Nutella, Banana and Macadamia Nut Panini

Bananas and Nutella may sound weird to some, but the combo is simply incredible and irresistable once you try it.  I love this marriage of fruit and chocolate-hazelnut so much that I am exceptionally good at tricking my brain into thinking that I'm really eating something healthy when I indulge in a half of a banana dipped straight into a jar of Nutella.  Just who am I kidding?

But since today is World Nutella Day, I knew that I had to make our favorite dessert panini to celebrate the event and that highlights this favorite Nutella combination!

What makes these somewhat ordinary sounding dessert panini extra sweet and special is that they are grilled in a pool of butter, cinnamon and sugar, then sprinkled with chopped macadamia nuts, and dusted with powdered sugar.  Now that's a sweet treat!


I bet you can't eat just one bite!

And I bet you'll have a messy face . . . but messy with a big smile on your face!

After grilling the bread with butter, cinnamon and sugar

spread Nutella generously on one slice of bread per panino,

 layer with sliced bananas

and finally, sprinkle on diced macadamia nuts.

close the panini lid lightly to grill until the Nutella is melted.

all melted, nice and gooey before the final presentation

pretty powdered sugar dusts the panino, strawberries, and sliced bananas

Nutella, Banana and Macadamia Nut Panini

1-1/2 sticks of butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar mixed together with 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
 3 ripe bananas, sliced 1/4" thick
4 - 8 slices Ciabatta or Italian bread (depending on how many panini you want)
1 small jar of Nutella chocolate-hazelnut spread
1/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts (or hazelnuts)
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
Whole strawberries, for serving

Heat panini griddle to medium-high or large non-stick pan over medium heat.
Place the butter on the griddle to melt (do not use all of the butter if doing this in batches).
Spread some soft butter on the outer sides of the bread slices.
Sprinkle both sides of the bread slices with cinnamon sugar mixture.
Place bread slices on the grill and cook for a few seconds so that the cinnamon sugar adheres to the bread (do not press the panini pressing top down while doing this).
Flip over and do the same for the opposite side of the bread.
Spread each slice of bread with Nutella, as thick as you like.
Place a layer of sliced bananas on top of the layer of Nutella.
Sprinkle with hazelnuts
Grill until the bread is golden brown on each side and the Nutella is melted.
Remove from the grill and sprinkle with the confectioners' sugar.
Sprinkle with more chopped macadamia nuts for pizazz.
Serve warm immediately with strawberries on the side.

If you enjoy Nutella recipes, here is another yummy one that you might like:

Nutella and Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

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Burgers with Smoky Bacon, Basil and Gorgonzola Cheese!

Creamy blue and white Italian Gorgonzola cheese, melting and oozing over a huge burger, laid on a bed of thick-cut, smoked bacon and topped with fresh basil and tomatoes!

This is burger heaven on the grill!

If you're into the 'black and blue' . . . beef and blue cheese combination, then this is for you.

Why grill when it's almost October?  It was 87 degrees today and after decorating the house for autumn, I was in a sweat and not wanting to cook in the kitchen.  Mr. Meat and Potatoes Bill loves to grill anyway.

It's also another night of football on TV, so easy-peasy and casual was required.

This is super easy too!

If you don't care for Gorgonzola (Italian blue cheese), than use your favorite cheese.  How about trying Gruyere for something a little more French?  Or a nice sharp cheddar?  Spicy pepper jack would be great too!  

Use what you like, just make sure that the cheese melts all over the burger.  You'll need a big stack of napkins for this big burger for all of the cheesy-infused drippings of the tomatoes and beef running down your chin!

I had some extra Gorgonzola in the frig after using some in my previous salad that I just posted with figs and Gorgonzola/blue cheese.  And I just hate to waste food.  This stuff always seems to spoil quickly, so I only buy a small piece at a time.

And this cheese is just so creamy, tangy delicious!

Mmmmm!

There's no secret recipe to this decadent burger either!

Burgers with Smoky Bacon, Basil and Gorgonzola Cheese

Use the highest quality of ground beef/sirloin.

Form huge patties of burgers.

Tip:  Put a small indentation about the size of an inch and a half in the center of each burger.  As the burgers cook, this pops out and the center of your burgers cook better.

