The “BELT.” Photo courtesy David Burke
Fromagerie.

If we lived anywhere near Rumson, New Jersey, our favorite restaurant would be David Burke’s Fromagerie.
Burke’s cooking team adds a creative touch to everything they serve. Here, the BLT becomes a BELT: a poached egg is added to the bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

Using a base of buttery brioche toast instead of white bread, build the sandwich and top it with the egg and a sprinkle of chives. You can serve it open face or add a second slice of toast on top.

We followed the Fromagerie decor and piped a circle of LeGrand sundried tomato pesto on the plate (where to buy LeGrand pesto).

The runny egg adds a new dimension of richness to this favorite American sandwich. the mayo: the runny egg yolk will be moisture enough.

THE HISTORY OF THE BLT
While toast, bacon and lettuce have been enjoyed since Roman times, tomatoes came from the New World in the mid-1500s. They were brought back to Europe by the Conquistadors and other explorers.

Tomatoes were initially considered poisonous, enjoyed as houseplants until the 1800s (the history of tomatoes).

At the same time, there was no mayo for the BLT. While mayonnaise sauce was invented in 1756, it was not until years later that the great French chef Marie-Antoine Carême (1784-1833) lightened the original recipe by blending the vegetable oil and egg yolks into an emulsion, creating the mayonnaise that we know today (the history of mayonnaise).

All the ingredients finally came together. Old cookbooks and menus show that BLTs were served as tea sandwiches in the late Victorian era (the late 1800s).

But they weren’t called “BLT.” The earliest recipes for bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches were listed under different names in cookbooks.

Today’s abbreviated name most likely came from American diner slang: “Give me a BLT on a raft,” i.e., a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich on toast.

HOW MANY TYPES OF SANDWICHES HAVE YOU HAD?

Check out the different types of sandwiches in our Sandwich Glossary.

Orange you excited by orange milk? Photo
courtesy TruMoo.

TruMoo encourages kids to drink more milk by making lowfat flavored milks in chocolate, coffee, strawberry and vanilla. They’re made with 35% less sugar than the leading chocolate/vanilla milk competitor.

For Halloween, TruMoo has tinted the vanilla milk orange.

Inspired by their Halloween milk, our tip for today is to tint your own milk, cottage cheese, half and half, sour cream or yogurt.

McCormick suggests 12 drops yellow and 4 drops red food color to tint 16 ounces (see their color chart).

You can tint a white cake mix orange with 50 drops of yellow and 8 drops of red.

Chocolate-covered orange peel is one of our favorite chocolate treats. You bite into the refreshing taste of citrus, covered in rich dark chocolate.

Fresh Valencia orange peels are sliced and candied before they are dipped into the chocolate, in a process that takes three days. One taste assures you that it’s been worth every minute.

The 7.25 ounce gift box, tied with a green satin ribbon, contains approximately 25 pieces and is $35.00.

Beyond Halloween gifting, we love to serve these at the end of a fine dinner, with coffee or tea. A couple of pieces are more satisfying; no other dessert is required!

Boo! Chocolate-covered bananas on a stick (photo © Nature Box).

These are healthful snacks. If you want to be a wee bit wicked, substitute white chocolate (melted) for the vanilla yogurt.

Beyond Halloween: These chocolate covered fruits are a welcome treat year-round. Just leave off the ghost eyes.
 
 
RECIPE #1: HALLOWEEN GHOST BANANA POPS

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. CUT bananas in half and freeze for 30 minutes.

2. REMOVE peel; insert popsicle sticks and dip bananas in yogurt. Add eyes & freeze on wax paper until ready to serve. Cover any imperfections with more yogurt.

Ingredients

Preparation

1. DIP the strawberries in the vanilla yogurt, add the eyes, and freeze until ready to serve.
 
 
MORE HEALTHY HALLOWEEN SNACKS

 
 
MORE FUN HALLOWEEN FOOD

Call them “boo-berries” (photo © Nature Box).

Broccoli and beet salad. Photo courtesy
LoveBeets.com.

Broccoli salad deserves more attention. It’s rich in powerful, cancer-fighting antioxidants, phytonutrients and carotenoids, which are missing in any significant level in most lettuces.

So today’s tip is: Make a broccoli salad. As with lettuce, there are many different ways you can combine and dress it, incorporating the global pantry of spices and other ingredients.

This recipe, from LoveBeets.com, adds healthy, crunchy seeds. It’s a quick, easy, healthful salad; great for lunch or as an appetizer with dinner.

Prep time 5 minutes, cook time 5 minutes.

RECIPE: BROCCOLI, BEET & TOASTED SEED SALAD WITH LEMON DRESSING

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Preparation

1. MAKE dressing: Whisk together the oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.S

2. STEAM the broccoli for 3 to 4 minutes until just tender but with a little bite. (The more slender broccolini and rabe will take less time.) While the broccoli is cooking…

3. TOAST the seeds over medium heat in a small frying pan. Add soy sauce and cook over medium heat, tossing regularly to completely coat, for about 3 minutes until the seeds are crisp and golden. Take care not to burn them or they will taste bitter.

Broccoli rabe (rapini) on the grill with a steak. Photo courtesy E & E Grillhouse | New York City.

4. ARRANGE the cooked broccoli and beet wedges on a plate, drizzle the dressing over them and sprinkle with the toasted seeds and chives. Serve hot or chilled.

 
BROCCOLI, BROCCOLINI & BROCCOLI RABE