Tag Archives: best

Really Great Spaghetti & Meatballs

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Veronica

Growing up, I practically lived on spaghetti. It was the one “junk” food my Mom allowed us to eat (junk because it wasn’t whole wheat spaghetti). Therefore it’s what I ate most of (because I hated health food)! Spaghetti with Ragù sauce – I loved it. But the best was when I made meatballs to go with it, which was a special treat because we didn’t do a lot of meat in our house. I remember one time I was cooking my famous spaghetti & meatballs dinner for the family when I was about twelve and they all left me at home to cook while they went to the health food store. I didn’t really love the health food store, but I still cried into my meatballs because I didn’t want to be left out. Meanie old Davis family! haha

Anyway, this recipe is a lot different from the one I made growing up, but my recipe was little more than ground beef mixed with tons and tons of garlic powder, salt and pepper, rolled up and cooked in a skillet before being added to a pot of pasta with Ragù sauce on it. I will always love meatballs made that way because that’s how I ate them growing up and have a fondness for it, but honestly these are better, the best I’ve had, actually, and I love the cooking method. You don’t have to cook them separately, you just plunk them into the sauce and let it simmer away! So simple. It also makes the meatballs more tender and moist to cook them this way, and the flavor of the sauce and the meatballs both benefit from cooking slowly together.

The sauce is a very simple recipe and so, so good. The amount of black pepper gives it a bit of a spicy kick so I’d cut it by half if you don’t like heat. This is now my go-to spaghetti sauce (I’ve made it twice in the last week) and I hope you’ll give it a try!

Really Great Spaghetti & Meatballs

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Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 tablespoon dried oregano
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Meatballs
1 egg
1 lb lean ground beef
1/3 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons dried oregano
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

1 (1 lb) package spaghetti

Remove ground beef from the fridge to allow it to come to room temperature while the sauce cooks.

Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Swirl to coat the bottom of the pan to coat. Add the onion and garlic and saute, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 7 minutes. Lower the heat if they begin to burn. The more color that develops on the onion and garlic, the more flavor they’ll add to the finished sauce.

Once the onions and garlic are tender and caramel in color, add the crushed tomatoes and the tomato paste and stir until the mixture is smooth and well combined. Add the remaining sauce ingredients (oregano through pepper), stir, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover the pot, and let cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the bottom does not burn.

Make the meatballs: Lightly beat the egg in a large mixing bowl. Break apart the beef as best you can into the bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Use your hands to mix together until well incorporated, trying not to overmix, which could render your meatballs more tough. Shape the meat mixture into 12 balls (I always get 13), each about 1 ½ inches in diameter. Drop them into the sauce, stir gently so that they’re all covered in sauce. It might look like there’s only enough sauce for the meatballs and there won’t be enough for pasta, especially if you’re like me and love your sauce, but trust me, there’s enough. Let them cook, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours over low heat, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.

Once the meatballs are done, cook your spaghetti to al dente according to the package directions, drain, pile some onto plates, and top with sauce and meatballs.

Veronica’s Notes: your tomatoes matter. I bought very cheap tomato puree (and tomato paste, for that matter) from Aldi that was excellent but found that Walmart’s brand, which is higher in price, was horrible by comparison. Buy good tomatoes or you won’t have good sauce. Also, the original recipe used mint in the meatballs instead of parsley and I just wanted to mention that in case you’d like to try it.

Recipe source: Can You Stay for Dinner

11 Comments

Posted in Pasta and tagged best, dinner, great, meatballs, recipe, romantic, simple, spaghetti, spaghetti and meatballs, Valentine's Day. Bookmark the permalink.

Tilapia with Chile Lime Butter

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Veronica

I have been enjoying a lot of flavorful & healthy meals lately, this being perhaps my favorite of them all. This fish is just bursting with flavor and while I enjoy fish normally, I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed it to this degree, except for with my favorite salmon. But I like this fish even more than the salmon!

