Smoked Salmon Niçoise Salad Recipe

Apparently I’m very much into salads the past few weeks! The idea for this one came out of thinking about a fun menu for a girls’ brunch and something that you could put on a huge platter for everyone to take for themselves. I do love a niçoise salad and thought that with a few tweaks, we could make it a solid brunch salad recipe.

A niçoise salad, originally from Nice, France, often includes tomatoes, eggs, olives, string beans, potatoes and tuna. Since the tomatoes aren’t great this time of year, I used fresh persian cucumbers that have a to-die-for crunch. They feel so fresh! Then, I made breakfast potatoes instead of just boiled potatoes, to really bring that brunch vibe to the plate.

I didn’t like the idea of tuna at a brunch, so smoked salmon is the obvious choice here! I topped the salmon with a bit of the Trader Joe’s Everything Bagel Seasoning – it totally works for this. Very brunchy vibe.

Rugelach Palmiers Recipe

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! I’m not usually excited for Valentine’s Day, always kind of seemed silly, but it’s a sweet little holiday, isn’t it? Hubby and I don’t celebrate this one, but I caved and gave him a card and chocolates anyway. I felt like I couldn’t ignore Valentine’s Day! This week also marks 8 years since we started dating so it’s nice to give that a little head nod.

I wanted to share these Palmiers – French elephant ears – on V-day since they bake into little hearts! Aren’t they adorable? They’re also incredibly easy, so run over to the grocery store and pick up some puff pastry to make these tonight!

French Palmiers are typically just cinnamon sugar in the middle, so if you don’t want to make these with the Rugelach filling you can just combine some sugar and cinnamon and then bake them up. They are still so good with just a simple filling!

I love a Rugelach cookie so I wanted to try these with a little bit of something more substantial than cinnamon and sugar. Rugelach filling is usually a combination of walnuts, raisins, sugar and cinnamon. I went to the store, grabbed the puff pastry, and thought I had walnuts and raisins at home…I had pecans and cranberries and sometimes you just have to improvise. And it worked!

French Olive Tapenade Recipe

I am so excited to share this recipe with you today! It’s one that you could always have the ingredients for in your pantry and be ready to throw together in just a few minutes. Who doesn’t love a recipe that’s impressive yet fast to throw together?! And there’s something really elegant about a Provencal tapenade recipe. Makes ya feel fancy!

You all know how much I love salt, which I think is why I love a tapenade recipe – it really is quite salty! You want to serve this with plain baguette or butter crackers so that you don’t compete with the flavor (read: salt) of the tapenade.

Mussels in a Mustard and Saffron Sauce Recipe

There’s something so simple-yet-elegant about a pot of mussels. A few summers ago, hubby and I went to dinner with friends at Madame Claude’s in Jersey City. We sat outside with some wine, and pots of mussels, and simple fries and crusty bread for dipping, and it was just heavenly. This girl became an instant fan of les moules!

I love a dish that feels simple and elegant, and honestly, one that results in a sauce that you just want to dip bread into. Even better if the sauce is so good you want to bottle it up; the best if you swear you could just drink it. I think you’re going to want to drink this sauce, y’all. It’s just that good!

This mustard and saffron sauce can be made ahead (and don’t worry, you can leave out the saffron if you don’t have any or if it’s out of your budget), which makes it a really easy dish for entertaining. You’ll make the sauce a few hours ahead, then reheat it, drop in the mussels and in like 3 minutes this dish will be ready!

french macaroons

french macaroons. they seriously elude me.

i’ve always wanted to blog about food (just can’t get any appetizing pictures out of my cooking) – i’m actually a pretty awesome cook. i always say that i should have gone to culinary arts school. i love experimenting with food and trying new recipes – even if they fail, it’s always a learning experience, but most importantly it’s an opportunity for me to be creative.

the one thing that has always eluded me is the macaroon. they are so delicate, and so beautiful. but they terrify me. so perhaps this weekend will the the weekend i take my first foray into french macroons.

what about you? have you tried making them? do you just LOVE them?