Italian Panini...with Bacon

I recently raided my parents refrigerator and found some delightful new treats.  What is overlooked by some in their own fridge, is a treasure to and outsider. I stumbled upon some ingredients and with the help of my own kitchen, made the following concoction of delciousness:

1 cibatta roll - sliced
4 slices smoked turkey deli meat
1 slice mozz cheese
2 tablespoons bacon bits
1 yellow onion - chopped
1/2 green bell pepper (if desired)
1/2 cup zesty italian dressing
3 tablespoons olive oil- divided into thirds
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

Get a medium sized skillet and warm 1 tablespoon olive oil to medium-high heat.  Saute the onion and the italian dressing until onions are transparent and soft. Meanwhile, coat the inside of each side of the ciabatta roll with 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Sprinkle 1 side of the bread with the Italian seasoning and the other side with the garlic salt.  Place one half of the olive oil-ed ciabatta onto a warm panini grill.  Layer with turkey, mozz cheese, bacon bits, and onions.  Top with the other half of the bread and cook until bread is golden brown and crispy.

Serve piping hot and enjoy!

Grilled Mac and Cheese Sandwich

Who doesn’t love mac and cheese? Who doesn’t love grilled cheese? Both comfort foods equally warm the heart and bring nostalgic memories from childhood back. Sometimes we see on the food network (or other equally tasty television shows) how to remake an old comfort food recipe into a new, trendy, upscale dish.  This Sunday, while doing absolutely nothing and enjoying every second of it, Sam and I saw on the internets somewhere an idea of making an revamped grilled cheese sandwich.  If you remember one of our first dates, we cooked gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.  This time, we decided to do another twist on this basic sandwich and soup.  Here’s what we came up with:

Three Cheese Grilled Cheese Mac and Cheese (woah that’s a lot of cheese!)

Ingredients:

3 oz gruyere cheese

3 oz Colby jack and Monterey blend

3 oz white cheddar

¼ cup light cream

¼ lb cubed apple wood smoked bacon—cooked

1 cup pasta- cooked al dente and drained

1 loaf ciabatta bread

Butttterrrr

1 can tomato soup

Directions:

Cook the pasta al dente meanwhile searing the bacon.   Place the ciabatta loaf into the oven for 10 mins on 385.  Melt the three cheeses with the cream over the pasta noodles. Add bacon. Stir until well blended.  Once warmed from the oven, slice the ciabatta loaf into half length wise and then into half  again (to make 2 large sandwiches). Butter the outside of all four slices of bread and place two slices into buttered skillet. Add half of the mac and cheese mixture onto the two slices that are in the skillet. Top with the other two slices of bread to make two sandwiches. Grilled on both sides until brown and crispy. Serve with tomato soup.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

Breakfast...uh.. Concoction

Over the course of the past 9 months or so, Sam and I have dedicated our Saturday / Sunday mornings to perfecting this, um, breakfast…concoction.  In our hazy mornings, we have tried numerous combinations of some sort of carb, breakfast meat, eggs and cheese in a casserole dish. We’ve tried many, many different combinations over the months such as, puff pastry, crescents, small biscuits, frozen biscuits, large biscuits, eggs, eat beaters, bacon, sausage patties, bacon bits, thick cut bacon, maple sausage links, etc etc etc….This past Sunday morning we all agreed that we hit the jack pot. Our mouths were quite happy. What is this mysterious wonderfulness, you might be wondering to yourself…. The perfect combination we’ve discovered is as follows:

Ingredients:

½ pack of Pillsbury Grand Layer Biscuits

1 pack of Maple Jimmy Dean Sausage Patties (cooked)

½ cup - 1cup cheddar cheese

2 eggs- scrambled 

 ¼ cup  egg whites egg beaters

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat the Oven to 350 degrees. Cook the sausage patties and lay on paper towels to drain off excess fat.  Cut the patties into small chunks. Spray a 8X8 glass casserole dish very well with non-stick spray. (remember, you’re going to put eggs into it….that mess doesn’t come off! So be generous with the spray… if not, I warned you…) Peel the biscuits into half long ways  to make them thinner and line the bottom of the dish with as many as you can fit without scrunching. Layer on half of the sausage, half of the egg mixture, and half of the cheese. Add another layer of biscuits and repeat. Top with remaining cheese, salt and pepper.  Bake until biscuits and eggs are fully cooked and top is brown and crispy. 

annnnddd.... Yum Yum yum yum yum

Why the specific ingredients?

The Carb:

We’ve found that refrigerated biscuits work better than frozen ones. They don’t take as long to cook. The ‘Grands’ puff up enough in the oven to give the casserole a solid amount of bread, but it’s not too much biscuit to overpower the dish. We ruled out crescent dough as it is too flaky and  wasn’t quite the consistency needed to uphold the other ingredients. Phillo dough…..next. Small biscuits were also ruled out. I tried to go bargain brand on these and…ewh. It turned out horribly.  Drop biscuits also don't work either. They are too crumbly. 

