Grown-up Grilled Cheese

I like cheese.  The joke around the house the last week is that the only thing in the fridge is cheese.  I have sliced cheese, block o' cheese or shredded.  I think they are all some form of cheddar.  But I'm not hatin' it's yummy.

So, I made a grown up grilled cheese sandwich to make a tiny dent into our cheese stash.  I still have a lot of cheese.  More cheese recipes to follow...

Grown-up Grilled Cheese

makes 1 sandwich

Ingredients:
2 slices sourdough bread
2 slices cheddar cheese
2 strips of cooked bacon (crispy)
4 or so thin slices of apple (Granny Smith or the like)
softened butter ( a little bit)

Utensils:
cast iron pan

Directions:
Preheat cast iron pan over medium heat.  Spread butter on on side of each bread.  Put one slice of bread (buttered side down) on pan.  Top with one slice of cheese.  Lay bacon on top of cheese.  Top with apple slices and second piece of cheese.  Top with other slice of bread with butter side up.

Melt cheese and brown bottom of sandwich.  Once browned, flip over and cook the other side.

Voila.

Roasted Purple Cauliflower

Roasted Purple Cauliflower

serves 4

Purple is my favorite color.  So, when Grace and I went to our local farmer's market on Saturday and I saw purple cauliflower I knew I had to get it.  John's not a huge cauliflower fan but he liked these.  And more important, they were easy to make! It turns slightly blue instead of purple in the cooking process.  Pretty and healthy!  Double score :)

Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower
1 to 2 T olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
juice from 1/2 a lemon
salt and pepper

Utensils:
Baking sheet

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Wash the cauliflower and cut it into florets.  Place on baking sheet.  Sprinkle olive oil, cumin, fennel seeds, lemon juice, salt and pepper on top of the cauliflower.  Move it around the baking sheet to coat the cauliflower.

Pop in the oven and roast for about 30 minutes or so until it is cooked.

Voila!

Tamale Pie

Tamale Pie

Serves 4-6 people

Not going to lie, making this recipe was slightly stressful.  Not the recipe, but the crying, searching and puppy noses where they shouldn't be.  Crying - I strapped Grace into her highchair and gave her a bottle to play with.  She played contently for about 15 minutes (pretty good).  She then started the game of drop it on the floor and fuss/cry when I didn't go pick it up.  Searching - I knew I had purchased a pound of ground beef this past weekend but for the life of me I couldn't find the damn thing.  I looked in the fridge, back of my car (although I hadn't smelled anything funky), and the freezer.  Finally on my second look in the freezer I found that John and left it in the grocery bag and stuffed it behind other stuff.  So needless to say it was frozen solid.  Puppy noses -- Louis likes to assist and try to get his nose burnt.

With all the hoopla going on I forgot to season as I went so I had to add salt to the top after it came out of the oven.  But, all in all it came out tasty and it was easy...just make sure you don't have frozen meat and then not realize that the defrost feature on the microwave only defrosted the outside so you had meat on ice that you try to brown.

I adapted the recipe from Mad Hungry.

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
1 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 lb. ground beef (I had extra lean)
1 T tomato paste
1 15 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
cilantro, as garnish
sour cream, as garnish

Utensils:
cast iron skillet (10 inches)
pot with lid
whisk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Add the olive oil, onion and garlic to skillet over medium heat and soften the onions.  Add the coriander, cumin, red pepper flakes and salt & pepper.  Stir around.  Add the beef and brown until nearly cooked through.  Add the tomato paste and crushed tomatoes.  Stir to incorporate.

While the onions and beef mixture is cooking, bring 2 1/2 cups of water up to a boil in a small pot.  Once water is up to a boil SLOWLY whisk in the cornmeal and whisk until incorporated and there are no lumps.  Add salt and pepper.  Off the heat, add the cheddar cheese and whisk to incorporate into the cornmeal mixture.

In the skillet, even out the beef mixture so it is flat.  Add the cornmeal mixture on top of the beef and spread out.

Put in oven for about 25-30 minutes until bubbly.  Take out and let rest for a few minutes.

Garnish with sour cream and cilantro.

Voila!

Beef Burgundy Stew

Beef Burgundy Stew

serves 6

So, I was trying to find a beef dish that was hearty and was something new.  I stumbled across this recipe.  However, I wasn't too impressed with the length of cooking time.  So, I changed it up a bit so it would be quicker and easier.  It turned out pretty tasty, if I do say so myself.

