French Dip Sammies

In middle school, I read a book by Julie Reece Deaver where the main character was having lunch with her aunt and they were eating French Dip Sandwiches.  I always wondered what was in a French Dip Sandwich.  Fast forward 15 years.  Schmambs is in my life and she loves to cook for her family.  Lucky for me, I fall under that category.  And lo and behold, she makes French Dip Sandwiches.  Imagine that.


The other week, she decided she was going to make them.  Never one to turn down a homecooked meal, I happily accepted her invitation.  When I arrived, the rump roast had been in the slow cooker all day and she was getting ready to start putting everything together.  First step is to cut the rolls horizontally and top with cheese.  Schmambs layers the cheese on quite generously.  Then she throws everything in the oven for a few minutes to get the cheese all melty and gooey.

While the bread and cheese were doing their thing in the oven, Schmambs removed the rump roast from the slow cooker, leaving behind the salty, but delicious au jus.  Schmambs sliced the rump roast and since I didn't have anything better to do than to play with our food, I stirred the au jus around.  If you look closely, the au jus is swirling counter clockwise.  I asked Schmambs, "Do you think the au jus swirls in the opposite direction in Australia?"  She just rolled her eyes and continued slicing.

Once everything is all said and done with, the meat is heaped upon the melty cheese on the toasted bread and served with a side of au jus for dipping.  There is something about exceeding my recommended daily sodium intake with a meal so delicious that always has me going back for more!  

Bacon Chipotle Cheese Burgers

"I was thinking of making BLT's for dinner.  Interested?"  This was not the text message I wanted to receive from Schmambs on a day where I already had dinner plans.  It was hard turning down bacon.  Even harder to turn down Schmambs since we hadn't seen each other in a couple of days, which is somewhat unsual.  Not to be knocked down, she waited a couple hours before sending another text.  "Bacon Chipotle Cheese Burgers tomorrow night.  You in?"  Oh SNAP.  This woman knows how to play dirty.  She knows my weakness, which is nice for my tummy, but not so much my arteries!  How can you turn down not only BACON but CHIPOTLE CHEESE as well?  You don't.  It's just unheard of.  

I missed the preparation segment, but I got there just in time for the "it's almost cooked and ready to eat" part.  So while I don't have any recipes to share with you today (I'm almost sure Schmambs plans on taking the recipe to the grave), I do have some delicious Bacon Chipotle Cheese Burger pics for you to feast your eyes on.

The adults got nice big juicy burgers and the kido got the mini burger (on the bottom left).  Can you just smell the beefy oniony melty cheesiness?  The house smelled like these burgers for the next few hours.  It was wonderful.

The plate of bacon that we used to top the burgers.  (I couldn't resist taking a picture of it in all its glory.)  If you can believe it, all the strips were present and accounted for when the burgers hit the table.  Willpower is a tough thing.

Schmambs made all the veggies look so pretty.  I wonder if she believes that if it looks good, she'll get us to eat our daily serving of vegetables.  I don't need pretty bribes.  I love my roughage and tomatoes!  In hindsight, I am regretful that I didn't put more tomatoes on my burger.  Next time.

My burger before I closed it up and sunk my chompers into it.  Beef patty topped with Cabot Chipotle Cheddar Cheese, a strip of bacon (I had to leave some for the others!), ketchup, lettuce, and tomato.  Mouth, be prepared to party.

Buffalo Chicken Eggrolls

I realized the other day that it's been a while since I've posted.  With Schmambs having made the transition from Stay-At-Home Mom back into the working world and transitions at my job, there haven't been as many opportunities for home cooked meals.  It took a nudge from my friend (and fellow foodie) Nicole at High Heel Photography to remind me that I have readers out there who miss their fix of delicious goodies.  So I'm back and hopefully going to be posting on a more regular basis.  At some point I'm going to have to learn to cook myself, right?  Schmambs can't feed me forever!

If you remember, Schmambs and I came up with the brilliant idea of Thanksgiving Eggrolls last year.  I dubbed them "Schmanksgiving Eggrolls" and they were filled with chicken (yes, we cheated a little because we didn't have turkey on hand) and stuffing and mashed potatoes and celery and topped with cranberry sauce.  Ohmygoodness, I'm drooling just remembering them.  Well, since that was such a success, we thought it would be fun to stuff those crispy wrappers with some other yummu filling.  It was still football season, so Sunday's were still Buffalo Chicken Wings day's.  It was decided unanimously.  We were going to make Buffalo Chicken Eggrolls.