Season the way you like, I added some garlic and oregano.

Grill to the level of doneness that you prefer (we like ours medium-rare).

Near the end of being cooked, add on the Gorgonzola cheese (it is soft and melts fast).

Use huge hamburger buns!

Toast the buns very briefly (this prevents them from becoming soggy from the beef and tomato juices).

Lay lettuce leaves on the bottom half of the bun.

Layer on the well-cooked, browned, thick-cut, smoked bacon.

Place the cooked burger with melted cheese (use the microwave if you have to) on top of bacon and lettuce.

Layer on thick-cut ripe tomatoes.

Layer on big, fresh basil leaves.

Place the top half of the bun on top.

Condiments:

For this I recommend a nice, simple mixture of extra virgin olive oil and minced garlic to spread on each half of the bun.

the creamy, soft Italian Gorgonzola cheese just melting all over the juicy burger and bacon!

bright colors of fresh green basil leaves and red tomatoes

Mangia!
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Roasted Red Pepper Panini ~ ~ Classic!

Do you love panini?  Fresh sandwiches?  Healthy sandwiches?  Fast and easy sandwiches?  Hot sandwiches?  Flavorful, new, sandwiches that aren't the same-old, same-old go-to sandwiches?  Anything delicious between two slices of crispy on the outside and soft on the inside artisan bread calls my name!

By now most Americans have fallen in love with Italian panini, basically amped up sandwiches beyond our delicious grilled cheese sammies, but then heated up on a panini press or grilled pan.   However, most Americans don't realize that ONE of these is correctly termed a "panino", (panini is plural for more than one).  But why sweat the small stuff?  Panini literally means 'small breads' in Italian which began their popularity trend here in the States in the 70's and 80's, originating from 'paninoteche' Milanese bars.  How about that for a trivia question?

Now if you don't have a panini press, you can use a grilled skillet and place another heavy pan on top to 'press' the bread into the grills of the skillet.  Half-way through cooking (when you see a golden color and dark grill marks on the bread) you need to turn the panino over and grill the other side, once again with something heavy to press the panino down into the grills.

What you put inside of your bread is totally up to your imagination, but here's a great end of summer recipe for you that I find absolutely marvelous, especially with the dipping herbs in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  For this panino, I used roasted red peppers, so here is a tutorial with photos of how to roast red peppers on my blog:  roasting red peppers!

please click on the link below to read this delicious recipe!

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Rustic Italian Tomato Pie

In the American South is a popular dish known as "Tomato Pie".  Neither my husband nor I had ever heard of this before living here.  But lately I've seen it featured in Southern Living and on some of the food shows that I've been watching while laid up on the recliner healing my back.  We were really grateful for the kindness extended to us from our friends who are native Southerners when they baked one of these pies to give us this week . . . and that would certainly give my husband a night off from cooking while I'm on the mend from surgery.

A traditional Southern tomato pie

The tomato pie was delicious, but both my husband and I were taken back by the unexpected tangy flavor that resulted from combining mayonnaise and cheddar cheese baked on top of tomatoes and onions.  Really, really good and nothing like we'd ever had before.   We certainly appreciated the gesture, kindness, and friendship that was extended, however the unique taste in this version of tomato pie led me on a path to discover other presentations of tomato pie.  

lots of butter, mayonnaise, and cheese in the Southern pie

here's another photo from "eclectic recipes"

Now that's what I call a cheesy dream of a tomato pie!

From the Northeastern region of the States, I found that there is a thick pizza-focaccia bread based tomato pie that I'd like to make later on.  From the photos, it looks like a thick pizza with an equally thick layer of tomato sauce on top (not sliced tomatoes) and nothing else.  Already I could see a difference in the sub-cultural interpretation of tomato pie!

certainly MORE focus on tomatoes and not cheese!

Meanwhile within the pages of one of my Italian cookbooks, "Vegetables From An Italian Garden", I found a photo and recipe for a 'rustic' tomato pie.  It doesn't look like a pie at all, but since that's what the title stated I set out to try it.

