NATIONAL GRILLED CHEESE MONTH

April is National Grilled Cheese Month so to celebrate let me offer this:

GRILLED ONION TOMATO BACON CHEESE SANDWICHES
4 slices thick sourdough bread
6 slices bacon, cooked crisp
thin sliced red onions
sliced tomatoes
sharp cheddar cheese slices
2 tablespoons butter

  • Melt butter on skillet
  • Lay all four slices on skillet to brown.
  • On 2 slices arrange in the following order the cheese slices, tomatoes, bacon slices and onion rings.
  • Top with the other 2 bread slices and continue toasting, turning as necessary until brownness.

AND

APPLE CHIPS
Large Apple
1 tablespoon butter
Coarse salt

  • Peel and core apple.
  • Slice into thin rings.
  • Melt butter in skillet over medium high heat.
  • Add apple rings.
  • Cook until soft and golden brown.
  • Drain on paper towels.
  • Sprinkle with coarse salt.
  • Cool & Eat.

APPLE GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES
4 Oatnut Bread slices
1 large apple, peeled, cored and grated
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
honey mustard
2 tablespoons butter

  • Mix together the grated apple and cheddar cheese.
  • Spread the mustard over 2 of the bread slices.
  • Top with apple and cheese mixture. Add top slice of bread.
  • In a large skillet melt the butter.
  • Grill sandwiches to desired crispness.

AND

TUNA MELTS
1 large can white albacore tuna packed in water, drained and drained again!
8 sweet pickles, chopped fine
2 green onions, chopped fine
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 hard boiled egg, chilled, peeled and chopped fine
2-4 tablespoons butter
1 slice Muenster cheese
1 slice extra sharp cheese
4 slices frozen potato bread

  • Drain the tuna in a fine mesh sieve and then use a spoon to mash all the water out again! Drying out the tuna is crucial.
  • In a mixing bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
  • Chop the sweet pickles and green onions extremely fine.
  • Fold tuna, pickles and onions into Mayonnaise mixture.
  • Chop egg finely and fold into mixture.
  • Melt 2 tablespoons butter on griddle over medium high heat. Add more as necessary to keep from burning.
  • Toast all 4 slices of bread while still frozen*.
  • When butter is melted lay all 4 slices in butter and top 2 slices with muenster and the other 2 slices with the sharp cheddar. Allow them to heat through, melting the cheese.
  • Add the tuna to 2 slices and close them up.
  • Continue cooking until golden on all sides and heated through.

*Using frozen bread makes the bread lighter and more easily toasted golden.

AND

(sorry It’s not a great picture, but it tasted great)

GRILLED CHEESE IN A PAN

8 ounce tube crescent rolls
1 cup grated mild Cheddar cheese
1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
8 ounce package Philadelphia cream cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon melted butter

  • Unroll crescent roll dough and divide in half.
  • Line the bottom of an 8×8 ungreased baking dish with half of the dough. Seal the perforated edges.
  • Layer the cheeses over the dough.
  • Pour the egg evenly over top.
  • Top with remaining dough.
  • Brush with butter.
  • Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.
OPTIONAL: Drain a can of tuna and add it between cheese layers for a Baked Tuna Melt, rotisserie chicken pieces, green chile pieces… The possibilities are endless…

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TOMATO CHICKEN with BASIL

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into tenders
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can Progresso Tomato & Basil Soup
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons fresh minced basil or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed
4 cups hot cooked pasta

  • Heat oil in skillet.
  • Add garlic and chicken, sauteing until browned.
  • Add soup, milk, cheese and basil.
  • Heat to a boil.
  • Cover and cook over low heat 5 minutes or until desired thickness.
  • Serve over pasta.
  • Garnish with fresh vbasil (which I forgot to do before the picture LOL)

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Chocolate Crunch Mousse Pie

Come visit me at My Sweet and Savory and Comfy Cook. 
Chocolate Crunch Mousse Pie
I was very much looking forward to this pie.  It is one of those delicious items, you simply enjoy, and don’t worry about calories.  It is pure pleasure and fun.  This means, something is going to surprise me, in the recipe.
This mousse did not work out, the way I thought it would. This is one of those mistakes that I love, if it really was a mistake. I was working from memory of a mousse, I made, some time ago. I remembered it had cream cheese, whipped topping and chocolate for the ingredients. It came out creamy chocolate and was in a chocolate crust.
This was right before Passover and it was the last day, I could do anything with prohibited Passover foods.
There was no way I could make a crust without flour or chocolate cookie crumbs so I got a ready made graham cracker crust. I was thinking of pouring some chocolate syrup on the surface of the crust but no chocolate syrup. One has to be very clever or a magician to work when the kitchen is in limbo. I prefer to think that one has to be very clever.
The best part was I got rid of the crust. No, that was the second best part. The first was eating some of the filling. This is the best filling, I can imagine, at the moment. It was a creamy mousse filled with small chunks of chocolate. Where did those chunks come from? Actually, this was a surprise to me. I melted the chocolate chips and they were fully melted into one smooth cream. When, I put them into the mousse mixture, they immediately turned in to chunks. The only rationale, I can find is that the whipped topping had been frozen but sitting out, for an hour. Maybe, it was still cold and when the two met, the lumped together to make these crunchy bites filled with chocolate flavor. I, probably will not be able to recreate this but I hope I can. This is superior to the smooth filling which I also love.
Here is the recipe. If you try it, please tell me what happens to your chocolate.
Ingredients
1 8 ounce container of whipped topping (I used the ready made which is unusual for me.)
1 8 ounce container of Tofutti whipped cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup Tofutti sour cream
1 teaspoon almond extract (If I could have located it, I would have used my mocha extract rather than almond.)
2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup chocolate sprinkles
1 graham cracker crumb crust
Method:
In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
Add the sugar, sour cream and almond extract.
Continue to beat with mixer until all the ingredients are well combined.
Add the whipped topping and blend it in, by hand.
Melt chocolate chips in a microwave. If you prefer, use a double boiler to melt them. You know me, I use my microwave, every chance I can.
Add the melted chocolate to the mousse mixture and blend it in. If you are fortunate, you will get those scrumptious chocolate chunks.
Scoop the mixture into the pie crust.
Use a fork, a decorating piece or anything and make ridges in the mousse.
Top with chocolate sprinkles or decoration of choice.
Refrigerate.

