Clam Chowder in a Bread Bowl

How was everyone's Thanksgiving? We had a wonderful time with friends this year, lots of food, and I'm still full! Now it's Monday and back to the grind, but luckily not for too long.

A few weeks ago Sara, Alissa and I got together again for another bloggy friend lunch. It's such a great way to explore new recipes and try new things, and of course, the company's not bad either! For our appetizer, Sara made these wonderful lettuce wraps that taste very similar to those of PF Chang's, delicious, keep your eye out for those!

And for the main course I made clam chowder. I made clam chowder for two reasons, one, I love it, and don't eat it often since it's not exactly diet friendly. Two, my husband does not like it, so I needed to take advantage of the opportunity to make it without hearing an hour's worth of belly-achin, hee hee! The recipe I found on food network is absolutely fool proof and SOO delicious. It only takes about a half hour to make too. I served the chowder in bread bowls. If you're going to serve soup in bread bowls, I strongly suggest that you serve a very thick chowder or chili, otherwise you'll probably have a very messy problem on your hands. The bread bowls were also very quick and easy to make. The only problem I had was getting the bottoms to brown completely, and eventually I just flipped them over to get the bottoms crispy and stable. When hollowing out the bowl, just take care not to take out too much center, otherwise it won't be able to hold up to the soup. But oh my gosh, it's so good. I loved scraping the bowl as I ate the soup to get a bit of both in every bite, it's the most filling thing you'll ever eat. Give this a try, you'll be surprised how easy it really is to make!

Clam Chowder
By Union Oyster House

Ingredients (I halved this for three people and still had a LOT leftover)

2 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced
4 pounds fresh or frozen clams, shelled and diced (I used canned clams, it was delish)
1/4 pound salt pork, diced (I used bacon...oh yeah)
2 small onions, diced
1 cup butter
1 cup flour
10 cups clam juice
2 pints half-and-half
Salt and pepper
Dash hot pepper sauce
Dash Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Bring the potatoes and the clam juice to the boil. Cook until the potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the clams and any of their liquid. Cook about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Add the pork to a saute pan and cook over low heat until rendered. Add the onions and cook until transparent. Add the butter and allow it to melt. Add the flour and cook until slightly colored. Add a bit more flour if necessary if the mixture is too soft. Bring the clams, juice and potatoes back to the boil. Gradually stir in the cooked roux. Bring to a rolling boil to thicken. Stir continuously while cooking. Beat the half and half and add to the soup. It may not be necessary to use all the half-and-half; the soup should be thick. Adjust the seasoning and add a dash of hot pepper sauce and Worcestershire sauce before serving

Bread Bowl
Found in Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees to 115
degrees)
1 cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
1/2 cup shortening 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons salt
6 cups all-purpose flour
Cornmeal

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, shortening, sugar, eggs, salt and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

2. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into eight pieces; shape each into a ball. Grease two baking sheets and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place four balls 3 in. apart on each prepared pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

3. For bread bowls, cut a thin slice off the top of bread. Hollow out bottom half, leaving a 1/4-in. shell (discard removed bread or save for another use). Fill with chili, chowder or stew.

For dessert Alissa made her family's favorite chocolate meringue pie and chess pie. Be on the lookout for those, they were delicious, and the perfect way to finish off our lunch>

Vegetable Beef Noodle Soup

This is it, the final day before the biggest dinner of the year! Is everyone ready? Are we? NOOO! Fortunately our dinner is being split amongst three families, so at least I'm not procrastinating the entire dinner! Truth be told, we were about to head to Costco for some last minute shopping, but my poor little girl is suffering from a pretty bad stomach ache. I'm hoping she feels better soon, especially for tomorrow!

This is a recipe I found on Pam's site, For the Love of Cooking. I know you've been to her page, it's fantastic! I pretty much want to make every recipe she posts. This soup was a real crowd pleaser and definitely something that I'll be making often. It's hearty and healthy, with fantastic flavor. The recipe instructs you to cook it in the oven, but I cooked it on the stove top for quite a few hours and it was fantastic. Give it a try!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving friends! I'll be looking forward to hearing how your holiday was!

