Grilled White Cheddar and Onion Sourdough Sandwich

As I was reading this afternoon with my glass of wine, I couldn't resist, after making my husband one his own, a grilled white cheddar cheese and onion sandwich on buttered sour dough bread. It was quite simply an OH MY GOD moment. And without exaggeration, as I took a bite of my OH MY GOD grilled white cheddar and onion sandwich on buttered sourdough it began to snow. In this Hallelujah moment I became a believer without question...that somewhere up there in the heavens under the snow and the evening clouds, there lives an angel who not only loves that you eat good food, but that she smiles and/or snows every time you experience a culinary orgasm.

Lobster and White Cheddar Sliders

Alright everyone, these are just lovely and delicious. I invited 14 friends over to eat appetizers this weekend and I have to say, I find it overwhelmingly endearing and heart warming when I see all of my friends converge like little honey bees around my food. "when willl you be serving the brioche and Camembert?" one asks, "oh you've missed your calling as a caterer" another declares. It's true. The love is definitely felt in my food (Maya Angelous believes that people can indeed feel the energy you had while making your food and I believe it). This weekend I made a few old favorites that you can find on the blog, ie: Mushroom Wellington and Brioche and Camembert. I also served a simple and delicious new cocktail that consisted simply of 2 oz. of Limencello topped with champagne. "I reminds me of my trip to Italy this summer" my sister-in-law said. Truth be told I had a whole other cocktail in mind called, "Captain Handsome" but could not get a hold of creme de violet here in the great white north. Apparently there is an order coming in this January and you can bet your bottoms up I'll be getting me a few bottles for next season. Alright, enough about me, these appetizers are for you, enjoy!

Lobster Sliders: Here is a wonderful take on a unique and delicious slider not to mention a positively refreshing change from the original beef ones.

1 1/2 cups of lobster (I used a can of real lobster that I bought frozen, but you know, fake lobster is delicious too), 1/2 cup of Hellman's mayo, 1/2 cup of celery, 1/4 cup of shredded white cheddar (cheese is optional), 1 tbsp. of lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste and a tbsp. of any other herb that you might enjoy with your lobster, such as lemon pepper (just a 1/2 tsp.), tarragon, Old Bay Seasoning (1/2 tsp.), or dill (which I used for this recipe). Bread and butter. I made 12 of these sandwiches, so I used 24 pieces of bread. Per piece of bread you are going to use a glass to cut a round of bread and you can save the crusts and extra bits of bread for the stuffing you'll be making Christmas dinner! Now butter one piece of bread and put the butter side down on a baking sheet. Top with about a tbsp. of the lobster mixture, then top mixture with another piece of buttered bread and make sure the buttered side is facing up (like if you were making a grilled cheese sandwich). Do this with all of the sandwiches and line them all up on the baking sheet. Bake sandwiches in a 350 degree for about 20 minutes turning them once until the bread is nice and toasty brown on both sides and the lobster mixture is warmed through. You can serve immediately, or I had made mine early in the day, kept them in the fridge and then microwaved them for about a minute or so until they were all nice and warm again.

Now mix up the above

Ratatouille Sandwich

Oh mama, this was delish.  As I mentioned my family and I are staying at a sweet beach house in Oregon.  I love having a fridge, but needed to use up our veggies before we head out to a hotel tomorrow.  While this may not be an authentic ratatouille, it was damn good enough - and is an honorable first cousin of ratatouille:

Chop and slice up the following, 2 zucchini, 1/2 red onion, two handfuls of grape tomatoes, 1 red and 1 yellow pepper, 1 cup of any kind of bruchetta type concoction (I used up the rest of our pico de gallo, red onion, yellow onion, lemon juice, cilantro, garlic and jalapeno), 2 tbsp. of garlic salt, and a good sprinkling of lemon pepper (I'm using what I brought), then add about 1/3 cup of olive oil and about 8 tbsp. of red balsamic vinegar and toss with several sprigs of rosemary and thyme (about 4 each).  Slowly bake at 250 degrees for about an hour or so - actually as long as you like.  Then toast up your favourite bread and place prettily on a plate smothering ever so lightly with your favourite mayo (I perfer Hellman's half fat, but could only find Best Foods half fat....approximately 1 tbsp. on each slice....but know one is looking right?)  Then layer the veggies over each piece of toast and serve open faced using a knife and a fork to devour...of course an ocean view only adds to it's fabulousness!

Pork Cilantro Lettuce Wraps with Chimichurri Sauce

Well well. What does one do with a little extra pork roast hanging about? I use up the cilantro I've got in the refrigerator, combine it with a few bits and pieces, together with some "Memories of Patagonia" Herb and Garlic Chimichurri Sauce and voila! Fresh, delish, and perfect for a hot summer night.

You'll need your favorite lettuce that's nice and bend-y so you can wrap it easily. I happen to use Romaine lettuce leaves tonight. Wash and dry each piece and set aside.

You can find Chimichurri Sauce Recipe on the Internet (because I've not made it from scratch yet) and it's really lovely when you're making an exotic flavoured wrap such as this. I used a bottled version from President's Choice which really carries lovely marinades, etc. Here's what you'll need.

1 cup of Chimichurri Sauce, 1 cup of sour cream, the juice of one lime, 1 cup of cilantro leaves (fresh), 1 sliced red onion, shredded fresh ginger, thinly cut up pork roast. Combine in a bowl the Chimichurri Sauce with sour cream and add the lime juice. Then lay out the lettuce leaf and begin layering with a tbsp. of Chimichurri Sauce/Sour Cream/Lime mixture, shredded or thinly sliced pork roast, red onion, dots of freshly shredded ginger, about 2 tbsp. of cilantro leaves, then top again with another tablespoon of sauce. You can, if you like secure the leaves with toothpicks. What's so "cool" is you can assemble all of this and have it later. There is no heating required and it's a terribly refreshing dinner on a hot summer night. Enjoy!

Blue Cheese Beef Dip

Oh yes, there are times I have wisps of inspiration in between laundry, dishes, and picking the kids up from school, when I just manage, without much thought, to know what to do with some left over sirloin roast beef. Pick out whatever bun you like to dip your beef sandwich into. I made garlic bread, but a nice baguette would be fantastic, sourdough would be nuts, or even a hot dog bun or hamburger bun would be fine with a little seasoning. Also, I like to pick up, every grocery trip, packages of dried fettuccine mixes, gravy mixes, and in this case, a la Au jus. So follow the directions on the package and set aside on a low heat. In another frying pan, combine the following:

Saute mushrooms in a pan with butter over medium high heat, until just soft and cooked, take out of the pan, and saute an onion in a couple of tbsp. of butter, and when soft and glisteny, add a tbsp. of sugar to caramelize, and mix up. Add the mushrooms to the pan, and turn the heat down to low, and add 1/4 cup of soft blue cheese, and then add 2 diced strawberries and stir up the entire mixture. You can then add the left over sliced roast beef to the pan to warm through. Once done assemble the blue cheese/mushroom/onion/roast beef into a sandwich and begin dipping! Serve with a nice green salad. Yummy!