When I arrived that Sunday, Schmambs already had all the ingredients mixed together in a bowl.  We had decided on chicken (obviously), hot sauce, celery, and shredded Mozzarella.  Now, I know Buffalo Wings are usually eaten with Bleu Cheese, but in an effort to ensure that everyone would eat and enjoy (namely me, the picky eater) the eggrolls, Mozzarella it was.  Plus, it was being used as more of a bonding agent.  There would be Bleu Cheese Dressing (or Ranch for the picky eaters) for dipping.

Making the filling is the easy part.  Then comes the tedious task of making each eggroll individually while frying and making sure they don't overcook and (and quite possibly burn the house down).  Good thing we had four hands between the two of us.  Schmambs and I rolled together for a while until it got down to the last few and she started the frying process.  

We ended up with a good amount of eggrolls.  I think more than we expected/could handle in one sitting.  We knew we would probably end up snacking on cold eggrolls later that night.  Afterall, we are only three adults and a six year old.  Eggrolls don't look like they'd be filling, but after about 2 1/2 - 3 eggrolls each, we were suffering a bit of a bellyache.  Good thing we were all smart and were wearing our elastic waistband pants!

Zuppa Toscana (Schmambs Style)

I remember the first time I had Zuppa Toscana.  It was last year when Schmambs & the clan moved back to Massachusetts from Oregon.  Before that, I had no idea what it was.  Even after Schmambs tried to explain that the Olive Garden has it on their menu.  The lightbulb above my head remained dark.  The description on All Recipes describes it as "A creamy sausage and potato soup".  The pretty much sums it up.  Cream, sausage, potato, kale, and most importantly (in my opinion) bacon.  


One cold wintry night, Schmambs was trying to figure out what to make for dinner.  "You haven't made your Zuppa Toscana in a while.", I stated.  She replied, "Well that's cause it's been too hot.  Now's the time for it."  So it was decided.  By the time I arrived after work, Schmambs had already started browning the sausage.  

After browning the sausage, she put it aside and had hubby cut a few strips of bacon and get that sizzling.  The recipe recommended six strips.  Key word, recommended.  We may have been a little more on the liberal side on the number of bacon strips we used. 

Next up came the chopping of the garlic, onions, and potatoes.  Since she is only one woman, hubby played sous chef as he chopped the potatoes and monitored the cooking of the bacon.  The onions proved to be a bigger challenge than anticipated as halfway into the task, Schmambs had to take a time out due to not being able to see.  Tears streaming down her face prompted the little one to ask, "Mommy, why are you crying?"  After a short break, Schmambs was able to finish the task while blinking back tears.

   

You want to cook the garlic and onions a bit before adding the rest of the ingredients to the pot, so they went in with the bacon.  After that cooked for a bit, the sausage, water, and cream were added to the pot.  I'll admit, it wasn't the most appetizing site.  Just a big pot of...white water...with stuff in it.  But I know that it's not how a food looks when it's being prepared, it's the final presentation that matters.  And judging by the way her kitchen smelled, I knew we were in for a treat.

   

While the soup was being brought to a boil, Schmambs started chopping up the kale.  It doesn't take long to cook - you still want to retain a little bit of crispness, and it gives the soup a bit of color.  I mean, you saw the picture above, right?  It needs a little something instead of drab white.  Chop chop chop went Schmambs.  Before I knew it, it was time to throw it into the pot and mix it in.

  

After letting it cook for a few minutes, dinner was ready to be served.  But wait!  Schmambs had a surprise.  She had also made mini loaves of Italian bread!  With a few spices and she even put cheese into the dough!  It was absolutely delish and went perfectly with the soup.  The little one feared the kale, but gobbled down half a loaf and then asked for more.  It was the perfect meal to warm yourself up on a cold night.

Zuppa Toscana (Schmambs Style):

adapted from the recipe on All Recipes 

* 1 lb Italian sausage removed from castings

* 4-5 Yukon gold potatoes

* 1 medium sized onion

* 6-10 slices of bacon

* 3-4 loves of garlic

* 2 Cups of kale

* 1 Quart of chicken broth

* 1/3 Cup cream

Brown sausage in pan or pot.  Put aside.  Cut bacon strips into bite size pieces and cook in pot that you will be cooking the soup in.  (This is so you don't have to dirty as many pots while making this dish.)  While bacon is cooking, chop up garlic, onion, and potatoes.  When bacon is fully cooked, add in the onion and the garlic and cook until onions are clear.  Then add in the chicken broth, cream, and potatoes.  Let it simmer for 15 minutes while you chop up the kale.  Mix in the kale and simmer for another 4-5 minutes.  Serve.

