Cheese inside a hot dog?

 
Nothing beats a good grilled hot dog. This isn't much of a recipe but as to how you can create so many variations into topping a hot dog. You can top it with so many things or you can have them plain in the bun.

 

But first to answer that the question that is the title of this post. Yes, Cheese inside a hot dog. Not wrapped or strategically placed. I mean literally inside the casing embedded with the meat. There's this product from the Philippines that has hot dogs with cheese inside them. I don't know how they do it, but there's cheddar within the meat when you bite into it. Take a bite and you can see the cheese slightly ooze out. Crazy huh? I haven't seen this anywhere else, but I may be wrong.

I grilled mine with good ol' Georgie. I topped it with some of the usual mustard and relish. It's a must for me no question about it. When I was a child I was all about the ketchup. I still like it. But my tastes have changed the older I get. Then I remembered I still had just little bit left of the tomato red sauce from my spaghetti. So that would be the "chili" portion. I'm glad to say I don't have any more left of that. I was beginning to wonder when I'd finish it off.  Finally to top it off, I cooked up some balsamic caramelized onion. Beats going out to Pink's (though, this wouldn't stop me from going to Pink's for one of their famed hot dogs).  Cheese is optional.

Can you see the melted cheese within the hot dog lightly oozing out in that last picture?It's not much, but it's definitely there.

 

Chicken Monte Cristo

Or it could also be called chicken stuffed french toast. Generally you'd associate the monte cristo sandwich with ham and turkey and cheese. I decided to switch it up and use a chicken sandwich instead. That and because I still have some leftover roast chicken. The sandwich is fairly easy to put together. Then comes the "french toast" batter.

Here's a little tidbit about the monte cristo sandwich thank to wikipedia: "The Monte Cristo is a variation of the French croque-monsieur. In the 1930s–1960s, American cookbooks had recipes for this sandwich under such names as French Sandwich, Toasted Ham Sandwich, and French Toasted Cheese Sandwich."

Since there are many variations in making this sandwich I though they not make my own version. There may already be one like this out there, but I have seen one yet. Since I already had ol' Georgie out. I thought why not use him to grill up these aweseomly delicious sandwiches. You can also use a skillet to cook these babies up.

Makes 2 sandwiches.

Chicken Monte Cristo

4 slices sourdough bread
1 cooked chicken breast (or leftover chicken)
1 small tomato - sliced
1 small ripe avocado - sliced
dijon mustard
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk

Combine well the egg and milk in a shallow dish. Set aside.

Assemble the sandwich: Spread some dijon mustard on all four slices of bread. On two slices layer the chicken, tomato and avocado. Place the other two slices on top of them.

Heat a skillet.  

Dip each sandwich on both sides in the egg batter. Carefully place them on the skillet. Let it cook for about 3-5 minutes, then flip and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Serve with a side of maple syrup or jam.

Miso Ginger Grilled Eggplant

Eggplants. What else can I say about them except that I love to eat them. I had had two in the fridge. I'm still trying to get out of my post-holiday cooking slump. I want to cook something, but I can't think of anything to cook. Why -oh-why? I seriously had ho idea what I wanted to make with these delicious plump eggplants. So I just went the grilled route. Pulled out ol' Georgie for the heck of it. I paired it with a miso ginger glaze. Oh, So good and delicious. Nice and gingery just how I like it. Yum!!  Look at those awesome grill marks. I had these with a couple of popovers.

Serves 2-3

Miso Ginger Glazed Grilled Eggplant

2 medium eggplants

Miso Ginger Glaze
2 Tbsp white miso
1/2 Tbsp grated ginger
1/3 c water
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp rice wine vinegar

Prepare your grill.

Combine all the ingredients of the glaze. Be sure all the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.

Slice the eggplants lengthwise about 1/2-inch thick. When the grill is ready. Place the eggplants down. Baste the top side. Flip after 3-5 minutes. (depending on heat) You'd want some good grill marks. Baste the other side and grill for another 2 minutes.

Rem0ove from the grill. Serve warm.

Grilled Fish with Ginger BBQ Sauce

Today marks 6-month since I've started this little blog of mine. I'm amazed at how much it's become such a wonderful part of my life. To all you loyal readers, I say thank you for making these past several month a very very fun one. 

I wasn't quite sure which white fish I had gotten. I think it may have been halibut. It just said seafood on the label. But it was fresh. I wouldn't have gotten it, if it wasn't. Labor day meant I had to grill something. I didn't feel up to grilling any type of beef or pork as i had a nice fill of that over the weekend. My other alternative was fish. I love fish.

So the day came and I busted out the ol' George Foreman Grill since I can't grill outside. Georgie, as I like to call it, has done me some good this summer. He's made me some delectable eats.

I basted it with a simple BBQ sauce made from soy sauce, ketchup, brown sugar and a little bit of minced ginger. Grilling fish doesn't take a long time, so this was done in only minutes. Several months ago I posted a cooking tip about when to flip the fish. The answer to that is to just let the fish be. You'll know when it's ready. It will basically lift off the grill without any hesitation onto your spatula. If it looks like it's stuck to the grill let it cook some more. Don't force it. That way you'll have a nice whole fillet.

As for what I served this with, I went for the Asian route. I had some left over white rice that I made into garlic fried rice and tossed in some sauteed thin asparagus. I also grilled several thick slices of tomato while the grill was still hot.

Serve 2

Grilled White Fish with Ginger BBQ Sauce


2 white fish fillet
salt
pepper

Ginger BBQ sauce:
1/3 c Soy sauce
2 Tbsp tomato ketchup
112/ Tbsp fresh ginger - minced
1 1/2 Tbsp Brown sugar


Prep your grill.

Combine the BBQ sauce ingredients and let it sit for at least 30 min to let the ginger flavor really blend into the sauce.

Season the fillet with salt and pepper both sides.

Cook the fillets on the grill. 2-3 minutes per side depending on the heat of you grill.

Baste the fillets with the bbq sauce and flip. A good way to know when to flip is when the fish looks and feels like it's not sticking to the grill. Baste the other side as well.

Remove from grill and let it rest for 2-3 minutes.

Grilled Honey-Mustard Chicken Breast

When I made the coleslaw that meant I must grill something...and soon. So, out came the George Foreman grill. I still had that big bag of chicken breast from Costco. Grilled chicken it was. I made a little marinade of honey, dijon mustard, worcestshire sauce, and rice wine vinegar along with my usual seasoning of salt, pepper and paprika. With errands I had to do, I let this marinate for about 2 hours. When I came back, I grilled away. Cooking it for roughly 10min per side.

The result was an awesome charred look with inside being fully cooked and juicy and tender. The marinade really worked its magic into the meat of the chicken. Slight sweetness of the honey. It was perfect.

You can also bake this, if you don't have a grill. Place it in a preheated 350˚F oven for 30 min.

I served it with some of my coleslaw.

Serves 2.




Grilled Honey-Mustard Chicken Breast

2 boneless chicken breast
Salt
pepper
paprika

marinade:
1 Tbsp Honey
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp rice wine vinegar

Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade in a small bowl and set aside.

Season the chicken breast with salt, pepper and paprika on both sides and place them on a dish. Pour over the marinade and eb sure to spread it evenly on all sides.

Let it sit for at least 30min to an hour. This may be done in advance.

While the chicken marinates, prepare your grill.

Grill the chicken for roughly 8-10 min on both sides depending on the heat of your grill. Baste the chicken with the leftover marinade. When done remove from the grill and let it sit for 5 min to let the juices redistribute.

Note: You may also bake this in a preheated 350˚F for 25-30min

Grilled Shrimp Skewers

It's grillin' time again. For this go around, I made some shrimp with pineapple skewers. Who wouldn't love some shrimpy goodness? Unless you're allergic, then you're excused.

These little shrimpies were marinated in a simple soy sauce, lemon and garlic mixture That I marinated for a little over an hour. Skewered it with some fresh cut pineapple and grilled away. The smell around the house with the shrimp and pineapple cooking away. It was tempting not to take a bite, but I slightly burned my tongue on a lone shrimp that had no skewer to attach to. I couldn't resist. Don't tell me you haven't tried taking a bite or a sip of something right from the cooker, only to give the tongue a beating. No matter how many times I say "I won't do that again," I always do.

I served this with a side of Little J's Potato Salad. Little J, being one of my nicknames. Recipe for that coming soon. I also used some of the leftover marinade as a dipping sauce.

This will make roughly 6 skewers.



Grilled Shrimp Skewers

1 lb Shrimp (deveined and shelled)
Pineapple chunks
1 c soy sauce
Juice of one lemon
1 large garlic clove (minced)
6 Skewers

Marinate the shrimp in the soy sauce, lemon juice and garlic for at least 30min to an hour. This may be done in advance.

Prepare your grill.

Soak the skewers in water for at least 30min. This will prevent the sticks from burning while on the grill. Skewer a shrimp and pineapple on the stick, alternating each until you reach the top.

Cook the shrimp until they turn a nice shade white and pink. Roughly 3-5 min per side depending on the heat of your grill.

Serve warm.

Grilled Salmon with Garlic Lemon Herb Butter

When I saw this large filet of salmon at the farmer's market this past Saturday, I knew I had to get it. I was actually a larger filet. I had to cut it into two pieces. It was fresh, like it was just caught that morning. Perhaps it was, I don't know. All I did know was that I had to get it. Luckily the day I decide to grill, the the sun had briefly come out of hiding giving SoCal a lovely blanket of warmth.

Oh, funny little tidbit. While I was at one of the little produce stalls at the farmer's market, the merchant had mistakenly labeled the bell pepper as "bill" pepper. Would you like a "bill" pepper? What's that?

Anyway...I don't usually like to fuss around with marinating salmon. I like to kept it simple. Just a salt and pepper base as I'm serving this with a garlic lemon herb butter. It's best to make the butter right before serving the salmon.

Grilled to perfection. Moist, tender and flaky. A crispy skin, which I usually save for last. The juices of the salmon mixing with the melted butter mix. All cause for a good time. Btw, salmon fat is good fat. So eat up. I had to grill mine a little longer as it was a thick cut. But generally it shouldn't take 2-3 minutes per side for a 1-inch filet.

I also served this with some grilled tomatoes lightly coated with some olive oil.




Grilled Salmon with Garlic Lemon Herb Butter

2 salmon filets (1-2 inches thick)
Salt
Pepper

Prepare your grill. Season the salmon with salt and pepper.

Cook the skin side down first 2-3 min. (helps keep the fish in tact when you flip)

Then grill 2-4 min on each side there after.


Garlic Lemon Herb Butter

2-3 Tbsp Butter
1 tsp dry or fresh oregano
1 tsp dry or fresh thyme
1 tsp dry or fresh basil
Juice of half a lemon
1 garlic clove (minced)

Melt the butter on the stove or in the microwave for 1 minute or until melted. Add in the herbs, lemon and garlic. Mix well. Set aside until ready to use.

If the butter becomes solidified again, just reheat the butter.

Pour over on the salmon.

Grilled Yogurt Marinated Chicken Tenders

Yes!! Another excuse to bust out the George Foreman Grill. Even though the weather was telling me otherwise. I went behind Mother Nature's back and grilled up some chicken tenders. Take that June gloom!!!! I still had that big bag of chicken tenders from Costco. Amazingly enough, I've almost gone through the whole bag. There's probably a few pieces left.

I decided on a slightly Mediterranean flavor to my tenders. Added some herbs and spices to some plain yogurt and marinated the chicken for an hour.

I made a simple dijon-mayo dip to go along. I was planning on a peanut sauce, but I didn't have enough ingredients to pull it off. Still a nice meal.

Serves 2.



Grilled Yogurt Marinated Chicken Tenders

6 large chicken tenders
3 oz plain greek yogurt.
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp dry rosemary
1 tsp dry thyme
1 tsp paprika
1 garlic clove (minced)
salt
pepper

Combine the yogurt, oregano, rosemary, thyme, paprika and garlic.

Season both sides the chicken tenders with salt and pepper, then pour over the marinade onto each pieces. Coating each one with the mixture. Set aside for at least 30min to 1 hour. This may be done in advance.

Preheat your grill.

When the grill is ready, cook the tenders 3-5 min per side. Get a nice browning on the crust.

Remove from grill and let it rest for 5 min.

Serve with some Dijon-May Dip.


Dijon-Mayo Dip

1Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp Lite Mayo
Juice of half a lemon

Combine all three ingredients.

Pesto #2: Avocado

Reminder about the BSI challenge with this week's ingredient of choice Bell Pepper. You've got only a couple of days left. (here) Time is ticking away. I can hear the '24' tick-tock ticking right now.

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Pesto #2. That's right. Avocado.

Why not avocado?

Aside from using it as a general spread or what not, add it into some pesto. By golly, it's really good. It brings a nice creaminess to the whole thing. You can still taste the basil along with the added lemon juice. I didn't feel like having pasta two nights in a row. I'm sure it would be great with pasta, but I wanted to make something different.

So I decided to make a some tomato mozzarella sammies. Used it as a spread on the bread. Though I didn't have bread left, but I did have a can of the Pillsbury Creations Flaky Dough Sheet in the fridge. I baked it into a flat bread and cut it into sandwich pieces.

This makes 2 6-inch sub sized or 4 square sandwiches. It filled me just right since the bread was not overly thick.

Avocado Pesto

1 Medium avocado (sliced and pitted)
1 c fresh basil
1/3 c grated parmesan (plus extra)
2 garlic cloves
1/3 c sun-dried tomato with oil
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
salt
pepper


Combine garlic, basil, parmesan, sun-dried tomato with oil, lemon juice and avocado in a food processor or blender. Grind until a paste like consistency. Season with a little salt and pepper.

If you've got some leftover or will not be immediately using the pesto, tightly cover the with plastic wrap to help prevent any oxidation and place in the fridge.

Here's a way to make pesto by hand: Reserve the oil from the sun-dried tomato in a bowl. On a chopping board, finely chop the garlic, then gradually begin chopping in the basil. Don't do it all at once or it will be a big mess. Do the scrap and chop method until you get a near mince. Do the same method with the pine nuts, parmesan, avocado and sun-dried tomato, minus the oil, until you get a paste like consistency. Mix in some salt and pepper to taste. Place the mixture in another bowl then drizzle in the reserved olive oil from the sun-dried tomato.


Mozzarella Tomato Sandwich

1 can Pillsbury creation flaky dough sheet or pizza dough. (or your bread of choice - toasted)
Shredded mozzarella cheese
6-8 Cherry Tomatoes (quartered)
Avocado Pesto
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

In a small bowl, toss the cherry tomatoes in a little drizzle of olive oil. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375˚F

Roll out the Pillsbury dough on a making sheet and bake for 15 min. or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cut into 4 rectangles or 8 squares.

Turn the heat on to the broiler.

Spread a nice even layer of pesto on both bottoms of the bread, then sprinkle a nice helping of mozzarella on both.

Place the cherry tomatoes on which ever sides will be the bottom of the sandwich.

On a baking sheet, place the sandwich in the broiler for 2-3 min until the cheese is melted.

Place the top over and enjoy!

Thought Iadd this last one to show the pesto itself, since
you can't really see it well in the sandwich.

Grilled Cheese and Creamy Tomato Soup

What's more nostalgic than a good ol' fashioned grilled cheese sandwich and some creamy tomato soup. A perfect after school snack. I had seen a recipe from 30-minute meals. Click here Made some minor changes and was please with how it turned out. I used evaporated milk instead of heavy cream. A bit lower in calories and gives it a nice rich taste. For the grilled cheese, my choice of bread was sourdough. I love sourdough.



Grilled Cheese Sammie

2 slices of bread (your choice)
butter or margarine
swiss cheese slices
cheddar cheese slices

Preheat skillet on a medium fire. Butter the top sides of the bread. When the skillet is hot enough place one slice of bread butter-side down. Place a slice of swiss and chedder and top it off with the other piece of bread, butter-side up. Grill for 5-10min. Then flip and grill for another 5-10min. Cheese will be nice and melted with a crispy bread crust.

Makes 1 sandwich

Note: don't smush the sandwich when grilling.




Creamy Tomato Soup

1 can (15oz) Chicken or veggie broth
1 can (15oz) fire roasted diced tomato or crushed tomato or tomato sauce
1 8oz can evaporated milk
1 Tbsp Rosemary (optional)
salt
pepper


Combine all ingredients and bring to a simmer stirring occasionally for about 15-20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

For the creamy texture, use an immersion blender to mush up the tomato to bits. If you don't have an immersion blender, you may mush the tomato beforehand in a regular blender or food processor before adding it to the stock. If you don't have either, tomato sauce will also make a good substitute.

Serves about 2-4 people