Fancied-Up BLTs

 I am a little notorious for not liking sandwiches; I don't eat lunch meat of any type, really. But, I do love BLTs. Enter Everyday Food, October 2010, p. 49.

Fancied-Up BLTs
(aka Chicken, Avocado, and Bacon Sandwich)

Makes 2 sandwiches

4 slices of bacon
1/3 C shredded chicken, cooked
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, minced
4 slices bread, toasted
Lettuce
Tomato slices
1 avocado, sliced

Cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon from pan and toss shredded chicken in bacon drippings. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix minced garlic into mayonnaise.

Assemble sandwiches. Spread mayonnaise on toasted bread, fill with bacon, chicken, lettuce, tomato, and avocado. Slice. Enjoy.

Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joes of my childhood always had crunched potato chips on top. Sloppy Joes of my recent life are always made with ground turkey. I picked this just because I was looking for something different.

Taken from Pioneer Woman Cooks

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4

1 Tbsp butter
1 lb ground beef
1/4 whole large onion, diced
1/2 large green bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic minced
3/4 C ketchup
1/2 C water
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
1 Tbsp tomato paste
Salt and ground papper, to taste
Rolls, for serving

Add butter to a large skillet or dutch oven over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until brown. Drain most of the fat and discard.

Add onions, green pepper, and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, or until vegetables begin to get soft.

Add ketchup, brown sugar, chili pepper, and water. Stir to combine and simmer for 15 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste. Also add tomato paste and Worcestershire. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Spoon meat mixture over the rolls.

My Notes:
These were really delicious and easy to make. They actually tasted really similar to Manwhich.

Week 48: Crockpot Pulled Pork

This was a Sunday supper for us. Sunday suppers are usually something that need to cook all day, and it has just been too hot lately to have the oven on for the entire day. So, I searched for a crockpot recipe and ended up with this.

Taken from Savorysusie at Tasty Kitchen
Prep time: Less than 5 minutes + 10 minutes later
Cook time: 8 - 10 hours + 1 hour later

1 large onion, sliced
3 lb Boneless Pork Shoulder Roast
2 C (16 oz) ginger ale
16 oz BBQ sauce
1 package sandwich buns (8 count)

Place half of the onion in the crock pot. Put the meat on top of the onion layer. Layer the other half of onion on top of the meat. Pour ginger ale on top.

Cook 8-10 hours on low.

Remove meat from pot. Discard liquid and onions. On a plate, pull the pork for the sandwiches. Place the pork back into the pot and cover it with the BBQ sauce.


Let it cook on low for another 30 minutes to 1 hour to let the BBQ sauce heat.

Serve on buns.

My Notes:
This was great - officially part of our regular rotation.

Week 28: Caesar Club Sandwich

I've become a big Ina Garten fan. If I get home from work on time I can catch an episode, and my DVR is programmed to tape the new episodes on Saturday.

I recently found the Barefoot Bloggers and decided to cook along with their Ina Garten choices for March.

Caesar Club Sandwich
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa
And inspired by Barefoot Bloggers

2 split (1 whole) chicken breasts (bone in and skin on)
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
4 oz thinly sliced pancetta
1 large garlic clove, chopped
2 tsp dried flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 tsp anchovy paste
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 C mayonnaise
1 large ciabatta bread
2 oz hearts of romaine, washed and spun dry
2 to 3 oz Parmesan, shaved

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan skin side up. Rub with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until cooked through. Cool slightly, discard the skin and bones, and slice the meat thickly. Set aside.





Meanwhile, place the pancetta on another sheet pan in a single layer. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes, until crisp. Set aside to drain on paper towels.



Place the garlic and the parsley in a food processor and process until minced. Add the anchovy paste, mustard, lemon juice, and mayonnaise and process again to make a smooth dressing. Refrigerate if not using immediately.


Slice the ciabatta in half horizontally and separate the top from the bottom. Toast the bread in the oven, cut side up, for 5 to 7 minutes; cool slightly. Spread the cut sides of each piece with the Caesar dressing. Place half the romaine on the bottom piece of the bread and layer in order: shaved Parmesan, crispy pancetta, and sliced chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and finish with another layer of romaine.