Schmanksgiving Eggrolls

It all started with an idea.  Schmambs invited me over for Thanksgiving Shumai night.  At first I thought she meant her chicken shumai which she made around Thanksgiving last year and was turning it into an annual event.  Lo and behold, she had been thinking about stuffing the shumai with Thanksgiving related foods.  This put my foodie brain in high gear.  I can't even begin to tell you how much I love Thanksgiving foods.  For my birthday, I requested a Thanksgiving meal for my birthday dinner.  Schmambs not only obliged, but she made her bacon turkey.  But that's another story for another time.

After putting a bit of thought into it, I thought that the filling would tear the shumai wrapper since they are so delicate.  Especially since you steam them.  So I suggested putting everything in eggroll wrappers.  I first tried "Thanksgiving Eggrolls" at one of my childhood restaurants, J.J. McKay's, and ever since, have been itching to recreate them at home.  This was the perfect opportunity.  Schmambs knows how to cook.  I'm great at tasting and making suggestions.  Schmambs' hubby guest starred with ideas of his own as well as contributed by being our fry chef.

We decided to forgo the turkey this time around and substitute it with chicken since that's what was on hand.  By the time I arrived, Schmambs had already started the process and was cooking the chicken in a skillet on the stove.

Now what to stuff them with?  Well, at Thanksgiving, it is traditional to have stuffing.  And typically, the stuffing would have celery.  We thought that the celery would give the eggrolls a bit of texture.  Originally we had planned on using green beans, but then thought they might be too crunchy (and Schmambs' hubby is not a big fan) so we changed over to celery.  It turned out to be a good call.

         

And of course, you can't forget the mashed potatoes.  I'll admit, we cheated (due to time constraints - a 5 year old has to eat, doesn't she?!) and used instant mashed potatoes.  Gross, right?  Well, it turned out to not be as bad as we had anticipated.  Schmambs always spoils us by making mashed potatoes from scratch.  Maybe next time.  The lumps in homemade potatoes could also give a little more texture, not that the eggrolls needed any more.  But it's a thought.  

Then came the fun part.  Getting the oil ready for the frying process and rolling the eggrolls!  I know I posted a picture of a cast iron skillet filled with oil and once you've seen one, you've seen them all, but let's just sit back for a second and enjoy all the deliciousness the oil makes food. 

  Or you could just feel sick seeing that amount of oil in one place and if that's the case, I apologize.  I am one of those that believes anything fried has to be good.  Schmambs took the lead and started putting together the first eggroll.  

Chopped chicken, mashed Potatoes, stuffing, and celery
in one happy wrapper.

Not bad for the first one, right?

Before long, we had our test batch ready to be fried.  

The suggested time for frying was 2-3 minutes.  We found that it only took about a minute to a minute and a half.  These fry fast!  And all that really needed to be fried was the eggroll wrapper.  All the ingredients in the filler had been pre-cooked.  As you can tell, the test batch came out a little burnt...

Eventually we got it right and we had a plate overflowing with golden delicious goodness.

Most places that I have eaten some sort of Thanksgiving food combo has included the cranberry sauce in the item.  We decided to be a little creative and drizzle the cranberry sauce over the eggrolls.  We cheated on this one too and used cranberry sauce from the can.  But don't worry, we didn't use it straight from the can.  We heated it up in a saucepan in an effort to get it to a semi-liquid form.  However, that didn't seem to work and we just had heated up cranberry sauce that wasn't shaped like a can.  But it did the trick.  I ended up making an eggroll with the cranberry sauce inside and I think next time we might make a few tweaks and put the cranberry inside.  But for our first go at it, the drizzle seemed like a good idea.  And of course, what is Thanksgiving without gravy?!  We used it as a dipping sauce as is used at J.J.McKay's and D'Angelo's Thanksgiving Toasted Sandwich.  Our final product was something to be proud of and it was super yummu.  

