Category Archives: Cheesy Cheese

Cheesy Cheese, Pizza

Pizza with Fontina, Prosciutto, and Arugula

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The other night I had some frozen pizza dough and prosciutto and knew I had to make a pizza of some sort. A quick search on Gourmet.com led me straight to this Pizza with Fontina, Prosciutto, and Arugula.
 

This is a straight forward recipe so I followed it pretty much as is, except I took some inspiration from a pizza favorite here in Austin, Homeslice Pizza, and put cornmeal all over the crust to give it an extra crunch. Also, I like my prosciutto to have a crunch, so I baked the slices at 350 degrees until crispy.

The fontina was gooey and melty and perfect with the crispy and salty prosciutto. I served with a simple side salad with a honey dijon and shallot vinaigrette – one thinly sliced shallot combined with olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice and honey dijon mustard. So simple and delicious!

This weekend it’s Cast Iron Skillet Burgers and Lemon Ginger Fried Chicken from Cooking Light. I think my mouth is already watering.

(Photo from Gourmet.com)

Bacon is always awesome, Burger, Cheesy Cheese

Beer-and-Beef Chili Sliders on Bacon Biscuits with Tomatillo Ketchup

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Everyday with Rachael Ray
August/September 2009

2 poblano chiles
2 slices of bacon, chopped
One 8-ounce box Jiffy buttermilk biscuit mix
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup of chives
1/4 cup of yellow mustard
2 tablespoons of honey
6 tomatillos – peeled, rinsed and chopped
1 small red onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and Pepper
3/4 pound ground beef chuck
3/4 pound ground beef sirloin
1/2 cup beer
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons grill seasoning
1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon grated peel plus the juice of one lime
Shredded lettuce, for serving

Preheat the broiler. Arrange the chiles on a broiler pan and broil, turning occasionally, until blackened all over about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover and let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Peel and discard the stems and seeds.

While the chiles are broiling, in a medium skillet, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until crisp, about 7 minutes. Drain, reserving about two tablespoons of the bacon fat; crumble the bacon.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Preheat a grill or a grill pan to medium-high. In a large bowl, combine the biscuit mix with 1/2 cup of water and whisk until dough forms. Mix in the cheese, chives, mustard, honey, bacon and reserved bacon fat. Spoon 8 equal mounds of the biscuit dough onto a baking sheet and bake until golden, 10 minutes. Let cool for 2 minutes, then transfer to a rack and let cool completely; split.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine the tomatillos, onion and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium-high heat until the onions and tomatillos are softened, 8-10 minutes.
In a medium bowl, combine the beef, beer, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, grill seasoning, paprika, cumin, coriander and oregano. Shape into eight patties, about 1 1/2 inch thick. Add to the grill and cook, turning once, for 5 minutes for medium-rare.

Using a food processor, puree the tomatillo mixture, chiles, cilantro, lime peel and lime juice; season with salt and pepper.

Top each biscuit bottom with a little shredded lettuce, a beef patty, some tomatillo ketchup and a biscuit top; secure with a toothpick.

Bacon is always awesome, Beefy McBeefy, Burger, Cheesy Cheese, Emily Favorite

Coffee-Rubbed Cheeseburgers with Texas BBQ Sauce

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Just by reading the name of this recipe, this burger from Bon Appetit has a lot going for it. (1) it has the word Texas in it (2) it has BBQ sauce (3) we know there is some sort of cheese.

I had a feeling this was going to be delicious when I made the very simple to make homemade BBQ sauce first. I seriously will use this recipe anytime something calls for BBQ sauce as this was such a spicy, well-balanced and beautiful homemade recipe I don’t see the point of buying bottled again.
The coffee rub, which is a blend of fresh ground coffee, sea salt, pepper, dried oregano, ground coriander and brown sugar, smelled heavenly when I was putting it together so you can imagine the magic that happened once you sprinkled on the burger patties and grilled.
I couldn’t find regular potato bread buns and when I checked with the bakery they only had large potato bread dinner rolls. “Screw it” I thought, “I will just make sliders, nothing is getting between me and this burger!”
Combine the amazing BBQ sauce, coffee-rubbed beef patty, thinly sliced smoked Gouda, applewood-smoked bacon with fresh tomato and red onion and you’ve got a burger that is INCREDIBLE. I really enjoyed this burger and it will certainly be on my permanent menu rotation. I’m loving all of these burger recipes, keep them coming!
Cheesy Cheese, Pasta

Pasta Salad with Goat Cheese and Arugula

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So I’m winding down my “5 meals, 1 bag” week and one of the last recipes on the Everyday Food recipe rotation was the Pasta Salad with Goat Cheese and Arugula. It was simple to put together and had pretty good flavor but it was kind of just OK to me. I’m not a big fan of all mushy textures and with cooked pasta, goat cheese and white beans all in one, the red onion and arugula just didn’t provide enough crunch for me. What I did like was the simple dressing of olive oil, red wine vinegar and Dijon mustard and the goat cheese melted to coat the cooked pasta quite nicely. Maybe some fresh pine nuts or crispy pancetta (which I realize this is the week’s vegetarian dish but hey) might have helped?
Last up is Grilled Steaks with Tomatoes and Scallions, let’s see how it goes!
Bacon is always awesome, Beefy McBeefy, Burger, Cheesy Cheese, Dose of Veggies, Emily Favorite

The Burger That Made Me Say “Yay!”

