French Dip Sandwiches with Au Jus

1. This was very cost effective
2. This was extremely easy
3. Every single person in my family ate and loved all of this

There really isn't much "gourmet" about this. It's kind of a dump recipe. Somehow it made incredible results with amazing flavor. With how easy and cheap it was (aside from the meat..heh heh..) and the fact that no one could stop eating it, it's going back on the menu often.

Definitely fill your sandwiches more than I filled this one :). 4 kids and 4 dogs running around ya know, I was not being incredibly attentive here haha!

What you will need:

• 2 cans french onion soup
• 1 can beef consmme (you can just use beef broth like me)
• 2-2 1/2 lbs. chuck roast
• Provolone cheese slices
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

• Sear the outsides of your meat (you can cut it into chunks to sear and cook it)
• Pour cans of soup and consomme (or broth) into crock pot.
• Add the meat into the crock pot
• Cook on high for 6 hours
• Shred the meat and set aside
• Slice your preferred sandwich bread in half and place on a cookie sheet.
• Spread softened butter on each of the slice
• Pre-toast the bread at 400* for about 4 minutes. You don't need it darkened, but when you touch it, it's rough and a bit crispy
• While your bread is pre-toasting, place a strainer over a bowl and pour the broth into the strainer. It will catch all the extras, allowing just the jus to pass through into the bowl

• Pull out your pre-toasted bread and add the shredded meat and provolone cheese to the bottom slices
• Put them back into the oven until the cheese is nice and melted
• Serve with the au jus !

Egg McMuffin

Welcome to Hot Cookin' Mama, My Kids Favorite Breakfast edition ;). But seriously, this is my kids favorite breakfast. They'd prefer this over the ones from McDonalds or other fast food, and that's saying something because they really love those.

These are really very simple to make, so I've got them on the breakfast menu once a week. You could of course change this to your liking. Using sausage instead of the ham, for one thing, would be a yummy change!

I know this isn't the most amazing picture, but we're entering into daylight savings time where everything is darker all the time so it's a bit of a challenge finding good lighting in the place I live. 

What you will need:

• English muffins (I get "extra crisp")
• 1 slice Canadian Bacon (usually found in a package of about 6 in the refrigerated section by the bacon.)
• 1 Egg
• 1 slice of cheese

Directions:

• Cook your egg all the way through
• While that's cooking, throw your english muffin slices in the toaster
• Heat up your canadian bacon slice. If it's nice and hot and browned it's done
• Butter your slices of english muffin
• Build your breakfast sandwich!

Sandwich Bread

Is there really anything better than freshly baked bread? (yes, there is, but go with it) The puffy and fluffy warmth smeared with butter and homemade strawberry jam. Mmmm. 

I was thinking about being annoyed that I was out of sandwich bread on Sunday (we don't shop on Sundays), and then I thought myself, self, just make some. Like, duh.

And so I did. I found this recipe and with quite literally zero negative comments about it I decided to try it out.

This is not that pillowy delicate kind of bread. This is soft and delicious on the inside with a browned crust on the outside, but the crust isn't hard or crunchy. So to me, that was perfect for sandwich bread!

I was right. It was good right out of the oven with the butter and jam, too of course. But that wasn't my purpose. The girls fell in love with it and it holds up well for sandwiches just like I wanted. And trust me, if I can make it and have it turn out right the first time, you can, too.

Let's talk about my loaves for a second. The directions in the recipe confused me a little about how to make it "loaf" looking (first timer with sandwich bread here). The first one I made was the one you see the most in this picture. The one on the left kinda went wooop in the middle because I had it rolled up all nice and then I remembered that I promised my girls I'd give them some dough to play with. So I pulled off some of it and threw it in the pan without much more attention to it. And so....I just kind of pretending like it wasn't there for the showy pictures ;).

My point is that it was surprisingly easy to get this "bread look." If my first loaf can turn out looking like this, then it isn't hard. I'm sure all of you already knew this, though.

 

What you will need:

•  2 packets active dry yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp. )
• 3/4 C warm water (I try to get mine right at 110* but I think anywhere between 110*-115* works)
• 1/4 C granulated sugar
• 1 T salt
• 3 T unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into chunks
• 2 2/3 C additional warm water (I assumed this meant the same type of warm for the yeast so I aimed for 110*)
• 9-10 C all purpose flour (I got to 9 and wondered if I'd put too much in so I stopped there. I continued to worry about that all the way until I ate the bread haha. It was fine!)
• More butter to run on the loaves after they're out of the oven (important!)

