Baking

Balsamic Steak Salad with Pickled Tomato Relish

5 · Jun 2, 2014 · 3 Comments

+ Balsamic Steak Salad with Pickled Relish KNOCK-OFF Recipe from Granite City +

There is a restaurant here in Lincoln called Granite City and it’s one of our favorite date night places here in town. They have some really great items on the menu, but my all time favorite is their Steak Salad.

Sadly, this is not a regular menu item and that drives me nuts. Some times it’s there and other times it mysteriously disappears. There is nothing worse than craving your favorite salad just to find that it’s not always available when you want it. I decided I needed to take things into my own hands and recreate my favorite salad at home and that where my Balsamic Steak Salad with Pickled Tomato Relish began.

This salad is a perfect dinner salad, it has 5 components…

1 + The Steak +

This is super easy, all you need to do is grill up some steak simply with salt and pepper. I don’t even bother with the more expensive cuts of meat. Just a basic petite steak is perfect, just make sure to not over cook it.

2 + The Pickled Tomato Relish +

This was a game changer for me… If you love pickles, tomatoes, or vinegar, this recipe is for you! It’s super simple to put together a few days in advance and they keep in the fridge for a while so, a batch could last the whole summer if you like. I share my recipe for these pickled tomatoes HERE.

3 + The Croutons +

This salad has a lot of the same elements as a Panzanella Salad which is a bread salad. The croutons are a major element, not just an after thought. I make some fresh croutons out of day old French bread buy cutting it into large, but still bite sized pieces. I drizzle the bread with Pompeian Extra Virgin Olive Oil and place in my toaster oven or oven at 350˚ for about 10 minutes or until they are lightly browned and dried out, but still a little chewy in the middle.

4 + The Cheese +

Every element to this salad is a must and the cheese is one of my favorites. I LOVE blue cheese. I always have some type of blue cheese in my fridge for just such an occasion. I’m not super picky so just your basic grocery store crumbled blue cheese will work, but it is a must!

5 + The Balsamic Dressing +

I use this dressing recipe ALL THE TIME! It’s great to mix up a large batch and keep in the fridge for simple dinner salads or I also use it as a marinade for chicken, steak, shrimp… really almost anything. It’s defiantly one that is good to have around. It was also perfect for my knock-off steak salad. Here are your ingredients…

+ Pompeian Extra Virgin Olive Oil + Pompeian Balsamic Vinegar + garlic + honey + dijon mustard + dried oregano + salt + pepper +

Balsamic Steak Salad with Pickled Tomato Relish

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Prep time

3 mins

Total time

3 mins

This is a great dressing to have around for all kinds of salads or even a marinade for grilling.

Author: Heather // WhipperBerry

Recipe type: Balsamic Dressing

Cuisine: Italian

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

½ cup Pompeian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
¼ cup Pompeian Balsamic Vinegar
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper

Instructions

Peel and finely mince your clove of garlic. Place a large pinch of course salt on the garlic and using the side of your knife rub the salt into the garlic creating a garlic paste. Scoop up the paste with your knife and add to a clean jar.
Add olive oil, vinegar, mustard, honey, oregano, salt and pepper to the jar. Put on the lid to the jar and shake for 1 minute. Let dressing set for 10 minutes so that the flavors can marry and then add to your favorite salad.
Store leftovers in the jar, place in the refrigerator for up to one month.

Now that you have all of the components, all you have to do is assemble and enjoy!

Disclaimer // This is part of a series of sponsored posts for Pompeian. I received product and payment for my recipe development. As always, all thoughts, idea and opinions are my very own!

German Ham and Cheese Garlic Toast // GIVEAWAY

16 · May 27, 2014 · 6 Comments

This post brought to you by the Panasonic FlashXpress™ Toaster Oven// A few years ago, our family traveled to Germany and one of the first meals I had there was a simple ham & cheese toast from one of the local bakeries. We had stopped at the Rhine Neckar Zentrum (Mall) in Viernhiem for dinner, my husband and the girls decided to eat at KFC and I just couldn’t swallow the idea of eating American food while in Germany. I mean really?