This recipe did not fail my expectations; even my husband ate a whole 'slice'!

photo of the rustic tomato pie in my cookbook

 spread softened butter onto the baking sheet pan

saute' green onions and sprinkle onto bread

generously layer tomato slices and sprinkle herbs on bread

place top piece of bread on,

pour egg/milk mixture all over, 

sprinkle with salt and pepper

place slices of pecorino cheese randomly on bread and
bake in the oven until golden brown

This rustic Italian tomato pie is indeed the opposite of the traditional Southern tomato pie.  The latter has a heaviness to it, maybe due to the all of the mayonnaise, cheese and butter, and the tomatoes seemed a bit lost.  But it had a tangy cheese flavor that cannot be beat . . . and anything with cheese gets my attention quickly!  

For the rustic pie on the other hand, the oregano and basil sang out, there was no greasiness at all, and the tomatoes really stood out.  A wonderful crunch is heard as you bite into the egg/milk baked bread.  I think that this tomato pie truly reflects one of the important principles of Italian cooking:  keep everything simple and don't cover up the flavors, but rather -- enhance them!  I'm so glad to have stumbled upon this recipe and know that it will be made quite often!

And now, I'll just go have a piece of both tomato pies for some fresh summertime tomato bliss!

Rustic Italian Tomato Pie
(adapted from "Vegetables From An Italian Garden")

butter for greasing pan
3 Tbsp. olive oil
3 scallions/green onions, finely chopped
12 thin slices good quality Italian whole wheat bread, crusts removed (I left them on)
4 - 5 fresh tomatoes, sliced
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
2 jumbo eggs (I doubled this from 1 egg)
1 1/3 cups whole milk (I doubled this from 2/3 cup milk)
8 oz. pecorino cheese, sliced very thin
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Spread butter all over a baking sheet with sides.
Heat olive oil in a small pan, add the scallions/green onions and sauté over low heat, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.
Lightly season with salt.
Remove from heat.
Cover the bottom of the buttered pan with half of the bread.
Spoon the scallions/green onions on top of bread.
Place tomato slices on top.
Sprinkle with dried oregano and dried basil.
Cover with remaining bread slices.
Beat eggs with the milk in a bowl; season with salt and pepper.
Pour the mixture over the bread.
Cover with pecorino cheese slices.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese has melted and turned golden brown.
Do not burn the bread though.
Let cool slightly and then serve on a nice serving dish.

And now here's the recipe for the traditional Southern Tomato Pie


Southern Tomato Pie

1 pre-made pie crust
1 large sweet onion, diced
5 – 6 very fresh, preferably farmer’s market or garden-fresh tomatoes, sliced
(Tip: Slice tomatoes in half first and squeeze out excess juice before slicing to reduce water in the pie)
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup sliced fresh Monterey Jack cheese
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place pie crust in pie plate.
Arrange onions in the bottom of the pie in a circular formation.
Then arrange sliced tomatoes, around in a circle, and some in the middle.
Add salt and pepper.
Combine mayonnaise, cheddar cheese and dried Italian seasonings in a small bowl.
Mix well and spoon over tomatoes, leaving about 1 inch gap in between mayo and the edge of the pie so you can still see the tomatoes.
Place sliced cheese on top of mayonnaise layer.
Bake for about 30 minutes, at 350 degrees, or until cheese is golden.


Mangia!


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Avocado with Cilantro Jalepeno Turkey Sammie & Green Smoothie!

Losing weight is hell (at least for most people).  That food we put in our mouthes had better be yummy and filling or it's all over.  I'm an honest person and I'm not going to lie!  It is is overwhelming how much research is out there now on how there's certain genetic predispositions, hormonal changes, metabolism changes, etc. etc. ad nauseum that sabotage our healthy weight.  But it still all boils down to one simple notion that we all excuse away:  getting rid of the crap that we've put in our bodies and putting in the good stuff instead!  That and changing bad physical habits into positive habits such as getting off the damn couch and logging off (dare I say) the computer!

We've all heard the mantras:

Eat more fruits and veggies!

Eat more lean meats and (as Dr. Oz recommends) only one meat a week from a 4-legged animal . . . Mr. M. and P. has to suffer without his red meat.  I'll suffer more without my pork!  So it's hello to more chicken, turkey, fish, and vegetarian recipes.

Eliminate as much processed food as possible (no problem there)!

No fast food!  Doable!