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Oh yum people, oh yum. This Cheddar BLT Burger with Tarragon Russian Dressing is on the cover of the June issue Food & Wine magazine. Doesn’t it look like the Heidi Klum of cheeseburgers? Not only was this so good, but it was pretty simple to make. It has a simple Russian-style dressing with fresh tarragon, bacon, onion, tomato, cheddar cheese and the patties are equal parts ground beef chuck and sirloin. One thing you do differently is brush the patties with unsalted butter while they cook. WHY have I not thought of this before? As you know I don’t have a grill but cooked them instead on a grill pan on the stove until the patty was slightly pink inside. This was by far one of the easiest to to make and best-in-flavor burgers I have made in a long time, if not ever!

On the side I enjoyed this simple Heirloom Tomato Salad with Garlic Oil from Martha Stewart Living. Heirloom tomatoes and their unique shapes and colors just make me so happy when I get to enjoy them. When you have something this good and flavorful you need to make sure the rest of the ingredients are simple and do not overpower. This recipe with it’s garlic-infused olive oil, fresh chives and basil were delicious with the heirloom tomatoes I was able to find at the market. As a side note, I enjoyed reading this article from Food & Wine about a husband and wife team who grow heirloom tomato varieties. Do you like a Green Zebra or Arkansas Traveler better?
Cheesy Cheese, Dose of Veggies, Emily Favorite, Spicy

Sweet and Spicy Twice As Nice-y

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I have to say that I do enjoy eating healthfully, now if I can eat healthfully while feeling a wee bit sinful that’s even better. Kind of like my obsession with dark chocolate squares, a little bit of guilt but it has antioxidants and other good stuff so it can’t be that bad right? Anyhoodles, when I watched the episode from Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger that featured recipes from A Day at the Diner I was more than intrigued.
This episode featured a grilled cheese sandwich that would become a favorite of mine in no time. Her Sweet and Spicy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches features sauteed red onions, cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, beefsteak tomatoes on whole wheat bread. See, she didn’t even call for reduced fat sucky cheese or anything, rejoice! I like to serve this with her Chopped “Fixin’s” Salad from the same episode which is simply greens, pickles, onions, tomatoes (although I used red bell pepper instead) salt, pepper and a little bit of blended red wine vinegar and olive oil. So simple but what a fun and unique side to go with just about anything.
To really throw Ellie’s Healthy Appetite straight out the window, I thought of another sweet and spicy concoction that I love from Gourmet, that’s right people, Sweet and Spicy BACON. To make myself feel a little better I did use the Oscar Mayer Center Cut kind which counts as being a little healthier correct? :) Not really but I’ll just keep telling myself that. Seriously the sweet and spicy bacon with the sweet and spicy grilled cheese sandwiches is not overkill! Try it for yourself and I promise you will love it.
Cheesy Cheese, Chicken, Mexican

Me Oh My, Tortilla Pie and the Best Salsa You’ve Ever Tasted

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I came across this super simple Tortilla Pie with Chicken in the new Everyday Food and for some reason I love trying versions of this dish because it’s usually so easy to make and full of flavor. This recipe was easy to assemble and I, of course, love the short ingredient list.

I decided to not use one of the salsa recipes they recommended and instead use my favorite salsa recipe in the world. Thanks to the gentle souls over at We Heart Food they have the delicious recipe from the restaurant Luna de Noche in Dallas posted on their blog. Note to those who do not like cilantro: this sucker contains five bunches of cilantro, yes five bunches, so if you are one of those people who think cilantro taste like soap then this may not be for you. For everyone else, you will find that whenever a recipe ever calls for salsa you can whip this up in no time and have a delicious tasting salsa for your dish and the rest of the week.
To round out the meal I made a simple salad of fresh mango and pineapple with red onions, a little olive oil and distilled white vinegar with cracked black pepper. It was a fresh complement to the tortilla pie and the two gallons of salsa I consumed.

 

Cheesy Cheese, Mexican, Turkey (Gobble!)

Suiza Me Enchiladas

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I love Rachael Ray’s 30-minute meals and I love Tex-Mex, combine the two and you have one happy Texan. When I came across this Enchiladas Suiza Mexican Lasagna recipe inside the 30 minute meals section of the new Everyday with Rachael Ray, I had to try it.

My first thought was it looked like a lot of prep for the 30 minute meal time frame, with lots of vegetable chopping plus food processing the tomatillo salsa and avocados and limes separately. And there was ground turkey to cook and an onion mixture to saute. I charred the tortillas in my Lodge Logic  cast-iron skillet which was simple enough but a little more time consuming than originally thought. One thing that I did not follow – gasp – was I used corn tortillas instead of flour since that’s what I had in the casa.

Overall this came together quickly and beautifully – my picture looked almost like the one in the magazine. I served this with a simple black bean and corn salad on the side. My favorite part of this was the leftover factor. The next day I threw the leftover lasagna, black bean and corn salad and some pickled jalapenos in a bowl and reheated – it was even better the second day. Maybe it’s like a soup were the flavors get better over time? Regardless this is a fun play on Enchiladas Suiza and I really liked the idea of lesser-hassle way to enjoy its flavors.

I would say…7 out of 10 for this recipe.

Cheesy Cheese, Turkey (Gobble!)

Sunday Night Dinner – Part Two

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…so when I saw this Fresh Whole-Wheat Pita recipe I thought why not put the meatballs and sauce from the Everyday with Rachael Ray recipe on top and put some grated parmesan and shredded mozarella cheese on top? We both loved this dish and the whole wheat pitas were delicious.

If Cooking Inside the Lines exist for any other reason it is most certainly for baking recipes. If the culinary world were a high school, cooking would be English and baking would be Math. I love cooking because it doesn’t have to be exact to turn out well but baking, ick, you miss one thing by just a wee bit and it’s a disaster.
Sometime even if I follow baking recipes to the letter it can turn out wrong but not with this pita recipe. It was easy to follow, quite quick and they came out piping hot, moist and delicious and I love that it’s whole wheat. Amazing! Try these now!