French Dip Sandwiches

Ooo-la-la. This recipe is sooo good and sooo easy. Your house will smell absolutely AMAZING as this roast simmers in the crockpot all day in a beefy onion broth. Then…. just slice, serve on crusty rolls with provolone cheese and dip….dip away in the extra au jus sauce. I love to serve this with homemade french fries.  Can you say Holy Moly?!

RECIPE: French Dip Sandwiches

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs. rump roast

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt, pepper, garlic powder for seasoning

21 ounces low sodium beef broth (note: you can also replace half  of the beef broth with a dark beer for more depth – come on, just do it!)

10-1/2 ounces french onion soup, condensed

1 tablespoon worcestershire

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon garlic

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 (1 oz) package Au Jus dry mix

6-8 crusty french rolls

6-8 slices provolone cheese

2 tablespoon butter, softened

DIRECTIONS:

1. Season rump roast with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Brown roast on all sides in a large skillet with olive oil (medium-high heat). Place in crockpot.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together the beef broth/beer, french onion soup, worcestershire, soy sauce, garlic, thyme, pepper, and Au Jus mix. Pour over roast in crockpot.

3. Cook on low 9-10 hours until tender. Remove roast from crockpot and cut meat into thin slices and place back in crockpot for 5-10 minutes to soak up the juice.

4. Cut the crusty rolls in half and butter both sides.  Place rolls butter side down on a cookie sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately 5 minutes or until rolls are slightly browned on bottom.

5. Top rolls with roast beef slices and provolone cheese. Use extra au jus in crockpot for dipping.

My fascination with all things French continues. Au jus, wine, cheese, castles, baguettes, the Eiffel Tower, fashion, excellent films, french kissing….Oiu oiu.

Yes, I must continue with my french language lessons. I leave you with this……

Weekend Breakfast Casserole

Feelin’ on top of the world this morning.  I mean, it must be illegal to feel this happy? And when I’m happy, I think of breakfast. I know that’s strange, but it’s true.  Yup.

This is one of my favorite breakfast casseroles to make. I have tried many breakfast casserole recipes over the years and a large majority call for cubed bread. For some reason, the bread always seems soggy to me…it’s a texture thing I guess…don’t like it. So, instead of bread or a crescent roll crust, I decided to use shredded potatoes as the base.

This recipe is very versatile because you can replace the sausage with bacon or diced ham if you prefer. You can add chopped vegetables. You can replace the cheddar cheese with another cheese….like pepper jack cheese if you want to spice it up a bit. There are just so many different ways you can go with this.

RECIPE: Weekend Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:

20 ounces, Bob Evan’s Shredded Seasoned Hash Brown Potatoes (refrigerated)

2 tablespoons, butter

1 lb. bulk sausage (I prefer Bob Evan’s Original)

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread shredded potatoes in a 9×13 pan to form a “crust”.  Top with pats of butter. Bake for 10 minutes or until the potatoes start to brown a bit. I sometimes even broil them for a minute. Remove from oven and reduce the oven temp to 350 degrees. Note: you can technically skip this step but I think a little pre-browning of the potatoes improves this recipe tremendously.

2. While the potatoes are baking, cook the sausage in a skillet over medium heat until browned. Sprinkle sausage on top of potatoes.

3. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top of the sausage.

4. Whisk the eggs and milk in a bowl until well-blended. Pour over the sausage/cheese/potatoes.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes until the middle is set and the top is slightly browned. Note:  If the top starts to get too brown, cover with foil and continue cooking.

Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Okay, this is probably the one and only thing in my recipe repertoire that is actually healthy and good for you! Of course, I kind of ruin the “healthy” thing by adding a tub of sour cream to the soup (hey, it’s better than a Big Mac, right?). You can substitute with low fat sour cream or leave it out if you like and add a little dollop of the end. Personally, I like whisking it in to the soup as it gives the soup a nice creamy texture. This soup also freezes VERY well and it tastes even better on the second day….yes, Virginia, it is possible.

RECIPE: Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

2 quarts water

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons fresh minced parsley (or dried parsley)

1 tablespoon onion powder

5 cubes chicken bouillon

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 (16 ounce) jar medium salsa (I prefer Pace)

2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chiles (I prefer Rotel)

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup

3 tablespoons chili powder

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon cayenne (optional)

1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

2 (16 ounce) cans black beans, undrained

1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

Directions:

1. In a large stock pot over high heat, combine water, chicken, salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley, onion powder and bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 1 hour, or until chicken juices run clear. Remove chicken, RESERVE broth. Shred chicken.
2. In a large stock pot over medium heat, cook the onion and garlic in olive oil until slightly browned. Stir in salsa, diced tomatoes, tomato soup, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, lime juice, corn, black beans, shredded chicken and 5 cups broth.  Whisk in sour cream until well-blended. Simmer 30 minutes.