I don’t think it’s just my pregnancy hormones tricking me into thinking this is one of the most wonderful things I’ve ever eaten. I got the recipe from Suzie, who proclaimed it a restaurant-worthy meal (I so agree!). Her husband is super picky and usually will only eat things like pizza and burgers, but even he ate this and enjoyed it. I knew it must be good if he was willing to even taste it, let alone eat a whole serving. My hubs couldn’t stop at one piece, he had to have two. :)

The chile-lime butter is the key here – it’s your secret weapon to make tilapia, which isn’t that exciting by itself, seem like the most incredible edible thing ever. It has so much flavor that you don’t need much to make your filet absolutely craveable, so it only adds 50 (healthy!) calories to your meal. Light, fresh, totally amazing. Do it.

Tilapia with Chile-Lime Butter

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For the butter:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tablespoon finely chopped shallot (I used green onion)
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh Thai or Serrano chile, including seeds (this adds almost no heat – use more if you like it hot!)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cilantro for garnish

For the fish:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tilapia fillets

Stir together butter, shallot, zest, lime juice, chile and salt in a bowl. Pat dry the fillets and sprinkle with salt. Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over moderately high heat until just smoking, then saute the fillets, turning over once with a spatula until golden brown and just cooked through (4-5 minutes). Transfer to a plate.

Serve each warm fillet with a dollop of chili lime butter spread over the top. Garnish with cilantro.

Recipe Source: Two Dogs in the Kitchen

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Posted in Lighter Fare, Meats, Seafood and tagged best, chile lime butter, easy, fish, healthy, tilapia. Bookmark the permalink.

Bread Machine Rye Bread

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Veronica

Last week I mentioned my favorite food in the whole world is a cheddar cheese sandwich with tomatoes, lettuce & onion. Unlike other sandwiches, which I like on any bread, this one has to have a particular kind: either Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Bread or rye bread. We made this sandwich a lot growing up, and we only had Ezekiel bread at home, despite my yearning for white bread. But now Ezekiel is my all-time favorite bread (go figure) and I love this sandwich on it! But I have to say, the flavor of rye goes so nicely with cheddar cheese that I choose it over Ezekiel bread most times.

I got this recipe from my friend, Erin, in 2009 and it’s the only rye bread recipe I’ve ever made because I just love it so much I have no reason to try another. I’ve been making it for several years now so I thought it was about time I shared the recipe!

This loaf was baked in the bread machine and lighter in color, probably because I made my coffee a little too strong in the latest loaf.

A note regarding the molasses: if you use unsulfured/unsulphured blackstrap molasses, it adds a good dose of iron, calcium, and potassium to your bread! (1 tablespoon contains 20% of your daily calcium and iron, and 17% of your potassium.) It has a little bit of a different flavor from regular molasses, but I used it in my most recent loaf and it tastes just as good as ever so you may as well boost your nutrition with the good stuff! I got mine at a health food store but they might even have it at the regular supermarket.

Bread Machine Rye Bread

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1 1/3 cups strong coffee
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses
1 1/3 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons caraway seeds
1 cup rye flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour (I usually use all-purpose)
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons rapid-acting bread machine yeast

Fill 2-lb bread machine pan with ingredients in the order listed, and bake according to bread machine manufacturer’s directions. If you wish to bake your bread in the oven, run the dough cycle. Once complete, dump onto a floured surface and shape into a loaf with floured hands, kneading in a bit more flour if the dough is too soft. Place in a 9×5 loaf pan (or two 8×4 1-lb bread pans for small loaves), covering with a towel and allowing to rise again until doubled in size. Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes, or until the loaf sounds hollow when removed from the pan and tapped on the bottom. Remove to cooling rack and rub all over with a cold stick of butter. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Veronica’s note: I’ve always made this bread with the three different flours, but it is probably OK to use another cup of rye in place of the whole wheat.

Recipe source: Erin N.

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Posted in Bread, Vegetarian & Vegan and tagged best, bread machine, dark, easy, rye bread. Bookmark the permalink.

Special Egg Salad

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Veronica

I have a couple easy and delicious sandwich fillings for you this week! This one I got from one of my favorite people, Marsha of The Better Baker. And her last name just so happens to be Baker – how cute it that? Anyway, I bought her cookbook several months ago (she has a new one coming out soon, too!) and she made a list of her family’s favorite recipes in it for me. This was one of the first one I picked – her description of it being the “best egg salad” sold me.

