Philly Cheese Steak

I was in the mood to make something really easy. I was watching man vs food and he ate a huge philly cheese steak, it made me want to make it because it looked so delicious. I decided to make it and I was very delicious.

Ingredients:

Thinly sliced rib eye steak (or if you want to save a LOT of money, do what I did and use top sirloin)
White onion
Cheeze whiz
Provolone cheese 
Hoagie roll

On a griddle or saute pan saute onions (and if you like bell pepers) in about 1/4 tablespoon of butter. Cook until they are soft and then set aside. On high heat cook the thinly sliced meat, season with salt and pepper. This should take about 5 minutes, while still on griddle place two slices of provolone on top of the meat until it melts. Toast the hoagie roll, then place the meat with the melted cheese on the hoagie roll. Place the sauted onions on top also. Warm up the cheese whiz and put it on one side of the hoagie rolls and then put the sandwhich together and enjoy. Cheese whiz is a must! I was skeptical at first but it adds an amazing texture to the philly cheese steak.

Omelets

I love breakfast, it is the best meal in the world of meals. My favorite breakfast food is the egg, and my favorite form of the egg is the omelet. Not only do you get eggs but you get the delicious filling as well. In my case I like lots of meats, sautéed onions, cream cheese and avocado in mine. Its a fine are to be able to make the perfect omelet. Too often you'll see omelets that are brown and crusty on the outside. Through my time tested techniques I will show you how to make the perfect omelet every time.

Ingredients:

Eggs (how ever much you want)
Pepper (to taste)
salt (to taste)
really... you can put in whatever sounds good. Experiment, you'll never know what you like until you try it.

Put eggs in a lightly oiled pan on medium low. Making the perfect omelet takes patients. Let the egg cook until the bottom begins to solidify, with a spatula gently lift one of the edges and let the raw egg on top drain onto the bottom, repeat this until there is very little raw. Then very carefully flip the omelet over like a pancake. At this point you will put in your fillings, (whatever they may be). Then flip half of the omelet to cover the fillings. Turn off the heat, and cover pan with lid until the cheese is melted. Take out and enjoy. Side note,in this omelet I used 4 egg whites and one whole egg, that's why the egg looks so light.

John and Krysta love breakfast, but not as much as me. 

Mac N Cheese w/ boneless pork ribs

Growing up I loved to eat Macaroni and Cheese, but I never made it from scratch. I always made it out of the box. I've been watching a lot of the food network and they were showing some southern cooking and they had macaroni and cheese from scratch and it looked amazing. I decided to make it, along with some boneless pork ribs that I kind of just made up.

Ingredients:
1 lb elbow macaroni
4 cups of grated sharp Cheddar cheese, or whatever
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp Dijon mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs plus 1 tbsp butter


Put 1/4 cup of butter in sauce pan on medium heat until melted. Add 1/4 cup of flour mix together and let simmer for about 3 minutes. Add thyme, cayenne and white pepper, let cook for about 1 minutes. Mix in 1 cup of cold milk (I used whole milk so that the sauce would be even creamier). Add the rest of the milk. Then add salt, nutmeg, Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard.  Let all simmer for about 10 minutes. ( While you are cooking up the sauce, boil the pasta). After the sauce thickens up a little turn off the heat and add one cup of cheese at a time, be sure to leave 3/4 of a cup of cheese for the top. When the cheese is all mixed in (except for the 3/4 cup for the top) add a it to the noodles in a 13x9 pan. Make sure it is all mixed in well. Melt 1 Tbsp of butter and add it to Panko crumbs and spread over the macaroni, put the remaining cheese over the top also. Cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Depending how creamy you want the mac n cheese add more or less noodles. In my case I added about 12 oz, which is 3/4 of a pound. It came out very creamy and delicious. 

I had to come up with something to have with the macaroni and cheese. I decided something BBQ would be good, I like pork ribs but I don't have a grill so I decided to experiment with boneless pork ribs in the crock pot. 

Ingredients:

3 large tart apples, peeled, cored, chopped or thinly sliced

1 white onion, halved and thinly sliced

1/2 tablespoon cinnimon

1/4 cup water

1 Teaspoon salt

1/4 cup apple juice

2 1/2 pound of bonless pork ribs

Trim the fat off of the pork, take the pieces and brown them in a frying pan with a little olive oil. To do this put burner on high and cook every side long enough to brown and seal the meat. (This will help prevent the meat from drying out and also help seal in the flavor from the other ingredients).  Add all the ingredients to the crock pot and cook on LOW for 8 hours. After  8 hours, drain liquid and add your favorite BBQ sauce, and cook on low for another hour and a half.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nate is from Tennessee and said that the Mac N Cheese was the best he has ever had.  ( That is his second helping)

Chicken Parmesan

This week I decided to make chicken Parmesan. It's something that I don't typically order when I got out to Italian restaurants but always wish I did when I see someone else eating it. This recipe is delicious, the outside of the chicken is crispy and the inside stays very juicy. You don't want to over do it on the cheese or the sauce. You don't want to drown the chicken in so much sauce and cheese, that it ends up being a big soggy chicken/cheese clump. I don’t put any sauce under the chicken breasts, just a little bit on top, so the breading stays relatively crisp. Also, using fresh mozzarella cheese and fresh Parmesan makes a huge difference. Piacere!

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 cups “Panko” Japanese style bread crumbs
1 cup grated parmesan ( put about half a cup with the bread crumbs)

4 oz fresh mozzarella
salt and pepper to taste
3 Eggs

olive oil for frying
1/2 cup prepared tomato sauce
1/4 cup fresh shredded basil, or pesto, or dried Italian herbs of your choice, or omit
*Baked for approximately 15-20 minutes at 450F

Take your 4 boneless skinless chicken breast and pound the thicker part so that the whole piece is about an inch thick.   Then dredge the chicken in flour. Take the chicken and put it in the beaten eggs then add it to the bowl of Panko crumbs/parmesan mixture.  Make sure that the bread crumbs are completly covering the chicken, gently push the bread crumb mixture in the chicken. After you are done doing that with all 4 chicken breasts, let them sit on a plate for about 15 mintues so that the bread crumbs seal into the chicken. 
Add the chicken to a medium-high frying pan (put about an inch of olive oil). Fry on the sides until golden (NOT golden brown), its only a few seconds on each side. If you fry it too long the chicken will become dry in the oven. Place the chicken in a glass cooking pan. Put sauce, then fresh mozzarella, then herbs, then parmesan on top. Not too much of any ingredient (see pictures for proper amount). Drizzle the top with about a 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil.  Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes at 450F

I would have liked to have made my own tomato sauce but I ran out of time. I just used some store brand. I added fresh garlic, oregano and salt and pepper to make it taste better. 

 






Anne liked the Chicken Parmesan so much that Todd went crazy!