Grilled Beef Pita Sandwiches with Spicy Tahini Sauce

I was given the opportunity to review "The New Sonoma Cookbook" recently.  I found this book to be chock full of beautiful pictures and delicious sounding recipes made with real food.  

I really do like the sound of these recipes; nothing too fancy, just simple, easy to find ingredients with a lot of vegetables.  Some of the things I'm looking forward to making are balsamic red onions, Spanish Rioja country soup, and tomatoes with crispy bread topping.  But the first recipe I chose is called Grilled Beef Pita Sandwiches with Spicy Tahini sauce.  I was happy to find this recipe since I had leftover tahini from when I made hummus.  

This recipe assumes you have already prepared 8 ounces of flank steak by rubbing it with a mixture of seasonings (cumin, garlic, chile flakes, salt, pepper and lemon) and grilling it.  I had already prepared that the day before so it made it really easy.

Here's the recipe for you:

Grilled Beef Pita Sandwiches

1/2 cup chopped tomato 

1/2 cup chopped cucumber

1 cup shredded romaine

1 tbsp lemon juice

4 whole wheat pitas

8 ounces leftover flank steak, sliced

2 oz feta cheese, crumbled

Toss the tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce with the lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Lightly toast the pitas and cut each in half.  Divide the sliced beef among the pitas.  Sprinkle 1/2 ounce feta into each pita.  Top with tomato mixture and tahini sauce.

Spicy Tahini Sauce

1 tbsp garlic, minced

1/2 cup tahini, mixed well

1/3 cup lemon juice (I think this may have been a bit too much)

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp chopped cilantro

1 tbsp chopped parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Combine garlic, tahini, lemon, water and spices in food processor.  Mix until smooth.  Add olive oil, pulse just to mix.  Add herbs, salt and pepper.  Thin with more water if necessary.

Cube Steak Sandwich and Flip Flop Wines

Of course this is really "Marlboro Man's favorite sandwich" from The Pioneer Woman.  But I just felt too silly to call it that.

It really is a butter-laden monstrosity wonderful sandwich that the whole family enjoyed.  I love the "au jus" that goes along with it...sorta like a kicked up french dip.  

Here's PW's recipe.  I'll admit that I didn't use quite as much butter as she did, I just toasted the buns instead of grilling them, and I added a little red wine to the final product and simmered it just a bit.  (If you feel the need for the 15 step tutorial on how to slice an onion you can click here for the recipe on PW's site)

• 1 whole Large (or 2 Small) Onions
• 2 sticks Butter (lots And Lots Of Butter)
• 2 pounds (to 3 Pounds) Cube Steak (tenderized Round Steak That's Been Extra Tenderized)
• Lawry's Seasoned Salt (or Similar Seasoned Salt)
• ½ cups (approximately) Worcestershire Sauce
• Tabasco Sauce, To Taste
• 4 whole French/deli Rolls 

Preparation Instructions

Slice onions and cook in 1/4 stick butter until soft and light brown. Remove and set aside.

Slice cube steak against the grain. Season with Lawry’s.

Heat 2 tablespoons butter over high heat (in same skillet) until melted and beginning to brown. Add meat in single layer. Cook one side until brown, then flip and cook until brown, about a minute on both sides.

Add 1/2 cup (at least) Worcestershire sauce, 5 to 6 shakes Tabasco, and 2 tablespoons butter. Add cooked onions. Stir to combine.

Butter halved French rolls and brown in skillet.

To assemble, lay bottom half of French roll on plate. Place meat mixture, followed by a 

spoonful of juice from the pan. Top with other half of roll.

So, speaking of wine, I was recently given the opportunity to try a variety of wines made by flipflop. 

 You know, I'm not much of a wine expert, but I have to say I really enjoyed the chardonnay....really light and refreshing.  I haven't had a chance to try the other two but am looking forward to it.  Not only are these wines tasty, and quite reasonably priced, they also take part in helping others through an organization called Soles4Souls. Since 2005,  Soles4Souls has distributed over 14 million pairs of new and gently used shoes to people in need.  And for each bottle of flipflop wines sold, Soles4Souls distributes a pair of shoes.  Sounds like a win-win to me! 

Pimento Cheese....Again

I'm still kicking myself in the rear for snubbing pimento cheese all my life. (I have really flexible knees or that wouldn't be possible)  But I'm doing my best to make up for it.  What's not to love about pimento (or pimiento, if you prefer) cheese?   

It was love at first chomp.

For the life of me I'm not really sure what recipe I used but it was very similar to this one at AllRecipes. 