Usually I make my egg salad crunchy, with celery, red, green, and yellow or orange peppers mixed in. I just like to have some crunch that boosts the nutrition. But if I made enough for leftovers, it tended to get watery from the veggies and it’s a pretty loose salad to begin with because I only used Miracle Whip as the binder. Although this one has absolutely no vegetables in it, it really is the best egg salad I’ve ever had. It’s got a wonderful, creamy texture (the cream cheese is just brilliant here), and incredible flavor. And if you serve it the way Marsha suggests, on toasted wheat bread with lettuce, you do get a very satisfying crunch. I served mine on multigrain bread and thought it was just over-the-top wonderful.

Photo courtesy of Jaclyn H.

Another tip for this salad – to make easy work of the eggs, you can use a pastry blender as Marsha mentions in her cookbook, or you can try using a cooling rack! My friend, Jaci, introduced me to this idea and at first I thought I’d never try it, because chopping eggs isn’t that hard. But when it came to dicing up six eggs, pushing them through my cooling rack only took a few seconds and was a real time saver. Thanks, Jax!

Special Egg Salad

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1 (3 oz) package reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup reduced fat mayonnaise or Miracle Whip*
1/2 teaspoon sugar*
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
6 hard boiled eggs, chopped

In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the mayonnaise, sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper; fold in the eggs. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour before serving. Will keep for several days in refrigerator.

*You probably won’t need the sugar if you use Miracle Whip since it already has sugar added.

Veronica’s note: Although my method of hard-boiling eggs probably isn’t the best one, it works for me: put eggs in a pan and cover with an inch of water. Add several dashes of salt (I heard this helps with something, maybe peeling them, but can’t remember. I just do it out of habit.) Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-high and continue to boil for 15 minutes. Carefully drain off water and fill pan with cold tap water. Pour off water and fill again with cold tap water. At this point you can add ice to quickly cool the eggs, or keep the cold tap water running so that the pan is continually being cooled. Once the eggs have cooled to room temperature or lower, which shouldn’t take too long, you can peel them and continue with the recipe.

Recipe source: The Better Baker

18 Comments

Posted in Burgers & Sandwiches, Meatless and tagged best, easy, egg salad, sandwich. Bookmark the permalink.

Bread Machine Hamburger (or hot dog) Buns

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Veronica

It’s been so long since I posted the recipe for Rosemary Sage Burgers with Chive Mayo that many of you may not even remember this picture:

Yeah, I posted that over three years ago. I put that delicious burger on a delicious homemade bun, always intending to share the recipe. And didn’t. Then I won a red ribbon for that recipe and still didn’t share the recipe. I guess better late than never, right?

These buns are nice and soft with great flavor. Making the dough in the bread machine makes them fairly easy, too! The only work you really have to do is shaping the buns, the rest is just waiting.

Bread Machine Hamburger or Hot Dog Buns

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1 1/3 cups water
2 tablespoons non-fat milk powder
2 tablespoons shortening
2 1/2 – 3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups all-purpose flour (or 2 cups all-purpose & 2 cups white whole wheat or whole wheat flour)
1 packet instant/bread machine yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
Optional: egg white & sesame seeds or poppy seeds

Measure all the ingredients into the bread machine pan in the order given, making a little well in the mound of flour to put the yeast in. Push pan in place, select the dough cycle, and push start.

When cycle finishes, turn out onto a floured board and punch down. Knead 4 or 5 times; add a little more flour as you knead if necessary to keep it from sticking. Cover dough with a clean dishcloth and let rest for about 30 minutes. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle with cornmeal or flour.

For hamburger buns: Press dough into a circle and cut into 8 even wedges; form each wedge into a ball then flatten into a smooth and fairly even circle.

For hot dog buns: Shape these into long somewhat narrow snakes. (Makes about 12 or so.)