Teresa

Shrimp Cesar Salad

I had been in a lunch rut for some time now. And as I've mentioned before, I really love my lunches. I finally threw this little salad together, and I've probably had it about five times since then, it's so good! There is absolutely no brain work that goes into it, sauteed shrimp, tossed Caesar salad and you're made in the shade. Have it for lunch and then have it four times more!

Shrimp Cesar Salad

Ingredients

1/2 cup raw medium sized raw shrimp, shells and tails removed
1 teaspoon old bay seasoning, or favorite seafood seasoning
1 cup spring mix, or Caesar salad mix, or chopped romaine lettuce
2-3 teaspoons creamy Caesar dressing
2-3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
pine nuts (optional)

Directions

Toss lettuce mix, salad dressing, Parmesan cheese and pine nuts in a bowl. Place on plate. Saute shrimp in olive oil and seasoning until pink and fully cooked. Add to salad, get your Diet Coke on ice and enjoy your afternoon!

Alton Brown's Roast Turkey

A few weeks ago, Kim from Stirring the Pot asked if anyone had ever tried Alton Brown's Roast Turkey. Apparently it had received five stars from over 2000 people. Being curious I had to go check it out, and then I became curious, and then I became obsessed! I had to try that turkey! So my family enjoyed a mini Thanksgiving meal before the actual holiday to satiate my curiosity. We'll call it a warmup meal.

This recipe calls for a brine. I had never brined meat before, in fact, I didn't even know that people brined meat until I had the food network channel! The brine was fairly simple, although we did have to go to a few different stores to find the stuff. We had our turkey in the brine the night before cooking it, and in the oven the next day at three o'clock. We brined our turkey in a medium sized, scrubbed out cooler. It sat out on our patio overnight. Luckily the weather is cool, so the ice was still frozen by the time I pulled it out to roast it.

So, here's my review. I LOOOOOOVED how moist the brine made my turkey. There was very little juice in the pan when I pulled it out of the oven, but when I cut into the turkey breast, juice just spilled out of it. I also really liked the slightly salty flavor the brine gave the turkey, but it also gave a flavor that took away from the traditional turkey flavor. It almost tasted like it had been smoked. I didn't mind it, but it didn't taste quite like Thanksgiving to me. (I know I'm probably being really nit-picky, but hey, these things are important to me!). I also didn't see any purpose to the aromatics that I stuffed in the turkey, couldn't smell it, couldn't taste it. I probably wouldn't do that again, or I would try a different combo of aromatics. So, in a nutshell, I give this four out of five stars. I'm completely sold on the brining technique, but I would probably try a different, maybe simpler brine next time, and I'll skip the aromatics. I'm so glad I tried this recipe though, it opened my eyes to an entirely different way to roast turkey, and hopefully I'll never have a dry turkey again!

Alton Brown's Roast Turkey

Ingredients

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey
For the brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger (if you live in the east, i found this at acme)
1 gallon heavily iced water
For the aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil

Directions

2 to 3 days before roasting:

Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:

Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.

Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

Bacon, Mushroom and Onion Pizza

One of the things I love about my family is that they are just as food loving as I am. My mom especially. We have had countless conversations about food, and have even gone as far as to call each other, just to talk about what we just made. I love it!

A few months ago when we were on family vacation, we asked each other, if we had to eat one thing, everyday, for the rest of our lives, what would it be? There were answers from Fettuccine Alfredo, to salmon, to avocado sandwich (huh?). When it got to me, after thinking about it sometime, I had to answer honestly and say pizza. I just loooove pizza, and I have not once in my life gotten sick of it. And how could you not? There are so many ways to make it, that it pleases just about everyone. I love it for it's variety: thin crust, thick crust, cheesy, or light, meat laden, or veggie, red sauce, white sauce, pesto, no sauce. I love pizza!

So naturally when I saw this recipe in Cooking Light, I had to make it. The bacon of course is what makes this pie so smoky and wonderful, but don't underestimate the power of those beefy mushrooms and caramelized onions. I couldn't stop eating this thing, good thing it's a Cooking Light recipe!