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 pinch garlic powder
• 1 (4 ounce) jar diced pimentos, drained

Directions

Beat the cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; add Cheddar cheese and continue beating until light and fluffy. Beat in mayonnaise and garlic powder; stir in pimento. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour. (Well, I didn't use a blender, and didn't add the garlic powder, but otherwise it's pretty close)  

 

And now for your viewing pleasure, a few pics of our trip to northern Arizona to find some snow.   

 

 

 

 

Mara and her giant icicle. 

 Don't eat the yellow snow!

Hungry Girl's Chicken Chipotle Panini

Just popping out of hiding for a minute to share with you a yummy and not too fattening dinner we had last night.  It's a Hungry Girl Recipe Swap for Panera's Frontega Chicken Panini.  As far as I know there's no Panera around here, at least not it my nick of the woods, so I've never tried their sandwich.  But apparently one of theirs has 890 calories and 39 grams of fat.  Which of course means it's delicious, I'm sure.  But if you're recreating it yourself at home, why not whittle that down a bit, right?

I just adored this sandwich, even though it's a messy thing.  And it gave me the chance to use my new panini pan I got at Ikea.  I burned the first one...woops!  But my hubby ate it.  We had these with a little spicy tomato and veggie soup, and I was a happy little clam.  

Here's the recipe from Hungry Girl:

Ingredients:

Sauce

1 1/2 tbsp. fat-free mayonnaise

1/2 tsp. adobo sauce (from canned chipotle peppers) or chipotle hot sauce (like the kind by Tabasco)

2 dashes onion powder 

2 dashes garlic powder 

Sandwich 

One 100-calorie flat sandwich bun (like Arnold Select/Oroweat Sandwich Thins)

2 oz. cooked skinless lean chicken breast, shredded or pulled into pieces

1 tbsp. roughly chopped fresh basil

2 thin slices red onion

2 slices plum tomato

1 stick light string cheese, shredded or pulled into pieces

Directions: 

In a medium bowl, combine ingredients for the sauce and mix well. Set aside.

Split bun in half and lay the halves flat, split sides up. Evenly spread half of the sauce onto the bun halves, leaving half of the sauce in the bowl. Set aside.

To the bowl with the remaining sauce, add chicken and toss to coat. Set aside.

Evenly top one bun half with basil, onion, tomato, saucy chicken, and cheese. Place the other half on top, sauce side down.

Bring a grill pan sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat on the stove. Place sandwich in the pan. Using a spatula, press down gently but firmly to seal the sandwich. Grill until hot and lightly browned, about 2 minutes per side, flipping carefully and pressing down with the spatula to seal.

Nutrition info:  Calories: 256, Fat: 5, Fiber:  5.5   

I also wanted to mention a fun giveaway win I received not too long ago from Recipes of a Cheapskate.  

I admit, I love the Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper, a lot.  And that foam hand just makes me smile.  Thanks Krystal!

Sunday Night Sliders and the Winner

That post title didn't sound obscene, did it?  Hope not, this is a family blog, gosh!

Just an easy Sunday night meal of some chicken sliders with bacon and melted cheddar...yum!

 Napoleon, give me some of your tots!

And now for the notepad giveaway winner:

Alexis of Running Away, I'll help you pack was the randomly chosen winner.

Rintoo says hooray for the winner!

 

Grilled Pimento Cheese Sandwich and a Freebie

I'm still on my tomato soup kick.  It makes my husband look at me funny, but I'm okay with that.  I was about to make another grilled cheese to go with it, but I thought, wait right there, hold the phones.  I've been wanting to try to make my own pimento cheese lately, so this seemed like a good time to do it.  

All I really remember about pimento cheese is that my dad took it in his lunch at least 80% of the time (along with Little Debbie Nutty Bars) and I never even once tried it.  Wouldn't touch the stuff.  It just looked gloppy and yucky.  But now I'm older, and slightly more adventurous, and this is what I came up with.

I liked this recipe because it used cream cheese instead of mayo.  I didn't read the whole recipe ahead and didn't realize I was going to have to blister and peel the red pepper so that threw me off a little, but other than that, there's nothing easier.  And it was perfect with my tomato soup!  

Here it is, from Serious Eats:

Ingredients
1 red bell pepper

8 ounces (about 3 cups) finely grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese

2 ounces (about 1/4 cup) softened cream cheese, cut into pieces

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Procedure

1. Turn on the broiler. place the pepper on its side in a dry skillet and slide it under the broiler until the skin blackens on the side facing up, about 3 minutes. With tongs, turn the pepper so that an unblackened side faces up, and repeat until the skin is blackened on all sides. Place the pepper in a small bowl, cover it, and let it steam for 5 minutes as it cools down.

2. Uncover the bowl. When the pepper is cool enough to handle, transfer it to a cutting board, reserving any liquid in the bowl. Remove the blackened skin with your fingers and discard. Using a paring knife, cut open the pepper, remove and discard the stem and seeds, and chop the pepper into 1/4-inch dice. You should have a scant 1/2 cup.

