Cheese Steak

So, today is the big game! The Eagles have their big chance to finally get to another Super Bowl, and maybe win this time! Now, I'm a Ravens fan, so it is not that important to me, but since I am living near Philly, I might as well root for the current home team. To that end, I'm offering my take on that most classic Philadelphia sandwich, the cheese steak.

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil
½ medium onion, sliced
½ lb white mushrooms, sliced
½ tsp salt
.6 lb top round steak, thinly sliced into ribbons
4 slices provolone cheese
2 sub rolls
Mayonnaise
Iceberg lettuce, shredded
Sweet peppers

Directions:

Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the onions, mushrooms, and salt. Saute the onions and mushrooms, stirring frequently, until they are dark brown and shrunk to about half original size. Add the steak and cook until just cooked through before removing from the heat.

Divide the meat and veggie mixture in half and put two slices of provolone cheese on each. Let the residual heat in the pan and in the food melt the cheese.

Now comes the discussion of toppings. I like mayo, lettuce, and sweet peppers on my steak sandwich, so I take a lightly toasted sub roll and add a thin layer of mayo (toasting and using mayo help keep the roll from getting soggy), a handful of lettuce, and a few sweet peppers before placing the cheesy beef, mushroom, and onion mix on the roll. Feel free to add tomatoes, banana peppers, or whatever you like. I'm from Baltimore, I'm not here to judge your cheese steak game!

Kaiser Wiener

Well it's October so you know what that means, pumpkin spice everything! Well, yes, but it's also Oktoberfest! So, I'll be putting out a couple recipes celebrating classic German flavors that go perfectly with a cold pint. Let's start off with something I actually came up with last year, that I affectionately call my Kaiser Wiener.

My goal was to come up with a dish that contained as many prototypical German things as I could, and, outside of using a pretzel roll, I think I've done pretty well.

This recipe calls for a slightly obscure dried meat called speck. Speck is a smoked German version of prosciutto. Like prosciutto, it is great raw with cheese or wrapped around melon or asparagus, but when it's fried it cooks up like bacon. If you can't get your hands on speck you could use prosciutto, but I'd recommend very thinly sliced bacon.

The ingredients listed below are per serving so you can scale easily for any size gathering. Also, it is a one skillet method that minimizes clean-up.

Ingredients:

1 club roll
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 German style bratwurst
1 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
¼ c speck, cut into thin strips
1 tbsp German mustard
¼ c sauerkraut, well drained*

Directions:

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat for a few minutes until water sprinkled on the surface boils and skitters away. Butter the inside of a club roll and toast, butter side down, in the skillet until lightly brown and toasted. Lightly frying in butter helps create a moisture barrier that will help maintain the integrity of the roll when wet toppings (ie. sauerkraut) are introduced.

Set the toasted buns aside and then brown the bratwursts in the skillet until lightly browned on all sides and heated through. Evacuate from the pan.

Pour in the oil and then add the speck. Fry the speck for 3-5 minutes until lightly crisped and browned before removing from the pan and draining.

To assemble, spread mustard on the inside of the bun, layer on the sauerkraut, place on the bratwurst, and cover with the speck. Serve with a nice cold pint of amber and enjoy!

*When I say well drained, I mean I wrapped the sauerkraut in paper towels and squeezed it out. Anything less and you get a very soggy roll even after it has been lightly fried in butter.

Maryland Crab Cake

I'm from Maryland, and one of the things being from Maryland means is having really strong feelings about crab, and especially what makes a good crab cake. I'm no exception. In my eyes, a crab cake should be jumbo lump blue crab with minimal filler and plenty of Old Bay. It should be eaten with a fork or in a sandwich and is not a deep fried fritter to be eaten by hand.

But, most of all, it should be simple and straightforward. A crab cake should be all about the crab and too much dressing up just gets in the way.

