Honeymoon Monte Cristo

So we have envisioned this blog as being both a place to share some of our favorite meals and recipes, but we also want it to be a place where we can dispel the myth that cooking is hard and needs to take hours of preparation and skill to create something delicious and satisfying. A good example of this is our next recipe, Honeymoon Monte Cristo.

When Laura and I first got married, we stayed at the Anniversary Inn the night we got married. In the morning they bring you a breakfast of yogurt parfait, juice, cinnamon roll, and this really good croissant type sandwich, which they called a Monte Cristo (even though a real Monte Cristo is a sandwich that is dipped in batter and fried, but I think I'd prefer it this way). When we left SLC and stayed in a beach house in Oregon for the rest of our honeymoon, we needed to find something for breakfast since we had to make it ourselves. So we decided that we should try to make our own version of the croissant sandwich that we loved so much. What resulted was something that I think we ate almost every day for about a month, our Honeymoon Monte Cristos.

The Recipe is really simple and quick and addicting. But I think that is what makes this a great breakfast sandwich:

Honeymoon Monte Cristo

1 Large Croissant (Preferably the large ones from Costco)
1-2 Slices of Black Forest Ham
1-2 Slices of Tillamook Swiss Cheese (Yes it has Tillamook. Why? because there is nothing better! Well, I guess you don't have to use it but we recommend it highly)

The instructions are super easy: Cut the croissant in half, place the ham on one side of the croissant and the cheese on the other side. Place in the oven "open faced" under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese gets all bubbly and the sides of the croissant start to turn brown from toasting. Pull out of the oven and close the sandwich and serve. That's it! Really simple and it only takes about 4-5 minutes to do. We enjoyed playing around with the ham to cheese ratio in this sandwich until we both found a combination that we really liked. Laura likes more ham than cheese, where I personally like the balance of both. But we hope that you will try this out and love it as much as we do.

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Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Here is one that I have to give credit to our friend Matt and Rebekah. They shared this super easy and quick appetizer recipe with us a while back and it's always been a big hit. We made these for the Super Bowl and they went fast!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

A bunch of meatballs. (we like the ones from Costco but homemade ones are the best too)
3/4 cup chili sauce
3/4 cup red current jelly

In a sauce pan, heat up the chili sauce and the current jelly until the jelly melts and mixes well with the chili sauce. Place in a crock pot with the meatballs. Coat and cover and let cook until the meatballs are fully done. And that's it! It's so easy and awesome! Enjoy!

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Ranch Sliders

When I was in Ohio/Kentucky on my mission I was introduced to the wonder that is White Castle and it's little hamburgers nicknamed such names as "sliders", "belly bombers", and "gut rockets". These little hamburgers were kinda good but I have always thought that I could do better, so for the Super Bowl this year, we decided to create our own version of "Sliders." they turned our really moist and delicious, and they didn't "slide" like the White Castle burgers of yore, if you know what I mean. Here is our version:

Ranch Sliders

2 lbs. of Hamburger
1/4 cup of bread crumbs
1 egg
1 Pkg ranch dressing mix
1/4 cup of chili sauce
Salt and Pepper
Half of a diced onion
Rolls

Mix all of the ingredients by hand in a bowl until fully incorporated. If the mixture seems too wet and not mixing well add some more bread crumbs, but not too much or it will not hold up when cooked. (Hows that for some vague instructions) Form into small 1" balls and squish them with your hands until they are flat and about a 1/4' thick. Place them on a plate, cover, and place in the fridge for at least an hour or two.

To cook, either grill or broil them until they are not pink inside. Wrap tight in tin foil and let sit for about 15 minutes. Cut rolls in half and use as a bun. Use any toppings you wish!

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Spudnut Donuts!

When I lived in the Tri-Cities, WA, there was this donut place that was super famous for it's potato donuts called Spudnuts. The spudnut donuts were so good! They are made with mashed potatoes and end up super soft and amazing. I remember that in school our teachers would always use them as rewards for contests and what not. For some reason those thoughts came back this weekend and Laura and I, with help from our friends the Frenzas, decided to try our hand at making some. So here is our version of Spudnut Donuts.

Spudnut Donuts

1 3/4 c. Milk
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. mashed potatoes (about 2 potatoes)
1 pkg. dry yeast
1/2 c. warm water
2 beaten eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
6 to 7 c. of flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 pinches of salt
lots of cooking oil

Peel and cube the potatoes then boil until soft, drain and mash until smooth. Over heat, mix the milk, sugar, and mashed potatoes. Take off heat and let cool. In a bowl sprinkle and mix yeast with the warm water. Let sit until the yeast activates (about 3-5 minutes). Add the yeast and water to the potato mixture. Add the beaten eggs, vanilla, salt, baking powder and 2 cups of the flower to the potato mixture and start mixing in a bread mixer. Continually add the flour a 1/2 cup at a time until the dough starts to pull away from the side of the bowl. Let sit in bowl and rise for a half hour.