Directions:

•  In your mixing bowl, add the warm water and sprinkle yeast on top
• Let the yeast activate for a few minutes (about 10 minutes)
• With your paddle attachment, add sugar, salt and butter and mix
• Add in the extra 2 2/3 C water and mix
• Add 5 C flour at once and mix
• Add the rest of the flour 1 C at a time 
• If you have a smaller mixing bowl, split the dough into two equal parts and place one part in a large greased bowl
• Keep the other part in the mixing bowl and switch to your dough hook attachment
• Kneed the dough for about 10 minutes and place dough into a large grease bowl
• Take the other part of dough and kneed it for 10 minutes, placing back into the large greased bowl (if you have a larger mixing bowl, just kneed the dough all at once. I didn't want to burn out my motor so I split them up)
• Cover both bowls with a cloth and place in warm area to rise for about an hour
• Punch the dough down and roll out to 12x12 square
• Roll the dough up like you would a cinnamon roll dough and pinch together along the side
• Tuck the ends of the loaf underneath the dough and place in a greased 9" bread loaf pan
• Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place again for another hour
• Preheat oven to 425* and lower your oven rack so the bread will have room to puff up 
• Bake your loaves for 15 minutes uncovered
• Cover the dough with tin foil and bake for another 15 minutes
• As soon as loaves are out of the oven, butter all over the tops
• Take loaves out of the pans and let them cool on a cooling rack

Hawaiian Ham & Swiss Sliders

My brother and sister in law made these once and they were so good I couldn't get them off my mind. Then they made them again during Christmas time and I was reminded that I must make them. I'm not sure the exact recipe they used, but I found this similar one!

I browned mine a little extra because I like things that way. Sometimes I actually think the words, "it tastes almost burned...it's so delicious." And that's what I did her. I kept looking at them thinking they could go just a little bit longer when in reality you can totally take them out when the recipe says to :).

One thing I would recommend, is you can go ahead and make these ahead of time and keep them in the fridge until you're ready to bake them! I had these planned for dinner on a pretty busy day, so I put them together before I left and only had to wait 10 minutes for them to bake when we all got home.

Also, be careful when you're opening your poppy seeds. Let's just say I'll be finding poppy seeds all over my kitchen for weeks.

What you will need:

• 24 slices deli honey ham
• 6 slices swiss cheese
• 1 T poppy seeds
• 1 1/2 T dijon mustard
• 1/2 C butter melted
• 1 T onion powder
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• Mayo
• 2 pkgs. KINGS HAWAIIAN Original Hawaiian sweet dinner rolls (yeah I just used rolls from the bakery and they were delicious)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Mix poppy seeds, dijon mustard, butter, onion powder and Worcestershire sauce in small bowl, set aside
• Slice rolls open and spread mayo on one side
• Add ham and swiss cheese
• Place the sandwiches into a baking dish so they are all close together
• Pour sauce over the tops of the rolls and cover with foil
• Let sit for 10 minutes
• Bake in the oven for another 10 minutes
• Remove the foil and bake another 2 minutes so the tops browned and crisp

Kira's BBQ Root Beer Pulled Chicken

I was looking for a particular flavor to create as my bbq sauce flavor. The last time I made this, it wasn't quite right. This time, it was PERFECT! This is soooo good you guys. And I hope you can see some of that corn on the cob behind that sandwich there. That "recipe" (yeah, a recipe for corn on the cob) is right here and it's delicious. Hint: it involves crab. Woah! Hands down the best corn on the cob I've ever had in my life. Loving my Kitchen-Brain lately.

What you will need:

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 20 oz. Famous Dave's Rich&Sassy BBQ Sauce
• 4 cloves fresh garlic, grated
• 1 T Onion Powder
• 1 C Root Beer
• Salt&Pepper
• Kaiser rolls or any preferred sandwich bread (I lightly toast mine on the stove cause I can't handle "soggy" bread)

Directions:

• Poor 1/4 of the bbq sauce into crock pot
• Grate 1 garlic clove and add it into the bbq sauce
•  Add 1/2 T onion powder into the bbq sauce
• Add the root beer into the bbq sauce and mix all together
• Place chicken breasts into the bbq sauce mix
• sprinkle the rest of the onion powder over the chicken
• Grate one garlic clove onto each chicken breast
• Salt and pepper the chicken breasts
• Poor the rest of the bbq sauce over the chicken 
• Make sure the chicken is smothered in sauce
• Cook on low for about 6 hours
• Shred with two forks and serve

