September 1st, 2010 by Melinda
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Sorry for the delay in posting, I was on vacation for two weeks and meant to put up a little flag to let you all know, but that to-do got lost in the shuffle. I will be better about that next time.
I was surfing Allrecipes.com as I frequently do, and happened to be looking for something else, and was totally sidetracked by this highlighted recipe of the day. There was this big image front and center with a sandwich full of chicken and covered in cheese. I took a quick look and it looked simple to put together, so I threw it into my ‘IBB-To Try’s' folder in my recipe box, and forgot about it.
Fast forward to last weekend. I knew it was going to be a busy weekend, but I still fully intended to make lunches for the week. Well, one thing led to another, and next thing you know, it was Tuesday night, and I was just planning on making enough for Wed, Thurs & Fri, for Brian and I. It worked out great, because he made dinner while I made lunches, and mine was so quick, that I could step in as a pinch-hitter and help him finish dinner (though he didn’t need help) if needed.
» Read more: Lazy Day Chicken Fajita Melts
August 9th, 2010 by Melinda
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I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ll mention it again. The hunt for the recipe is really where it all lives, for me. Finding something that sounds good, reading through the reviews, adding it to the recipe box, making it, and then making the call to either add this to the ‘permanent collection’ or toss forever.
The other thing I love is foods that invoke memories. This recipe I found and wanted to try because it reminded others of their childhood – a fast food place named Maid-Rite in Iowa, that sells these ‘loose meat sandwiches’, or ‘Cheese-Rite’ if you add a slice of cheese. I figured I loved sloppy joes and this was ‘of the same vein’ so I figured I’d give it a try. It was so niche that I was intrigued, it sounded like something I’d see on the Travel or Food Networks on TV.
The meat (I used turkey, but an equal amount of beef to add some flavor) is simmered in all good stuff – salt, pepper, beef broth and Worcestershire. I figured it was going to be brimming with flavor, but it was a little blander than expected. It’s probably because I used half turkey to try to be a little healthier and reduced sodium beef broth for the same reason, so it could completely be my fault for killing this recipe, but I thought it came out a little bland. Served with a smear of mustard, it came out pretty good…for a dinner, but definitely not for lunches. Ground meat thrown in loosely into a bun? Definitely not made for a cubicle lunch. Unlike it’s cousin the sloppy joe which has sauce which keeps it together, this doesn’t really have anything. The second day, I brought some cheddar cheese to hold it together. It was good, but nothing spectacular. Probably something fun and messy for kids to eat.
» Read more: Destination Iowa: Loose Meat Sandwiches
August 4th, 2010 by Melinda
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So I’ve made Chile Verde once before, but it was a very lengthy recipe with a lot of prep and a long cook time. I saw this recipe and had to see if it would be anywhere near as awesome as the other one. Six ingredients, 15 minutes prep time? It sounds too good to be true…..and it is.
Part of that makes me feel better about the elbow grease that both Brian AND I had to put in to make the other one. I also wonder if I didn’t get a great green salsa for this. I don’t normally buy it so I didn’t know what brand to buy. But I would say that for 1/5 the work involved, this was pretty decent.
The other thing is, verde means green, so why did this recipe turn out brown? It definitely didn’t have the green color I was expecting. The nice thing about the slow cooker was that I didn’t have to worry about the pork being cooked well – the chunks just fell apart and magically melts in your mouth after hours of slow cooking. This recipe is also subject to the salsa verde that you buy. Having never bought it before, I went with something that looked like a good size at the store, but a brand that I’d also seen in many stores before. So honestly I don’t know if the blandness was due to that or not, but I don’t really have the patience to try it again, knowing that a better recipe is around the corner. The other recipe has so much flavor – garlic, green/yellow peppers, jalapeños and real tomatillos. This one tasted … less fresh. If you are looking for ‘the real deal’ – go with my first post. If you are looking for a nice shortcut, then this is definitely a decent version. » Read more: Chile Verde, Take 2 – Does Lazy Pay Off?
