Goodbye 2014, hello 2015!

Sandwiches might very well be one of my favorite foods (boring I know but there really is something about a good sandwich) but I often find that my creations at home aren't quite as satisfactory as the ones I can get out. Nevertheless this doesn't stop me from searching for and saving good recipes to try. Today's is a Blue Cheese Steak and Onion Jam Panini. This recipe is a little bit labor intensive but well worth it.

 

To start, dice 1 and a half to 2 red onions and 1 shallot (you might need more depending on how much jam you want to make). Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until butter has melted. Add in your onion and shallot and saute until caramelized, approximately 10-15 minutes. Be sure to stir often so all of the onion gets cooked through.

Next add in 1/2 cup of red wine (I used the leftover Pinot Noir from my short ribs earlier in the week), 4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of ground thyme, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, and 2 tablespoons of dark brown sugar. Stir to combine and reduce the heat to medium low. Simmer until it thickens. You may need to add in some cornstarch to get the consistency you want.

Once the jam is done remove from the heat and set aside. Take two steaks seasoned with salt and pepper (I used sirloin) and sear on each side in a cast iron skillet (or whatever you have handy) for 5-6 minutes per side. The internal temp should be about 140 for medium rare.

Once cooked set steaks aside and let sit for approximately 5 minutes before slicing. Cut 3 ciabatta rolls in half and butter the outside of the roll. On the inside slather with Dijon mustard, then a layer of the red onion jam. Slice your steak into thin slices and layer on the sandwich, then top with blue cheese crumbles.

 Take a grill pan or panini press and cook for about 5 minutes or until cheese has begun to melt. Then slice in half and serve!

To demonstrate to you how this tasted, let me share some texts from my fiance while he was at home eating one for dinner while I was at work: "Sammich is delicious. The steak is very good and tender. Anytime you want to make these is good with me." Sums it up right? ;) 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Quinoa Salad

The post-Christmas health kick continues with today's yummy dish using one of my favorite vegetables. This was very easy to make and packed with protein, a great dish for lunch or dinner to keep your energy up.

To start, halve or quarter a pound of Brussels sprouts, thinly slice half of a large red onion, and mince a tablespoon of garlic. Placed all on a foil-lined baking sheet and season with salt, pepper, and a tablespoon of olive oil. Preheat your oven to 400 and roast the veggies for 20-25 minutes.

While the veggies are roasting cook 1 cup of quinoa according to package directions. Once the veggies are done place the quinoa, veggies, 1/4 cup of chickpeas, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and a drizzle of olive oil in a bowl. Mix well, then place in smaller individual bowls for serving.

I also cooked up some shrimp and seasoned them with Mediterranean Basil salt that we bought from a local vendor just up the street from us in Taneytown, MD. This gentleman is in his eighties and has only been making this salt plus other specialty salts for two years! Pretty impressive. I hope to be just as creative when I'm older.

Post-Christmas Clean Eating

I don't know about you, but I think I ate my weight in delicious food over the Christmas holiday. From the short rib lasagna roll-ups that I made on Christmas Eve, to the stuffing and turkey and crab imperial and Brussels with bacon I ate on Christmas day, my body was feeling it. While my waistline hasn't suffered my energy definitely has, so last night for dinner I wanted something very, very healthy. I noticed that I desperately wanted some greens and some fish. Funny how your body craves the good stuff when you haven't been eating well, even if just for a few days. Today's recipe is one that Justin has made before but I have never had it until last night. It's so easy I wouldn't even call it a recipe.

To start, take two salmon fillets and lay them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Season with salt, then top with chopped fresh basil. Then layer with thin tomato slices, drizzle with olive oil, and top with shredded mozzarella or parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes until cheese is browned on top. That's it!

I served this with greens lightly dressed in Italian dressing. It was very tasty and my body was definitely thanking me for the healthy fuel!

Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps

Yesterday was a really busy day for us. I had to go pick up my fixed car, finish some last minute Christmas shopping, grocery shop, be home for our new dishwasher installation, and Justin had to work. Dinner needed to be something fast and healthy that I could whip up before meeting Justin at the gym at the end of his shift.

