Bacon Wrapped Burgers

This is a great way to add a little flare to the boring burger. Kick it up a notch with bacon! Again, if you haven't signed up for allrecipes.com to receive their weekly newsletters, it's a must! The good food just keeps coming! You might even see some of my pictures on their website.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 pound ground beef
• 6 slices bacon
• 6 hamburger buns, split

Directions

1. Preheat a grill for high heat.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the Cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, onion, egg, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Crumble in the ground beef, and mix together by hand. Form into 6 patties, and wrap a slice of bacon around each one. Secure bacon with toothpicks.
3. Place patties on the grill, and cook for 5 minutes per side, or until well done. Remove toothpicks before serving on hamburger buns.

Review
I read the reviews online before I made this and everyone seemed to think that the bacon made the meat juicier and more tender. My thoughts are that I'm not sure that the bacon added or took away from the burger. Had the bacon been a little crispier, it would've added some crunch and texture, but that's been done before and I think the burger joints have perfected that one. This was just an add on that made it look cool. :) I do think that the meat was good and we felt that there was no need to add cheese on top as it is infused into the burger. Enjoy and write your own review.
*Don't forget to remove the toothpicks before you eat!

Ham and Sausage Stromboli

Have an aspiring little chef on your hands? Try out this easy to make stromboli with your little ones. Ace and I had so much fun creating this dish. He even used the dough scraps as a make shift play dough. :) It does take some time to create and cook so it's perfect for those slow burning summer days.

Ingredients:
1 pkg hot roll mix
1 1/4 c warm water
3 tbsp of oil, divided
1/3 lb sliced deli ham
1/3 lb sliced salami
1/4 lb pork sausage (cooked and drained)
4 slices of American cheese, cut into strips
1 c mozzarella or provolone cheese
dried oregano, garlic powder, ground pepper (added for taste)

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine the contents of the roll mix and yeast packets. Stir in warm water and 2 tbsp of oil until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
2. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth (about 5 mins). Cover and let rest for 5 min. Press into a lightly greased 15 in x 10 in x 1 in baking pan.
3. Layer ham, salami, American cheese, mozzarella cheese and sausage over dough. Roll up jelly-role style, starting with the long side; pinch seam to seal. Place diagonally in pan. Brush with remaining oil and sprinkle with dried oregano, garlic powder, and pepper.
4. Bake at 375 for 30-40 mins until golden brown. Let stand 10 mins before slicing.

Review:
Again, we had so much fun making it and we were excited, that the kids lost interest having to wait so long for it to cook. They had already moved on to other things. I think I also went too heavy on the garlic powder, oops! The bread on this stromboli makes it very filling. I had one slice and was full. I am used to making stromboli from pre-made pizza dough so the bread part was a little different. I thought it was good and it makes a ton! We will be having left overs for lunch again tomorrow. It serves 18.
*Note, watch you oven towards the end of the cooking, I started mine for 35 mins and it was already very golden brown by 30 mins.

Grill Mates

Summertime is here and it's time to hit the outdoors! I have the perfect combo of appetizers to serve alongside your favorite main dish, maragarita grilled shrimp and grilled stuffed jalapenos. So Good! The jalapeno recipe is a favorite of Good friends and the margarita grilled shrimp is from Allrecipes.com. Again, what a great website!

Ingredients for stuffed jalapenos:
Jalapenos- cored and seeds removed
Cheddar cheese- cubed
refriend beans
bacon

Directions:
After you core the jalapenos, drop a cube of cheddar cheese at the bottom. Fill the remaining space with refried beans. Wrap in bacon and grill on low to medium heat for about 20 minutes.
Variation: Instead of cheddar cheese and refried beans (which is so delicious), try pineapple and cream cheese.

Ingredients for margarita grilled shrimp:

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons tequila

3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 20 minutes

Directions

1. Combine the shrimp, garlic, lime juice, olive oil, tequila, cilantro, red pepper, and salt in a bowl; toss to combine; refrigerate 30 minutes.
2. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat and lightly oil grate. Drain the marinade from the shrimp and discard; thread the shrimp on the skewers.
3. Cook on preheated grill until the shrimp turn pink, 2 to 3 minutes per side.

Review: Well, we love the jalapenos and will be having them again real soon at our next family cook out and the shrimp was a HUGE hit. I expected the margarita flavor to be more of a punch, but it wasn't. It's vey subtle, but nice. It's a little pick me up that over powers the fish taste.

More grilling meals to come soon.

Fondue

Want to bring the Melting Pot home so all your family can enjoy the fun of this dinning experience? This is a combination of some of their best recipes tailored down to do just that. All these recipes can be changed to be just the appetizer or create your own three course (or more) meal! Be prepared that the meal itself takes a long time to eat as there are lots of steps in between each corse.