Schmanksgiving Eggrolls:


* ~ 1 lb of turkey (chicken if desired)
* 1 box of stuffing
* 2 - 4 servings of mashed potatoes
* 2 celery stalks chopped up
* i package eggroll wrappers
* 1 - 2 egg yolk
* 3-4 cups oil for frying


Cut chicken or turkey into bite-sized pieces and cook in a skillet.  Season with salt and pepper (optional).  Once meat is cooked, chop finely and place aside.  Cook stuffing as directed on box.  You can also prepare homemade according to your own recipe.  Place aside.  Chop up celery and place aside.  You can mix it into the stuffing or add it with the filling separately.  Prepare the mashed potatoes according to the box (if using instant) or according to your own recipe for homemade.  Place aside.  Separate egg yolks to use as a sealant on the eggrolls.  Place aside.  


Once all ingredients are prepared, place eggroll wrapper so that it looks like a diamond.  One of the points should be pointed towards your body.  The wrapper packaging should have instructions on how to roll the wrapper into an eggroll.  If you reference one of the pictures above, you will see how the filling should look in the wrapper.  Roll the wrapper over the filling once and then bring the sides in before rolling again.  Save a bit at the tip so you can brush the egg yolk to provide and adhesive.  Finish rolling.  


Wait until oil reaches about 350 degrees before dropping eggrolls in.  Each side should take about 30 - 45 seconds.  Make sure to monitor them as they will burn quickly.  Place on a paper towel to drain.  Drizzle cranberry sauce over eggrolls before serving with a side of gravy.

Buffalo Chicken Wings (Schmambs Style)

Sunday means one thing during the fall.  Football.  On game days, I head on over to my best friend's house where we watch the game, we knit, and she fills my belly with delicious foods.  One of the "regulars" that she makes pretty much every week is Buffalo Wings.  I've had them at restaurants.  I've had them at bars.  I've had them frozen from the supermarket.  But there is something about homemade wings that just hits the spot.  

Usually by the time I get to la casa de Schmambs, she has already taken care of the seasoning aspect of the wings.  A little salt.  A little pepper.  A couple of seasonings.  Toss the wings in flour and let them sit for a minimum of one (1) hour in the fridge.  They really won't look like much when you take them out to prepare them for the cooking process.  

I'll admit, it's probably not the healthiest snack out there, but I rationalize that I'm only eating it once a week, so what's the harm.  Of course, when you start doing the math, it kinda adds up, but let's just enjoy the "now" and not worry about the "later".  The first thing you want to do is to heat the oil in your deep fryer, or in our case, a large skillet, to 350 degrees.  

Once the oil reached the right temperature, Schmambs added the chicken using tongs that could withstand the extremely hot oil.  Once the chicken was in, the waiting game began.  The total cooking time is about 15 minutes, turning the wings over at the halfway mark.  

While we waited for the first batch of wings to cook, we got started on the sauce.  I never realized how easy it was to make sauce.  I always imagined it required a bunch of different spices and liquids to make it just the right consistency and spiciness.   Schmambs gave me the job of being her sous chef.  I thought she was putting a lot of faith in me not to mess the recipe up.  Then I saw the ingredients.  Frank's® Hot Sauce and 3/4 of a stick of butter.  Looked easy enough.

               

I continued to stir the sauce periodically while Schmambs removed the chicken wings from the oil and let them drain a bit on paper towels.  Even without being sauced, the wings looked delish.  I am not really a fan of breaded chicken, so I liked that the flour gave it a very thin outer crunchy coating without being overwhelming. And of course, the last part of making this appetizer is tossing the wings with the sauce.  With a side of Bleu Cheese dressing (personally, I prefer Ranch, but they only have Bleu Cheese at la casa de Schmambs so I make do) and it's the perfect thing to nom on while watching the game.

Served with a Smile

Buffalo Chicken Wings (Schmambs Style):

* ~3 lbs chicken wings

* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
* Salt and Pepper

* 1/2 Cup Flour (Enough to lightly coat the wings)

* 3-4 Cups Oil for Frying

* 1 Cup Frank's® Hot Sauce

* 3/4 Stick of Butter

* Dip of your choice (Bleu Cheese or Ranch Dressing/Sour Cream)

Take chicken wings out of the package and season with garlic powder, cayenne powder, salt and pepper.  After properly seasoned, toss wings in the flour so that wings are lightly coated.  Let it sit in the fridge for one (1) hour.  Heat up oil in skillet or deep fryer to 350 degrees.  Once oil reaches desired temperature, place chicken in oil carefully.  Cook for 15 minutes turning wings over halfway.  While chicken is cooking, combine butter and Frank's® in a saucepan and mix until butter is melted.  Remove chicken from oil and drain on paper towels.  Combine chicken wings with sauce and serve with dipping sauce.  Accompany with celery sticks if desired.