Serve in bowls and top with an additional dollop of sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, tortilla chips, fresh cilantro, sliced avocados…whatever floats your boat!

Wanna-Be Asian Lettuce Wraps

I heart Chinese food. Okay, to be honest, I heart LOTS of food but if I had to name the food genre that I tend to “crave” the most often, it would be Chinese food. Some of my favorite Chinese dishes include Hunan Chicken, Szechuan Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken…yep, pretty much anything with chicken that’s really spicy. I love spicy!  I mourn the day that I will become old and heartburn will set in and antacids just won’t do the trick anymore……that day will just stink.

Considering that I love it so much,  I have to oddly admit that Chinese is the type of food that I’m least likely to make at home. You know why I think it is? Because no matter how hard I try, I can NEVER make it quite as good and therefore never quite satisfy that craving and it frustrates the bojangles out of me………..until now….

Which brings me to PF Changs restaurant. I love their asian lettuce wraps. Quite honestly, they are to die for.  So, what is a cook fanatic like me to do but scour the web for copycat recipes. Last year I tested so many of them until I found the “almost” perfect one!  This recipe is  sooo yummy good and for once, a Chinese dish that I made at home finally hit the spot and satisfied that endless craving.

Alright, this is completely random but it’s almost Christmas and I’m talking about Chinese food and I can’t help but think of that scene from the movie Christmas Story…you know, the one where they go to a Chinese restaurant for Christmas dinner:

Fa ra ra ra. Oh, ha ha ha. Darn, I love YouTube!

I will get back on subject now. Yes, asian lettuce wraps.  Here is the best wanna be recipe for PF Changs’ Asian Lettuce Wraps. I swear you can not get any closer to the real thing than this.

RECIPE: Wanna-Be Asian Lettuce Wraps

16 lettuce leaves (washed and taken off the head and left whole; note: I prefer bib lettuce with this recipe)

2 lb. ground chicken (or replace with tofu for a vegetarian dish)

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 teaspoon minced garlic

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3/4 cup hoisin sauce

1 teaspooon asian chili pepper sauce

1 teaspoon minced or ground ginger

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 teaspoons sesame oil

8 ounces water chestnuts, drained and chopped

1 bunch green onions, chopped

Directions:

1. Heat large skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil and then add chicken. Brown the chicken 7-10 minutes until done and remove from skillet and set aside.

2. In the same large skillet over medium heat, cook the onions and garlic in 1 tablespoon of oil until the onions are translucent. 

3. In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, asian chile pepper sauce, ginger, rice vinegar, and sesame oil.  Add this to the skillet with the onions and garlic. Stir in the chopped water chestnuts and green onions. Cook until the green onions are tender.

4. Once the green onions are tender, add the ground chicken back in the skillet and stir well. Cook until heated through.

5. Scoop the chicken filling into a lettuce leaf, top with special sauce (see recipe below), wrap up like a burrito, and eat!

RECIPE: Special Sauce

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup warm water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon hot mustard

2 teaspoon water

1 teaspoon chili paste

Directions:

1. Dissolve 1/4 cup sugar in 1/2 cup warm water. Then whisk in the soy sauce, ketchup, lemon juice, sesame oil, hot mustard, 2 teaspoons water, and chili paste. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Oh, man, the combination of the warm, spicy filling with the cool, crisp lettuce…it’s like heaven in your mouth.

Easy Loaded Baked Potato Soup

This soup is addictive.  Seriously. It’s almost last meal material if you ask me….and even better, it is easy. I have also made this soup from scratch with milk, cream, flour, etc. but honestly, it tastes just as good using the cream of potato soup and saves you time and effort. So, why not? 

RECIPE: Easy Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1/4 cup grated carrot

1/4 cup diced onions

2 tablespoons butter

2 (10-3/4 oz) cans Campbell’s Cream of Potato

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon celery seed

6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

4 oz. Velveeta , cubed

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Optional for garnish:

1-2 green onions, chopped

extra bacon crumbles

shredded cheddar cheese

sour cream

Directions:

1. In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add carrots and onions. Saute approximately 4-5 minutes until tender.

