Hawaiian Pizza Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I made these sandwiches to go with the Green Gazpacho.  The kids didn't enjoy the soup but they loved these sandwiches.  That wasn't hard to predict!  I hadn't made grilled cheese in a loooong time and needed something quick and easy to go with the gazpacho.  These were definitely quick and easy.  My kids love all of these ingredients on their own, so I knew they'd enjoy them in a sandwich form.  As you can see from my photo, I wasn't patient enough to let the cheese get all gooey.  But this was tasty as is!  My husband told me he could go for another one, after he ate his first.  I told him that I unfortunately used up all of the bread in making these. 

Hawaiian Pizza Grilled Cheese Sandwich
recipe slightly adapted from Cheese Curd In Paradise, inspired by Healthy Food for Living

Ingredients:
(for 4 sandwiches)

8 slices bread of your choice
2 cup tomato sauce
8 slices of low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella cheese
8 slices of deli ham (2 slices per sandwich)
4 pineapple rings
Butter

Directions:
In a skillet heat about one Tablespoon of butter over medium heat. On 8 slices of bread dab a small amount of butter on each side. Place 2 slices butter side down in skillet. Spread 1 Tbsp of tomato sauce onto each slice of bread in the skillet. Next, layer 2 slices of mozzarella, 1 pineapple ring, and  2 slices of ham.  Top with remaining 2 slices of bread. 

Cook sandwiches until golden brown on the bottom, about 3-4 minutes. Flip sandwiches and cook until golden brown on the other side and the cheese has fully melted, about 3-4 remaining minutes. If the bread turns golden brown before the cheese has fully melted, reduced stove heat to low. Remove from heat and repeat for next two sandwiches.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up.

Avocado Egg Salad

A couple of weeks ago I realized that I had a lot of eggs in the fridge.  I decided to hard-boil some since I knew that during the week my husband would take some with him to work for breakfast.  I decided to make myself some egg salad for lunch with a few of them.  I remember seeing a post somewhere in blog land using avocado in egg salad.  So I searched allrecipes and found this one.  I thought that this was really flavorful with the addition of the red onion and sweet pickles.  It was a nice change from the traditional egg salad that I normally make.  Note that the ingredient amounts are kind of odd because I ended up halving the original recipe.  This made enough for me to have lunch for two days.

Avocado Egg Salad
Recipe from allrecipes.com - courtesy of ANGELAANDJAKERS

Ingredients:
3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
1 avocados - peeled, pitted, and cubed
1/4 cup minced red onion
1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped sweet pickles
1-1/2 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Mash the eggs with a fork in a mixing bowl to break up. Add the avocado, onion, pickle, mustard, and mayonnaise. Gently smash the ingredients together until blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper.


My Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

Cheesy Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches

I have been debating whether to get a grill pan for awhile now.  In the summer my husband is the "grill master" and uses our Weber charcoal grill a lot.  I do not know how to use the charcoal grill, nor do I really want to use it!  But I have so many "grilled" recipes that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to make.  I almost bought a cast-iron grill pan.  But we already own a cast-iron pan.  The only difference this pan would make would be to put "grill" marks onto the food!  So I decided against it.  As my husband pointed out, we own a George Foreman grill, that we haven't used in years!  So I made these sandwiches by grilling the eggplant on the George Foreman and then cooking the sandwiches on it to get the "grill" marks.  The good thing about these sandwiches is that I was able to customize the kids' sandwiches.  My daughter doesn't like cheese, neither of the kids wanted eggplant (although they had to have a taste!), and so on.  My husband and I found these to be really tasty.  But of course, we love any excuse to eat prosciutto!!!

Cheesy Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches
Recipe slightly adapted from EveryDay with Rachael Ray, August 2008

Ingredients:
1 pound small eggplants, trimmed and thinly sliced lengthwise
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
8 slices Italian bread
4 slices Swiss cheese, torn into two pieces
4 ounces  thinly sliced prosciutto

Directions:
1.Preheat a grill to medium. In a large bowl, toss the eggplant slices with 2 tablespoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Grill, turning once, until softened, about 4 minutes.