And more!  I can't and do not want to list all of the proven strategies for improving our nutrition.  I'll leave that to the tons of healthy nutrition lists on-line and in the plethora of nutrition and health books on the market!

But I did think that I'd share just a few things that I did this week to drop 2 pounds:

First of all, I don't have enough of the precious resource of time in my life, so the most important element of preparing something in my insanely busy life (and I'm working on that issue too), is that the healthier food and recipes must be SIMPLE!!!

Nothing could be simpler than the green de-tox smoothie and a wonderful sammie that I had over the weekend.  The next post will be a wonderful tilapia recipe that I haven't uploaded the photos yet . . . you know, it's the time thing!

Turkey, Avocado and Tomato Sandwich with Jalepeno Cilantro Hummus

2 slices whole wheat bread

2 Tbsp. Jalapeno Cilantro Hummus (available at Whole Foods)

4 - 6 oz. sliced smoked turkey breast

lettuce or spinach leaves (your choice)

1/2 an avocado, sliced

2 - 3 tomato slices

a few shakes of Mrs. Dash Spicy Southwestern Spices no-salt blend

Salt and Pepper to taste

Toast bread

Spread the hummus on both slices of bread.

Layer each ingredient.

Sprinkle on Mrs. Dash and salt and pepper to taste!

Make any changes that you like!

Enjoy!  This is very good, very filling, and has quite a nice kick to it!

There is no cheese in this sandwich (which causes me to frown) and there is no mayonnaise.  The flavorful hummus and creamy avocado made up the difference very well!

And here's the very first green smoothie concoction that I have ever made.  This was for a different lunch this past weekend and it is surprisingly delicious and filling!  Again, I cannot tell a lie!  Very easy, and quite fun to make as well.

Green De-Tox Weight-Loss Smoothie

(from 'nutrition to invigorate mind body and spirit)

1 - 2 bananas

1/2 cup frozen peaches

1/2 cup frozen mango

a couple handfuls of spinach

1/4 cup of water

ice (if desired)

Add more water if necessary 

Since I don't have a juicer (on the wish list), I used a mini food processor and followed up with my trusty boat motor immersion blender to chop up the spinach leaves more.  The results were just fine.

Again, this is a very good smoothie.  I gulped it down instantly.

But of course . . . I was hungry!

I loved the addition of the mango to this smoothie!

I'd like to try pineapple as well.

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Sun~Dried Tomato Pesto, Basil Pesto, and Turkey Bagels with Herb Cheese Spread!

Once upon a time, a local sandwich shop offered a wonderful bagel sammie that was unforgettable.  I memorized the ingredients way-back-when so that I could try and replicate the sandwich at home.  I really had to go back into the cobwebs of my mind to retrieve those ingredients to make this savory bagel sandwich.

Here's the story that I found in the recesses of my mind:

There once was a toasted bagel that had two friends stop over and visit.  One friend's name was sun-dried tomato pesto and the other friend's name was basil pesto.  Along came some nice, crispy lettuce, a sliced red onion, and plenty of sliced turkey friends to join the party.  But what would a good sandwich be without the joy and friendliness of some creamy, soft herb cheese to soften up the tangy pestos?  Together these ingredients made one bagel lover eat happily every after!

If you're looking for a flavorful sandwich, than you'll certainly love this!

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto, Basil Pesto, and Turkey Bagels with Herb Cheese Spread.

Bagels (your preference in flavor, garlic would be nice; and preferably authentic NY bagels)
Sun-dried tomato pesto
Basil pesto
Lettuce (use the variety of your choice)
Red onion
Sliced smoked turkey (Boar's Head is the best)
Soft herb cheese (such as Boursin)

Slice the bagels in half and toast them.
Spread the sun-dried tomato pesto on the inside of one half.
Spread the basil pesto on the inside of the other half sliced bagel.
Thickly layer the smoked turkey on top of one half.
Spread some soft herb cheese on top of the turkey slices.
Place some lettuce leaves on top of the cheese.
Place some red onion slices on top of the cheese.
Put the other half of the bagel on top.
Slice the whole bagel sandwich in half and secure with toothpicks, if necessary.

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A Big Hug to You Plus A Sandwich Worth a 10 Year Wait!

