Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I swear a secret to a good grilled cheese sandwich is to have the bread lightly toasted first BEFORE you put the cheese in the middle.

I've made a buttload of grilled cheeses in my day, whether it be in the toaster oven, pan, or even the sad microwave. But this is definitely the way I like it most. Of course I use Kraft Singles, cuz it just tastes like my childhood. Hubby can't handle the process stuff so I gotta use real cheddar for his - claims I spoiled him with real food. I suppose it's a good thing, right? :P

This is a simple enough recipe but it's a good reminder. Plus maybe it'll be useful for the kids when they grow up...One can only hope, right? ;)


Grilled Cheese Sandwich
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 4 whole wheat bread slices
• 2 (any) cheese slices
• 4-6 Tbsps mayonnaise

Directions:

1. Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. Spread mayonnaise on one side of the bread and place the mayo-side down in the pan. Top with a slice of cheese. Spread one side of another slice of bread with mayonnaise and place it non-mayo-side down on top of the cheese.
2. Once the bottom slice of bread turns golden brown, use a spatula to flip the whole thing over to brown the other side of the sandwich.
3. Cook until both sides are golden brown. Transfer to a cutting board and slice sandwich in half, diagonally. Repeat with the other sandwich.
4. Serve with milk or tomato soup, etc.

If you have a big pan, you can do two at a time. I don't have a big enough pan to make two at a time without squishing the sandwiches, so I just use a small 8" pan and make the sandwiches individually. It's not so bad when you only need to make two sandwiches.

Slow Cooker Chipotle Beef Sandwiches

Funny story. I hadn't had the motivation to cook for a WHILE now and after I made this, Hubby asked if I took a picture yet. After I said no, he asked "then how will you remember how you made this? You have to put this on your blog! :O" And this is how I started blogging again...

This sandwich recipe is super spicy for my sis and I so we put a generous amount of mayonnaise to help temper it. The guys loved it as is so they just had it in the form of meat and bread! We originally toasted the bread with some cheddar cheese (see pic), but we found that it wasn't necessary. Just put more meat with the bread and lots of mayonnaise for those who can't handle the heat.

Slow Cooker Chipotle Beef Sandwiches 
(serves 4-6) 

Ingredients:

• 2lb chuck roast
• 1 199g (7oz) can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 Tbsp granulated garlic
• 1 Tbsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tap pepper
• 4-6 ciabatta buns, halved
• Mayonnaise (optional)

Directions:

1. Place everything except the beef and bread into the slow cooker. Mix well. 
2. Place beef into the mixture and turn to coat all over. 
3. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. When finished cooking, shred beef with two forks and mix with juices. Keep warm until ready to serve. 
4. To serve, lightly toast ciabatta bread. (Optional) slather a generous amount of mayonnaise on each halves of the bread. Top one half with the shredded beef with peppers and top with second slice of bread. Cut on a bias (easier to eat). Serve with soup and salad. 

Breakfast BEgglewich

As I had mentioned last week, breakfast sandwiches are one of my FAVES. If I'm going to put bacon in my sandwiches, I will usually opt for the breakfast sausage patty instead. Not this sandwich though. I'm perfectly happy to stick bacon in here instead. It is so friggin' YUMMY! Which is awesome since then I don't have to make the breakfast sausages and can just nuke readymade bacon strips that I always have on hand. Quick and super filling breakfast? I think so! In fact, I actually made this on a weekday morning earlier this month and still managed to get to work on time. Score! :D

I wouldn't add the spinach if you're not going to eat it right away though. It has a kind of grassy flavour if you wrap up the sandwich to eat a couple of hours later or so. I'm okay with it since everything else will overpower it but if you're sensitive to "grass" tastes then I'd be cautious.


Breakfast BEgglewich
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 jalapeno and cheddar bagels (or any bagel you want), toasted and halved
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 small handfuls of baby spinach
• 5 strips readymade bacon
• 2 cheese slices (processed or cheddar or whatever you want)
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a small skillet, warm up oil over medium low heat. Pour beaten eggs into the skillet. Move the skillet around to evenly distribute all the egg. Season with salt and pepper. Once the egg is almost all cooked, flip to cook the rest of the egg so that you get a round plain egg omelette. Split the omelette in 2 so that you have 2 half circles. Fold that in half with your spatula.
2. To assemble, layer a small handful of baby spinach on the bottom of the toasted bagel. Top with egg, then cheese slice. Break the bacon strips in half and lay 3 half-strips on top of the cheese, then add 2 more crosswise. Top with the top of the bagel.
3. Serve with coffee.