Bacon, Mushroom and Onion Pizza
By Cooking Light October 2009

Ingredients

1 11oz can refrigerated french bread (I used pizza dough)
2 teaspoons yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups vertically sliced onions
1 8oz package cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 cups shredded white cheddar
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup chopped parsley

Directions

1. Find lengthwise seam in dough. Beginning at seam, gently unroll dough into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Stretch dough into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured surface; transfer to a round pizza pan or large baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal.

2. Preheat oven to 425.

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil to pan, swirl to coat. Add onion; saute 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Place chopped onions in a bowl. Add cremini mushrooms to the pan; saute 8 minutes, or until liquid is evaporated. Add mushrooms to onion mixture; toss. Spread onion mixture evenly over prepared dough, leaving a 1/4 inch border. Sprinkle evenly with cheese and bacon. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned. Sprinkle with parsley. Cut into 12 wedges.

Serves 6: a serving size is two wedges

Per Serving: 316cal, 14.9g fat, 15.6g prot, 31.1g carb, o.9g fiber

Points per Serving: 7

I you had to eat the same food everyday for the rest of your life...what would it be?

Black Bean Salsa Chili

We are a chili loving family, but I'm also a bit particular about how it's made and tastes. I usually make my chili the same way and never have to worry about not liking it. So, trying a new recipe was a bit of a scary experience for me, but luckily it turned out fantastic.

The main source of flavor for this chili is salsa, which is another staple we love. It's so hearty, delicious and is packed with flavor. It's also a bit hot and sweet, which comes from the brown sugar and red pepper flakes, so if you're sensitive to either one, you can dial it up or down however you like. I didn't do the lime, cilantro cream to top it, instead I just added sour cream with chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime, and they were the perfect compliments to this dish. Mmmmmm, I love chili time!

Black Bean Salsa Chili
By Cooking Light October 2009

Ingredients

2 15 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2/3 cups water
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1/2 lb ground turkey
1 cup chopped sweet onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
3 sweet hickory smoked bacon slices, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/2 cups mild salsa
3 tablespoon tomato paste
1 14 oz can beef broth
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

Directions

1. Combine 1 1/2 cup beans, 2/3 cup water, and sugar in a food processor; process until smooth. Combine bean puree and remaining beans in a bowl.

2Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add turkey; cook 3 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove turkey from pan.

3. Add onion, bell peppers, and bacon to pan; cook 5 minutes or until bacon and onion are lightly browned. Return turkey to pan. Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, and crushed red pepper to pan; stir well to coat. Stir in bean mixture, salsa, tomato paste, and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Combine sour cream, cilantro, and juice in a small bowl. Serve chili with sour cream mixture.

Serves 6: 1 cup chili with 4 teaspoon sour cream mixture

Per Serving: 199cal, 6.2g fat, 14.8g prot, 22g carb, 5.9g fiber

Point per Serving: 4!!!

The Posts That Could Have Been

Being a food blogger, pretty much everything I make is made with the hope that it will end up in the blog. And fortunately, there have been over 200 posts of great recipes that I have loved. However, over the year and a half that I've been doing this, there have also been some real disappointments. And since I am a food blogger and take pictures of just about everything that I make, I have documentation of the good AND the bad!

I've come up with my own criteria as to whether or not I will post certain recipes.

1. Did my husband and I both like it? (this is overridden when I absolutely LOVE something, and Mr. Picky just won't be open-minded, love ya babe!) I would say my kids have to like it too, but let's be real, for the most part they just don't eat much dinner at all, no matter what it is.

2. Did we eat the leftovers? A lot of times we will like it enough to choke it down at dinner with a positive attitude, but the idea of eating the leftovers seems repulsive.

3. Would I make it again? This is something that I can usually determine about thirty seconds into eating it. Even if it's not bad, I just don't like it enough to make it again.

So here are a bunch of dishes that I've collected (unknowingly) over the months that just didn't make the cut. Sorry it didn't work out guys, you just weren't what we were looking for!

Milk and Honey Bread, smells delicious while baking, but the flavor is just too strong for everyday use, and it's too dense. Horrible sandwiches.

Lemon Caper Chicken. Edible, especially with a little honey mustard sauce, but none of us wanted to eat it again.