July 26th, 2010 by Melinda
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In Boston, there is a chain called Boloco, which has a buffalo chicken burrito that is to die for. It’s stuffed with shredded buffalo chicken, rice, celery, and blue cheese. This chain opened up after I moved away from Boston, but my brother found it, and used to bring a few home for me, if we happened to be in the same city at any point.
Two visits ago to Boston, I bought 4 burritos and froze them in my friend’s freezer, ready to fly back with me to DC. Fast forward to the plane ride home – not 3 minutes before the plane landed did the crushing realization that those delicious burritos were still sitting in my friend’s freezer, plus she’s a vegetarian, so they would probably never eat them. I was so heartbroken, half a heartbeat after realizing I had left them I had my two wrists in the air and a big ‘Noooooooooooo’ coming out of my mouth. Sad but true, planning out detailed ideas and then forgetting something crucial is a ‘classic Melinda move’. For those who know me, you know this to be true.
» Read more: Buffalo Chicken Burrito Wraps
July 12th, 2010 by Melinda
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I had always wondered if a steak and cheese could be brought for lunch. I had given it a quick try for the Pizza Steak Subs I made a bit ago, and as I inhale this sandwich as I write this, I am confirming for you ‘Yes! It can be done!’
I feel a little like Christopher Columbus confirming that the world isn’t flat – clearly my epiphany is not quite as awesome, but we all need our shining moments of proudness no matter how small, right? So the question continues – what is the best way to prepare the steak so that it microwaves ok the next day? After going back and forth on different ideas at the grocery store with Brian, we decided to stay with our cubed steak option – again, it’s a tough cut of steak that is tenderized by throwing it through a tenderizing machine which imprints the steak with cube shaped cuts. This is what I had used for pizza steak subs, we decided to give it one more try. Because it’s a tough cut of meat, it’s usually relatively inexpensive. Other options on the table were using a beef round steak and slicing it thin, or even giving steakums a try. I still intend to try those at some point, it can’t hurt to confirm that cube steak IS in fact the best option, right?
» Read more: Steak and Cheese, With an Unexpected Twist
June 29th, 2010 by Melinda
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I don’t know if it’s my love for a good sandwich or my New Yorker roots that always draws me to corned beef, but I found this recipe a while ago and wanted to give the corned beef a try. What’s funny is that every time you see a NY corned beef sandwich, it’s totally bulging in the middle and naked on the sides. An unevenly spread sandwich is one of my biggest pet peeves. But I digress.
I wasn’t paying attention and needed to find a slow cooker recipe with little prep for Sunday, because I knew I would be out all day long. I found this recipe in my ‘IBB To Try’s’ recipe folder and just went with it. It wasn’t until I was shopping for the ingredients on Saturday that I realized it was a stove-top recipe. Whoops. A quick perusal of the reviews told me that I could throw everything in the slow cooker, and that people were still getting great results.
» Read more: Not In New York? Not to Worry! Corned Beef Sandwiches
June 21st, 2010 by Melinda
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I’m not sure what drew me to this recipe, but I’ve been craving a Hungarian stew for a while now. I was hoping to find some of that in this dish, but this dish does not call for any paprika. Regardless, it was Hungarian recipe for meat and rice rolled in a cabbage leaf, simmered long and slow in a tomato based sauce. With the first bite, out of the slow cooker, I knew we were onto something good. The cabbage had cooked down nice and soft, and the tomato sauce loaded with other flavors simmered into a mellow but flavorful tangy sauce. The meat and onions had cooked down into an extremely tasty and moist version of meatloaf or meatballs. It was really good. One bite sends warm and happy thoughts to your tummy.
Attempting to be healthy, I subbed brown rice for the white; that turned out to be a great choice – the difference was hardly or not noticeable at all. I absolutely would make that change again next time. Doubling the recipe turned out to be a perfect amount for 6 lunches total (a total of 31 rolls: 2 a day for me, 3 a day for Brian, plus 1 for ‘testing to see if we liked how it turned out’). We found some vidalia onions on sale and used that on Brian’s portion, and I have to say – it cooked down and melted into his rolls in such a way, that I will not make them without anymore. The onions lent a sweetness to the meat that went perfectly with the tomatoey-ness of the dish and really kept those rolls moist, not to mention lending a helping hand with the overall flavor. I was surprised by the tomato sauce – it had some elements like brown sugar that I was a little worried about, but it balanced out the cooked cabbage flavors really well.