Place dough shapes on the baking sheet, cover with parchment paper or a clean dish towel, and let rest for about 30 minutes, or until doubled in size. If you’d like to add sesame seeds or poppy seeds to the tops, brush them with beaten egg white, then sprinkle the seeds on top.

Bake at 375 for about 17 to 18 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Makes 8 hamburger buns or about 12 hot dog buns.

Recipe source: The Cooking Photographer

27 Comments

Posted in Bread and tagged award-winning, best, bread machine, hamburger buns, homemade, hot dog buns. Bookmark the permalink.

Homemade Sloppy Joes (look Ma, no cans!)

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Veronica

I follow a lot of blogs and some of them I rarely comment on (if I commented on every blog I follow it would be my full-time job), but will pin their recipes almost daily. Such as Plain Chicken and Jam Hands. Everything they post is like, “Oh that is the most fattening and delicious thing I’ve ever seen. I must make it!” FYI, I really love fattening recipes, especially right now. (And more and more am not loving sweet stuff! To the point that I almost would have rather died than taste the frosting on the last order of cupcakes I made, though I made myself do it to make sure it was good. I couldn’t tell if it was good, I hated it so much. Oh well, fat is better for you than sugar anyway.) This one isn’t fattening, but I won’t hold that against it because it is family friendly. And maybe that’s a better way to classify Ali’s recipes (she has two little girls). I love family friendly too, even if it doesn’t have a pound of butter in it.

I pinned Ali’s Best Ever Sloppy Joes over a year ago and finally made them recently. I have never made them from scratch so I don’t know if this is the best-ever recipe from personal experience, but it sure beats using a canned sauce! Totally delicious. I ate two sloppy joe’s for dinner the night I made this, and Dennis ate the rest of the pan! I think he had at least four! So I guess you could say this is husband-approved. Like I said, family friendly.

*I didn’t serve these with bakery fresh buns, but her instructions to do so reminded me I have an award-winning buns recipe I need to share! Will do that soon!

Best Ever Sloppy Joes

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1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion
1 tablespoon mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
3/4 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped green or red bell peppers (I use a small bell pepper)
1/2 cup chopped celery (I used three stalks)

Cook ground beef and chopped onion. Drain fat off meat. Add back to large pan. Add remaining ingredients. Mix. Reduce heat to low and cook 40 minutes. Serve with fresh bakery buns.

Recipe source: Jam Hands

30 Comments

Posted in Burgers & Sandwiches and tagged best, from scratch, homemade, sloppy joe, sloppy joes. Bookmark the permalink.

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Veronica

You know, I could share a banana bread recipe on my blog every day for 22 days straight. That’s how many recipes I’ve made (worth sharing-I’ve made more that aren’t) that I haven’t posted on my blog yet. In fact, I think I will pick a few of my favorites and share them this summer. I have them all on my Facebook page, but I think the best ones should also be available on my blog!

I cut this with a really cruddy knife-if you cut it with a sharp one your slices with be so gorgeous. The texture on this bread is outrageous.

This particular banana bread is so different and so delicious, I had to share it right away. It is so moist, almost fudgy, with a great balance of chocolate and banana flavor. The chocolate chips stay soft, perhaps from the moisture in bread, and this adds to the fudgy texture. We enjoyed this bread so much that Dennis and I ate the entire loaf ourselves. Usually we will each have a small slice and then I’ll bring it to work and give the rest away. I was so not willing to share this one, and neither was Dennis. Be forewarned, you may want to make this in secret so that you don’t have to share either. :)

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

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1 1/2 cups (6 ¼ oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 ½ oz) Dutch process cocoa (Hershey’s Special Dark works great)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup ( 7 oz) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups (12-14 oz) mashed overripe bananas (about 3)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (6 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray the bottom of a 8×4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray; set aside.*

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into a small bowl, stir well, and set aside. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, and oil until well combined. Whisk in the banana and vanilla until incorportated, then add the flour mixture and stir in just until moistened. Stir in chocolate chips and spread batter into prepared pan. It will be quite full, don’t be alarmed.

Bake 60-70 minutes (mine needed a full 70 minutes) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.