Apple Crisp. Completely delicious, who doesn't like apple crisp? But the recipe was so standard, I just didn't think it would be anything ya'll haven't seen before.

Linguine and Pork with Peanut Sauce. Fun idea, fun to make, not so fun to eat. I kind of liked it, the rest of my family hated it.

Gnocchi with olives, tomatoes and red onions. Disgusting. None of us liked it.

Pork Tacos with cabbage and red peppers. Too tangy, too dry.

Paula Deen's grilled chicken. I liked it, but just not enough to make it again. Plus we made this at my parents and I never got the recipe, lol.

Lemon Lime Cheesecake. Very delicious, but again, I never got the recipe from my mom, and I didn't like the picture!
Cakelets (is that word?) with lemon curd or homemade pudding and berries. I don't exactly know why I didn't post it. It was delicious and definitely pretty. I think it's because I never got the recipe for the cake, plus, you have to have a special pan to make it.
Three Berry Buckle. I'd give this dessert a five out of ten, enough said.
Shrimp and Linguine with Feta and Spinach. I really like this dish, my family HATED it. What do you do?

So there you go! Now with Thanksgiving coming up I better get my act together and whip up some blogworthy recipes to share. Happy weekend!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Dessert

Do yourselves a favor and don't make this dessert. I wouldn't even continue reading this post if you don't want to get sucked in to making this dessert. You see, this particular dessert is pure evil. Honestly, I don't even remember making it, it was just there, in front of me, forcing me to take one bite after the other! Even when my belly was screaming to stop, I couldn't stop myself from taking just one more bite! It calls to you at inconvenient times, like at two in the morning, when you can't sleep, or while you're on the treadmill, or singing hymns at church. You'll crave it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And when it's finally gone, and you think you're free of it, it will continue to haunt you, begging you to make it again. And you'll lay awake at night thinking about how much you miss it's rich layers of it's crumbly oreo crust, creamy peanut butter center, chopped peanut butter cups, fluffy chocolate spread and crushed oreo topping.

Luckily I've managed to escape it's evil spell, that's right, I've learned my lesson. I'm never making this dessert aga.....

Peanut Butter Chocolate Dessert
By Taste of Home, Best of Holiday Recipes 2008

Ingredients

20 oreos, divided
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 8 oz package cream cheese
1/2 cup peanut butter
1-1/2 cups cups confectioners sugar, divided
1 16 oz carton whipped topping, thawed, divided
15 mini peanut butter cups, chopped
1 cup cold milk
1 3.9 oz instant chocolate fudge pudding mix

Directions

1. Crush 16 cookies (I used my food processor), toss with the butter. Press onto the bottom of ungreased 9-inch square dish.

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, peanut butter and 1 cup confectioners sugar until smooth. Fold in half of the whipped topping. Spread over crust. Sprinkle with peanut butter cups.

3. In another mixing bowl, beat the milk, pudding mix, and remaining confectioners' sugar on low speed for 2 minutes. Fold in remaining whipped topping. Spread over peanut butter cups. Crush remaining cookies; sprinkle over top. Cover and chill for at least three hours before serving.

Pumpkin Roll

Well, since the consensus from last post is that nobody is getting sick of pumpkin, then I'm not going to feel too bad about posting two very similar things in a row! I actually did make this because I had SO much cream cheese frosting left over from the cake, that I desperately needed something to do with it. I had never made a pumpkin roll before, and in all honesty, they totally intimidated me with all the steps. I was so worried that I was going to put in all the work and then end up with a total disaster on my hands (it's happened once, or twice before!)

But, really it ended up being a pretty easy, I think following the directions well and not getting impatient is the key. If I was as thoughtful as many of you out there, I would have pictures of the whole process for you, but my brain isn't quite that forward thinking yet, I'll get there! My cake did crack just a bit on the top, but after it was sliced, it wasn't even noticeable. Once again, the thing that makes this roll so dang good is that cream cheese frosting, it's the perfect compliment to the pumpkin!

Pumpkin Roll
By Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
confectioners' sugar for dusting

1 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 15x10x1 inch baking pan and line with parchment paper. Grease and flour the paper.

