Salted Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yep...more cookies!  Sometimes Dave and I will make a half batch (or a quarter batch) of cookies when the mood strikes.  These were salty, sweet, and chewy, and the brown butter gives them such a nice rich flavor!

Here's the recipe for a full batch:

Ingredients:
8 oz unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats
10 oz chocolate chips
Flaky salt for topping (we omitted because we thought the sea salt would make them salty enough- I think we were right!)

Directions:

1. Cut the butter into small pieces and place them into a small pot over medium heat. Make sure you use a light colored pot so you can easily see when the butter starts to brown.
2. Stir the butter so it all melts. As the butter is completely melted, it will start to foam and you'll smell a little nuttiness. The color will start to change from yellow to a golden color. Once the butter is golden brown (or tan), remove the pot from the heat and transfer the butter to another bowl to cool. Once the butter is just cooled, strain out the little sediments in the butter and you'll be left with a brown nutty butter.
3. In a large mixer, combine the melted browned butter and brown sugar with a paddle attachment. Let mix for 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.  
4. Add the flour, baking soda, sea salt and baking powder and slowly combine, making sure not to over-mix the batter. Add the oats and chocolate chips and combine. Refrigerate batter for at least 1 hour. (I didn't.because we were impatient!  The cookies were still awesome) It's very important to chill the dough since we started with melted butter.
5. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
6. Using a 1 inch scoop (yay! I used the new scoop I got from the Rzasas for Christmas!!), scoop 12 cookies onto each parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle the top of each cookie with some flaky salt. (again, we skipped this step) 
7. Transfer sheets into oven and bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies just slightly turn a golden brown color on the edges but are still soft and chewy in the middle. Remove from oven, transfer to cooling rack. Repeat process for remaining dough.

Awesome!

Recipe from What's Gaby Cooking

Homemade Soft Pretzel Balls

Dave and I were definitely inspired by the amazing pretzels at the Hawthorne with this one.  I found a great recipe for spicy bourbon mustard, then used a trusty Alton Brown recipe for the pretzel (changing the traditional shape to a ball to match the ones at our beloved bar).  I halved the recipe, and it made 8 good-sized pretzels.

I was surprised by how easily these came together.  I'll be making them again soon for sure!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt (I used kosher salt)

Directions

1. Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. 
2. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. 
3. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size. (I usually preheat the oven to 200, then put the dough in and turn the oven off, keeping the door closed for the entire rise time)
4. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
5. Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.
6. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 16 equal pieces. Form each piece into a small ball by tucking the ends under until the top is smooth.
7. Place the pretzels into the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. 
8. Return to the half sheet pan, and cut 2 slits into the top of each ball with a knife. Brush each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. 
9. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Recipe adapted from the Food Network

Spicy Bourbon Mustard

This is definitely a cheater's mustard.  When looking for a spicy bourbon mustard recipe, I found 2- one that consists of about 10-12 ingredients, and one that is made from 3.  Guess which I chose to make! :)

This mustard is perfect on a sandwich, or paired with some homemade pretzel balls

 Ingredients
2     tablespoons bourbon
1/3 cup Creole or grainy Dijon mustard (We used Grey Poupon Country Dijon)
1     tablespoon honey

Directions

1. Whisk ingredients together

We discovered that the mustard tastes even better the second day, so I recommend making it at least a day ahead and storing it in a sealed container in the fridge.

Recipe from Redbook

Homemade Butter

 A rustic log of butter :)

I found a few methods on how to make butter online, and this is the method I used:

Ingredients:
2 c heavy cream
Mix-ins (salt, roasted garlic, etc.)

Directions:

1.  In the Kitchenaid mixer (with whisk attachment), beat the cream until whipped cream forms.
2. Continue mixing until things start to clump together and look ugly.  The butter will begin to separate from the buttermilk (see photo below).
3. Drain off the excess liquid....SAVE THIS! Buttermilk can be used in many recipes.  
4. Return the butter solids to the mixer and continue mixing- more buttermilk should separate.  You want to get as much out as possible.
5. Rinse the butter in extremely cold ice water. This will help the butter stay fresher. 
6. Once dry, you can mix in salt or other ingredients.  I thought sea salt would be a good option, but I forgot that since the crystals are large you end up with big salty bites- not so good.  Next time I will use kosher salt.