2.Lay the bread on a work surface. Top 4 slices with a layer each of cheese, prosciutto, eggplant and another layer of prosciutto and cheese. Top with the remaining bread slices.

3.Brush the outside of the sandwiches with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Grill, covered, turning once, until crisp, about 2 minutes.

 Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.  

This post is shared at:
Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage
Tasty Thursdays @ The Mandatory Mooch
Foodtastic Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes

Turkey Apple Swiss Melt

I have a feeling that sandwiches are going to be a go-to dinner for us soon.  They are usually really quick to make and I can serve them with soup, since I can't eat just soup for dinner.  Cold fall and winter nights are perfect for a soup and sandwich dinner combo.  I haven't made any soup yet, but I recently made this sandwich.  When I was growing up grilled cheese involved the yellow american cheese slices in the plastic wrapper, which was never my favorite.  There are so many types of cheese/bread combos out there the choices are endless!  Unfortunately, I have a daughter who doesn't really like cheese....unless it's on pizza.  She does like turkey and apples and that's why I made this recipe.  I made hers without the cheeese and the rest of us had it as the recipe directed. I even had mine without the honey mustard sauce since I don't like mustard very much.  Sandwiches = easy customization!  The flavors of this sandwich worked well together.  The tart apple, sweet turkey, and tangy swiss.  This was an easy and tasty sandwich perfect for a quick weeknight dinner.

Turkey Apple Swiss Melt
recipe slightly adapted from Cooking Light, September 2012

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
8 (1-ounce) slices bread
4 (1-ounce) slices Swiss cheese
5 ounces thinly sliced Granny Smith apple (about 1 small)
8 ounces thinly sliced maple turkey breast
Cooking spray

Directions:
1. Combine mustard and honey in a small bowl. Spread one side of each of 4 bread slices with 1 1/2 teaspoons mustard mixture. Place one cheese slice on dressed side of bread slices; top each with 5 apple slices and 2 ounces turkey. Top sandwiches with remaining 4 bread slices. Coat both sides of sandwiches with cooking spray. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sandwiches to pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until bread is browned and cheese melts.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

Sausage Pizza Joes

I saw this recipe and knew it would be a hit.  Pizza and sausage?  My kids love both.  And an added plus was that this recipe was super easy.  The original recipe called for mushrooms and any other veggies of your choice.  I chose not to add any and just served some veggies on the side.  I thought that this was super tasty.  My daughter really enjoyed it but my son wasn't really digging it.  I will totally admit that I'm really not into messy eating....and this is super messy to pick up and eat.  So I ended up eating it with a fork and knife.  If you want a superquick and tasty weeknight dinner, this is it!

Sausage Pizza Joes
recipe slightly adapted from Edesia's Notebook

Ingredients:
Olive oil
½ large onion, chopped
1 lb. ground Italian sausage
14 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Hamburger buns

Directions:
In a large skillet, heat olive oil and sauté onions. When soft, add sausage and break up with a spoon. Cook until sausage is completely cooked through. Drain off grease. Pour in pizza sauce and stir to combine.

Place sausage mixture on buns and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Serve warm.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up. 

Saucy Onion Meatball Dip Subs

It's been awhile since I've made meatballs.  I have a bunch of meatball recipes bookmarked but I have to space them out between cooking.  My son doesn't think that he likes meatballs, but I think he does.  He eats hamburgers and meatballs but he always gives us trouble about eating meatballs!  So he gave me a hard time, as usual, about eating, but the rest of us enjoyed these subs.  The sauce had the consistency and taste of a homemade gravy.  It was yummy, but messy, dipping the sub into the sauce.  I printed the original recipe, but as you can see from my photo, I didn't end up toasting the rolls or broiling to melt the cheese. 