Cheese Fondue Appetizer
Ingredients:
3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
3 tbsp of flour
1 beer

Dippers (all cubed prior to dinner and set aside or refrigerated):
Sourdough bread
Green apples
Chips
Carrots
Cauliflower
(Whatever you have on hand that goes good with cheese!)

Directions:
Shred your cheddar cheese. For every 1 1/2 c of cheddar, you are going to coat it with 1 1/2 tbsp of flour.
Warm your fondue pot, add 1 1/2 c of the coated cheddar cheese to the pot. Slowly add in the beer and whish with a fork. Repeat for the next 1 1/2 c of cheese. *The last time I made this, I didn't use the entire can of beer. I just added as much as I thought I needed. I add the liquid as I go so I don't make it too watery.
Once the cheese is at a stringy consistancy, dip your veggies!

Here is the Melting Pots how to video which I find very helpful. http://www.monkeysee.com/play/1273-Fiesta-Cheese-Fondue

The next course could be a salad of your choice, but with little ones we leave this step out and go straight to the main course.

Coq Au Vain Cooking Broth
Ingredients:
3 1/2 c of veggie stock
1/2 red wine (usually whatever I'm drinking for the night works fine)
1 tbsp of finely chopped garlic
2 green onions chopped

Dippers: (again all cubed and refrigerated prior to dinner)
2 chicken breasts
1 filet
(Before, we've done shrimp or lobster)
Broccoli

The main dish is where you can be as simple as you wish or as creative as you feel. Tonight, we went simple but before we've done oil and fried everything. When we do that, I love doing button mushrooms stuffed with Alloiette. Yum-O! The fried fondue is another recipe in itself, but is just as fun to make.

Directions:
Bring the vegetable stock, red wine, garlic and onion to a boil. Cook your chicken and steak on your fondue sticks in the broth. You will cook the chicken about 2 minutes to make sure it's no longer pink. The filet can be cooked to your liking. During this time, we always throw in our broccoli. We like it best when the vegetables absorb all the juices and flavor from the broth. The broccoli takes the longest. We don't pull it out until it looks wilted.

Dessert is up to you. By this point, our family is stuffed and I'm tired of washing the fondue pot out so if we do dessert, ice cream sundaes are the way we go.

Prep time takes a while but if you do everything before hand, dinner is way more enjoyable! This is fun and even the kids do well.

Chicken and Bows

This is a very hearty meal that feeds lots! Can be served up as a comfort meal in the winter or chilled as a pasta salad in the summer, very versitile.

The picture on the left is the total amount made. The picture on the right, is one serving portion.

Ingredients:
1 pkg (16 oz) of bow tie pasta
2 lbs of chicken breast cut into strips (you could quarter or cube)
1 c chopped red pepper
1/4 of butter, cubed
2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup
2 c frozen peas
1 1/2 c of milk
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of pepper
2/3 c graded Parmesean

Directions:
1. Cook pasta according to directions on box. Meanwhile, in a dutch oven, cook chicken and red pepper in butter over medium heat until chicken is no longer pink. (I didn't have a dutch oven, so I just used a deep skillet and sauteed the two in butter.)
2. Stir in the soup, peas, milk, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat;simmer uncovered for 1-2 mins or until heated through. Stir in cheese. Drain pasta; add to chicken mixture and toss to coat.
3. Serve half the mixture
4. Freeze the other half for up to the 3 months

Review: As I mentioned before, this recipe might be a good one to set aside for a big dinner party as a side salad. I could also see this as a starter recipe for a chicken pot pie. An even better use would be to mark this as a dish to make the new mommy or daddy when they bring home their bundle of joy from the hospital. It makes a lot and can be frozen, so they get two meals out of it!

Calzone Pinwheels

Again, this recipe is from the cookbook Almost Homemade. This is a great appetizer and was very quick to throw together. However, it is not substantial enough for a meal.

Ingredients:
1/2 c ricotta cheese
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 c diced pepperoni
1/4 c grated Parmesean cheese
1/4 c chopped fresh mushroom (I left this out.)
1/4 c finely chopped green pepper (Again, I left this out.)
2 tbsp finely chopped onion (Left out)
1 pkg (8 oz) refrigerated crescent rolls
1 jar (14 oz) pizza sauce, warmed

Directions:
1. Combine the ricotta, Italian seasoning and salt. Stir in the mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, Parmesean cheese, mushrooms, green pepper and onion. Seperate crescent dough into four rectangles; seal perforations.
2. Spread the cheese mixture over each rectangle to within 1/4 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a short side; pinch seams to seal. Cut into 4 slices.
3. Place cut side down on greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 for 10-15 mins until golden. Serve with warm pizza sauce.

Hint: Next time I might use cream cheese instead of the ricotta. It was a little grainy for me.

Review: Again, good and quick. Great for a party on the fly.