Easy Mini Muffulettas

 What goes better with football than mini sandwiches? These little guys look typical but the cheese will be warm and gooey and the olive spread will make it different! I may steal one before all my guests arrive.

Ingredients
1 (32-oz.) jar Italian olive salad
12 small deli rolls, cut in half
12 thin Swiss cheese slices
12 thin deli ham slices
12 thin provolone cheese slices
12 Genoa salami slices

Preparation

1. Spread 1 Tbsp. olive salad evenly over each cut side of roll bottoms. Top each with 1 Swiss cheese slice, 1 ham slice, 1 Tbsp. olive salad, 1 provolone cheese slice, 1 salami slice, and 1 Tbsp. olive salad. I did two rounds of toppings since I cut the cheese and meat to fit my slider rolls. Cover with roll tops, and wrap sandwiches together in a large piece of aluminum foil. Place on a baking sheet.

2. Bake at 350° for 14 to 16 minutes or until cheeses are melted.

Note: I used Natural Black Olive Spread by Les Moulins Mahjoub

Simple Tuna Melt

Momma was talking about tuna melts the other day so I decided to make one for dinner. The pickles were the best part. Mmm...pickles...

Ingredients
1 (6 ounce) can tuna, drained and flaked
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 slices whole wheat bread
2 teaspoons chopped dill pickle
1/4 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place bread slices in the oven to toast while it preheats, and while you make the tuna salad.
In a small bowl, mix together the tuna, mayonnaise, salt, balsamic vinegar, mustard and dill pickle until well blended. Remove bread from the oven, and pile the tuna mixture onto one slice. Sprinkle cheese over the other slice of bread.
Bake for 7 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is melted and tuna is heated through. Place the cheese side of the sandwich on top of the tuna side. Cut in half and serve immediately.

Note: I used one slice of Smart Beat cheese (which is fake cheese) instead of the shredded cheddar.

Zoe's Easy Croque Monsieur

My lovely friend Zoe took a page from her French upbringing and made me Croque Monsieur. It's so simple and easy to make this way and paired with a salad- it's a perfect meal.

Ingredients
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup Gruyere, grated
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 slices bread
3 ounces baked Virginia ham, sliced but not paper thin
2 fried eggs

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Take bread slices and top each one with about half a cup of grated Gruyere cheese, add slices of ham to each, and top with Parmesan cheese. Bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned. Remove and top with a fried egg. Make sure that yolk is runny! Serve hot.

Zoe paired her Croque Monsieur with an arugula and leek salad. Also in the salad: green apple and toasted pine nuts. Dressed with balsamic vinaigrette and EVOO.

Crystal's Sliders

I celebrated my BFF's graduation this past weekend and while I was super happy for her accomplishment, I was also equally as happy that she made these. The burgers were cheesy with onion flavor and the sweet rolls made a great contrast. (Thanks Crystal for the recipe!)

Here's how she did it:
2lb ground chuck 80/20
16 oz shredded cheddar
1 1/2 envelopes onion soup mix
2 tbsp worcestershire
pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste
2-3 tbsp mayo
Hawaiian dinner rolls for serving

Combine all ingredients and form into mini patties (I made about 30 from this).  Grill em up.  So easy.

Egg Salad on Potato Chive Focaccia

I've never made egg salad with curry powder before and I've also never made it without onion. I have to say, Martha Stewart's recipe for egg salad was pretty good in my book. I served mine on fancy bread but you can serve it on whatever - whole wheat bread, kaiser rolls - even crackers.

You need:

• 9 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
• 1/3 cup prepared mayonnaise
• 1 celery rib , diced into small pieces
• 3/4 teaspoon mustard powder or 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon Madras curry powder , optional you can also add cayenne pepper instead of the mustards if you like a spicy flavor
• salt and pepper
• 1 small radicchio or 1/2 c arugula, washed and spun dry
• 8 -12 slices Potato Chive Focaccia (found in the bakery of a gourmet grocery)

Directions:

1. In medium bowl, place eggs, mayonnaise, celery, mustard powder, curry powder, salt, and pepper and gently mix until combined.
2. You can toast the bread or leave it untoasted and spread an additional layer of mayonnaise on each half of bread. Line half of the slices with radicchio or arugula leaves. Spread with an even layer of egg salad. Top with remaining slice of bread.

Bison Burgers

Last night we dined on bison burgers! Bison is apparently healthier for you than regular ground beef. I wanted to know by how much so I looked it up. It has the fewest amount of calories and fat than beef, pork, chicken or salmon. What the?