Saucy Onion Meatball Dip Subs
recipe from Taste and Tell

Ingredients:

Meatballs:
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
2 tablespoons olive oil

Sauce:
3 cups sliced onions
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups beef broth
1 cup chicken broth
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Sandwiches:
8 sub buns
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the meatballs except the ground turkey and the olive oil. Crumble in the turkey, then mix together. With wet hands, shape the mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, and brown the meatballs in batches. Drain and set aside.

In the same skillet, saute the onions until tender. Add the garlic and thyme, cook for 1 minute. Stir in the flour, cook for 1 minute, then gradually whisk in the beef and chicken broths. Stir in the salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, then cook for another 2 minutes, until slightly thickened.

Add the meatballs and return to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, until meatballs are no longer pink.

Meanwhile, cut the buns in half lengthwise, leaving one side attached. Place the buns - cut side up - on a baking sheet. Place under the broiler and cook until toasted.

Top the buns with meatballs and some of the onions from the sauce. Top with Monterey Jack cheese. Broil another couple minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly.  Serve with remaining sauce for dipping.   Family Rating:  1 1/2 thumbs up.

Turkey and Onion Grilled Cheese

Normally, when I think of grilled cheese I think of the plastic wrapped yellow cheese on melted on some bread.....not a big fan.  So I don't really consider myself a grilled cheese lover.  I think I'm in the minority though as I recently saw a grilled cheese fast food type place at a rest stop last month!   My daughter has gymnastics on Wednesday afternoons which also coincides with shower nights so Wednesday dinners have to be easy and fast.  Besides caramelizing the onions, which is a bit time consuming, this recipe is really easy.  My 6 year old daughter can now make pretty good scrambled eggs on her own with adult supervision.  After this dinner, she can add grilled cheese to her repertoire!  She really wanted to help me make dinner so I had her do pretty much everything but cut the onions.  I didn't put onion on the kids' sandwiches and my daughter wanted the yellow American cheese in the plastic wrapper on hers. My hsuband and I had these sandwiches with the onions and all.  All I can say is yum!  But I think anything with caramelized onions gets a yum from me!  I could definitely eat a lot more of these. 

Turkey and Onion Grilled Cheese
recipe from SteakNPotatoesKindaGurl

Yield: 2 sandwiches

Ingredients:
1/2 of a red onion, sliced
2 tbsp butter
4 slices of bread of your choice
3 tbsp or so of butter, melted or softened
4 slices of maple turkey
4 slices of smoked gouda cheese

Directions:
In a medium skillet, add 2 tbsp butter until melted. Then add sliced red onion and saute until softened and golden brown.

Spread the bread slices with 3 tbsp softened butter. In a large skillet on medium-low, add 2 bread slices. . Top one slice of bread with 2 slices gouda. Then add 2 slices of maple turkey, then some sauteed red onions. Top with the other slice of bread. Press down with a spatula or heavy object. Once golden brown and delicious, flip and cook other side. Repeat with 2nd sandwich.

Mommy & Daddy Rating: 2 thumbs up!

Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes

After spending a week away at my parent's beach house and then doing "quick and easy" meals (a.k.a. - take out, packaged gnocchi, leftover freezer soup!) this weekend, I was ready to be back cooking in the kitchen.  It was nice getting a little break from HAVING to cook to WANTING to cook! 

I'm not a huge philly cheesesteak fan, although I can't say I've ever had an authentic "Philly" cheesesteak! I do like the combination of mushrooms, onions, and cheese though!  I thought this recipe sounded different using ground meat instead of "steak" meat.  I don't own steak sauce so I adapted the recipe I found and used worcestershire sauce instead.  Overall, I thought that the dish would have more flavor.  It wasn't bad, mind you....just didn't have the wow factor I was hoping for.  I tried picking the mushrooms, onions, and peppers out as best as I could and gave the kids just meat and cheese on a roll.  I served the sandwiches with some sauteed broccoli.  I was happy that the kids ate all of their dinner!

Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
recipe slightly adapted from Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts

Ingredients:
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 medium onion, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 tbs worcestershire sauce
1 cup beef stock
Salt and Pepper to taste
Brat Buns
Provolone Cheese

Directions:
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ground turkey, and brown for about 5 minutes, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon. Add onions, green peppers and mushrooms. Saute until veggies are soft, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in beef stock and  worcestershire sauce. Reduce heat, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sauce reduces by half.

You can toast the buns if desired. Place a slice of cheese on the bottom of each bun, and spoon meat over top. The heat from the meat should melt the cheese.  Sprinkle additional worcestershire sauce on top if desired.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up.

Pepperoni Pizza Grilled Cheese

I am excited to be participating in Tina from Moms Crazy Cooking May Crazy Cooking Challenge.  I've been having so much fun participating these last few months!  This month's challenge was grilled cheese.  Cheese and bread seem simple enough.  But there were soooo many delicious looking grilled cheese sandwich recipes out there that it was so hard to choose just one!  This is definitely one of her challenges that I will be going back to and making recipes that the other participants posted!  Grilled cheese is such a quick and easy meal and the variations are endless!  After looking at lots of different sandwiches I finally settled on this Pepperoni Pizza Grilled Cheese.  Becase we love pizza and grilled cheese so combining the two had to be good, right?!  Definitely right!  The compound butter crisped up on the bread giving it a tasty, flavorful crunch!  Plus you had the gooey mozzeralla cheese with the pepperoni and olives.....yum!  Unfortunately, my daughter doesn't like mozzerlla cheese when it's not on pizza.  So, she ended up scraping the cheese off eating a toasted pepperoni sandwich.  My son gobbled his sandwich up (it's a winner!).  I could have totally eaten another one of these sandwiches, but controlled myself after just one!

Pepperoni Pizza Grilled Cheese
from Never Enough Thyme...when Lana's Cooking

Ingredients:
For the compound butter:
4 tblsp. softened butter
2-3 tblsp. grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. dried oregano
dash of salt

For the sandwiches:
Bread of your choice
Prepared pizza sauce
Sliced or grated mozzarella cheese
Sliced black olives
Thinly sliced pepperoni

Directions:
Combine all ingredients for the compound butter in a small bowl. Stir until thoroughly combined.

Assemble the sandwiches: For each sandwich, spread a small amount of pizza sauce on the surface of two slices of bread. On the bottom slice, add the mozzarella cheese, black olives, and pepperoni. Top with second slice of bread.

Spread the top of the assembled sandwiches with a generous amount of compound butter. Place the sandwiches, buttered side down in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until bread is nicely grilled. While the first side is grilling, butter the second side of the sandwich. Turn sandwiches over and cook until the second side is toasted.

Place skillet with sandwiches in preheated oven for 5-6 minutes or until the cheese is melted.Remove from oven and serve immediately.
 
Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up!
 

Chicken Parm Garlic Bread Burgers

We have a Weber charcoal grill that I will admit that I have no idea how to use.  My husband and I are both totally fine with this.  Although I'm hoping to figure it out by summer so I won't have to use the oven and heat the kitchen up even more when it's ridiculously hot already.  I saw this recipe and it had me at garlic bread.  As I read on though I noticed that it used an outdoor grill.  Well, I couldn't wait for my husband to make these so I was going to make it work and cook them inside ASAP!  I thought that these were really good!  My kids, who like all of the ingredients loved the garlic bread roll but didn't eat much of the chicken.  I do have to admit that I really like my chicken breaded and fried when having chicken parm.  So, may have to do a redo with this with breaded cutlets!  Overall, this was a pretty tasty sandwich!