*I used a Williams Sonoma Goldtouch pan, which releases baked goods very easily, so you may need to grease your loaf pan very well or even use Miracle Pan Release if your pan isn’t nonstick, otherwise you may have a disaster on your hands when you try to get the loaf out.

Recipe source: The Sisters Cafe

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Posted in Bread, Sweets and tagged best, chocolate chips, double chocolate banana bread, fudgy, moist. Bookmark the permalink.

American Potato Salad

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Veronica

Haus and I grilled a ton of meat last Saturday (we feel like we’re wasting the charcoal if we don’t load the grill up at least twice) and while it was grilling, I made up a batch of this potato salad from the current issue of Cook’s Illustrated. Reader Kerry C. gifted me with a subscription to Cook’s Country (LOVE it!) for Christmas, and they sent me a complimentary issue of the regular Cook’s Illustrated mag this month-lucky me!

We were starving since we started grilling late, and as soon as the potato salad was mixed together, I took a big bite and hollered for Dennis to come taste it. We agreed it was the best potato salad EVER! We polished off the entire batch, which equals about a pound of potato salad each, and ended up skipping the meat. This potato salad was so good, it turned into our dinner for the night and we just refrigerated all the meat to eat as leftovers throughout the week.

The potato salad was so good I made a second batch within an hour of making the first one, because I knew we’d want it to go with our leftover meat. Luckily we made the second batch last for two whole days, which is like a miracle, people. This potato salad is good. If you don’t have a great recipe for classic American potato salad, Cook’s Illustrated has got you covered. They tested every ingredient, every method, and every amount to get it just so for us. Thank you Cook’s Illustrated!

American Potato Salad

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2 lbs. (3-4 medium) russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 medium celery rib, chopped fine (about 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons minced red onion
3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
1/2 cup mayonnaise (see note)
3/4 teaspoon powdered mustard
3/4 teaspoon celery seed*
1/2 teaspoon salt*
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 large hard-cooked eggs, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes (optional)

*You can use celery salt in place of the celery seed, omitting the 1/2 teaspoon salt from the dressing.

Place potatoes in large saucepan and add water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to boil over medium-high heat; add 1 tablespoon salt, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring once or twice, until potatoes are tender, about 8 minutes.

Drain potatoes and transfer to large bowl. Add vinegar and, using rubber spatula, toss gently to combine. Let stand until potatoes are just warm, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in small bowl, stir together celery, onion pickle relish, parsley, mayonnaise, powdered mustard, celery seed, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Using rubber spatula, gently fold dressing and eggs, if using, into potatoes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour; serve.

Veronica’s Notes: We actually ate the first batch warm and I prefer it that way, though it’s great cold too. Cook’s Illustrated says the salad can be refrigerated up to one day. Well ours was just fine after two days and I’m sure it would be great after three or four days.

Recipe source: Cook’s Illustrated

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Posted in My Favorites, Salads, Side Dishes and tagged American, best, classic, Cook's Illustrated, grilling, perfect, potato salad, side dishes, summer. Bookmark the permalink.

Favorite Blueberry Muffins

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Veronica

These are currently my favorite blueberry muffins. For me, the best blueberry muffins are stark white (no brown sugar or cinnamon, please) to contrast the pretty purplish blue of the bursting berries, a little dense, and quite sweet. My perfect blueberry muffin is also leavened with baking powder, as baking soda tends to give the blueberry juice a greenish tinge and the color appeal is very important to me in a blueberry muffin. In essence, my ideal blueberry muffins are blueberry cupcakes disguised as breakfast by the heaviness of the crumb and a lack of frosting. Though a nice crumb topping is certainly not out of the question. :)

Thanks to Carolyn of Inner Chef for introducing me to this fabulous recipe! It’s now my go-to, though I desperately need to make a batch with the crumb topping, as I’m sure I’ll love it even more. Thanks for helping me using up some of my Grandpa’s blueberries, Carolyn! (I inherited 16 pints back in March in a very strange way–I really need to share the story!) Thankfully, between several batches of these muffins, eating the blueberries straight, and this pound cake, not a single pint had to go to waste. :)

Favorite Blueberry Muffins

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1½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
⅓ cup vegetable oil
1 egg
⅓ cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries*

Crumb Topping (optional)
½ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup butter, cubed
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

*I used 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries, which made each muffin bursting with berries (we loved this). 1 cup will give you a more typical blueberry muffin.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with paper liners.

Combine 1 ½ cups flour, ¾ cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together ½ cup sugar, ⅓ cup flour, ¼ cup butter, and 1 ½ tsp. cinnamon. Mix with a fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in center (not into a blueberry) comes out clean.

Recipe source: Inner Chef

Note: I photographed my muffins the day after I baked them, so the blueberries had withered up a little as the juices absorbed into the muffins, making them crazy moist. Although we enjoyed them more after storing 8 hours in an airtight container (I baked them the night before), rest assured they will be beautiful and not withered when you take them out of the oven.

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Posted in Breakfast, My Favorites, Sweets and tagged bakery, baking, best, blueberry muffins, Breakfast, muffins, sweet. Bookmark the permalink.

Turkey & Onion Grilled Cheese

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Veronica

So so so excited today! This is probably my last month with the Secret Recipe Club, and I’m so excited that I was assigned to Desi’s blog, Steak ‘n Potatoes Kinda Gurl! I actually “met” Desi through being in Group C of the Secret Recipe Club, and have been following her since she joined. Very happy to be assigned to someone I know and love for my last hurrah!

For those who may have missed or never understood my monthly Secret Recipe Club posts, here’s the premise. You are assigned to a participating blog each month, but no one knows who’s assigned to who. It’s a secret! You secretly ~~stalk~~ browse your assigned blog and pick a recipe, make it, photograph it, and post it on reveal day. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed, I think because it’s kind of like Christmas each month with a big surprise on reveal day. If this sounds like something you’d like to participate in, click here to find out how to join.

Now let’s talk gooey cheese. Since April is National Grilled Cheese Month, and I’ve been meaning to make this recipe since Desi posted it during last year’s Grilled Cheese Month, there really wasn’t any question as to which one I’d choose from her blog. I had to have this sandwich!

It was well worth the wait. Totally crazy delicious. I couldn’t find maple turkey, so I had to add in some maple flavor a different way. I was a little scared I might have ruined it, but Dennis and I both loved it! Delicious smoked turkey, sweet grilled onions, and melty Gouda cheese packed between two slices of multigrain buttery, crunchy, toasty bread make for quite the delicious sandwich. Thank you, Desi, for creating this masterpiece and thus giving me an opportunity enjoy it and spread the gooey gouda love a little further through my own blog. Love ya girl!

Also, a huge THANK YOU and shout out to our SRC leader, April Tuell, and our hostesses (especially Debbi Smith, my hostess!), and all the volunteers that keep it running. And of course, to all my group C bloggers (OK, and group A too, I enjoyed my short time with you guys as well!)! It has been a beautiful, wonderful ride and I wouldn’t trade my time in the SRC for anything. Love you guys! But I won’t miss you because I’ll still be stalking you forever! >:)

Turkey and Onion Grilled Cheese

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1 small red onion, halved and sliced
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon maple syrup (optional)
4 slices of multigrain bread
3 tbsp or so of softened butter
4 slices (or more) of quality deli turkey (I used Applewood Smoked Turkey)
4 slices of gouda cheese

In a medium skillet, add 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Once melted, add the sliced red onion and saute until softened and golden brown. Remove to a small bowl and stir in the maple syrup if desired.

Spread the bread slices with 3 tablespoons softened butter. In a large skillet on medium-low, add the bread slices. If you have a large enough skillet, you can add two slices of bread at once. If not, you will need to make one sandwich at a time. Top one slice of bread with 2 slices of gouda. Then add 2 slices of turkey, then some sauteed red onions. Top with the other slice of bread, buttering the outside before you place it on top. Cook until golden brown, then flip and cook until golden brown on the other side. Repeat with second sandwich.

*Yields 2 sandwiches

Recipe source: adapted from SteakNPotatoesKindaGurl.

Check out the other Group C Secret Recipe Club Posts by clicking below!