Ingredients:

½ c chopped fresh parsley
8 (or ½ c) crushed saltines
½ tsp yellow mustard
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp Old Bay or crab seasoning
1 egg, beaten
1 lb jumbo lump blue crab

Directions:

Preheat your broiler on high. Thoroughly combine everything except the crabmeat before gently folding in the crab. Jumbo lump is fragile stuff, and if you mix it too hard it will break apart into strings, which will defeat the purpose of using jumbo lump.

Once the mixture is well incorporated, divide into 4 lightly packed portions on a well greased baking sheet. Broil on high for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Let sit for 2 minutes before serving.

Serve, garnished with a bit of fresh parsley and a bit of lemon or, my prefered method, on a toasted roll with a bit of tarter sauce and some lemon.

I would tell you to enjoy, but I'm pretty sure you're going to do that anyway.

If you liked this recipe please consider supporting me and my content on Patreon. For more info on my patreon, check out my previous post!

Chesapeake Burger

If, like me, you have leftover deviled egg with crab filling, it might go great on some crackers, but it goes even better on a burger. It's an easy way to turn up the flavor on your traditional burger and add some Maryland flair to an American classic.

Ingredients:

Topping:

1 cup of deviled egg with crab filling
56 grams finely grated cheddar cheese

Patty:

1lb of ground beef
1 tbsp Old Bay or crab seasoning
2 tbsp unseasoned bread crumbs

Directions:

To make the topping, gently fold the cheese into the leftover filling and set aside.

Mix together the beef, Old Bay, and bread crumbs and form into 4 equal sized patties. Heat a skillet, griddle, or grill pan over medium high heat. Cook each patty 3-5 minutes on each side until cooked through or a meat thermometer reads 125.

Preheat your broiler on high.

Spread a portion of the topping on each burger and place under the broiler and broil until the topping forms a light golden brown crust. Serve on a kaiser roll spread with a little mayo or tarter sauce and garnished with some crisp lettuce and a meaty tomato slice.

If you like this recipe and would like to support me and my work, please consider supporting me on my Patreon. If you'd like some more info on Patreon, check out my previous post here.

Root Beer Pulled Pork

Now the last pulled pork I made, I made with Dr. Pepper, this one I made with root beer, and I decided, rather then just replace the Dr. Pepper with the root beer, I decided to make a whole new BBQ sauce that would be a little sweeter to play with the vanilla in the root beer.

When selecting a root beer for this recipe, I would suggest getting a good one. It is the foundational flavor of the sauce and so, just like with wine or beer, don't cook with what won't drink.

Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 7-8 hrs

Ingredients:

3-4 lb bone-in pork shoulder
20 oz root beer
1/2 t salt
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 T Worcestershire sauce
2 T honey

Directions:

Place your pork shoulder or butt in your slow cooker and pour on the root beer. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hrs.

When the pork is fork tender, remove from the liquid and place on a platter. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and let it rest while you build the sauce.

Strain the cooking liquid, you should have 3-4 cups, into a large measuring cup or bowl. Put the bowl in the freezer for about 5-10 minutes so that the fat on the top solidifies and can be easily removed, or you can use a gravy separator. Pour your reserved liquid a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add the salt, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and the honey. Simmer, uncovered, until your sauce is reduced to about 1 cup.

Now it's time to pull the pork. If you would rather have chunks, you can always use a knife, but I prefer using a pair of forks to pull the pork into bite sized shreds. Once your pork is pulled to the right sized pieces, pour on the sauce and stir thoroughly, but gently, to combine.

Enjoy room temp or warm it up in your slow cooker for a nice hot lunch.

Chipotle Chicken Salad

A few weeks ago, I had some chipotle chicken salad from a local grocery store, and it wasn't very good. It was too sweet and had pickle in it (I don't mind pickle, it just didn't really make sense to me here). But, I was intrigued by the possibility and decided to try and make my own.

This chicken salad is a lot more involved than a classic chicken salad, since it has more cooked ingredients, but it is simply a modified version of my Black Bean and Corn Salsa added to shredded chicken, mixed with a chipotle mayo. I think the extra work is worth it since my wife says it is the best chicken salad she has ever had, and she doesn't even like chicken salad!