The Meat:

We chose to go with sausage vs. bacon. I know, I know what you’re thinking! Blasphemy! While we DO love this option with bacon, the sausage is much more dense and holds up in the dish. Also, because it’s not straight fat, it’s not quite as greasy.  Remember to always cook the meat first. It doesn't have enough time in the oven to cook fully so precooking it is the best option. We went with the patties because they are already formed, easier to cook, and have more maple flavoring. “ Maple???? Really?? “ YES. Its perfect. Don’t question this. Sweet and savory? Just go with it.

The Cheese:

We love good ol’ fashion cheddar. American is… just weird in this dish. Mozz is …also too weird. We just like the cheddar option. It’s bold, cheesy, and tasty. Perfect on the top!

The Eggs:

You might be wondering why I put egg whites in with the 2 other eggs. Well. I’ve found that if you have too many egg yolks in the dish, the egg consistency gets to be too over powering.  It’s too…”eggy”. But if you add more egg whites than egg yolks, it seems to work perfectly and be nicely balanced. **Nerd alert ** If you cook eggs in a gray / silver cooking dish, the eggs will turn gray/greenish.  This is due to the iron and other proteins in the egg.  Also, because the biscuits need to be cooked at such a high temperature the egg yolk might also turn slightly in color, but its normal. They won’t taste any different. But this is another reason why I don’t use as many egg yolks in the dish. The less you use, the less green/gray so it doesn’t “look as off putting” (yes…I know a lot about eggs…thanks FACS Ed Degree)

Happy eating! 

Super Sneaky Mac and Cheese Adventure

Somewhere between being savvy and being healthy, this delish culinary adventure morphed from a mere dream to reality. Come along for the ride! This recipe is one that I found on SneakyChef.com (again…love that site!) and I’m actually VERY impressed with how well this turned out. AND there’s a serving of veggies in it! SUPER EASY TOO!

Ingredients :
- 4 cups cooked elbows or other small pasta shape (about 1/2 pound dry)
- 1 1/2 cups evaporated skim milk
- 1/4 cup White Puree (see Make-Ahead Recipe #4)
- 4 ounces reduced fat light colored cheese (like white cheddar)
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard (ideally honey mustard; don’t use spicy mustard)

> Mix all together in pot over low heat, mix; add pasta, stir 

I didn’t have any mustard….so naturally is substituted this with bacon bits. (don’t judge me) it was excellent! I literally could NOT taste the veggies in it.  I had to stir this a little longer to get the evaporated skim milk to thicken into more of a sauce, but it was worth the wait. I recommend! 

Chicken Teriyaki Stir Fry .....with bacon

“I’m not trying to toot my own horn but…..”   This dish was excellent if I do say so myself.  As you begin to go through this recipe, you might say to yourself, “ramen noodles??? REALLY?! Who eats those anymore except poor college kids?” Welp, I DO.  Do brace yourself from the shock that this recipe is actually fantastic and budget friendly (also did I mention everything IS better with bacon????):

1 pack chicken ramen noodles—cooked and drained

1.5 chicken breast -- cubed

½ cup bread crumbs

½ cup flour

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp olive oil

2-3 slices of bacon—cooked and cubed

2 tbsp almonds (sliced)

1.5 cups mixed veggies (I used a combo of carrots, celery, broccoli, green bell peppers, and green beans)

2-4 tbsp teriyaki sauce

Directions: cook the ramen noodles according to the packet, drain and set aside.  Cook bacon and set aside.  Cube the raw chicken breast. Combine the flour, bread crumbs, and spices. Roll the chicken in the flour/bread crumb mixture. Heat oil in large skillet to medium heat. Cook chicken until just under done. Add almonds and mixed veggies to skillet. Cook until veggies are just under done. Add teriyaki sauce, bacon, and noodles to skillet and continue to cook until veggies and chicken are fully done.

Serve hotttttt

YUM J

Double the Crunch, Double the YUM!

Last night I decided to make a new recipe that I found on Pinterest. (if you haven’t looked at it before…..please..do us all a favor and go there. Warning: website may cause lack of sleep, other priorities to be pushed back, extreme hunger and or salivation, injury due to DIY projects attempted, and other various side effects)  This one is defiantly going in the recipe book and will be made again and again. It was a major hit! The roomies and the Sam loved it. I thought it was dynamite too (if I do say so myself).  I think this recipe would have turned out just a touch better if I had all the ingredients and / or used the correct ingredients.  However, remember that this bacon lover is on a budget and I don’t have all kinds of monies to throw at getting spices an’ all dat’. So, I’ve given you the real recipe below and then crossed out the ingredients to demonstrate what I actually used that turned out to be quite an adventure on the palate; one that I wouldn’t mind going on again:

Double Crunch Honey Garlic Pork Chops

6 center loin pork chops, well trimmed

Sift together for Pork Chops:
1 cup flour
2 tsp salt
2 one tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp 1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground thyme
1 tsp ground sage
1 tbsp 1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Make an egg wash by whisking together:
2 eggs
4 tbsp water milk (it works better than water)

Season the pork chops with salt and pepper, then dip the chops in the flour and spice mixture. Dip the chop into the eggwash and then a final time into the flour and spice mix, pressing the mix into the chop to get good contact.