2. In a large bowl, beat eggs on high for five minutes. Gradually add white sugar and pumpkin. Add flour, cinnamon, and baking soda. Spread batter evenly in pan. Sprinkle walnuts evenly on top.

3. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Immediately turn out onto a linen towel dusted with confectioners sugar. Peel off paper and roll cake up in the towel, starting with the short end. Cool.

4. To Make Filling: Mix confectioners sugar, vanilla, butter or margarine, and cream cheese together till smooth.

5. Carefully unroll the cake. Spread filling over cake to within 1 inch of edges. Roll up again. Cover and chill until serving. Dust with additional confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Pumpkin Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Have we gotten sick of pumpkin yet? I hope not, because I sure haven't! The thing I love about pumpkin is how versatile it is. I've seen it in just about everything, including chili! It's fantastic, and good for you.

I liked this cake for it's "semi-homemade" quality. A boxed spice cake, and a few other ingredients, and you're made in the shade. It's a very soft, velvety cake which is the perfect canvas for that sinfully rich cream cheese frosting. Eat up!

Pumpkin Spice Cake
By Taste of Home Baking Book

Ingredients

1 package spice cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 package instant vanilla pudding (3.4 oz)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I used almonds, but I think pecans would be better)
Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the dry cake mix, eggs, pumpkin, water, oil, pudding mix and cinnamon. Beat on medium speed for 5 minutes. Stir in pecans.

2. Pour into a greased and floured 10-inch fluted tube pan. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean. Cook for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost cake or serve with whipped cream. Store in the refrigerator.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

6 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
5-6 cups powdered sugar

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla and salt until smooth. Gradually beat in confectioners sugar. Store in fridge.

Mushroom Risotto

Ever since I discovered the magic of risotto last summer, I've been a bit obsessed. There are so many fun ways to make it, and it's surprisingly healthy, considering how rich and creamy it is. You can serve it for a main course, or a side dish, for lunch or dinner. It's so versatile!

I found this gem at Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes, a blog I highly recommend, whether or not you are counting your points! I daresay this has been my most favorite risotto so far, I just love the richness and meatiness of those baby bellas, and the risotto is so creamy. Just be aware that this particular recipe makes a lot. I halved it and still had quite a bit leftover.

Mushroom Risotto
From Gina's Weight Watcher's Recipes

Ingredients

2 cups Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
2 cups arborio rice
1 tsp olive oil
3 tsp butter
2 shallots, minced
1 cup white wine
8 cups fat free chicken stock
salt and pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 tbsp chopped parsley
Heat chicken stock in a small pot and keep on low heat.

Directions

In a medium size heavy sauce pan, saute garlic in 1 tsp olive oil. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup of the chicken stock and let the mushrooms cook about 4 minutes. Set aside.

Add butter to the pan on set flame to medium-low heat. Add shallots, sauté about 1 minute. Add rice mixing well until well coated and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add wine, salt and pepper and mix well until it is absorbed into the rice. Ladle 1 cup stock into rice and mix until all stock is absorbed, add another ladle, and continue adding and stirring until all broth is absorbed, about 20-25 minutes. Add mushrooms, Parmesan cheese and parsley, mix well and serve.

5.5 WW points!

Apple and Bacon Panini

Hey ya'll! I hope you had a wonderful Halloween! We had a great time trick-or-treating with friends and watching a fun parade. It's hard to believe that it's over already.

I made this panini after making that delicious Anadama bread and looking for any excuse to make sandwiches! I'd never tried the cheddar-apple-bacon combo before, but let me tell you, it's awesome! The bread was nutty, the apples were sweet, and the bacon, well, the bacon was awesome as always.

The only thing I would do differently next time is maybe adding a thin drizzle of maple syrup, or a layer of Dijon mustard, just to give a bit more richness. Otherwise, I loved this sandwich, I'll definitely be making it again!

Apple Bacon Panini
makes one

Ingredients

2 slices bread
3 slices center cut bacon
4-5 thin slices of apple
2-3 slices extra sharp cheddar

Directions

Assemble sandwich, with cheese in the center. Press on panini press, or grill in a skillet, until bread is browned and cheese is melted. Enjoy!