2. In a stockpot, add cream of potato soup, milk, celery seed, bacon crumbles, carrots, and onions. Stir well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and add Velveeta cubes. Stir until cheese is melted. Serve in bowls with desired toppings/garnish.

Mmmm….

I think I’m ready for a cold winter’s day now…fire burning, snow falling, and soup. Lots and lots of soup. 

Oh, and you know I can’t resist an old commercial (plus I must give credit where credit is due):

Sweet Smothered Green Beans

This sweet, buttery, brown sugary, bacony goodness always gets rave reviews. Everyone always asks me “what did you put in those?”.

RECIPE: Sweet Smothered Green Beans

Servings: approx. 6

2 (14.5 ounce) cans whole green beans, drained

1/4 cup chopped onion (optional)

1/2 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon worcestershire

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together melted butter, brown sugar, garlic salt, worcestershire, and soy. Add drained green beans.  Stir in crumbled bacon and onions.

2. Transfer to baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until green beans are hot.

P.S. Roots-this is for you!

 

Stuffed Romano Chicken (with garlic lemon butter sauce)

This is one of my favorite chicken recipes.  Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are stuffed with cheddar and cream cheese, coated in an Italian bread crumb/romano cheese mixture, and then drenched in a garlic lemon butter sauce and then baked.   There are so many different variations you can try with this recipe! First of all, if you are trying to watch your calories (unlike me), this tastes great without the cheese filling. If you don’t like cream cheese, leave it out and just use cheddar cheese. You can also add bacon pieces to the cheese stuffing (yum!) or stuff the chicken with pepper jack cheese or use onion and chives cream cheese instead of regular cream cheese…whatever floats your boat. Enjoy!

Recipe: Garlic Lemon Butter Stuffed Chicken

Servings 6

Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1 cup milk

1 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 cup grated Romano cheese

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (to taste)

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking dish with cooking spray.

2. In a small bowl, mix together softened cream cheese and shredded cheddar cheese.

3. Butterfly each chicken breasts by cutting horizontally through the center, but not completely through. Stuff each chicken breast with cheese mixture.

4. Place milk in a shallow bowl. In another bowl, combine bread crumbs and romano cheese. Dip each breast in milk, then in bread crumb mixture, patting firmly to coat. Place on baking dish.

5. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in garlic and lemon juice and then drizzle evenly over chicken. Sprinkle chicken with desired amount of garlic salt and paprika.

6. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Sausage Gravy and Biscuits

This recipe takes me back to my Grandma Margie’s house where I spent many summers as a little girl….mostly getting in trouble with my sisters (and occasionally my cousin Doug too) or traipsing through the woods with my Grandpa Paulie while he shared his love and knowledge of indians, birds, and trees with us…..he was a living, breathing, walking nature encyclopedia. Margie & Paulie (note: we weren’t allowed to call them Grandma & Grandpa. I know, crazy,huh? Perhaps it’s because my sisters and I were such heathens that they didn’t want to claim us? lol) lived in a big, old white farmhouse located southeast of Chillicothe, Ohio and had quite a bit of land. They had a HUGE garden and grew everything from onions, cabbage, carrots, beets (ew), cucumbers, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, watermelons, green beans….you name it, they pretty much grew it.

I can vividly remember waking up in the early morning to the smell of Margie frying sausage for homemade sausage gravy and biscuits.  Mmmm. The bedroom that my sister Jennie and I slept in was located directly above the kitchen and had this little secret staircase that ran from our room to the kitchen. We never used that staircase though…because it was darn creepy, but nevertheless, it allowed the kitchen smells to work their way up to our room. 

I think my love of breakfast stems from those summers spent at Margie & Paulie’s house…mostly because we always ate dinner mid-afternoon and we were never allowed to have any snacks after that…so I pretty much went to bed starving every night and woke up still starving….hence, I couldn’t wait to eat breakfast. I love breakfast. So much so, that I have made it a Christmas Eve tradition in our house to serve “breakfast for dinner”…a breakfast feast like none other that my girls always look forward to every year. I make sausage, bacon, pancakes, hashbrown potatoes, and of course…..sausage gravy and biscuits. I know for a long time I was afraid to make sausage gravy because it seemed so hard, but it’s really very easy.

RECIPE: Sausage Gravy & Biscuits

Serves 5-6

Ingredients:

1 (12 oz) package Bob Evan’s Original Sausage (or your sausage of choice)

4 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup flour

4 cups milk

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp onion powder

salt and pepper to taste

1 can (7.5 oz) buttermilk biscuits, prepared

Directions:

1. Place sausage in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon, leaving the drippings in the pan.

2. Stir in the butter until melted. Add flour, and stir until smooth. Reduce heat to medium, and cook until light brown (this is called making a “roux”).