I had a head of iceberg lettuce left in the fridge from another meal that I wanted to use before it spoiled so I found a recipe for Asian turkey lettuce wraps. It's also a really cheap meal to make.

To start, dice half of a white onion and one red bell pepper and mince two cloves of garlic. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat and brown one pound of ground turkey. At this time you should also cook white or brown rice so that you have one cup cooked.

Once cooked drain the meat, then add in the onion, pepper, and garlic and saute until tender, about four minutes. Add in the rice, then mix in 1/4 cup of Hoisin sauce, two tablespoons of soy sauce, half a teaspoon of ground ginger, and sliced green onions. Give everything a good stir and then place in lettuce leaves to serve.

These did not work out so well with the lettuce. I don't think it was crisp enough and the lettuce kept tearing. Fortunately the dish tastes really good on its own so I placed it in a bowl and we ate it straight. Justin really liked this recipe because of the great combo of carbs and protein. It's a great meal for before or after a workout! As for the leftover lettuce, I guess I'll just have to use it for salad.

Brussel Sprout, Onion, and Bacon Mac & Cheese

I bet you can already tell from the title that this is going to be a delicious post. Some people may have only needed to see the word bacon or, like me, maybe it was the Brussel sprouts. Either way you're in for a major treat.

Last night we hosted friends for dinner and I came across this recipe while searching for side items. It looked absolutely decadent and hey, it does have some green veggies in it so that counts right?

This dish is pretty easy to make and I can guarantee that it'll be a crowd-pleaser. To start, cut up 4-5 slices of thick cut bacon into approximately 1 inch pieces. Preheat the oven to 425, place the bacon on a baking sheet, and roast for 10 minutes. While the bacon is roasting slice a pint of Brussel sprouts in half and dice up half of a sweet onion. Once the bacon is done add them to the same sheet, toss in the bacon grease, season with salt and pepper, and roast for another 10 minutes.

While the veggies are roasting, boil 1 16oz box of shells in a large pot of salted water according to package directions. Meanwhile, start on your cheese sauce.

Melt 1/4 cup of butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Once butter has melted, slowly incorporate 1/2 cup of flour, stirring constantly to make a roux. You must stir constantly! If you don't the flour will clump and you want a nice, smooth roux. Once you've made your roux, slowly add in 2 and 1/2 cups of milk, again stirring constantly. Stir until the mixture has thickened.

Time to add the cheese! Slice up a cup and a half of white cheddar (I bought a few blocks at the store and cubed it) and 6 slices of American swiss cheese. Add these into the sauce along with 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon of salt, and a few dashes of hot sauce if you like. Stir until melted.

Once your pasta has finished cooking and has been drained add it back into the pot and pour in the cheese sauce and vegetable/bacon mixture. Mix well, then add to a large baking dish. Top with shredded parmesan cheese. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Serve hot!

This was a hit. Everyone had seconds and it also reheated well for lunch today. It would be a great side dish for the Christmas holiday!

Piece a Pizza

Yesterday I needed to run some errands in the city for Christmas, but unfortunately was without my car since it's in the shop after hitting a deer on Sunday. My awesome dad graciously took off of work to help me get a rental car and coordinate getting my car to the shop and was more than happy to let me take him and his car into the city to do my errands. He is the best.

Since I dragged him all the way into the city I figured I would take him to lunch for one of his favorite foods: pizza. BOP Brick Oven Pizza in Fells Point has been somewhere I've been wanting to go but the timing has never been quite right. This place has been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and has also been frequented by celebrities like Kevin Bacon and Melissa Etheridge.

We arrived right when they opened at 11 (we're early birds) and ordered one of their specialty pizzas, the Barbeque Chicken and Shrimp. You can choose between regular or thin crust and we picked regular. The pizza took less than 15 minutes to prepare and you really can't beat a pizza that's fresh out of the oven, especially a brick oven, which is prominently displayed right behind their counter.

The pizza had a sweet barbeque sauce base with green peppers, onions, barbeque chicken, and shrimp and was covered in mozzarella cheese. This pizza was so. good. The flavors were great, it was hot and gooey, and picking the regular crust was an excellent choice. It was doughy without being overly so and had the best fresh baked flavor.