Before I even 'talk food', I just want to extend a sincere, from-the-bottom-of-my-heart "thank you and grazie" to all of you (100's of bloggers and social network friends) who wrote to me to offer me your prayers and positive thoughts for the event that took place in my life.  Although the situation hasn't disappeared, my husband and I felt that blogging with my friends about our shared passion for cooking, gardening, and travel  . . . is really tremendous therapy for me.  I started to read your posts last week to see everything that you've been cooking up and I have to still say that you are all some of the best cooks on the planet!!  I will get right back to commenting very soon . . . promise!

So I'm at a point now where I'm ready to return to my community of friends!  I truly believe that all of your prayers and positive thoughts sent my way will be answered in the right way and at the right time!

OK . . . it's foodie time!

New York has it's famous pizza.
Chicago has it's deep-dish pizza and Chicago Vienna Beef hot dugs.
Buffalo, NY has hot wings.
Boston has it's beans.
New Orleans has muffalettas.
San Francisco has it's sour dough bread.
And the South has shrimp and grits and pimento cheese!
So how about the Midwest; what stands out besides corn on the cob, buttery corn-fed beef or the State Fair's butter cow sculpture?

Well, hold on and I'll tell you about something that few people outside of the Midwest know of . . . . and it was recently featured in Cook's Country (Cooks Illustrated) magazine.  It's the Breaded Pork Tenderloin sandwich.

This classic Midwestern sandwich even has it's own web-site created by a dedicated connoisseur:  Pursuing the Pork Tenderloin Sandwich, a discussion/debate on the sandwich on Chowhound, plus a blog, ! The web-site also provides a list of numerous restaurants, diners, and eateries that serve this sandwich.  There is even a DEBATE over where the sandwich originated:  Was it Iowa, Illinois, or Indiana (the three "I" states in the Midwest)?

Well, I have no idea which state it originated from, but I know that there are more hogs in Iowa than there are people, so I'm voting for Iowa as the source . . . I'm just sayin'!  No offense to any of my friends and relatives in Illinois and Indiana!  Besides Iowa doesn't have any professional sports, so give it some credit for something besides Maytag Bleu Cheese and Amana appliances!

Many of you know that my roots are from the Midwest.  My parents' restaurant (Italian and American food) used to have these sammies on their menu and they sold as fast as hot dogs at a baseball game.  Every summer I had to have one when we'd stop at a roadside diner half-way through our 4-hour drive to Lake Okoboji in Iowa (up at the border of Minnesota).

It was a ritual !!

And this year, for the first time during one of my annual summer visits to Iowa, I brought back some super-sized pork tenderloins for this sandwich.  It's been a LONG time, maybe even 10 years since I've had one of these guys!

Now to make these huge sandwiches, there are a few rules to follow:

- It must be huge, twice the size as the bun, and hanging out all over.  "think outside the bun"  ha ha!
- It must be a tenderized piece of pork tenderloin and not some tough pork 'chop'.
- It must be served with mustard and pickles; other condiments are OK, but not necessary (lettuce, mayo, onions, tomatoes).

So here's a great recipe for you:

Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwich

For the breading:

Use even amounts of each of the following (start with one cup each):
Flour
Super-fine crushed saltine crackers
Panko bread crumbs or white cornmeal
Depending upon how many tenderloins that you are breading, just make up more breading if you need to.

For the wet batter:

1 cup whole milk (some use buttermilk)
2 jumbo eggs
minced garlic or garlic powder (to taste, I just sprinkle it all over the milk/eggs)
couple shakes of paprika (some use cayenne pepper)
Also depending upon how many tenderloins that you are marinating, just make up more batter if you need to.

Prepare the wet batter.
Pour into a ceramic/glass baking pan.
Place the pork tenderloins in the wet batter.
Cover and marinate in the refrigerator OVERNIGHT --- this really makes them tender, tender!

The next day:

Prepare the dry breading mixture in a large cake pan or something similar because these are BIG and need the space for the breading process.

Remove tenderloins from the marinade and place in the dry breading, lightly pressing down so that the breading gets into all of the crevices of the tenderized pork.
Gently flip over and repeat.