Cowboy Cookies

Don’t forget to visit me at The Bad Girl’s Kitchen for more fabulous recipes!
A couple years ago, I was looking for a good new cookie recipe, when this one appeared in my mailbox in an issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine. As luck would have it, they have coconut in them, and are appropriately-named for serving on a ranch, or anywhere. Delicious!

Cowboy Cookies
Makes about 5 dozen

The origin and original ingredients of this popular cookie may be unclear, but there’s no doubt it’ll spur a stampede. This version relies on oats, coconut, pecans, and chocolate for just the right chewiness and gooeyness.

Vegetable oil cooking spray
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch chunks (1 cup)~I used 1 heaping cup chocolate chips
3 ounces (3/4 cup) pecan halves
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat baking sheets with cooking spray, line with parchment, and spray parchment. Sift flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder into a medium bowl.

2 Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium-high until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

3. Reduce speed to low, and slowly add flour mixture, beating until just incorporated. Beat in oats, chocolate, pecans and coconut until combined. (Dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days).

4. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a small spoon, drop dough onto baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart.

5. Bake until edges of cookies begin to brown, 11 to 13 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire rack, and let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks. Let cool. (Cookies can be stored up to 3 days)

Chocolate Truffle Cake

Hello everyone!
I’m so happy to be hosting Save Room for Dessert here at Our Krazy Kitchen!
For my first offering, I’d like to share a dessert that I’ve made many times, which has always been a hit. It’s really easy and sinfully tasty…a perfect combination!

First thing’s first: The cake. One of the best parts of this cake is that it’s just a fancified box mix. Which makes it that much easier!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Empty your chocolate cake mix into a large bowl.

Next, empty a 5.9 ox box of instant chocolate pudding on top.


Add a cup of sour cream.

Then add 3 beaten eggs, 1 cup of vegetable oil and 1/2 cup of warm water.

Now it’s time to beat everything up!

Here’s a word of warning: This batter is THICK! Like, the thickest thick ever.

You may attempt to pour the batter into 2 buttered and floured (or, if you have it, cocoa powdered) pans…but there is no pouring this. The best you can do is plop and attempt to spread! But believe me…it’s worth the extra work.

I found that baking these cakes @ 350 degrees for 33 minutes was simply perfect. Make sure they are totally cooled prior to attempting to frost them.

Now. The frosting. My favorite part!

Take two cups of heavy cream and heat it slowly, being careful not to bring it to a boil (because that’s just gross). Stir in a quarter cup of light corn syrup and let it get to just barely simmering.

Meanwhile, get yourself together 8 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate.

Feel completely free to drool over it for a minute. Then, when your cream is beginning to simmer, add it to the pot and turn the heat down to low.

At first it will look like this:

But after much serious and brisk whisking, it will look like this:

Try to refrain from drinking this right out of the pot. If only because it’s kind of warm and you might burn your tongue. I’m all about safety here.

And no. I’m not speaking from experience here.

Transfer the chocolate to a large bowl, cover it with plastic to prevent a skin forming, and place it in the fridge. Leave it there until it is super duper cold – you’ll need to whip this!

Can I just tell you that I ended up with chocolate all over myself…and I didn’t even care?

Look at that lumpy, yummy texture!

And look at the finished product…

Yes, I definitely lost all sense of proportion while frosting. And I was distracted. I actually think it’s kinda funny.

But this cake…oh, this cake…is the most amazing thing that will ever cross your palate. For real. Just give it a shot!

Enjoy!

And don’t forget to check out this recipe and my other culinary adventures at Misadventures of Mrs. B!

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE CAKE

CAKE
1 boxed chocolate cake mix
1 5.9 oz box of instant chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream
3 beaten eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup warm water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and mix on medium speed for two minutes. Pour into two prepared pans – follow directions on box for cook times, depending on size and type of pans.