NUTRITION

	Fat (grams )	Calories (kcal)	Cholesterol (mg)	Iron (mg)	Vitamin B12 (mcg)
Bison	2.42	143	82	3.42	2.86
Beef (choice)	10.15	219	86	2.99	2.65
Beef (select)	8.09	201	86	2.99	2.64
Pork	9.66	212	86	1.1	0.75
Chicken (skinless)	7.41	190	89	1.21	0.33
Sockeye Salmon	10.97	216	87	0.55	5.80
Source: USDA

Ingredients:

1 pound ground bison meat
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 c shredded mild cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
lettuce and tomato (optional)
4 buns, split


Directions

1. Preheat a griddle to medium-high. In a bowl combine meat, garlic, cheese, salt and pepper.
2. Make 4 equal-size hamburger patties, taking care not to overwork the patties.
3. Place on griddle. Cover the burgers with a stainless steel bowl or other heat-proof, dome-shape object, and cook for 6 minutes. Turn the burgers over and cover with the dome and continue to cook for 4 to 5 minutes, for medium.
4. Put buns in toaster oven and cook until lightly toasted. Serve each burger on a roll with 1 lettuce leaf and 1 tomato slice per burger.

Yasmin's Steamed Buns

 We headed uptown to hang out with some dear friends the other night and boy did we make out - not only did we have fun playing board games and catching up - they cooked for us! These are two steamed buns - one chicken, one steak. Boy, they were good.

 The toppings were intense - shallots and garlic, mushroom with lemon and olive oil, braised brussel sprouts with dill and mustard seed and chopped carrots.

 I was so impressed that they made steamed buns. I asked Yasmin how she pulled it off and she presented to me the Momofuku Cookbook. Damn. I didn't know Momofuku had a cookbook! Wish list NOW oh husband of mine. Anyways, you can find the recipe for the Momofuku steamed buns online here too.

As much as I enjoyed the steamed buns, I enjoyed these gems much more. They are called Pao de Queijo - which means Brazilian Cheese Puffs. These things are SO good. They are made with tapioca flour which gives them a unique chewy texture - kind of like rice cakes. I found a recipe online here. You can use any kind of cheese you want. This recipe had 75% reduced fat cheddar and Parmesan.

Chipotle Burgers

So, I got on FB tonight and seriously read two of my friends raving about KFC and Popeye's. We literally walked right past a Popeye's on the way home and my sous chef said, "Mmm...I want Popeye's!" But this ain't a fried chicken post - it's a burger post. The next best thing in the world of fast food. Except, I made my burgers so kudos to me!  These burgers can't be found in no Burger King or Wack Arnolds. These are Chipotle Burgers (and not like Chipotle the fast food chain) - chipotle like the pepper. The recipe was discovered by me on Epicurious and now, it's yours:

Here we go:

2 tablespoons canned chipotle chiles in adobo, including sauce

1 lb ground beef chuck

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 teaspoon salt

4 hamburger buns

Do it:
Open any whole chipotles and discard seeds, then mince chipotles.

Mix chipotles (with sauce), beef, onion, and salt with your hands, then form mixture into 4 (3/4-inch-thick) patties.

Grill burgers on lightly oiled grill rack, turning over once, 4 minutes total for medium-rare.

 

I made mine with shredded Monterey cheese and a teeny tiny bit of ketchup on the bun. Perfection!

Bobby Flay's Nacho Burger

I saw this on the front cover of Food and Wine back in January and I've been dying to try it. I finally stopped putting it off and made them for dinner. (Constant posting is making me dig through my old Food and Wine magazines now and hunt for fun recipes - my grocery shopping has never been so inspired before!)

Salsa

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 chipotle chile in adobo, seeded and minced
3 plum tomatoes, finely diced
2 tablespoons red onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Salt

MAKE THE SALSA: In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients and season with salt. Tip: I found the chile in adobo canned in the Asian Food section of the grocery store. Oh, and when you open the can, lean back. I got a huge blast of chipotle and heat in my throat that it made me start coughing! Also, if you have salsa leftovers save them - this would be great on Huevos Rancheros!

Cheese Sauce

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (8 oz is 1/2 a pound)
2 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper

MAKE THE CHEESE SAUCE: In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the flour and cook over moderate heat for 30 seconds. Whisk in the milk and cook, whisking, until smooth and thickened, 5 minutes. Stir in the Jack cheese until melted, then stir in the pecorino; season with salt and pepper. Let the sauce cool until it is very thick and spreadable.

Burgers

1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck
Vegetable oil, for brushing
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 hamburger buns, split and toasted
Sliced pickled jalapeños and blue corn tortilla chips, for topping (optional)

MAKE THE BURGERS: Light a grill (or use a grill pan, like I did). Form the beef into 4 patties and brush with oil; season with salt and pepper. Grill over moderately high heat until browned outside and medium within, about 4 minutes per side.

Place the burgers on the buns. Top with the cheese sauce and salsa. Bobby's recipe also suggests topping your burger with pickled jalapeños and crushed up blue corn tortilla chips. I didn't use these two toppers and it was great without them. Close the burgers and serve.