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Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Ultimate Grilled Apple Bacon Gouda Sandwich

I love grilled cheese and I think if it wasn't for my waist getting bigger with each bite, I would eat them everyday. April is Grilled Cheese Month, so I couldn't missed this opportunity to let you know how I have been making my grilled cheese lately. I do have to give this disclaimer before you go on... this recipe is not for the light of heart.

Apple Basil Chicken Panini ~ CIC

Fall is in the air here in the UP. We are seeing the leaves turning colours and falling quickly to the ground. I love this time of year, the crispness in the morning, wearing hoodies, pumpkins and apples. Apple is one of the ingredients that we get to work with this month for our Crazy Ingredient Challenge.

May's #SurpriseRecipeSwap ~ Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken

Do you find that the months go by faster and faster or is it just me. I have been told that the older you get the faster the years go by and they weren't kidding. It feels like I was just writing last month's SRS and here it is again time to write another post.

I am always so good at going to the blog that I have been assigned to as soon as I get the name. I scour through all the recipes, reading, writing them down so that I have an idea of what I am going to make. I can usually narrow it down to about five recipes that I am wanting to make and then I put things away... And the days past by quickly.... and here it is the time to start writing and I have to first make my recipe. Procrastinator that is what I am and I don't really think I will change.

This month I was lucky enough to get Jaime from Mom's Test Kitchen. I loved going through her blog, and finding new recipes. I had never been over to Jaime's blog so everything was new. I loved how she had it set up and I also loved how she indexed her recipes.. It was so easy to find them. To find all her great recipes, head over HERE.

The recipe I picked to make was Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken. I, unlike Jaime was able to enjoy my preparation and also enjoy tasting the final product. There was no one else home but me to enjoy the final product as hubby is down state working. I am sure he will enjoy this meal so I will be making it again. My plans were to make this meal with spaghetti squash and I even made it but as it was cooking.. another thought came to mind. Bruschetta needs to be eaten with bread.... RIGHT? So, I decided to eat mine with chiabatta bread. I had just bought some rolls when I was shopping and that made this perfect.

Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken on Ciabatta Bun

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp garlic
2 chicken breast
4 roma tomatoes seeded and diced
1/3 cup onion ( I used red onion)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp basil (I used fresh)
1/2 tsp parsley (I used fresh)
grated Tillamook smoked black pepper white cheddar cheese
2 ciabatta buns
garlic butter (I just mixed some garlic powder and butter together)

Mix first 3 ingredients together (balsamic vinegar, olive oil and garlic) for marinade. Put chicken breast in Ziploc bag and pour marinate over. Marinate for as long as possible. Mine were left to marinate for about 6 hours. Bake in 375 degree oven until juices no longer are pink or until chicken reaches 165 degrees.
Bruschetta -In separate bowl, mix tomatoes, onions, balsamic vinegar, oil and spices.
When chicken is done, I then place it in a pan with a small amount of oil and browned both sides, I then cut the chicken in half as they were thick pieces.
Top chicken with bruschetta and add grated cheese. Place under broiler until cheese is melted.
While chicken is under the broiler, toast ciabatta buns. Spread garlic butter over and add a couple of slices of cheese on the bun and melt under broiler.
Place balsamic bruschetta chicken on bun and enjoy.

This recipe was delicious. The flavours were magnificent. I did have a small amount of bruschetta left over but I will be eating that with my spaghetti squash that I made to eat with this meal.

If you would like to join this group, click on the button below and fill out the form. Each month you will get a new blog to check out and you have to the 20th to decide and make your recipe. It is a lot of fun and you meet new bloggers and gain new friends. Check it out, Jutta from Hungry Little Girl does a wonderful job in arranging and making sure everything works.

Links: Thursday's Treasure, Freedom Fridays, Create it Thursday, Random Recipe Roundup

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Crockpot Italian Pulled Beef Sandwiches..

I love my crockpot and use it often during the year. The only problem about using a crockpot is that you have to think about your meal ahead of time... and that is one thing I don't always do.. I am a spur of the moment type of person, I run down to the freezer and look in and after I see what I have, I figure out what I am going to make. But on rare occasions I will do this in the morning and take out something to put in my crockpot.
This crockpot meal you have to think about it a day before, because ideally it should cook for at least 18 hours. Well, this is the real world and in my world that seldom if ever happens. On occasion I will remember the night before to put it in... but then that causes another problem ~~~ How do you sleep with those wonderful smells waffling into the bedroom, making your stomach growl? Not an easy task and when I do it, I am hungry all night...
The other reason I like my crockpot is that I love the taste of the meat when it comes out and you can use a cheaper cut and it still usually turns out wonderfully.
Last weekend I wanted to make this as I knew that our Foodie Friends Friday was have a Croctober party and I need some crock pot recipes. Also, I was having company and as my husband isn't that keen on sandwiches there wouldn't be so much left over. So, Friday evening I asked my brother when they would be leaving on Saturday and he thought shortly afternoon. Horrors this takes a good 16 -18 hours on low and it is already 10 pm... so if we ate at noon that would only be 15 hours... What to do? Did you know that if you cooked an hour on high, that is an two hours on low? So I put the meat and everything else in and turned it on high for about an hour and half and then turned it on low.. The next day at shortly after one we sat down for Italian Pulled Beef Sandwiches and they got a good review.
This recipe I originally received from a friend and she got it from a Chicago paper, but I never did write it down so this is how I made it this time..

Crockpot Italian Pulled Beef Sandwiches

Ingredients:

5 lbs roast - you can use any kind and this time I only used a 2.5 lb and it worked good

1 envelope Italian dressing mix

1 can beef broth

1 jar Italian Mix Giardiniera

1 jar Golden Peperoncini - I used only 1/2 jar

buns - I used small Italian buns

cheese (optional) - I used tillamook garlic cheese white cheddar cheese.

Place all ingredients into a crock pot and place on low and cook for 18 hours. If you are short on time, you can put it on high for an hour or two and then turn down to low for the rest of the time. For best results cook for at least 16 hours, the longer the better.

Once cooked, shred the beef and vegetables. I took out the peperoncini and put them on the side as I wasn't sure if the children would eat them... Place in open faced buns, I used Italian buns that I melted butter and spread on the top and placed in the oven under the broiler for a few minutes. They were nice and crisp.

Add meat, and cheese if wanted. I also added a small amount of gravy.. direction for what I did are below in the *.

* because I only used a small roast, there was a lot of liquid left over. I place this in a pot on medium heat until it came to a nice rolling boil. Remove approximately 1/4 cup and add 1 -2 tbsp of flour and stir until mixed in. Add to the rest of the sauce slowly, stirring as you are adding the flour mixture in. Continue to boil until you get gravy at the thickness you want. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add more flour if needed. You can either have a thin gravy as an au jus or thicker gravy. I opted for a thicker gravy and place a small amount over the beef in the bun.

Another way of eating this would be over mashed potatoes or with rice.