3. Place the grated cheddar in a medium bowl and add the cream cheese pieces, the diced red pepper and its liquid, and the red pepper flakes, distributing them evenly over the cheese. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, blend the ingredients together until the spread is thoroughly mixed, about 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

4. Turn the blended cheese out onto a cutting board and use a spatula to gather it into a rectangular block about 5 inches long and 3 inches wide, and 2 inches high. Wrap the cheese tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour, or until ready to use. Slice and serve. Grillable pimento cheese keeps for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.  (I didn't do all that, I just smeared it on)

For Each Grilled Pimento Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients
Two 1/3-inch-thick slices Sally Lunn or other white bread (I used potato bread)

Three 1/3-inch-thick slices Pimento Cheese for Grilling

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Procedure
1. Lightly toast the bread in a toaster or under the broiler. Place the cheese between the slices of toast.

2. In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium hear. As soon as the butter is frothy, place the sandwich in the skillet. Pan-fry the sandwich for 6 minutes. Flip it with a spatula, cover the skillet, and cook for 3 minutes more.

3. Transfer to a cutting board, slice the sandwich diagonally with a serrated knife into two portable pieces.

I've got a few more of those little cookbook magazines to share with some one if you're interested.  There's nothing really ground-breaking or earthshattering in any of these, but there's some yummy sounding stuff and nice pictures.  

Some of these are pretty old, a couple are little tattered and wrinkled (like me :), from the early 90's even.

 If you're interested in receiving these just put the codeword "FREEBIE" in your comment somewhere, and I'll randomly pick a winner later this week, probably Thursday.   

 

BBQ Chicken and Cheddar Sandwiches

I saw this recipe at Recipe Shoebox not long ago and knew I wanted to try it right away.  In fact I think she just posted it on Tuesday!  

These were really easy to put together, and were just delicious on the onion rolls.  I just adore those.  

I seasoned the chicken before cooking with some of this Maple Smokehouse seasoning I bought a little while ago, and it smelled awesome cooking.  Can't wait to try it on something grilled outside.

Here is Lara's recipe.

The ingredients:
4 strips bacon, halved crosswise
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1-1/2 lbs)
salt and pepper
1 cup favorite BBQ sauce
1/2 chipotle pepper, minced (optional)  (I guess I was feeling saucy, I used 3!)
1/4 cup water
4 large onion rolls, split (we used onion hamburger buns)
1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese 

Directions:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Fry bacon in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 4 minutes.  Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat.  Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.  Cook chicken in bacon fat until browned on one side, about 4 minutes.  Flip chicken and add barbecue sauce, chipotle pepper (if desired), and water.

Cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until chicken is cooked through and sauce is slightly thickened, about 8 minutes. 

Remove chicken from skillet and slice into bite size pieces.  Arrange onion rolls cut side up on baking sheet.  Divide chicken among bottom haves of rolls and top with sauce, cheese, and bacon. 

Bake open-faced sandwiches in oven until cheese melts and rolls are golden brown, about 4 minutes.  Top each sandwich with toasted roll top. 

Just something funny/sad I noticed a few days ago.  I was putting some laundry away and noticed a hole in my son's shirt.  Remembering it was the same shirt he wore on his birthday back in November, I pulled up the pictures from that day, and sure enough...

He's probably worn that shirt a million times since then too.  Way to go, mom!

Italian Roast Beef Sandwiches

Do Italians really eat roast beef sandwiches like these? I really doubt it. I just chose to call it that because it's got Italian dressing in it. Clever, I know.

I saw several recipes (all in one day) of some sort of roast cooked with pepperoncini's in a crock pot with various other ingredients, then shredded up for sandwiches. I thought it sounded super and decided to try it myself. Instead of using the whole peppers like I had seen, I got sliced since my husband said he didn't really want stems in his sandwiches. Smart man!

Since I'm a fan of keeping it simple this only consists of 3 ingredients. The roast (it was a smallish one, just shy of 3 lbs I think), Italian dressing mix (about half the package), and about half the jar of pepperoncini's and half the juice. (I don't remember how big that jar is and I'm feeling too lazy to go look)

I put it in the crock pot at 9am on low, and by 5, it was more than ready.

I think we all enjoyed this (with swiss cheese on a toasted bun) and would definitely try it again.

I may be feeling like this little cold penguin on Saturday.

While most folks don't wish to see another flake of snow anytime in the near future(if all those facebook updates are any indication), we are purposely driving north this weekend to try to find some. It's for the children, ya know.

We hope to find some (small) hills to slide down, and a warm place to have some hot cocoa.

Wish us luck!