Ingredients:
1 lb. beef stew meat, in 1" cubes
1 medium onion, coursely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp. dried Italian herb mix
2 cups dry red wine, divided
1/4 cup flour
2 slices of bacon, chopped
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 package of sliced baby bella mushrooms
2 medium carrots, chopped/sliced
1 tsp. tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock/broth (low sodium)
2 cups beef broth (low sodium)
1/4 lb of egg noodles
salt & pepper

Utensils:
dutch oven
ziplock bag

Directions:
Combine the beef, onion, garlic, Italian herb mix, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper and 1 cup of red wine in a ziplock bag.  Seal bag and coat the mixture on the beef.  Put in refrigerator inside a baking dish (in case of spillage).  Let marinade for about an hour or more.

After marinading remove the beef from the ziplock bag and pat dry with paper towels.  Reserve the marinade.  Sprinkle flour on top of beef.  Set aside.

Add about a 1/2 tsp of olive oil in a dutch oven.  Add bacon and cook until crispy.  Remove the bacon from the dutch oven.  Add beef and brown on all sides.  Working in batches, if necessary.  (You don't want to crowd the bottom).  Remove the beef.

Add the mushrooms and carrots.  Cook until they have released the water and begin to brown.  Scrap up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan.  Add the tomato paste.  Mix in with the mushrooms.  Add the marinade (with the onions and garlic), additional wine, chicken stock, beef stock and reserved beef and bacon.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and cover and simmer for 1 hour.  After the hour of simmering, add the egg noodles.  Cook for about 8 minutes until the pasta is al dente.  Adjust seasoning to taste.

Voila!

Sweet N' Spicy Sloppy Joes Sliders

It's been a while.  Sorry, things have been a smidge insane lately.  The daughter has started eating solid foods (yes for sweet peas no for green beans...).  Last night it was a bit rainy and dreary ... dare I say fallish.  I had a pound of ground meat and frozen sourdough rolls.  So, I whipped up some sloppy joe sliders and they were quite tasty.

Sweet N' Spicy Sloppy Joe Sliders

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1/2 onion, minced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. olive oil
1 pound ground beef
2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1 T ketchup
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 T brown sugar
1 14 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
8 sourdough rolls, warmed and split in half

Utensils:
large skillet
wooden spoon

Directions:
Lightly sauté the onions with olive oil over medium low heat, add a smidgen of salt.  When they are softened and slightly translucent add the garlic.  Add the ground beef and start browning it and breaking it up with a wooden spoon.  Add Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, crushed red pepper flakes and brown sugar; stir together to combine.  Add can of crushed tomatoes and the salt and pepper.  Lower heat to low and let simmer for 10 minutes to thicken up a bit.

Add the beef mixture to the inside of the rolls.  Serve with fries and a salad on the side.
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Chicken Tortilla Soup

A few weeks ago we had a "cold" front and thunderstorms blow through Houston.  And by "cold front" I mean it was under 90 degrees in July.  I took that opportunity to make soup which is quick and easy and delicious.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Serves 4-6

Ingredients for Soup:
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 T olive oil
2 T chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. dried cilantro
2 cups cooked chicken, diced
1 - 14 oz. can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 - 14 oz. can of corn
6 cups of chicken stock, low sodium
salt and pepper to taste
grated cheese, for garnish

Ingredients for Tortilla Strips:
6 flour tortilla, cut into strips
1 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1/2 lime

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.  Line a baking sheet with the tortilla strips.  Drizzle olive oil, salt and pepper on top of tortillas.  Mix them together.  Bake for about 10 minutes until they get crispy.  When they are done squirt the juice of 1/2 a lime on top of them.

Meanwhile, over medium heat, add the olive oil, onion and garlic to a large stock pot.  Add a little salt and pepper to taste.  Once onions have softened, add the chili powder, cumin, crushed red pepper flakes, cilantro, chicken, tomatoes, corn and chicken stock.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer.  Cover the pot and let simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve with tortilla strips and grated cheese on top.
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Cherry Tartlets

Ahhh cherries, how I love thee.  Except having to pit each and every one of you.  But then when it comes to eating I'm back to loving you.  This was super easy to put together...after the pitting process.

Cherry Tartlets

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 cup pitted cherries, halved (frozen cherries work too)
1/4 cup sugar (more or less depending on how sweet they are)
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
vanilla ice cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut sheet of puff pastry into fours.  Put the puff pastries on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or the sort.  Sprinkle a little bit of sugar on top of the puff pastry.

In a bowl combine cherries, sugar and lemon juice.  Spoon about a 1/4 of a cup of the cherries in the middle of each puff pastry.  Bring the corners together over the cherries and press together.  (Mine separated because I had too many cherries...as if that is possible).

Bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops have browned.

Serve with a scoop of ice cream.
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