Now if you really want the real deal:  Dip the breaded tenderloins ONCE AGAIN in the marinade and then double-dip them again in the breading!!  It may be messy, but it will really be BREADED thickly!

Heat canola oil to 350 degrees.  The oil MUST be hot.
Deep fry in a deep cast iron pan (I use my Le Crueset) or in a deep fryer (which I don't have).
Fry for 3 minutes.
Serve hot.
Salt to taste.
Place on buns with pickles and mustard.
Enjoy this Midwestern treat!

This bad boy was so big, that Mr. M. and P. (meat and potatoes) split it with me!

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Mediterranean Prosciutto, Red Pepper, and Pesto Panini!

As peppers continue to ripen in the garden and the heat of August lingers on, it seemed wise to simply make another sandwich.  The only heat involved when making sandwiches the Italian way is inside a panini grill.  There's no heat from a stove or oven and there's no outdoor 90+ degree heat to swelter in next to a grill!  I am truly a whimp when it comes to high heat without a swimming pool!

Last week I was inspired by the open-faced Ratatouille Sandwich prepared by Jessica of Kitchen Belleicious.  We're both firm believers of recommending that you adjust recipes to make them more to your preferences.

Isn't that part of the fun of cooking?  And that's exactly what I did with this sandwich.

First of all, I am a very strange Italian in that I don't care for eggplant.  It's just all moosh to me!  Mr. M. and P. won't touch eggplant either, so we were in synchronized culinary unison on that ingredient to substitute.  But similar to Jessica's sammie, I stayed true to using Mediterranean flavors:  homemade pesto, prosciutto, roasted red peppers, and Italian Fontina cheese.  I also added sliced pepperoncini to give the sandwiches an extra kick!  I had a marvelous Tomato Focaccia bread on hand which made the sandwiches irresistible!  After layering everything, I sprinkled the top with freshly minced oregano picked from the herb garden.

In a previous post, I roasted red peppers and yet in another post I marinated red peppers in a balsamic-olive oil-caper mixture.  Since the peppers stay fresh in the frig for a week or two, I had a few left over to use in this sandwich.  Bill and I always look for ways to use up everything that we've previously made so nothing is wasted.

As the sandwich sizzled inside the panini grill, the aroma from the melting cheese, pesto and balsamic vinegar was intoxicating!  We couldn't wait to bite in and savor.  The flavors are once again powerful and wonderful.  This is not your ordinary bland sandwich.

Above:  Pesto on the top left, beautiful fresh prosciutto on the right.  

Marinating roasted red peppers on the lower left and the sandwich grilling in the panini press on the lower right.  

Just before grilling and pressing, the sandwich looks huge!

Prosciutto, Red Pepper, and Pesto Panini
.
Pre-heat a panini grill to high.
Focaccia bread - use your favorite flavor combination; cut into sandwich sizes and then slice each horizontally in half.
Layer the bottom half with basil pesto.
Layer next with thinly sliced red onions.
Layer next with the roasted red peppers.
At this point, add some capers if you don't have the original marinade.
Layer next with the Fontina cheese (grated or sliced).
Layer next, sliced Italian pepperoncini.
Pile on 3 to 4 thin slices of prosciutto.
Sprinkle with minced oregano.
Cover with the top half of the foccacia.
Place the sandwich on a hot panini grill.
Slowly press down the top of the panini grill.
Grill on high for about 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

After grilling on the panini press, everything blends together for a toasty treat!

Our beautiful "Mowee" checking out the peppers from the garden.

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Roasted Red Pepper & Italian Cheese Panini!

Red peppers are selling for 4.00 a pound here (green peppers: $3, yellow peppers: $5, and orange peppers: $6 per pound).  There is some serious legal highway robbery going on in our marketplace!  All the more reason that I'm grateful to grow our own fresh veggies in our garden.  Just one red pepper plant gifts us with a minimum of 6 peppers . . . that's PER plant!

This year we planted green, red, yellow, orange, and purple peppers and I know that with loving care they will continue to produce until the cool weather arrives (usually in late October to early November here).

I referred to Larry of "Big Dude's Eclectic Ramblings" for advice on preserving all of our peppers.  Larry is an accomplished master gardener and has a weekly post with gardening tips every Thursday.  And he always answers every one of my questions!  So with his guidance, that little job of freezing peppers is behind me, at least for this week before more ripen next week to freeze more.  After that was finished, I quickly moved into roasting more peppers and freezing those as well.

