Cheaping out on take out

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So you will have to forgive me today. I am in able to
complete a proper post. Someone who shall remain nameless (definitely not the
little guy in the picture below) happened to chew through my computer cord, and
my lap top is dead.

I ordered a new cord but, it won’t be here for a few days. All
of my pictures and picture editing software is on there, so the only halfway
decent picture I have is of this AMAZING grilled cheese I made the other day. It’s
a pesto, bacon grilled cheese. I mean what’s not to love right.

While we are on the topic of grilled cheese did you know
that last month (April) was national grilled cheese month? I had no idea until
April 30th. That might explain my grilled cheese cravings as of
late. Some of the grilled cheese I stumbled
across were so mouthwateringly amazing I had to try them. I think I’ve
overloaded on grilled cheese lately, but to be honest it’s helped out my
wallet.

Chuck and I are trying to yet again reduce the amount that
we eat out, which is more difficult than you might imagine seeing as we are
people who love food, if I am not in the mood to cook we instantly start
thinking of restaurants. I believe I should also insert here that I have a
buffalo & bbq sauce addiction. I swear I need these flavors once a week
in order to remain balanced, and happy. Crazy much? Maybe a little.

Grilled cheese has really helped us because, they are easy, Chuck
can make them, and I can feed all of my cravings with them. Here are a few of the
grilled cheese we have had lately that have helped get me through this rough
time of penny pinching. Hopefully you can enjoy them as much as I have.

Buffalo Chicken
Grilled Cheese

2 slices whole wheat bread

½ cup cooked, shredded chicken

1 tbs low fat cream cheese

1tbs Sriracha hot sauce

1 tbs butter

¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a small bowl toss together chicken, sriracha, and cream
cheese. Butter the outside of each piece of bread. Place cheddar cheese on the
bottom slice, then cover with chicken mixture, and add top slice to form a
sandwich. Fry in a pan on medium heat until golden brown and the cheese is
melty.

Carmelized Onion
& Barbeque Grilled Cheese

1 tbs oil

1 large onion, sliced thin

½ tsp salt

1 tbs barbeque sauce

2 slices bread

2 pat of butter

¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

¼ cup shredded gruyere cheese

In a pan sauté onions with oil & salt, until they have
become caramelized, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and toss with
barbeque sauce. Butter the outside of each piece of bread. Place both cheeses on
the bottom slice, then cover with onion mixture, and add top slice to form a
sandwich. Fry in a pan on medium heat until golden brown and the cheese is
melty.

Pesto Bacon Grilled Cheese

2 slices of bread

2 pats of butter

1 tbs prepared pesto

¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 slices provolone cheese

2-3 strips cooked bacon

Butter the outside of each piece of bread. Smear prepared
pesto on bottom slice, then stack cheese and bacon and top slice to form a
sandwich. Fry in a pan on medium heat until golden brown and the cheese is
melty.

Sneaking in the Vegetables; Mushroom & Onion Gravy

By Jessica

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This week at the grocery store there were so many vegetables
that were on sale, and actually looked good! I was so excited I way over spent
on our budget, but for veggies I’m ok with it.

Having so much on hand made taking a classic and vegetizing
it a snap (your starting to like my made up words aren’t you?). Along with my
classic beef tip recipe I simply added onion, and mushroom, which also gave it
so much more flavor, and texture than just plain gravy.

Beef tips with
Mushroom & Onion Gravy

1 tbs oil

1 lb stew meat

1 medium onion, halved & sliced

8 oz cremini mushrooms

1 tsp dried thyme

½1 tsp black pepper

1 tbs flour

2 cups beef broth

Salt to taste

In a large skillet heat oil over medium high heat; add stew
meat and brown lightly. Add in onions and mushrooms and saut until the onions
begin to carmelize, roughly 4-5 minutes. Stir in thyme, pepper and flour, until
well blended. Deglaze with beef broth. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer
until the sauce has thickened, and serve. (Serves 4)

If you have a family that enjoys mushrooms slicing is
probably the best way to prepare them, however Chuck still needs some
convincing so I made sure to chop them up small, and I’m pretty sure he didn’t
even notice that they were in there. Also those that prefer thicker gravy can
just add another tablespoon of flour. That is something that is a constant
debate; should gravy be more like jello or thick soup broth? What do you think?

For the mashed potatoes I actually used another recipe from my irish cook bookd for champ, with the slight alteration of addin in a couple cloves of garlic while the potatoes boiled, and then mashing them up right along with the potatoes. You can find a similar recipe here.

Irish Roasted Shallots – An Amazing Appetizer

By Jessica

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To be honest this recipe and the herb dumpling recipe are
the main reason that I bought this book, and I am so happy that I did.

These roasted shallots may very well be the best thing ever!

It’s almost like eating onion rings, but better in my
opinion because there’s cheese! And who doesn’t love cheese? Besides they are
roasted, not fried, and not completely breaded so they are a little bit better
for you, and if you use whole wheat bread crumbs and low fat cheese its all the
better.

Can I take an aside to tell you about the dairy in Ireland.
It’s freakin’ fabulous! I swear I had some of the best cheese, and ice cream
imaginable there. Oh how I want to go back now!