» Read more: Hungarian Pigs in a Blanket – Cabbage Rolls
May 11th, 2010 by Melinda
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Let’s face it, folks, it’s not a great recipe unless you and your loved ones like it. It could have a bazillion stars of endorsement but if the people you made it for (or you) don’t like it, then what’s the point?
If I had to gauge the success of this recipe by the intensity of the ‘Are you kidding me?!?!’ after the first bite, then this dish knocks it out of the ballpark for us. If I had to gauge the success by the willingness of my helper to help in the kitchen, then this is another winner. If I had to gauge the success by the amount of lunches that makes it into the containers, given the number of stolen bites from my helper, then, this is a failure. But the ‘glass-half-full’ mentality shows you how delicious this recipe really is.
I don’t often do casseroles or rice dishes, but there IS something to them. I like the ones that are complete – full serving of meats, grains, veggies all in one, no sides needed. This happens to fill the void. Flavorful bites of chicken in a bed of cheesy rice brimming with corn, tomatoes and green peppers. It’s pretty, it’s filling. What more can you really ask for? All I can say is, double yum. » Read more: Cheesy Mexican Chicken Rice Casserole
April 20th, 2010 by Melinda
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One of my favorite sandwiches on the planet is a Thanksgiving sandwich. Inspired by Mighty Subs in Massachusetts and Jetties in DC, I’m talkin’ about a sandwich overflowing with turkey, a flavorful layer of stuffing, cool cranberry sauce, and creamy mayonnaise (which I never would have thought to include, but it really balances out the flavors). Remember when that first bite of Thanksgiving dinner hits your mouth – that warm, happy, fuzzy feeling you get? Well you can have it again! I waited a few months after Thanksgiving to get the turkey out of my system before making this.
I have a ‘go to’ stuffing recipe so that wasn’t really a question there. The real question was what to do about the turkey. Mightys would use cold cuts, which worked out fine, but Jetties prides themselves on hand carved turkey, piled into the sandwich. I happened upon a ridiculously easy slow cooker turkey breast recipe that seduced me into the dream of hand carved turkey, and that is they say, was that.
» Read more: Thanksgiving Doesn’t Have to Come Just Once A Year
February 10th, 2010 by Melinda
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Ok, so I said I would get this post out last LAST Tuesday, and here I am, scrambling on the next Sunday night trying to put the words out fast enough. Sorry 
for being inconsistent and unreliable. Though I love cooking, writing up these posts is time consuming and taking the photos at work is as well, so I am going to take a little hiatus and gather my thoughts, so that I can be more consistent when I come back. I may write up a few ‘how to’s’ and/or a ‘behind the scenes’ while I am on break – watch out for tweets or facebook updates to see when I post next, so you don’t have to keep checking when I may not have written.
As I mentioned, taking the photos is a time consuming process, and while neither myself nor my photographer have a degree in food photography, the soupy deliciousness of this meal doesn’t come through in this photo. The pasta absorbs some of the sauce and the rest evaporates or collects on the bottom of the bowl as the photos are taken.
Chile verde (stew-like combination of pork, jalapenos, and spices) reminds me a lot of my brother and our favorite taqueria in Boston, Anna’s Taqueria. Before then, the burritos I knew were frozen and mediocre. Anna’s really put burritos on the map. But I digress…this is about chile verde – I’ll tell you about Anna’s another time – you fellow Bostonians or ex-pat Bostonians like me know exactly what I’m talking about. It just reminds me because my brother used to tell me to try getting the chile verde burrito instead of the carnitas sometime, and I just never got the chance. One time I visited him, I had found a slow cooker recipe of chile verde and made it for him, and I was really intrigued by the smell of it that I vowed to try it at some point. Fast forward four years to now, when I just remembered that vow.
» Read more: Green Is the New Red…Chile Verde