There are many other specialty pizzas to choose from, or you can opt to build your own slice. I would love to go back to try their white clam option as well as several others. I'm so sad that BOP isn't closer to home, along with its other triple D buddy Joe Squared. It's hard to find good, unique pizza out this way. But then again, for my waistline, maybe it's a good thing!

Celebrate the Cupcake!

It is National Cupcake Day aka one of my favorite days of the year. And I think you can guess why! I've been to more cupcake places since I last posted about them, including one today, so forgive the late post! I wanted to be sure I could include that place as well.

A few weeks ago I traveled all the way up to Hagerstown, MD, to try out Hub City Cupcakes. I knew the cupcake place shared a space with an Italian deli, but I'll admit I was a bit startled when I rolled up to find the deli as a stand alone walk-up/drive-thru. It was a cold, rainy day and I didn't quite know what to do with myself. Was I supposed to go through the drive-thru or walk up to the window? There was a man inside watching me to see what I was going to do (awkward) and a cupcake menu posted to the window so I decided it would probably be easiest to just go up to the window.

Hub City has a selection of a little over 10 classic flavors plus the seasonals but I was informed that the baker was not in and I wouldn't be able to get any of those which was a little disappointing because I had really wanted to try their cranberry orange. I settled for a Salted Caramel and Blueberry Lemon. The cupcakes are also considered jumbo making picking two a good number. My favorite was definitely the Salted Caramel. I loved the thin layer of caramel over the top, especially it's presentation, and it was the right amount of salty. The Blueberry Lemon was decent with a blueberry filling. It needed a little bit more filling and could have been more lemony. I skipped the sugared blueberries on the top because I thought they were going to be too sweet. Overall these were good but probably not somewhere that I would drive out of my way to again.

Today I hit up Dessert Fantasies in Federal Hill, courtesy of my father who so kindly drove me around today since I hit a deer with my car yesterday and it's out of commission until further notice. Boo. I had to go into the city anyway to pick up some Christmas gifts I ordered so I figured I would check this place out while I was down there. You can't miss it. It's a bright pink brick row home with turquoise shutters. Dessert Fantasies also does jumbo cupcakes, even larger than the ones at Hub City. I picked the Salted Caramel here too as well as Gingerbread.

These are BIG cupcakes. I have only eaten the Salted Caramel so far. I thought the cake was moist but pretty dense, making it hard for me to finish. There wasn't too much frosting in relation to the cake which was good and it had a little pool of the caramel sitting in the middle. I thought the frosting was pretty good, not too sweet. The salty flavor was definitely there but probably could've been more prominent. The cake also was a little gritty on the top, like it had a sugar crust. This I could've done without. It was a good cupcake but a little much for me. I think I prefer the smaller ones and I definitely liked Hub City's salted caramel more than this one.

Cupcakes are seriously awesome and I love traveling around to try new ones. Here is a list of the cupcake places I've been to in approximately the last 365 days so you can check them out yourself!

Flavor Cupcakery
La Cakerie
Hub City Cupcakes
Dessert Fantasies
Kupcakes and Co.
J Cafe
Starry Night Bakery
Cakes to Die For
Sweet Angela's
Sweet Devotions
CupLove
Midnite Confections 
Touche Touchet Bakery
Crumbs
Sprinkles
Baked by Melissa
Baked and Wired
Billy's Bakery
Sweet 27
Oh So Sweet
Cupcakes in Bloom
Yummy!
Bay Country Cafe
Wicked Good Cupcakes
Georgetown Cupcake
Cunningham's Bakery and Cafe
AngelCakes
Gettysburg Cupcake Cafe
Broken Cookie
Johnny Como's 
Cupcakes Actually
Dessert Affairs
JoJo's Cupcakes

Lunchbox

This morning's post is a short one. This past Thursday Justin and I took a little field trip to the Bethesda area to see Wild with Reese Witherspoon and to visit Lunchbox, a Bryan Voltaggio-owned joint that is similar in setup to a Chipotle but with different food.