Breakfast Croissantwich

Breakfast sandwiches are awesome. I love them. Partly because I love warm sandwiches. And partly because mom used to make a simple breakfast sandwich for us for breakfast most days, so it brings back childhood memories. :)

I swear, considering how much leftovers we typically have, most of my meals are made up of leftover stuff from the fridge and pantry. And this is no exception. Excess bacon bits/deli meat/ham/spam/sausages? Check. Day old croissants? Check. Lone bell pepper/frozen peas? Check.

I wouldn't look at it negatively though. It makes breakfast prep just that much easier. ;)


Breakfast Croissantwich
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 4 croissants, cut in half horizontally (to hold food)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup frozen peas/finely diced bell pepper/sliced mushroom/whatever veggie
• 1/2 cup bacon bits/finely diced ham/spam/whatever meat
• 1 red chili pepper, finely diced
• 2 Tbsps canola oil
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Toast croissants in the toaster oven (or at 250F in an actual oven) while you make the filling. Keep an eye on the croissants if using a real oven because they can get too toasty quickly.
2. In a large skillet or omelette pan, heat up oil. Add in meat and veggies. Cook until heated through. Pour in the egg and red chili pepper. Stir to make a big scramble, keeping in mind to keep the pieces fairly big and/or not too small. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until egg is fully cooked.
3. Spoon 1/4 of the egg mixture onto one side of a croissant. Top and cut in half (see picture).
4. Serve with coffee.

Maple Bacon Jam

This is the best spread for a ham sandwich. EVER. In place of mayonnaise, I'll use this if I have some at home. I could even eat it by the spoonful.


Maple Bacon Jam
(makes 2 1/2 cups)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2  medium onions, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4 cup strong coffee or espresso
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup

Directions:

1. In a medium pot, cook bacon pieces until all the fat has been rendered. Transfer to a paper towel lined dish. Set aside.
2. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of bacon grease from the pot. Stir in onions and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent.
3. Stir in coffee or espresso, vinegar, brown sugar and maple syrup. Bring to a boil, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom. Add bacon and stir to combine. Lower heat and simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours.
4. Transfer everything to a food processor and pulse until slightly chunky.
5. Cool and store in mason jars in the fridge for up to 4 weeks. Use as a spread on sandwiches, or on toast.

Faux Beef Terimayo "Japadog"

The other day I spotted a Japadog food truck and I looped around a block just to go back to grab a few for dinner. Heehee. I love Japadogs, especially their Terimayo Japadog with some wasabi mayo. That made me want to try to make this at home (since I'm cheap and like to try to make things at home). Which led to my buying hot dogs and hot dog buns the next day to experiment.

Considering how I have no garlic at home, I decided to just go and experiment the other night for dinner. This is my rift on it but darn it is YUMMY! I'm definitely making this again. Hubby probably could've eaten 2 or 3 of these by himself. He doesn't usually finish my food unless I REALLY can't finish it and he didn't even need to be asked twice before he finished the rest of mine. LOL!


Faux Beef Terimayo "Japadog"
(makes 2 "Japadogs")

Ingredients:

• 2 hot dog buns
• 2 all beef hot dogs
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsps thick soy sauce paste
• 2 Tbsps water
• 2 Tbsps sugar, divided
• 1 Tbsp Japanese mayonnaise (and more for topping, optional)
• 1 tsp wasabi paste

Directions:

1. In a medium pan, caramelize onions on low to medium-low heat. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of sugar to help it along. Stir occasionally.
2. In the meantime, in a small saucepan, add soy sauce paste, water and remaining sugar and cook on medium high heat until sauce thickens. Add caramelized onions into the sauce. Mix well. Set aside.
3. Using the pan you used to caramelize the onions, split the hot dog buns and put them facedown to toast a little on medium high heat. Set onto serving plates.
4. Meanwhile, make wasabi mayo by combining the wasabi paste and Japanese mayo. Mix until well blended. Set aside.
5. Cook hot dogs however you want. (I just nuke them on high in a microwave to be quick.)
6. To assemble, place hot dogs in the buns, top with onions in sauce, wasabi mayo and extra Japanese mayonnaise (optional but definitely recommended). Serve right away before someone steals it from you.

You can get the thick soy sauce paste and Japanese mayonnaise in any Asian supermarket. I always just get mine at T&T. Same with the wasabi. :)