I set out on a hunt for a more “German” quick bite to eat while the family was eating their “American” chicken. I found a little bakery inside the mall there and had the most interesting, simple meal. It was a loaf a good German bread cut in half with some type of garlic spread, diced ham and lots of sharp melted cheese. It was simple and boy was it tasty!

Recently, the folks at Panasonic asked it I would be interested in trying out their FlashXpress™ Toaster Oven and to develop a quick, in a flash meal with the FlashXpress™ and I immediately thought of my first German meal. It would be perfect in a toaster oven! Of course I said yes, and set out to recreate one of my favorite quick German meals.

Once I found a good garlic spread it was super simple to recreate. I used Mezzetta’s Savory Garlic Everything Spread which is SUPER tasty. I spread that on some good bread that I found in the bakery at Super Target, topped that with some diced ham that I sautéed in a little bit of butter, shredded sharp cheddar cheese and a little parmesan cheese.

Popped it into the Panasonic FlashXpress™ Toaster oven and within 10 minutes I had a perfect quick meal for the family, in a flash!

The nice thing… I didn’t have to heat up my oven and my kitchen at all and the ham and cheese garlic toast turned out perfect!

I will have to admit, when I was approached by Panasonic to do this post I was going to turn it down. I didn’t want one more thing cluttering up my counter tops. I mentioned it to my husband and he flipped… He’s been wanted to get a toaster oven for some time and I just wouldn’t jump on board. I have never had a toaster oven and I just didn’t understand the magic that you can create in this little toasting machine.

This one especially is compact, it doesn’t take up much space, you can get it in white or silver and it has some of the best infrared technology around. I especially love that the rack is designed to pull out when you open the door, making retrieving your food easier and safer. It has several presets or you can just use the temperature and time controls. It’s super easy to use and clean and I will have to admit… I use it ALL THE TIME now! I hardly ever use my microwave anymore. I’ve been making homemade croutons, baking cookies and of course making toast of all kinds. I have been TOTALLY converted!

The folks at Panasonic would love to giveaway a FlashXpress™ to one of YOU!!

All you have to do is follow the direction in the Rafflecopter box below…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer // This is a sponsored post. I received a Panasonic FlashXpress™ Toaster oven to review along with funds to create a recipe. All thoughts, ideas and opinions are my very own.

5 Ingredient Barbecue Chicken Pizza

0 · May 20, 2014 ·

This post brought to you by KC Masterpiece® // I am a BBQ girl through and through. As a kid, I could not wait for grilling season to start! I’ve been known to grill through all kinds of weather, snow be darned (my mom reads this, gotta keep it PG.)

Even as a kiddo, I remember how important the sauce was. For years my Dad (he’s the primary griller in the house) would ALWAYS use KC Masterpiece®, always. My mom would stock-up and buy like 15,000 of them at a time (ok, maybe 6) and the panic button would be activated when we opened the last bottle. Yes, the sauce was that important in our house.

The same holds true for my house. I would have to say that there are very few products that I can claim brand loyalty for three decades and barbecue sauce is one of them, the other being my ketchup, but that another story. KC Masterpiece® has always been our go-to. Did you know that KC Masterpiece® was created by Dr. Rich Davis from Kansas City back in 1978. He created it for the first ever American Royal Barbecue Sauce Competition and won. The folks at KC Masterpiece® are celebrating a big anniversary this year… 35 years!!

To celebrate they have released a limited edition 35th Anniversary Sauce that is reminiscent of the original competition recipe from 1978. It’s lovely!

When the folks at KC Masterpiece® asked me to come up with a recipe for the special sauce, I knew instantly what I had to share. Our family’s favorite go-to dinner… Barbecue Chicken Pizza.

This recipe is so easy, it only has FIVE ingredients and it takes about FIVE minutes to pull together.

It’s one of those meals that I pull out several times a month on those busy nights when you need something quick, but still tasty. It’s also my go-to meal when I’m taking a meal to a family who is in need of a dinner. You know when Mom just had a baby or is sick. I make up a couple of these beauties in a snap, I take them over assembled but not baked. They can bake them when they are ready, they can even toss them in the freezer if they aren’t in immediate need. It’s PERFECT!