Ingredients:

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded, about 3 cups

2 T olive oil

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

1 15.5oz can of black beans, drained

1 15.25oz can of whole kernel corn, drained

½ t of salt

1 C of mayonnaise

4 chipotle peppers

1 t of adobo sauce

Directions:

Pour the olive oil into a skillet over medium heat and heat until the oil shimmers before adding the garlic and jalapeno and sauteing until lightly browned. Add the cans of black beans, corn, and salt and cook until the beans are soft and are easily squished and start to split. Remove from the heat and add to the shredded chicken, folding in thoroughly.

Take 4 peppers from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and place them in a blender with 1 cup of mayo. Add 1 teaspoon of the adobo sauce and blend until smooth. Add to the chicken mixture and stir until completely mixed.

I don't like my chicken salad too saucy, so I only added about 3/4 of the mixture and then used the rest as a spread on other sandwiches, so please add as little or as much as you would like, depending on your taste.

Serve on a nice roll to a grateful world!

Ben's Bacon Wrapped Cheddar Dogs

When I was in college, my roommates and I used to have a guys' night every couple weeks, and I was usually in charge of the cooking. My roomies would tell me what they wanted and get me the stuff for it, and I would make it. One time, one of my roommates, Ben, had one of the tastiest ideas anyone has ever come up with: bacon wrapped cheddar dogs.

Ingredients:

6 cheddar dogs (I prefer Johnsonville "Beddar with Cheddar")

6 slices of thick-cut bacon

12 wooden toothpicks

6 hot dog buns

Directions:

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat for a few minutes to get it good and hot. This will get you good color on the bacon and will decrease overall cooking time. Wrap each dog in bacon and use a toothpick at each end to secure the bacon in place.

Place the bacon wrapped dogs in the skillet, being sure not to crowd the pan, and cook on the first side until done to your liking. I go for about 1.5 to 2 minutes. Once the first side is done, flip the hot dog over and cook the opposite side.

Once those two sides have been cooked, the bacon will hold itself on, so go ahead and remove the toothpicks and cook the remaining two sides. Again, 1.5 to 2 minutes per side until the bacon is golden brown and delicious. When the bacon is thoroughly cooked, remove the dogs and drain on a paper-towel-covered plate and hold until ready to serve. If it is going to be a while until they will be eaten, wrap them in tinfoil and stash in a 200 degree oven.

Serve in your choice of buns and enjoy one of the least healthy and tastiest things I know how to make.

Curry Chicken Salad

Chicken salad is a great way to get cheap and flavorful protein into your diet. The easy conversion into a sandwich makes it portable and easy to pack as a lunch. Chicken salad recipes can be really basic or way over-complicated. At its core, chicken salad is usually cut up chicken breast, mayo, and spices or flavorings. This recipe kicks things up a bit flavor-wise, without getting too complicated.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts cooked and cut into cubes or shredded

¼ C of mayo

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

¼ t of dried thyme leaves

¼ t of curry powder

½ C seedless grapes cut in half

Directions:

Mix the chicken with the mayo and then stir in the salt and pepper. Honestly, at this point you have a pretty good chicken salad that I like to take to work for lunch all the time. But, for something a little more special, I add the thyme leaves and curry powder. After the chicken is thoroughly and evenly coated, gently stir in the grapes. Be careful not to be too vigorous, we aren't making jelly. Enjoy out of the bowl or make into a great sandwich.

My wife suggests that, if you are going to shred the chicken, you should slice the grapes thinner so that it spreads easier on a sandwich. It might also be easier to mix the spices into the may before mixing in with the chicken so that they easily mix evenly.

Mini Grilled Cheese

My wife was complaining that we had no food in the house and I said she just lacked a bit of imagination. After making that tea party, I had some left over "very thin" sliced bread and I found a can of tomato soup in my pantry. So I thought, why not make a small twist on an old classic and I made mini grilled cheese sandwiches to go along with my cup of soup. They were small so I didn't feel guilty for eating more than one.