After the movie we fought our way down Wisconsin Avenue in the beginnings of DC rush hour traffic (we're crazy) to find this place, which is tucked in a partially underground shopping center right on the main drag. After squeezing into a garage with the lowest ceiling ever, meandering our way through one shopping center, crossing the street and cutting through some other crazy underground hallways we finally found it.

Lunchbox serves hot and cold sandwiches, salads, soups, and a selection of sides. I chose a sandwich called The Pilgrim with smoked turkey, meunster, and cranberry sauce on herbed foccacia, along with the loaded potato salad of Yukon gold potatoes, dill, egg, bacon, cheddar, scallion, and chives. I really liked my sandwich. The herbs on the bread went well with the cranberry and smoky flavor of the turkey. The potato salad was good, more creamy than chunky and was pretty tasty. It seemed a little heavy on the butter though.

Justin picked the Supreme Pizza soup with foccacia croutons and the Fileo fish with catfish, tartar sauce, iceberg lettuce, and cheddar served on a potato roll. His soup was really yummy and indeed tasted like pizza in a bowl. I didn't snag a bite of his sandwich which should tell you something right there. It was so good he scarfed it down!

We really enjoyed Lunchbox. I was joking that they should swap out the Panera near us for it even though I do like Panera. I would just recommend visiting for lunch rather than dinner when the traffic isn't too bad. It took us 2 hours to get home!

Cobb Salad Re-creation

I am obsessed with this Cobb Salad from the Stanford Grill in Columbia, MD, but haven't been able to get back to the restaurant to have another one. I've written about it before and it's this delicious combo of eggs, bacon, bleu cheese, rotisserie chicken, and cornbread croutons with an avocado ranch dressing. I figured, if I can't get to the salad then I'll bring the salad to me and make it at home. How hard can it be?

To me the cornbread croutons make this salad and they were a must. You can make your own cornbread from scratch or if you're in a rush like me, purchase some from your local grocery store. Cut the bread up into 1 inch squares, toss in a bowl with 1/4 cup olive oil and salt and pepper, and bake at 375 for 7-10 minutes until crispy.

For the salad you simply chop up a head of iceberg lettuce, hard boil approximately 6 eggs, cook 6 slices of bacon and slice, and shred a rotisserie chicken. You can purchase bleu cheese crumbles prepackaged at the grocery store. I ended up having to buy a package of grilled chicken cubes because when you grocery shop at 8 in the morning rotisserie chickens are nowhere to be found. I would have preferred the rotisserie chicken but the cubes were passable.

To serve, add the lettuce to a large bowl and top with the other ingredients. You can mix them all together but placing them in lines before you toss makes for an elegant presentation.

The avocado ranch dressing is really easy to make. Mash one large avocado in a bowl, then add in 1/2 cup of sour cream, 1/4 cup of milk, 3 cloves of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1 1/2 teaspoon of rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons of dried parsley, and a 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Chill until ready to serve. You can add more milk if your dressing is too thick.

My version was pretty close to the original and hit the spot!

Liv2Eat

On Sunday evening I met one of my bridesmaids, Lee, and her good friend Rebecca for dinner at a Federal Hill restaurant called Liv2Eat, rated by City Paper in their Best of Baltimore Edition as Best New Restaurant for 2013. 

The place is pretty small but if you go on a Sunday evening there was plenty of seating. The decor is really cool with lots of wood panels and there were fresh flowers with votives on the tables. Liv2Eat has a really small menu displayed on a one-sided piece of paper. It's all you need though.

I tried their Winter Wine Spritzer, a spiced red wine with a foam cap, served warm with a straw. I loved this. It was simple, cozy, and exactly what you would want to drink on a cold winter's night. 

After looking over the appetizers I was intrigued by the Risotto Fritters, served with chive creme fraiche and parmigiano reggiano. These were crunchy on the outside, melty and savory on the inside, and the creme fraiche gave them a little tang that was perfect. Lee had these too and they didn't last long. Rebecca tried their Pork Belly, new to the menu and a welcome addition. If you've never had pork belly get your hands on some ASAP. It's a huge slab of bacon and it's awesome. 