This is what the butter looks as it separates from the buttermilk:

...and the finished butter (hand is there for size comparison)

Food Crawl 6 - Montréal edition

----WARNING: long post ahead----

Back in August (the weekend of Dave's birthday), we went to Montréal for what we essentially thought of as one big food crawl. Yes, it was a vacation too, but what vacation would be complete without a focus on food?!?   I'm pretty sure we documented all the food that we ate from the second we left home until we got back (meals only- of course we snacked a bunch in between too!!)

First stop? Dunkin' Donuts.

I went with the classic egg and cheese on a toasted English muffin.  If I recall we were trying to eat healthy this summer, so Dunk's was "no-no" food.  It tasted soooooooo good to have this sandwich after months of avoiding it!

Dave went the slightly fancier route, eating a ham, egg, and cheese on a toasted bagel.  It also got rave reviews :)

We took a stop somewhere in Vermont and saw these chairs:

I thought they were so cute with their bright colors, all in a row:

(view from the chairs)

While leaving the rest stop, we saw a sign that reminded us that we were only 10 miles from the Ben and Jerry's Factory!


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We didn't take the factory tour.  We didn't even eat any ice cream! But we DID visit the flavor graveyard.

(Dave is in mourning)

The funniest part of the visit to Ben and Jerry's was when we found the lonely cow.  Dave got close to take a picture, and upon taking a step which was apparently too close, the cow promptly took a dump and ran away.  hah!

We did in fact get food right after we checked into the hotel in Montréal.  We didn't have a plan, so we walked the streets until we found a place that looked good. Sadly, we ended up walking into a not-so-great neighborhood, but in the end it was okay because we found Piazzetta!

 

Piazzetta

1101, rue Sainte-Catherine Est - Montréal

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We split a Mexican "pizza roll" with grilled chicken, salsa verde, cheddar, mozzarella, serrano peppers, red onion, and fresh coriander.

The guacamole was a perfect complement!

We also got a pizza- one of their specialties.

It paired well with Boréal beer...yum!

Here's a view of the inside of the restaurant:

The street outside was so pretty:

Our next stop of the trip was the underground city.  It's like a big mall but...underground.  (We were at Eaton Center)

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We hit up La Crémière to get a quick bite.

La Godasse is a pastry that comes in a few varieties.

We opted for the "choco noisette," which is just the pastry covered with a thick layer of Nutella.  Not my fave, but Dave loved it!

See?

Our bubble tea from Bubble Tease was a little sweet for my taste, but still good.

Lola Rosa was a cute little restaurant...
545 Rue Milton Montreal

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I liked the table we sat at...there was a drawer with funny little things inside:

Pics of Dave:

...and of me:

We weren't very hungry after our snacks at the underground city, so we just split one meal.  This was some kind of enchilada:

Those sauces were awesome!

The next day, we took advantage of the free croissants offered at our hotel each morning.

I have a few non-food-related pics coming up...sorry!

Old Montréal:

Olympic Stadium:

Botanical Gardens:

One of my must-eats for the trip to Montréal was a crêpe.  So naturally we went to Muru Crêpe.

 

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Woohoo!  A crêpe!  It was excellent.

And since we needed a meal to eat as well, we split a roast beef Croque Monsieur.

For Dave's birthday dinner, he wanted asian food.  Lucky for us the hotel was right across the street from the entrance to China Town!  We hit up the Restaurant Noodle Factory to see what we could find to eat:

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Dave got pork dumplings, and I got a noodle dish:

After dinner we needed some dessert, and Les Glaceurs hit the spot!
453 Rue Saint Sulpice Montréal

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We sampled ice cream and macarons:

...and water :)

On the walk back to the hotel that night, we took a few pictures of the buildings....

...the streets....

...and a few from the deck at the hotel:

And lastly, I'll share a few pictures of our hotel, Hôtel Zero 1.
01 René-Lévesque Blvd. Est, Montréal

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The lobby:

The room:

...and a tired Dave, ready to go back home

Fun!!