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

2 store bought already baked pizza crust

1 1/4 cups of KC Masterpiece Barbecue Sauce

1 store bought rotisserie chicken

1/2 of a large red onion sliced thin

3 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

Yep, I told you it’s embarrassingly easy. I don’t even prepare the chicken. The secret is in the sauce. Seriously, I’ve made this meal at least 100 times and I have experimented with different sauces and it truly is the KC Masterpiece® sauce that makes it amazing.

I place the store bought pizza crust on a baking sheet. Side note... You can use store bought crust, make your own crust, use pita bread, biscuit dough, really anything for the crust. Our family likes thin crust pizza, so I buy the super thin store bought crust. Then I pour about 3/4 a cup of sauce on the crust and spread it all over.

Then I shred the chicken and place a heavy layer of chicken all over the crust. Another side note… On those nights when I’m not in that big of a rush, I make my own chicken by either roasting my own, boiling a couple of chicken breasts or even grilling them. It’s really whatever you like. I would have to say that 75% of the time I use the tasty store bought rotisserie chicken.

Then I add a layer of red onion… This is also a very important layer. Don’t skimp on the onion. This is what makes this pizza aaaamazing!

Next comes the cheese…

That’s it… Place it in a 400˚ oven for 12-15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and has lightly browned. You could even toss it on a grill if you don’t want to heat up your kitchen.

Serve with some grilled corn or a nice tossed salad and you have a wonderful easy to prepare dinner that literally took minutes to make and is a real crowd pleaser thanks to KC Masterpiece® and their amazing sauce! For more recipe ideas, you can visit KC Masterpiece® on Facebook or Twitter for all kinds of BBQ inspiration.

KC Masterpiece® barbecue sauce has been delivering authentic barbecue taste and creating culinary masterpieces for 35 years. For more recipe ideas, tips and tricks visit www.KCMasterpiece.com.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of KC Masterpiece®. The opinions and text are all mine.

The Carrot Cake

24 · Apr 19, 2014 · 3 Comments

// The Carrot Cake //

Looking for a fun spring dessert? The other day I was trying to come up with a fun idea for a dessert auction for a fund raiser at church and I came up with The Carrot Cake!! It’s a SIMPLE yet very fun dessert idea that is great for Easter or any other spring time activity. I was thinking it would look really cute with a fun sign that said, “Mr. McGregor’s Garden” for a spring baby shower or birthday party.

All you need is some Pillsbury Funfetti Orange All-Star Cake Mix and some Orange Funfetti Frosting. With a few little additions to the frosting you have a tasty little treat that is super easy to bake and put together.

How to make The Carrot Cake

Mix-up the cake according to package directions but bake it on a baking sheet so that it’s stays a thin layer. Bake for 15-19 minutes at 350˚. I actually made up a double batch of cake mix to almost fill one baking sheet. Make sure to spray your baking sheet with Pillsbury Baking Spray.
Using a biscuit cutter, cut circle cake rounds that will fit in your jars once the cake has cooled.
Mix up the frosting the recipe for that is below
Layer your jars with one cake round, a layer of frosting, another cake round and some additional frosting. If you are feeling a little fruity, you can add some mandarin oranges into the layers. I didn’t have any on hand or I would have done that with mine!
Make your carrots stems…

How to make The Carrot Cake Stems

You will need two types of green paper, scissors (fringe scissors if you have them), Elmer’s Glue Spots, straws (it doesn’t matter what color, they will hide in the cake) and some thin green ribbon.

Cut your straw in half. Cut your green paper fringe, paper needs to be at roughly 3 1/2 inches wide and 2 inches tall.
Place a glue spot on the tip of the straw
Layer your two green papers and attach to the top of the straw.
Carefully wrap around the straw making sure to keep it tight.
Place a glue spot on the outer edge of the fringe
Secure the fringe to the straw.
Tie with the ribbon to keep it secure. Rough up the paper a little to help it look like a stem.

Add your stem to the top of the cakes and serve!

The Carrot Cake Frosting

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Prep time

5 mins