Liv2Eat is pretty well known for their crabcakes so of course I wanted to try one. In fact, all three of us did for our entree. The crabcake is served with a potato puree, dijon creme fraiche, and pickled cabbage. This may go up there with one of the best ones I've ever had. The cake was mostly chunks of jumbo lump crabmeat without an excess of filler. I loved the uniqueness of the dish with the potato puree and pickled cabbage. Usually crabcakes are served with french fries but I liked the potato puree even better! Pickled cabbage with crabmeat is a great contrast. It gave the dish almost an Asian twist but still felt true to a Maryland crabcake. This dish was definitely the highlight! 

We skipped dessert at the restaurant but traveled over to Fells Point to Pitango, a gelato spot that uses largely organic ingredients. I tried the Milk and Honey and Almond. The flavors have a sort of raw quality to them but are still sweet and were really good. Definitely worth a stop if you enjoy gelato. 

What's in a Sandwich?

For today's post I wanted to try another different format, this time a countdown! I've been wanting to write about my top five favorite sandwiches in the area for a while but had to try to make it back to each one and I was finally successful on Saturday. Let's start with #5. 

5. Chicken Palermo from First Watch Cafe - White meat chicken, sliced tomato (which I do without), onion, pepperoncini, and mozzarella with basil pesto and mayo on ciabatta bread. It's a simple sandwich that packs a whole lot of flavor from the sweetness of the pepperoncini and the kick from the onion with extremely fresh chicken. The basil pesto and mayo get soaked into the ciabatta bread so you get some in every bite. First Watch is a small chain that was introduced to me by my cousin. There are locations in Rockville, Timonium, and Pikesville, so two are fairly close. Oddly enough I didn't realize those last two were in the area until researching this post! 

Photo courtesy of Google Images

4. Gourmet Grilled Cheese Panini from Gettysburg Cupcake Cafe - Italian bread with mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, and a balsamic glaze. Hands-down one of my all-time favorite combinations. The glaze is drizzled over the top so you get all of the flavor without drowning the sandwich. Basil chiffonade is tucked into the cheese along with the tomato so you get a little bit in every bite. Plus you can't beat pulling apart a grilled cheese and seeing those long, gooey strings of cheese. The cafe is only open Friday-Sunday but a perfect stop for lunch on a trip to see the battlefields! Make sure you try a cupcake while you're there! They are some of my favorites. 

3. Hickory Smoked Tuna Salad from Old Mill Cafe - This sandwich had me intrigued from the moment I spotted it on the menu at this quaint little cafe in historic Old Ellicott City. Hickory smoked tuna salad? Smoked salmon is good, so I was curious to see how it would translate. It translated very well. Tuna salad can be extremely boring but not this sandwich. The smoked flavor is fantastic. I could eat this tuna salad every day along with the delicious buttery crossaint it was served on. Old Mill is open 7 days a week, so plenty of time to stop in for a sandwich and do some shopping in the myriad of local businesses along Main Street.

2. Crabby Melt from Grilled Cheese and Company - Noticing a theme? Grilled Cheese and Company started out in Catonsville and now has locations in Eldersburg and Federal Hill. You may have even seen them at local festivals like Wine in the Woods! Basically, this sandwich is everything. If I could pick one food to bring with me on a desert island it might very well be crab due to my extreme love for it and you bet I can't get enough crab dip. This sandwich is the company's crab dip chock full of claw meat, topped with Monterey jack cheese and grilled on ciabatta. To die for. And you definitely need to try it with a side of their shoestring french or sweet potato fries. They're extremely crunchy and the best! 

Photo courtesy of Google Images

1. Egg Salad from Big Belly Deli - I know what you're thinking, an egg salad sandwich is my number one? Yes, yes it is. I have dreams about this sandwich. There's not much to it but it's incredible. Huge chunks of egg lightly dressed in mayo are served on thick slices of sourdough and topped with copious amount of bacon. Aha! Now you know why this sandwich is incredible. Bacon makes everything fantastic. This sandwich is so big sometimes I have trouble finishing it, a plus since it's only $5. Big Belly is located in Sykesville right off Route 32 and is definitely worth the stop. They have a ton of other sandwiches (Justin likes the corned beef, brisket, and curried chicken) as well as fresh baked desserts. This was the sandwich I had on Saturday to be able to put up this post. I needed a picture!