However, one must taste and partake in one's labor, right?  There are so many excellent recipes for using red peppers and of the final ten that I saved, one simple recipe just screamed at me to make:  Ina Garten's Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Sandwich.

Adjustments that I made:  Since I'm not fond of goat cheese, I swapped that out and used a shredded 6-cheese Italian blend.  I always keep this bagged cheese on hand for simplicity, money savings, and to top home-made pizzas.  I added a top layer of cheese as well.  I also grilled them on a panini press to melt the cheese and re-heat the peppers that were cold from marinating in the frig.  Perfect choice!

I roasted the peppers a day earlier so I had that out of the way.

For Mr. Meat and Potatoes, we added smoked turkey and some prosciutto.  I chose the turkey for the mildness of flavor so that the peppers and basil could stay on center stage.  Genoa salami, capicola, and too much prosciutto would be too powerful for the peppers which are meant to be the star of the show in this sandwich.  Another recommendation:  keep the marinade from the peppers and use it for a dipping sauce for your sandwich.

This sandwich is simply indescribably and outstandingly delicioso!  What a wonderful, delightful flavor combination . . . and now one of my favorites!  The flavors are powerful, in perfect harmony, and addicting.  Trust me, this sammie is superb and full of perfect fresh flavors of roasted red peppers, fresh basil, cheese, capers, balsamic vinegar and EVOO.  You'll love this!

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The Big Mama, Big Bang, Big Kahuna Burger!

.

Your mouth will stretch twice it's normal size in order to bite into this bad boy!  The burger lives up to it's name:  The Big Mama (because it was for me, while Bill had his own concoction), The Big Bang (for the fireworks of the 4th of July), and The Big Kahuna (in attempts to duplicate a burger that I enjoyed in Hawaii in May).  It's big, bad (in a good way), and incredibly delicious!

Yes, that is a chopstick inserted half way down to hold the monster burger together; toothpicks weren't long enough!  I ended up eating it with a fork and knife, being unable to manage it by my hands alone without looking like a freak.

The Big Mama, Big Bang, Big Kahuna Burger

7 oz. (each) corn-fed ground beef patties

2 slices thick-cut, hickory smoked bacon, fully cooked until browned

pepper jack cheese slices

large hamburger buns, TOASTED (if not, the buns turn to mush!)

Thousand Island dressing

dill pickles (hamburger slices)

1/2 avocado, sliced

tomato, sliced

onion, sliced

lettuce

ketchup and mustard

Grill the burgers, seasoned the way that you prefer.

Place cheese slices on top of each burger during the last 30 seconds on the grill and no more than that or the cheese will drip right off into your grill.

Toast the buns.

Spread Thousand Island dressing on both insides of the buns.

Layer lettuce and onions on first.

Lay the burger/cheese on top next.

Lay the bacon on next.

Layer on the tomatoes, pickles, and avocado slices.

Close up the burger, wrap with wax paper, foil, or insert a chopstick in the middle to hold it together.  

And now how about the coleslaw?  Well, it's a copycat type of recipe from a famous chicken restaurant.  The recipe is all over the web and so we decided to try it.  The flavor is just about identical and the reviews/comments on the web-sites declare that it IS identical to the real deal cole slaw.  Here's how to make it:

Cole Slaw

1 head of cabbage, finely chopped (this makes a ton of cole slaw, so you might want to divide this recipe in half).

1/2 cup finely shredded carrots (I doubled this)

2 Tbsp. minced onion

Dressing:  (I doubled this)

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 whole milk

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 1/2 Tbsp. white vinegar

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Mix everything together and let set for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

This is the very simple way in which we dine and eat on the 4th of July.  Just a simple grilling of burgers and/or hot dogs with a fresh veggie side dish and a cold glass of iced tea.  Nothing fancy, complicated, or gourmet; just classic grilled burgers and/or hot dogs . . . and we love it that way.  

Afterwards we sit back, watch fireworks, and feel gratitude for this great country!

Happy 4th of July!

The Big Mama, Big Bang, Big Kahuna Burger

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