Sandwich on a Stick

So, after using this as a suggestion for my 7 Day Challenge and an idea for Diabetics, I realized I did not in fact already have it on here. Whoops! It's such a simple idea, really. If you want to cut out bread from your diet, this is an AMAZING alternative to eating a sandwich. You can use whatever variety you want, and not all sticks have to be the same. You could also use this as a great way to watch your portion control with things like mustard or mayo if you use them as a dip instead of slathering them all over your sandwich. Personally, this is my favorite combo. When I pop one of these cuties into my mouth the flavors all just go so well together!

What you will need:

• Toothpicks, or, if you're super hungry, a skewer
• Your favorite Deli meat
• Your favorite vegetables
• Your favorite cheeses
• Anything else

Directions:

• Put them on a stick :)

Chicago Style Italian Beef Sandwiches and Au jus

I love the Food Network.

I love The Next Food Network Star.

I love Jeff (last seasons winner).

He's the Sandwich King.

Ever since he shared this recipe it has been a favorite!

It does not dissapoint.

Each time I eat this, I am reminded why I'm so happy he won.

Mmmm!

His recipe includes the Sweet Peppers as a topping for the sandwich and his other recipe for the Giardiniera topping (it's always nice to have on hand for all kinds of things) is posted here. They are great together, but as of late have only been doing the giardiniera. 

You will need:

Pot Roast

• 1 boneless beef chuck eye roast 
• 4 soft, hinged or hogie rolls
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 1 T dried Italian seasoning
• 2 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 med. onion, roughly chopped
• 1/2 C dry red wine
• 3 C beef stock
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme

Sweet Peppers

• 4 green bell peppers, seeded and cut into strips
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 tsp. granulated garlic
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Pot Roast

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees
• Lightly sprinkle the entire roast with salt and pepper
• Heat olive oil in Dutch oven or over medium-high heat
• Brown the roast on all sides until golden and caramelized (reduce heat if fat begins to smoke)
• Transfer the roast to a plate and reduce heat to medium
• Add in onions and saute', stirring occasionally until just beginning to brown (about 8-10 mins)
• Add in Italian seasoning and crushed red pepper and saute' until fragrant
• Add garlic and saute' until fragrant
• Deglaze with the red wine and cook until the alcohol smell diminishes
• Add beef stock and thyme and bring to a simmer
• Place roast back into pot and place into the oven
• Cook roast, turning ever 30 minutes (I turned mine about every 40-45 minutes and it's fine!)
• Cook for 3-4 hours
• Transfer the roast to a cutting board and tent with foil.
• Strain the jus through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl and return back to the pot.
• Bring to a simmer and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
• Once cooled a bit, pull the meat into smaller chunks and reserve for the sandwiches.

Sweet Peppers

• Once pot roast is done, turn up heat to 350 degrees
• Toss the pepper strips in the vegetable oil, garlic and salt&pepper on a baking sheet
• Bake, stirring halfway through until lighter in color and soft, about 20 minutes.

Homemade Hot Giardiniera

This is not your average "pickled vegetables."

In fact, a lot of people recommend using vinegar for things like this.

However, if you want more of a fresh vegetable taste, rather than the pickled flavor, this is your pick.

If you do plan on making this, it's important to note at the beginning that if you plan on doing it right, it will take you 2 days to make. So plan in advance!

Having a jar of this in your fridge comes in handy way more than you think, but is especially good with this. (Also from my fav. Jeff Mauro!)

You will need:

• 1/4 C table salt
• 1 C small diced carrots (I use shredded)
• 1 C tiny cauliflower florets
• 4 to 8 Serrano peppers, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 stalk celery, diced small
• 1 red bell pepper, diced small
• 2 C canola oil
• 1 T dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• Green onions, minced (personal preference, not from the original recipe!)

Directions:

• Combine 2 C water and salt in a glass bowl.
• Mix until salt is dissolved.
• Add carrots, cauliflower, Serrano's, garlic, celery and bell peppers to the salt water and stir to combine.
• Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, drain and rinse the vegetables.
• In a clean bowl, mix together the oil with the oregano and pepper.
• Add the vegetables and mix to combine.
• Allow to marinate overnight.
• Place in air-tight mason jars and keep in the fridge for up to 2 to 3 weeks