French Dip Sandwiches and Baked French Fries

This is a simple dish I've been making for years.  It is a family favorite!

You'll want to make the french fries first.  I always use Yukon Gold potatoes - I just really like them.  I also bake my french fries.  It is so much better for you, and we have come to enjoy our non-oily fries over the years. 

You can watch a how to video of my recipe on allrecipes.com just click here - Best Baked French Fries video

I use about 1.5-2 potatoes per person.  Slice the potatoes lengthwise into about 4 slices. Then slice each individual slice lengthwise again into 4 strips.  These are the size of steak fries.  You can see from the picture about the size I make them. When all the potatoes are in strips, place them in a container or a Ziploc baggie. Add about a tablespoon of sugar - seal and let sit for about 30 mins to an hour.  This will release the water in the potatoes and make them a little more crunchy than you normally expect from a baked french fry.

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees.  Drain potatoes and pat dry. Line a baking sheet with foil (double line for easier clean-up). Spray with cooking spray.  Toss those potato strips on the foil. Salt and pepper generously, and I like to add some garlic powder too.  Now you'll want to drizzle them with olive oil and toss them around a bit to make sure each wedge is coated with oil.  The amount of oil will depend on how many potatoes you are making, but start with a tablespoon and add more as needed.  Don't worry if it seems like you oiled them too much, you can drain them on a paper towel after they are cooked.  It is also important to make sure they are in a single layer with space between each fry.

Place the baking tray in the oven and bake for 30 mins. Remove from oven and flip the potatoes - I like to turn each individual one over - it really doesn't take a whole lot of time and results in a crispier fry, but if you don't feel like doing that - just move them around a bit and try to get as many of them flipped over as you can (keeping them in a single layer with space between each fry).  Bake them for 10 more minutes and remove from the oven. Drain on paper toweling if needed.

You can start the sandwiches after you put the fries back in the oven for the last 10 minutes of cooking time.  You'll need 1lb rare roast beef, 1 can french onion soup, water, 4 onion kaiser rolls, 4 slices swiss, provolone, or whatever cheese you prefer.  

Heat the french onion soup in a sauce pan with 1/2 a can of water. Add the roast beef and heat through. Meanwhile toast the rolls in the oven. When toasted top with roast beef and a spoonful of the soup. Add cheese on top of the meat and melt in the oven.  Serve with extra juice and french fries.

Roasted Vege Sandwich

Allrecipes.com California Grilled Vege Sandwich

In an effort to add healthier meals to our diet, I decided to add in a vegetarian meal once a week.  I really liked this sandwich and all of the yummy summer veges on top of a delicious piece of Tuscan Garlic Bread from the Publix Bakery.

Don, on the other hand, was not too thrilled with my idea of adding in more healthful meals. He kept asking "where's the beef?" Not that he doesn't want to eat healthy - he just didn't like this sandwich.  He LOVED the veges - we both agree the roasted veges are delicious and we should include them more often.  He did not like the garlicky spread and the Feta cheese on this sandwich. The once a week vege meals might be too much for him - I will have to ease into that a little slower and maybe do once every other week for now...

What does he know - the garlic was yummy and the feta added a nice touch.  I told him there was leftover pizza in the fridge he could eat if he preferred, but he suffered through and gobbled up all of his sandwich.  Usually he'll finish my meal for me, but lucky for him I was really hungry and didn't have any leftovers for him.

Of course, I can't leave well enough alone and made some changes to this recipe. I only made the changes because I don't have a grill right now - still researching which one I want to buy.  Also, I was originally planning to make homemade Foccacia Bread, but I got busy and ended up buying a Tuscan Garlic Loaf I found at the Publix Bakery - I think it was a fine substitution!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup sliced red bell peppers
• 1 small zucchini, sliced
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 small yellow squash, sliced
• • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • pinch of sugar
  • salt and pepper
• 1/2 loaf of Tuscan Garlic Bread from the Publix Bakery or your favorite bread
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions

In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, minced garlic, and lemon juice. Set aside in the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees (F). Place veges on a foil lined baking sheet. Salt and pepper veges. Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil over veges and add a pinch of sugar. Toss the veges around to coat well with the olive oil and sugar. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes until tender and the onions begin to caramelize. Spread some of the mayonnaise mixture on the cut sides of the bread, and sprinkle each one with feta cheese. Place on a foil lined baking sheet and place in oven for about 5 minutes or until bread is warmed and cheese begins to melt. Watch carefully so as not to burn. Remove from oven and layer with the vegetables. Enjoy as open faced sandwiches.