Heat a skillet on the stove with about a half inch of canola (who has canola oil??) oil olive oil covering the bottom. You will want to carefully regulate the temperature here so that the chops do not brown too quickly on the outside before they are fully cooked on the inside. I find just below medium heat works well. I use a burner setting of about 4 1/2 out of 10 on the dial and fry them gently for about 4 or 5 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy. Meanwhile, make the honey garlic sauce:

Drain on a wire rack on a plate with paper towels... who has a wire wrack!? really?! for a couple of minutes before dipping (twice or three times) the cooked chops into the Honey Garlic Sauce. Serve with noodles or rice couscous (cus its awesome...duh.)



Honey Garlic Sauce:
2 tbsp olive oil
3 – 4 cloves minced garlic tsp garlic powder

In a medium saucepan cook over medium heat to soften the garlic but do not let it brown. Then, add:

1 cup honey
¼ cup soy sauce teriyaki sauce (had it on hand already)
1 tsp ground black pepper


Simmer together for 5-10 minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Watch this carefully as it simmers because it can foam up over the pot very easily.


________________________________________________________________________

I served this with  a side of parmesean couscous. (which I love) and it was quite superb!

First time around: SUCCESS:

The Sneaky Chef

Recently, I rediscovered ( and now am obsessed with ) an old site I used a lot during my student teaching days. This site is all about a mom who actively tries to be “sneaky” and feed her children healthier foods without them realizing it. She takes old classics and our favorite day to day recipes and makes them healthier. This is done through a number of methods. For example: she will add unconventional ingredients that you wouldn’t expect to a recipe that not only make it taste delicious, but you never even know you are getting a full serving of fruits or vegetables! *this method will be showcased in the recipe I describe below. In other recipes, she will substitute the fat (butter and / or oil) content within a recipe with fruits and vegetables. GENIUS. I made the brownie recipe on this site for my students during student teaching and had them do a blind taste test along side “regular recipe” brownies, and 9 out of 10 students liked her recipe more. After they all agreed they liked this one better, I then announced the “secret ingredients”. Some were not as pleased as others as they do not normally like those ingredients. Its like that old saying, if you don’t know whats in it I’ll eat it. So, last night I dove head first into this site and began with someone that most people know is my favorite thing in the whole world: corn dogs. If you read to the bottom more, I had to start with the “Make-ahead- recipe #4” in order to make these corn dogs. The make-ahead recipe is where the sneakiness of this chef comes into play.


Top Dog Corn Dog Muffins


- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons sugar - 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1/2 cup White Puree (See Make-Ahead Recipe #4, p. 260)
- 6 tablespoons low-fat milk
- 1/2 cup grated low-fat cheddar cheese
- 2 hot dogs, cut in half lengthwise, and chopped into small pieces
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1/2 cup Flour Blend (See Make-Ahead Recipe #8, p. 265) ******
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda




********Instead of using the make-adhead recip #8, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and baking soda is just used 1 box of jiffy corn bread mix. it already has all those ingredients and takes about 2.5 seconds to open the box. no measuring out all those ingredients AND its about .19cents. --the budget...remember?! > Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a muffin tin with paper liners. Spray liners lightly with cooking spray oil. > In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until well combined, then whisk in the melted butter, White Puree, milk, cheese, and hot dog pieces. In another mixing bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, Flour Blend, baking powder, salt, and baking soda take jiffy corn bread mix out of the box. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until flour is just moistened (don't over-mix or the muffins will be dense). > Scoop the batter into muffin tins, filling just to the top. Bake for 22 to 24 minutes, until tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.



Make-Ahead Recipe #4: White Puree

 Makes about 2 cups of puree. Double recipe if you want to store even more, which can be done in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze 1/4 cup portions in sealed plastic bags or the small plastic containers.


- 2 cups cauliflower, cut into florets - 2 small to medium zucchini, peeled and rough chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1-2 tablespoons water, if necessary > Steam cauliflower in a vegetable steamer over 2 inches of water, using a tightly-covered pot, for about 10 to 12 minutes until very tender. Alternatively, place cauliflower in a microwave-safe bowl , cover with water, and microwave on high for 8 to 10 minutes until very tender. > While waiting for the cauliflower to finish steaming, start to pulse the raw peeled zucchini with the lemon juice only (no water at this point). Drain the cooked cauliflower. Working in batches if necessary, add it to the pulsed zucchini in the bowl of the food processor with one tablespoon of water. Puree on high until smooth. Stop occasionally and push contents from the top to the bottom. If necessary, use the second tablespoon of water to make a smooth (but not wet) puree.



So, for my first try, they turned out AMAZING!!!

Here is the white puree leftovers that I will be utilizing in some of her other recipes.









Would you ever have guessed there is zucchini and cauliflower in these?? NOPE!