Chicken Parm Garlic Bread Burgers
recipe slightly adapted from Lauren's Latest

Ingredients:
4 thin sliced, boneless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
non-stick oil spray
4 thick slices mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese {you’ll want the real stuff so it will melt!}
1 cup good marinara sauce
4 fresh kaiser rolls {you want soft and chewy rolls}
8 tablespoons butter
1 large clove garlic, minced

Directions:
Preheat skillet on medium heat and spray with non-stick oil spray.

Rub each chicken breast with olive oil, garlic salt & pepper. Place in skillet and cook for approximately 3-5 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Top each piece of chicken with 2 tablespoons marinara each, 1 slice of mozzarella and 2 tablespoons parmesan. Heat another minute or two until melted.

Place rolls in toaster oven and toast until golden brown.

Place butter and minced garlic in a microwaveable mug.  Heat until butter is melted, approximately 20 seconds.  Pour onto top half of toasted roll.

Place chicken in between garlic bread bun, top with more cheese, marinara and freshly torn basil, if desired. Serve immediately.

Family Rating:  1 1/2 thumbs up.

Grilled Ham & Gouda Cheese with Caramelized Onions and Roasted Tomato Mayonnaise

I have to admit that I rarely look at those recipes in the advertisements in my cooking magazines.  This recipe though did catch my eye and I ripped it out hoping to one day make it.  Well, that day finally came, but I can't tell you how long it's been sitting in my recipe folder.  I couldn't find the recipe on the Hellman's website, where the recipe originated from.  This recipe did require a LOT of work. Between making the carrot soup and this sandwich (which I served together) I think that I used a gazillion dishes and appliances! So, probably not a good weeknight dinner.  However, unlike the soup, this sandwich was really good.  The kids didn't eat the mayo which turned out really garlicky but was tasty! 

The Roasted Tomato Mayonnaise

Grilled Ham & Gouda Cheese with Caramelized Onions and Roasted Tomato Mayonnaise
from Hellman's Mayo at http://www.buildtheperfectsandwich.com/
(although it's no longer posted on the site, as far as I could find!)

*Serves 4

Caramelized Onions:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large Spanish or sweet (Vidalia) onion, halved and thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat the butter and oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and caramelized.  Season with salt and pepper.

Roasted Tomato Mayonnaise:
1 plum tomato, halved and seeded, or 2 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and patted dry
1 tablespoon canola oil (if roasting tomato)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup Hellmann's Mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Place the tomato in a small dish or on a baking sheet, drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast until the tomato is very soft and golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
2.  Put the mayonnaise, tomato, garlic, and thyme in a food processor and process until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper.  Scrape into a bowl.

Sandwich:
8 slices good quality white bread (Pullman loaf) cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 1/2 cups grated Gouda cheese
Caramelized onions
8 slices prosciutto, sliced about 1/8 inch thick
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1. Place 4 slices of the bread on a flat surface; divide half of the cheese among the slices.  Top the cheeses with 2 slices of prosciutto, then top the prosciutto with some of the onions and the remaining cheese.  Place the 4 remaining slices of bread on top to make four sandwiches.  Butter the tops of the bread using half of the butter.
2. Preheat a cast iron pan or cast iron griddle over medium heat.  Place the sandwiches in the pan, butter-side down (may need to do in batches) and cook until lightly golden brown.  Spread the remaining butter on the bread facing up then flip and continue cooking until the bottom is golden brown and the cheese has melted.  Serve with the roasted tomato mayonnaise on the side.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

Shared with:
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Our Delightful Home
Tasty Tuesday Tidbits