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Photo courtesy of Madison Myers

Today is my father-in-law's birthday, so I wanted to make him a special treat. I learned he shares his birthday with a National Day of recognition! In addition to being my father-in-law's birthday, June 12th is also National Peanut Butter Cookie Day!  Who knew?  I sure didn't! But now that I do I will be sure to honor it every year by making my favorite Peanut Butter Cookies!

After all, It will be easy to remember!

Once again, I found this recipe on my favorite recipe site - Allrecipes.com. You can view the original recipe here.  I did not change the recipe too much, as it is perfect the way it is! However, this time around I did not have the quick cooking oats on hand, so I used regular oats and they turned out just fine! 

I really love these little sandwich cookies, and when I say little I mean it. The first time I made these - I made them sort of big because so many people really love those big cookies you get from bakeries - my daughter included! These cookies are so rich though, I recommend following the recipe to a 'T' and using a teaspoon to measure them. They turn out to be a perfect bite size piece of peanut buttery goodness! I prefer bite size cookies, so these are perfect as far as I'm concerned!

Happy Birthday, Dad! I hope it's great!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup quick cooking oats (or regular oats)
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 2 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Directions

In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter or margarine, 1/2 cup peanut butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. I like to beat this for 3-5 minutes until it is well mixed and lighter in color

See how much lighter it became after mixing for about 5 minutes? Add egg and beat well.

In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir just until combined. 

Add oatmeal and stir - I like to stir this in by hand

Drop by teaspoons onto a parchment lined baking sheet (or greased baking sheet), and press each mound down with a fork (or a spoon) to form 1/4 inch thick cookies. The dough is pretty soft so making the fork marks can be challenging unless you put the dough in the freezer or the fridge to harden up a bit.  I've always found cookies taste better if you refrigerate the dough overnight, so if you can resist baking these for a day you'll have an easier time of making those fancy fork marks for which peanut butter cookies are famous. Notice mine don't have the pretty fork marks...I couldn't wait! But I did reserve 1/2 the dough and filling to make tomorrow, so I'll make fancy fork marks with THOSE cookies! 

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 7-10 minutes, or until cookies are a light brown. (mine were perfect after just 7 minutes)

 To Make Filling: Cream 3 tablespoons butter or margarine with the confectioners sugar, 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, and the cream. Spread filling onto half of the cooled cookies, then top with the other half to form sandwiches.

Photo courtesy of Madison Myers

Photo courtesy of Madison Myers

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Slow Cooker Cheese Steaks

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Pineapple Chicken Sandwiches

post by Marion@Life Taste Good on 2012-04-12

I adapted my Pineapple Chicken Sandwich recipe from allrecipes.com Pineapple Chicken Sliders. The first time I made this recipe, I made it as stated and it was just okay. The sandwiches were a little dry from using boneless, skinless chicken breasts, and I wasn't crazy about using straight teriyaki sauce on the roll. I made some changes and now we all love this sandwich.

Ingredients

• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 bone in, skin on chicken breasts
• 6 fresh pineapple rings
• 1-2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce (to taste)
• 6 Hawaiian bread rolls - split and toasted (spread mayo or miracle whip on bread prior to oven toasting if desired)
• lettuce, rinsed and dried (I use spinach leaves)
• red onion slices

Directions

1. Whisk together the lemon juice, lime juice, cider vinegar, salt and pepper and pour into a plastic baggie. Add the chicken and shake gently to evenly coat. Seal bag and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (or overnight)
2. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees F.
3. Heat a frying pan over mid-high heat for a few minutes. Put the chicken breasts breast side down in the dry pan. It will sizzle. Don't move it! Let it sit to caramelize. After about 3 minutes, flip the chicken over and put the pan in the pre-heated oven to finish cooking. If your skillet is not oven safe, be sure to transfer the chicken to an oven safe dish. Bake for about 25-30 minutes. Chicken will be done when it reaches 160 degrees F internally, so check it with an instant read thermometer after about 25 minutes.
4. When done, remove chicken from oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Cut breast meat off the bone and then cut each breast in half.
5. While chicken is resting, add teriyaki sauce to pan. Cook on medium heat and stir to remove all the yummy bits from the pan. Continue stirring until the liquid has reduced a little. Add pineapple to the pan and cook a couple minutes each side until heated through.
6. Spread some sauce from pan on the bottom half of a toasted roll. Add lettuce, a piece of chicken, a pineapple round, and an onion slice. Put the top on it and repeat to make rest of sandwiches. Serve and enjoy!

Note: Using bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts will result in much more flavor and moistness. And, bonus, they are always cheaper than buying the boneless skinless breasts.