Now back to this great little appetizer. I knew this would
be a good one for Chuck, but I was still a little surprised when he asked if I
could make them again tomorrow. They are really great, too bad shallots aren’t
cheap, or I totally would have, maybe I can get a whole bunch at the end of the
season.

Irish Roasted Shallots

8 shallots or small onions

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

½ tbs thyme

¼ tsp black pepper

Salt to taste

2/3 cups breadcrumbs

1 cup shredded Irish cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Preheat the oven to 425. Peel the shallots, and slice in
half lengthwise. In a small bowl whisk together vinegar, oil thyme, and pepper,
add shallots and toss. Transfer to a roasting pan in one single layer, add
salt, and bread crumbs. Roast in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until
shallots begin to blacken. Scatter with shredded cheddar cheese, and roast for
an additional 3-5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Remove
from heat, garnish with parsley and serve warm. (Serves 4-6)

Oh and check out this complete meal. The rest of the recipes are comeing soon!

Boiled Dinner

By Jessica

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For those of you not familiar with coddle or boiled dinner.
Let me tell you about it.

In Ireland Coddle is a popular dinner, the Catholic culture
made it super popular because you can basically through all your leftover meat
into a pot on Thursday during lent and have a meat free house for Friday.

In my household growing up it was one of my father’s
favorite things, and his good old fall back, because I’m telling you any one
can cook this.

Honestly I had no idea it was actually a traditional meal
until I started looking up typical Irish food for our trip last year. I think
it has a lot to do with the fact that in the old day’s people didn’t have the
best teeth and boiling things up made them soft and easy to bite, plus it was
easy, and the broth could help add flavor to things for those who couldn’t
afford meat all the time.

I came across a recipe for Dublin Coddle in the Irish PubCook Book that I bought recently, and decided to give it a shot. This recipe
is very similar to the one in the book.

I always remember it being very bland growing up, but I
think that my dad just prefers simply made food, which I can appreciate. I
decided to add a few more herbs in mine, because well as you all know I am
obsessed with herbs. I also used a leftover ham that has been sitting in the
freezer for a while, but it’s been known to be made with sausages, rasher
bacon, stew meat, chicken pieces (dad’s favorite), or just about any other cut
of meat you can think of. The same goes for the vegetables; it’s a veritable
left over, toss in everything but the Kitchen sink wonder.

You can make it on the stove, just put it on a simmer for
30-45 minutes, or until the vegetables start to soften. This particular time I
opted to use the crock pot. It uses less energy, and I don’t have to watch it.

Irish Coddle with Ham

1 lb ham meat, cut into large chunks

4 medium potatoes, chopped

1 cup baby carrots, or 2 large carrots chopped

1/2 medium cabbage, chopped

2 bay leaves

2 tsp pepper

2 stalks celery, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

½ tsp caraway seed

2 tbs chopped parsley

3-4 cups water

Add all ingredients to the crock pot and set to cook on low
for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Serve warm. (Serves 4)

Steak & Soba Stir Fry

By Jessica

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Part of my most resent quest to make vegetables the
spotlight means trying new things. I saw this recipe in my Bon Appétit magazine recently and knew I had to try it. I’ve eaten bok
choy plenty of times in the average Chinese food take out, but I’ve never
cooked with it. Besides the picture is so pretty isn’t it? It makes me want to
dive right in and gobble it all up.

This recipe is my own take on that one. I wanted to include
more vegetables, and avoid purchasing oyster sauce which I would rarely use,
and I wanted it a little more liquidy (yeah I made up my own word there). It
being my first foray with soba noodles I don’t know whether I over cooked them
or if they are naturally just sticky, but the extra liquid I tossed them in
really helped. I also wanted to clean it up a bit, not that there is a whole
lot in need on cleaning on this one. It’s pretty darn healthy already.

The result was amazing. I loved this recipe; the mixture of
textures and flavors is really awesome. Beware it’s much more filling that you
would think, so start with a small portion.

Steak & Soba Stir
Fry

6 oz soba noodles
16oz flank steak
Salt & pepper to taste
Olive oil cooking spray
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and grated
2 heads baby bok choy, cut into 8th’s
2-3 carrots cut into match sticks
4 tbs soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1tbs toasted sesame oil
½ cup vegetable or beef broth
1 bunch scallions, greens cut into 2 inch strips
1 handful roasted almonds

Cook soba noodles according to package instructions and set
aside. Generously season steak with salt and pepper, and placed in a greased
skillet over medium high heat. Cook 4-6 minutes per side, or until medium rare,
remove from heat and let rest for at least 10 minutes, while the stir fry is
prepared. Wipe out the skillet and heat oil over medium heat. Sauté onion,
garlic, and ginger until softened, roughly 1-2 minutes. Add bok choy and carrot
and cook for 4-5 minutes, tossing occasionally. In a small bowl mix together
soy, sesame oil, vinegar, and broth. Add to pan, tossing lightly. Stir in
scallions and almonds cooking for an additional minute or two. Remove
vegetables from heat, leaving remaining liquid in pan, then add soba to pan and
toss to coat. Add to stir fry mixture. Slice Steak into ½ to ½ inch ling slices
and serve. (serves 4)

Cheaping out on take out

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