Place the top slice of ciabatta on top and cut in third crosswise. Serve at room temperature.



My notes:
The original recipe used arugula. I replaced it with romaine because it is what I had. The original recipe also included sundried tomatoes. I'm not really a fan and meant to replace them with fresh tomatoes but completely forgot once it was time to actually assemble and eat the sandwich.

This also marks my first experimentation with cooking chicken with skin and bones. I survived and the chicken tasted great - much juicier and more flavorful than the boneless, skinless chicken breasts I normally use.

Week 17: Shredded Beef and Fancy Macaroni

Brad loves shredded beef sandwiches and whines that I can't make then as well as his grandma. This is due (at least partially) to my irrational fear of crock pot cooking. Long days at work plus a crock pot with a faulty thermostat plus meat without much fat plus not enough cooking liquid has led to many burned dinners and impromptu nights out. That, however, is another story.

I tried this beef recipe in hopes of making Brad smile. He didn't say it was better than his grandma's (or even as good as his grandma's), but he did eat two sandwiches.

I served it with Ree Drummond's Fancy Macaroni - which I was simply looking for an excuse to make. And, I baked the macaroni and cheese in my new Le Creuset Mini Cocotte's.

Shredded Beef Barbecue
12 servings
Taken from: Taste of Home

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 8 - 10 hours (slow cooker)



1 beef sirloin tip roast (2-1/2 pounds)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup each ketchup and water
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons celery seed
2 teaspoons chili powder
12 kaiser rolls, split

Sprinkle roast with salt and pepper. In a nonstick skillet, brown roast in oil on all sides over medium-high heat; drain.

Transfer roast to a 5-qt. slow cooker. Combine the ketchup, water, onion, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, celery seed and chili powder; pour over roast.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until meat is tender. Remove meat; shred with two forks and return to slow cooker. Spoon 1/2 cup meat mixture onto each roll.

One sandwich equals 313 calories, 9 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 2 g fiber

My review: The sanwiches were fine. The meat wasn't fatty (one of my frequent complaints about shredded meat sandwiches), and it was flavorful (no extra BBQ sauce required).

Fancy Macaroni
6 servings
Taken from Pioneer Woman

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes



2 C Macaroni
4 Tbsp Butter
1 whole Medium Onion, Cut In Half And Sliced Thin
5 slices Regular Bacon
1/2 Tbsp Bacon Grease (reserved From Bacon Slices)
1/8 C All-purpose Flour
1 C Whole Or 2% Milk
1/4 C Half & Half
1 whole Egg Yolk, Beaten
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1/4 C Grated Gruyere Cheese
1/4 C Grated Fontina Cheese
1/4 C Grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
2 oz, weight Chevre (soft Goat Cheese)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook macaroni for half the time of the package instructions. Drain and set aside.



Fry bacon until slightly, but not overly, crispy. Drain on a paper towel. Reserve grease.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet and saute onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown and soft. Set aside.



In a pot, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat for 1 minute. Pour in milk and half & half, then cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until thick. Reduce heat to low. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Beat egg yolks and drizzle 1/8 cup hot mixture into the yolks, stirring constantly. Stir to combine. Pour egg mixture into sauce and cook for another minute.

Add cheeses and stir until melted. Add onions and bacon and bacon grease and stir. Taste for seasonings and add more salt if needed. Add cooked macaroni and stir to coat.

Pour into a baking dish and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until sizzling and hot.

My review: This was labor- and dish-intensive. I bought and shredded way too much cheese (the left-overs were frozen). The bacon, butter, and cheese led to a dish that was plenty salty; I didn't add any additional salt. Also, I'm not a huge onion lover. Next time I will cut the onions at least in half. And, I'm not sure that I'd bake it in small dishes again. It was a little dried out. And, I don't know that I'd use the full amount of noodles the next time, either. How's that for a rambling review?