FROSTING
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup
8 oz semisweet chocolate

Heat cream and corn syrup until barely simmering. Add chocolate and turn heat to low. Whisk constantly until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Transfer to large bowl and cover with plastic wrap to prevent skin forming on top of mixture. Chill in refrigerator for a least one hour, or as long as it takes for mixture to become fully chilled. Beat mixture once cold until texture becomes thick and lumpy.

Frost cake layers with truffle frosting and enjoy!

HAM & CHEESE QUICHE

I have used this same recipe for traditional quiche for years and adapted it today to use what I had on hand. It was a pleasant success.





1/2 pound diced ham
1 cup finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 shallot finely chopped
4 eggs
2 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1 deep pie crust

  • Preheat oven to 425°.
  • Pre-bake the pie crust and cool before filling.
  • Lightly saute shallot and ham.
  • Sprinkle the ham and onion and grated swiss cheese evenly into crust.
  • Beat the eggs, whipping cream and seasonings until well blended. Pour over mixture in pie crust.
  • Bake 15 minutes and then reduce heat to 300° and bake an additional 35-45 minutes or until just golden and knife comes out clean.
  • Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT…THE BRICK

A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down

when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag’s side door! He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown. The angry driver

then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, ‘What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That’s a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?’ The young boy was apologetic. ‘Please, mister…please, I’m sorry but I didn’t know what else to do,’ He pleaded. ‘I threw the brick because no one else would stop…’ With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car. ‘It’s my brother, ‘he said ‘He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.’

Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, ‘Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.’

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat.. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay. ‘Thank you and may God bless you,’ the grateful child told the stranger. Too shook up for words, the man simply watch ed the boy! push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home.

It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: ‘Don’t go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!’ God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don’t have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us. It’s our choice to listen or not.

Thought for the Day:
If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.
If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it.
He sends you flowers every spring.
He sends you a sunrise every morning Face it, friend – He is crazy about you!
Send this to every ‘beautiful person’ you wish to bless.
God didn’t promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow,sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.
If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

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QUICHE LORRAINE – THE PERFECT SUNDAY MORNING PIE


1/2 pound bacon, crisply fried and crumbled
1 cup finely grated swiss cheese
1 large bunch green onions finely sliced
4 eggs
2 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1 deep pie crust

Preheat oven to 425°.

Prebake the pie crust and cool before filling.

Sprinkle the crumbled bacon, finely sliced onion and grated swiss cheese evenly into crust.

Beat the eggs, whipping cream and seasonings until well blended. Pour over mixture in pie crust.

Bake 15 minutes and then reduce heat to 300° and bake an additional 35 minutes or until just golden and knife comes out clean.

Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Cooking the Italian Way – Lasagna

I did something really crazy yesterday.

I turned. My heat. Off.

I know that may not sound like much. But if you know me. Then you know that this is actually quite momentous. (I’m that girl who walks around in three sweatshirts. In the middle of August. And is still shivering.) My roommates and I almost broke out some bottles of wine (Thirsty Thursday anyone?). Decorated the apartment in some neon crepe paper. Put up a disco ball. And had a “rager” (or whatever it is the kids are calling it these days). We would have. Except that we had an exam the next day.

But no more talk of that. Because it is the weekend. And not only that. It is warm out.

Get this.

Spring might actually have arrived.

Needless to say. I am thrilled. Ecstatic. Jubilant. I am jumping. For. Joy.

Except for one tiny thing.

I’m going to miss winter food. Hearty casseroles. Winter squash. Sweet potatoes.

Down-home-stick-to-your-ribs (and your thighs) comfort food.

Stuff that you wouldn’t dream of eating during the summer. Because. Well. People are going to be seeing your thighs.

Plus who (other than me) wants to spend all day slaving over a hot stove in 90 degree weather?

No one. Thus. It is time to move on.

And so. To commemorate what is possibly the only beautiful thing about winter. I give you my favorite lasagna recipe. Otherwise known as. My swan song.

Classic Italian Lasagna
Serves 8, adapted from Giada DeLaurentis

3 cups tomato sauce (I cheated and used a jar from Whole Foods. All fresh ingredients – tomatoes, garlic, onion, basil. I will post the exact brand next time. It’s my favorite jarred tomato sauce.)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb lean ground beef
4 cups part-skim ricotta
3 eggs
1 lb lasagna noodles (I didn’t end up using the whole pound, just enough to fill my tray. I also used no-boil noodles.)
1 lb frozen spinach, thawed and patted dry
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup parmesan

1. Preheat the oven to 375.

2. In a saute pan, preheat the olive oil. Cook the ground beef, breaking it up into small pieces with a spatula as you go. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and garlic powder if using. Cook until browned, then remove from heat, draining any excess liquid, and set aside.

3. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the ricotta and eggs. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

4. Into the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish, spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce. Add a layer of the pasta sheets. Over this, spread all of the ricotta mixture, followed by all of the spinach. Arrange another layer of pasta. Spread all of the ground beef over this, followed by half of the mozzarella. Add another cup of tomato sauce. Arrange the final layer of pasta. Spread the remaining tomato sauce over THIS and top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

5. Cover with aluminum foil and then bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes.