Fatty, Cheesy, Garlic Pull Apart Bread

I had my cousin Karen and her partner Christine over for dinner one night and I really wanted to make something yummy and delicious for an appetizer.  So I decided to make this pull apart cheesy, garlic bread loaf.  It was super easy and is usually a big hit...unless your friends are lactose intolerant...or gluten intolerant.  Eeek!  Great for a party appetizer or maybe just for yourself whilst wearing stretchy pants and rolling on a Netflix binge.

All you need:

sourdough bread loaf (round is preferable, but you can also use a long loaf)

cheese (cheddar works best, but I like to use both cheddar and colby cheese)

half a stick of butter (the real stuff, please)

2 tablespoons of fresh, crushed garlic

2 tablespoons of chopped green onion

black pepper

Start by grabbing a serrated knife. 

The teeth in the knife will help you cut evenly through the bread without tearing it.

Place your loaf onto a sheet or two of aluminum foil.

Cut lines about half inch apart being careful NOT to go all the way through the bread.

Turn the loaf and cut the other way about half inch apart again being careful not to cut all the way through.  Think checkerboard.

I really LOVE sharp cheddar cheese and use it whenever I can.  I use already sliced cheese and cut t them into about half inch by inch rectangles.  I also make long strips of some of the cheese.  You'll see why in a bit.

I start with the longer strips of cheese and push them into my cuts.

Choose one direction and make sure a piece of cheese goes into each line.

Like this...

Then I take the shorter pieces and work them into the cuts the other way.

I push each small rectangle in long side down to get as close to the bottom as possible.

Make sure you don't skip any spaces.  We don't want to miss any spots!

Then, in a microwaveable container, I add my crushed garlic, chopped green onions and half a stick of butter.  I put into the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Season with black pepper.  I don't add salt because there's a lot of cheese happening in this dish.

Make sure you fold up the sides of your foil before this next step!

Pooooouuuur the melted butter garlic all over you loaf.

It already looks amazing.

Wrap the foil over the top and bake for 15 minutes on 350F.

Unwrap for another 5 minutes to get the top brown.

And that's it!  Just get in there with your fingers and pull it all apart and stuff in your face.

MMMMMMMMM!!!!

If you opt to use a longer loaf, just cross section the knife cuts at a diagonal.  

Still just as mmmmmmm.

Easy Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy

If you've been reading other posts in this blog, you know that I grew up with a mother who lovingly and adoringly made us homemade Korean food.  I'm so sorry to say I never appreciated it as a kid, but now as an adult, I can't get enough of my mom's cooking.   Growing up in the late 70's in suburban America, I was always drawn to soda pop and chocolate bars.  I wanted to eat what the other kids in my school were eating.  I was always too embarrassed to pull out my rolls of kimbap, sautéed oden cakes and rice, or fried mandoo.  

I was always more inclined to want "American" food.  On very rare occasions, my mom let us have TV dinners. And the choir sings: Hallelujah!!!  These were my favorite!  Of course, TV dinners are a lot different today than they were in the 70's.  Now they come in black plastic microwaveable containers and can be zapped in your microwave in less than 5 minutes. Yuck!  Back in the day, when the Hungry Man Dinner was king, they came in metallic foil containers and you had to heat them in an oven and wait FORTY-FIVE minutes to eat.  Then, when they were ready, you peeled the foil top off and got to eat them in front of the TV!  Mmmmmm.  America at it's best (at least to a 7 year old kid who couldn't get enough Brady Bunch and Little House on the Prairie)!

The Hungry Man TV dinner that always got my vote was the Salisbury Steak one.  Some days, when I'm feeling a bit blue and need a bit of comfort, this dish brings me back to my childhood.  There's something about the gravy and mashed potatoes that just makes me happy.   Except now, instead of buying a frozen dinner, I just make it at home. 

 Like this:

                                                   

So easy to make and probably a lot better than a frozen TV dinner.  Just grab these items:

 for patties:

1 to 1.5 lb lean ground beef

1/2 med onion, fine diced

1 egg

1/2 cup of seasoned  bread crumbs 

1 squeeze ketchup (I don't know...like 1 tablespoon...just give it a squeeze.)

1squeeze mustard 

seasoning salt and pepper to taste

for gravy:

1 tbsp butter

2-3 cups of sliced mushrooms (I like Crimini mushrooms, but any regular common variety is good)

1 packet of McCormick Brown Gravy or Au Jus mix

dash of Worcestershire sauce (This is optional and I still can't pronounce it)

fine diced onion (optional)

4  cups of water or broth

I start with about a pound of ground beef.  I throw it and the onions, egg, bread crumbs and mustard and ketchup into a large bowl.

You can add as much or as little seasoning salt and black pepper as you like.

Boom. 

Look.  It's a ground beef boat with ketchup and mustard just hanging out...

There's my egg.

I mix all the ingredients together using clean, washed hands.  You can use a large spoon if you'd like. I find it's easier to mix using my hands and since you end up forming them into patties anyway, why dirty up a spoon?  Then I form into five balls and gently form into patties.  Keep in mind to pat the edges to "seal" them or they will break apart during cooking.

I like to use my cast iron skillet, but you can use a large frying pan for this.  Over medium high heat, I add some olive oil and when the pan is hot, I put my patties down for about 5 minutes and then flip them to cook the other side.  We just want a nice brown on the patties.  Don't worry about cooking them all the way through because they will spend some time simmering in the gravy.  Mmmmmm.  Gravy bath.

Sometimes, I add chopped green onion too (which is why you see green below and a different pan).

Then I remove from the pan or not, but you can. 

 Gravy time!  Yes, you could make a homemade gravy using butter and flour and making a roux, but I LIKE the packaged gravy because it tastes more like the TV dinners I grew up on so you decide which you'd prefer.

In the same pan, I add a pat of butter and sauté the onions (optional) and sliced mushrooms.    Sometimes, I don't even take patties out since my frying pan is huge...I just sauté all the butter and mushrooms in the center until the mushrooms and onions are nice and soft.  Trust me when I say use BUTTER to sauté them in.  It will give your gravy a nice velvety texture.

Then I take this packaged gravy mix:

Add it to about 4 cups of water and add just a dash of Worcestershire sauce.

Then I pour it into the pan and let it simmer.  Notice I did NOT use any additional salt.  The gravy mix is pretty salty so no need to add more salt.

Turn your heat down to medium low and let it simmer.  If you took your patties out, add them back in and let them finish cooking in the gravy.  I simmer down until the gravy is about half the volume you started with ~ about 15 minutes.  

Then serve over mashed potatoes or even rice or pasta (go with mashed potatoes....trust me).  I wish I had those nifty metal trays with compartments to eat this on.  That would be divine!

Do It Yourself Cheesy Garlic Bread

Here's something that goes over well in my house anytime of the day. It's cheesy garlic toast!

What's great about this recipe is that you don't have to buy a store-bought spread. You never know what chemicals or preservatives are hiding in those things. Yuck!

Here's a quick easy recipe that only requires three simple ingredients:

real butter
fresh, crushed garlic
grated parmigiano cheese

This recipe is for 4 pieces of cheesy garlic toast. You can adjust accordingly depending on how much you're making.

Start with room-temperature butter so that it's easier to mix. If you use cold butter you won't be able to mix the garlic and cheese easily and when you try to spread it you'll tear your bread.

In a small bowl I add two tablespoons of room temperature butter, half a tablespoon of fresh, crushed garlic and about 2 tablespoons of shredded parmesan cheese.

I like to use fresh grated parmigiano, but this works well too!  But this canned stuff has some weird, hard-to-pronunce things in it....just saying...

You can also add parsley or Italian dried herbs if you want to add a little color.

It blends up very easily because the butter is so soft.

The beauty of this recipe is also that you can use any kind of bread you want.  These are just regular sandwich rolls.  I also like to use sourdough bread and French bread.

Using a butter knife, spread your garlic butter cheese mixture over the bread and toast in either the oven or a toaster oven until nicely browned.  

 Be careful not to burn. 

It only takes a few minutes to mix up your garlic spread, smear on bread, toast and stuff in your face.

Enjoy!  You won't miss the chemicals or preservatives.  I promise.

Stuffed Bread Loaf Breakfast Bake

I recently planned a birthdday surprise for my friend.  I decided that I was going to decorate her office and planned a birthday potluck.  As I was thinking about how much I had to carry (decorations, gift, food, etc) I was thinking about ways to make this easier.   I already knew I was going to make my easy Breakfast Bake and then I thought about how heavy everything was going to be to carry in.  So then the wheels in my crazy cooking brain started turning and I thought, "Why not bake the Breakfast Bake INSIDE a loaf of bread so I don't have to carry a heavy baking pan?!?!?!"

You bake it in the bread that you end up eating!  No extra dish to carry!

And wouldn't you know it!  Someone else had already thought of this idea!  

Here's their picture since I forgot to take a picture of the cooked masterpiece.

The beauty of this stuffed breakfast loaf is that you can put anything you want it in.  For this round, I chose to use:

honey ham

onion

mushroom

green onion

eggs 

cheddar AND colby jack cheese

1 loaf of whole grain bread (I would have preferred sourdough, but Trader Joe's didn't have one)

I sauteed half of a medium onion with about a cup of crimini mushrooms in olive oil for over medium heat.  Saute until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms are nice and golden brown.

While the mushrooms and onions were partying it up, I chopped up some honey ham.  This was about a cup.

When the onions and mushrooms were done, I added some frozen hash browns.

I added about 2 cups of frozen hash browns to my mushroom, onion and ham mixture.  Feel free to use real cubed potatoes if you'd like. 

Add seasoning salt and black pepper...

Throw in your ham now too.  Mmmmm.

Turn on low and let your potatoes absorb all the yummy flavors while they soften up in the pan.

I threw in a large handful of green onions into the party too.  I keep them chopped and frozen in my freezer.

Adds color and flavor!

If needed, I add a little water instead of oil to keep everything from sticking to the pan. 

 Be sure to remove the pan from heat and let it cool a bit.

Turn your oven on to 350 degrees.  Meanwhile, I take my loaf of bread...

And using a sharp, serrated knife, I notch a long "v" down the length of it.

And I pull the cut "v" completely off the loaf.

Then, using your fingers, hollow out the entire loaf of bread.  I save the top and the stuff I hollowed out in a ziplock bag and use it in place of bread crumbs.  Nothing goes to waste.

I layer slices of cheese on the bottom.  

You can use shredded, but I use sliced because I think it helps prevent any egg from leaking out of any holes you might have in your loaf.

I carefully spoon my hash brown, veggie and ham mixture into the hollowed out bread.

I used three eggs for this, but it will depend on how large your loaf of bread is.  

I added a huge dollop (about 2 tablespoons) of sour cream into my eggs and whipped them up.  You can use milk or nothing at all.  I just like how fluffy my eggs are when whipped with sour cream or milk.

Carefully and SLOWLY pour your whipped eggs into your stuffed bread loaf.  

If you rush it, the egg will spill out.

Throw this baby into the oven at 350 for about 30 to 40 minutes.  I also like to top it with more cheese, because...well, why not?

When it's done baking, you'll want to let it rest for about 5 minutes.  If you cut into slices right away, it will fall apart so let it set and cool just a bit before you slice it up.

I literally wrapped this in foil and took it to work with nothing other than a sharp knife.  Then I just crushed up the foil and threw in the trash when the last piece was gone.  Genius.  

Think of the endless possibilities for combinations that you could make to go in your bread loaf...bacon and leeks, kielbasa and peppers, sausage and more sausage....Have fun creating your breakfast loaf combo.