Roll out the dough about 1/4" thick and cut with a donut cutter. Place cut donuts on wax paper, cover and let rise again for another half hour.

In a frying pan, heat up about 1 1/2 inches of cooking oil to 375 degrees. Drop a few donuts in the oil and turn when the bottoms become brown. When all cooked, place on a cooling rack. Brush with a little butter and dip in a cinnamon sugar mixture.

Enjoy!

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Caramel Puffed Corn

We are back! And we have a great recipe for everyone. This year, while crabbing in Oregon, my sister introduced us to this really good caramel popcorn type treat that is made with a type of popped corn called Cosmos that doesn't have the husk or unpopped corn. It was really good but we could only find it at the Oregon Coast. The other day, Laura and I were walking in the local grocery store and we found this huge bag of the same popped corn puffs that Cosmos is made out of. We decided to try our hand at making our own version of Caramel Popped Corn. So here is our version of the recipe. We liked a version of caramel popcorn that Laura's mom makes because it's really caramely and soft, not a hard caramel glazing that some caramel popcorn gets. It turned out SO good!!! It's crazy addictive and we'll never use popped corn again.

Caramel Puffed Corn

1 Stick of Butter
2 Cups of Brown Sugar
1 Cup of light Corn Syrup
1 tsp. of vanilla
1 can of Sweetened Condenced Milk
1 large bag of plain corn puffs

Melt the butter in a pot then mix in the brown sugar and corn syrup. Stir on medium heat until all incorperated together and the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the sweetened condenced milk and the vanila. Stir constantly to avoid the caramel burning. After a few minutes of stiring the caramel with darken a little. Cook until the caramel reaches the soft ball stage. (If you don't have a candy termometor, Laura's mom taught me a trick: fill a little cup of water and as the carmel is cooking pour a little from your stirring spoon and after a few seconds you can touch the carmel in the water and see if you can form it a little bit in your fingers, it's ready when it can be bunched up in your fingers) When your caramel is ready, pour it over the corn puffs in a large bowl and mix it all together. Cool a little and enjoy!

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Amazing Homemade French Bread

Laura and I have a semi-obsession with bread. We seriously cannot get enough. We love to get french bread from the store and use it for so many meals. French toast, garlic bread, sub sandwiches, and when it's warm and fresh, it's good just eating as a snack with a little butter. In the past month we've noticed that the price of french bread has gone up almost 50%. That got me thinking about how hard it would be to make my own. So I looked around, did some research, and tried my hand at making some. They actually turned out really good. The first batch was a little bland, but I tweaked the recipe and added my own twists and now we have a really good french bread recipe. I hope you all enjoy it!

French Bread (Baguettes)

2 cups warm water
2 1/2 pkgs yeast
2 Tbls sugar
5-6 cups bread flour
3 tsp salt
1 egg yoke
1 tsp. water

Proof the yeast by mixing the warm water, sugar, yeast and let sit for 5 minutes. In a mixer with a bread hook add the yeast mixture with the flour and the salt, adding the flour in cup by cup. Dough is ready when it is not sticky anymore. Knead the dough for a few minutes and then place in a greased bowl and cover to rise for 30 minutes. When doubled in size, punch dough down and roll out into a big rectangle. Cut the rectangle in two. Take the long side and start rolling as if you were making cinnamon rolls . Shape the sides to taper the ends. Place the two rolls on a greased pan. Take a knife and cut 3 or 4 diagonal slits in the top the dough. Cover with a towel and let rise for 30-40 minutes. Mix the egg yoke and 1 tsp of water to make a egg wash. Paint the egg wash all over the loaves and place in an oven preheated to 375 degrees. Cook for 20-30 minutes or until the crust is a light golden brown.

TIP: A tip that I learned while researching is that if you want french bread with a really crisp crust you can spray the sides of the oven walls with water (watch out for the electric element on the bottom) every minute for the first 8 minutes of baking. I've never tried it because we like a soft crust, but if it works, let us know.

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Really Good and Easy Pork Chops

The other night Laura decided to take a quick run with her friend Kim so I decided to be a really good husband and make her dinner. Our friends were moving so they gave us some pork chops so I decided to try out something I found and add my own ideas. These pork chops turned out great and they were so easy!

Yummy and Easy Pork Chops

2 cups Italian dressing
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 or three onion ring slices
4 or 5 pork chops

Heat a little oil in a large skillet at medium/high. Mix the Italian dressing, soy sauce, and minced garlic in a bowl. lay the onion slices on a large skillet and then lay the pork chops on top. Cover the pork with the marinade. Cover the skillet and let cook for 8-10 minutes. Flip the pork and cover for another 5 minutes. Take off the cover and cook the pork until desired doneness.

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