Steak and Cheese Sandwiches with Mushrooms

Prior to make this, I cannot remember the last I had a steak sandwich.  It's never something I think to order when eating out and I just don't think of making it at home.  I was cleaning out my recipe folder though and saw this recipe.  I figured I'd give it a try.  Steak sounded really good at the time and I love mushrooms and onions.  While the recipe calls for presliced onion and mushrooms, mine weren't so that added to my cooking time.  This is a super quick and easy recipe.  I thought it tasted really good with everything. The picture below was taken before I got to add the cheese, since it wasn't really warm anymore at that point and wouldn't get all melty anyway (this is what happens when I get the kids ready to eat and get their dinner plated....I usually get a not-hot-enough to my liking meal!). Let's see, my son ate just the bread and cheese and my daughter ate just the steak and bread on hers.  We had some filling left over. I had to go to the doctor for my yearly physical this past weekend.  Because I had to do a fasting blood test I warned my husband that I would be starving when I got home and I'd need my coffee.  Well, he ended up making me an egg sandwich using one of the leftover rolls and the steak filling.  Can I say, yum?!!  And very filling!  It was nice walking in the door to that breakfast!

Steak and Cheese Sandwiches with Mushrooms
Cooking Light, March 2008

Yield:  4 sandwiches

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cups presliced onion
2 cups green bell pepper strips
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1 cup presliced mushrooms
3/4 pound top round steak, trimmed and cut into thin strips
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
4 (0.6-ounce) slices reduced-fat provolone cheese, cut in half
4 (2 1/2-ounce) hoagie rolls with sesame seeds

Preparation:
1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Add mushrooms to pan; sauté 4 minutes. Sprinkle beef with salt and black pepper. Add beef to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Stir in Worcestershire sauce; cook 1 minute.

2. Place 1 cheese slice half on bottom half of each roll, and top each serving with one-fourth of beef mixture. Top with remaining cheese slice halves and tops of rolls.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up. 

The Weekend Chef: Ham, Brie, and Pear Panini

The second dinner The Weekend Chef decided to make was a Ham, Brie, and Pear Panini.  We don't have sandwiches for dinner very often so this was a nice change.  This was an adultified (again, I think I'm making up my own words!) version of a grilled cheese, if I do say so myself.  It sounded delicious and it was quick and easy to make.  However, no one was really impressed when eating it.  I felt like it was missing something.  We had talked about possibly adding some caramelized onions and ended up not.  They might have helped a little bit.  We don't think that the pears were sweet enough to offset the saltiness of the ham and brie.  This recipe still needs some tweaking.....suggestions are welcome!

Ham and Pear Panini
Recipe by The Weekend Chef (his own)

Makes 3 sandwiches

Ingredients:
6 slices, large-sliced Panella bread (or bread of your choosing)
9 slices deli ham
1 pear, peeled and thinly sliced
6 oz. wedge of brie cheese, rind cut off and cut into 6 thick slices
butter

Directions:
1. Place two slices of brie on each of three pieces of bread.  Place three slices of ham on the cheese.  Top with thinly sliced pear (to your liking).  Put another slice of bread on top.

2. Butter the top and bottom of sandwich and place in preheated cast iron pan (medium heat).  Cook until browned, approximately two minutes on each side.

Family Rating: So-so.

Supper Club: Spicy Cocoa Sloppy Joes

My husband and I have belonged to our supper club for almost 5 years now. Each month we choose a theme and each couple takes turns hosting. This month the theme was chocolate!  We tried to make it as kid-friendly as possible, since four children were going to be at the event this time (usually, kids are not included).

One of our club members does not eat beef or  pork and we recently had mole and chili.  Thanks to Cookieee over at the Cooking Light message boards for the recipe idea for the main dish that I decided to make. I substituted ground turkey for the beef.  Although it was super simple, the dish was tasty and was received well. Can be served on hamburger buns for easy, weeknight dinner.

Spicy Cocoa Sloppy Joes
hersheys.com

Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 to 1-1/4 cups chopped onion
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 tablespoons yellow mustard
2-1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1-1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1-1/4 teaspoons salt

Preparation:
1. Cook ground beef and onion in large skillet on medium heat until beef is browned and onion is tender. Drain excess fat.

2. Stir in ketchup, cocoa, mustard, chili powder, pepper and salt. Heat 10 to 15 minutes on low heat or until hot. Serve in buns. Cover; refrigerate leftovers. About 4 servings.



Family Rating: 1 thumb up.