created.

The sandwich is actually pretty simple and relies heavily on good quality ingredients. It’s on a white, rustic bread. One slice has melted cheese (monterey jack, to be specific), the other slice has a swipe of mayonnaise, butter lettuce, fresh tomato slices and bacon. Oh and a fried egg over easy, which makes it a tad bit messy, but really just results in it being totally awesome.

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Scones! Milky tea! Big hats! Fanciness! Pinkies in the air!

These are all of the things I think of when I hear ‘Tea Party’. So when my friend Johnna was gifted a tea set that’s been in her families for generations, we thought we might break it in with a little tea and our lady friends. Heck yes, tea party!

Wanna get your tea party on? Ooooof course you do. Here’s are a few suggestions for tea party success:

Grab one of your bestest friends in the whole wide world, ’cause you’ll need company when making the grocery list, the shopping, the cooking and cleaning.

{Image via The Cherry Blossom Girl}

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“Millions of peaches, peaches for me, millions of peaches, peaches for free”…(on a sammich!). Umm…do you remember this song? If not, apologies for 90s reference. I love the 90s…and peaches. I love peaches when they’re in season. Heck, I love peaches even when they’re in a can. I love, love them in salads, and on their own. Not while driving, though. I always end up with a sticky steering wheel and a pit that I don’t have a place for. Even though my teachers in school always told me I could throw it on the grass, I feel bad. It’s still technically littering since it’s not going back into the earth for a few weeks, ya know?

Anyway, back to peaches…I especially love them on this sandwich. I’ve eaten this sandwich a bunch of times, but each time using pears, but since peaches are in season right now, I figured I’d put them to good use. And I think it turned out pretty great. Pearhaps you should try it!

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“When are you making that Gouda sandwich?”

This is the question that Chase has been asking me since we moved to LA. See, in my humble hometown of Hendersonville, North Carolina there is this utterly adorable sandwich place called The Pampered Palate. It’s super tasty and ridiculously cute. On the menu they have a sandwich that is deceptively simple: Smoked Gouda croissant with tarragon mayonnaise. I took Chase there once, ONCE people, and he hasn’t stopped talking about it since that happy event three years ago.

I think that my initial reason for putting off making this sandwich is that I’ve been convinced it would be a disappointment. I mean, it sounds too simple, smoked Gouda, a croissant, and mayo with tarragon added. But this thing was so freakin delicious I couldn’t help but think that there had to be some secret ingredient they weren’t mentioning. Something that made this a sandwich worth talking about three years after eating it. Turns out, it’s just further proof that amazing food doesn’t have to be complicated or use crazy ingredients. I made this in roughly 10 minutes, and after tasting it I immediately remembered  why this sandwich has been in my head all that time. [click to continue…]

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