3. Gradually whisk in milk, garlic powder, and onion powder. When the mixture becomes smooth, thickened, and begins to bubble, stir in the cooked sausage. Season with salt and pepper (I like lots of salt and pepper). Reduce heat, and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes. If gravy becomes too thick, stir in a little more milk.

4. Serve over split buttermilk biscuits.

Note: you can refrigerate the extra gravy and biscuits. They reheat well in the microwave!

Southern Style Pulled Pork

I can only guess that my love affair with southern cooking began in Marietta, Georgia….my birthplace. That’s the only reasonable explanation that I can come up with. I mean seriously, can it get any better than fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans cooked in bacon grease? Oh, and don’t forget the sweet tea…and the biscuits…and the banana pudding…

You lickin’ your lips yet? Well, I have the perfect southern style pulled pork recipe for you.  It’s pretty much to die for….if I must say so myself.  My friend Cindy told me it was better than any restaurant pulled pork she has ever had. Uh huh, that’s right.  Oh, and the aroma that will permeate your house?! One word: amazing!!! You will be smackin’ your lips no doubt. If you have dogs, they will be running around the house like cats on cat nip

I’ll be honest here, the recipe starts with a homemade barbecue sauce to roast the pork in. However, after cooking and shredding the pork, I cheat. Yep, that’s right, I cheat and add some bottled barbecue sauce…in my opinion, Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Barbecue goes the best with this recipe.  Here you go:

Recipe: Southern Style Pulled Pork

Serve 6-8

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons mustard powder

2 teaspoons oregano

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons salt

3 lbs boneless pork shoulder

2 tablespoons oil

1 onion, chopped

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

2 cups tomato juice

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon molasses

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Small bottle of barbecue sauce (my favorite is Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Barbecue)

8 hamburger Buns

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Mix together the mustard powder,oregano, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and salt.
3. Rub over meat; set aside.
4. In a small roasting pan, heat oil over medium heat.
5. Add onion and garlic; cook until onions are translucent about 5-7 minutes.
6. Add tomato juice, vinegar, molasses, brown sugar and worcestershire.
7. Increase heat to high; cook 10 minutes. Stir frequently.
8. Add pork to sauce and cover.
9. Place in oven and cook for 3 hours.
10. Uncover and continue cooking, basting from time to time, until meat is fall apart tender,about 1-1/2  hours more.
11. Remove from oven and shred pork (I typically use two forks to do this).
12. Add bottled barbecue sauce to shredded pork until desired sauciness.
13. Serve on buns. Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Mmmmm.

Top with cole slaw and add a side of baked beans for the perfect southern-style feast!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Ah, whoopie pies! Remember those? I mean what kid doesn’t think a cream-filled chocolate cake is good?  I saw a show on the Food Network last year regarding a business called Wicked Whoopies in Maine that makes the most amazing whoopies in the most amazing varieties. Hence, my inspiration for finding this pumpkin whoopie pie recipe:

Recipe: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Makes approx. 36 whoopies

Note: I have included two different filling versions below (a traditional whoopie filling and a cream cheese filling, you choose which one you like best):

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1-1/4 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

1 cup pure pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

TRADITIONAL WHOOPIE FILLING:

1 cup solid vegetable shortening

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 cups marshmallow fluff (or you may substitude marshmallow creme)

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

CREAM CHEESE FILLING:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

4 tablespoons butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease or line four baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in larger mixing bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and vanilla extract, beat until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until combined. Drop by heaping measuring teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets.  (Note: should make a total of 72 cakes). Bake for 10-13 minutes or until springly to touch. Allow to cool completely.

3. Traditional filling:  in medium bowl, beat shortening, and marshmallow fluff. Add in vanilla extract until well blended. Cream Cheese Filling: in medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Spread a heaping teaspoon of filling onto flat side of one cake, top with flat side of second cake to make a sandwich. Repeat. Store in covered container in refrigerator.

  Hello sunshine!

If you don’t feel like making whoopie pies, you can order from Wicked Whoopies and they will ship ‘em to you! You have got to check out their jumbo wicked whoopies…holy cow…and they have red velvet whoopies…oh, heaven forbid. Here is their website: www.wickedwhoopies.com.

For those of you who would like a little history on the origins of whoopie pies, here’s a great article: https://whatscookingamerica.net/History/WhoopiePieHistory.htm.