Like many, I'm a fan of bite sized food. Not because I'm a lady and it's proper to have little nibbles, but because you can eat so much more of everything that way! Duh.
What can be better than steak an cheese? Adding bread, obviously. Add some football players for a bonus treat. Throw in some sauteed onions that just taste like candy and you have yourself quite the perfect bite... or two. This is a pretty easy recipe that has big flavor pay off and it's quite attractive... to match those football players. Yet another perfect game day food item, fill your plate with a few of these babies and you're golden.
Cheese Sauce:
-2 tbs butter
-2 tbs flour
-1 cup whole milk
-Couple handfuls of your favorite cheese! (Always better if you use good melting cheeses- I used cheddar and provolone)
-1/8 tsp cayenne powder
-1 tsp dijon mustard
-Slices Monterey Jack cheese for later on
1. In a small sauce pan melt the butter.
2. Once the butter is melted, throw in the flour.
3. Get a whisk out and whisk whisk whisk. Get the lumps out and constantly move it around for a few minutes. You want to cook the flour so that raw taste is out of there and it will turn a light golden color.
4. After 2-3 minutes of cooking the flour, stir in the dijon mustard and cayenne.
5. Once everything is good and incorporated, Pour in the milk. Be sure to keep whisking. I don't care what Fergie tells you- these lumps aren't lovely.
6. After a few minutes of stirring it up, the sauce should start to thicken!
7. Once the sauce is thick but still runny, take off the heat and melt in the cheese. (Consider shredding or chopping the cheese to help it melt faster and more evenly.) Salt and pepper to taste.
-Set the sauce aside for a bit.
-Chop up a sweet onion and a green pepper. Throw it in a pan and saute them up. Set aside.
-Get your favorite cut of steak and cook it to your liking. I was being a bit fancy and opted for filet, or as I like to call it, butter beef. What I do is sear it off in a cast iron skillet and pop it into a 400F oven for 12-15 minutes. Comes out a nice medium rare and is perfection. When your steak is ready, chop it to a slightly bigger size than the onions and peppers, then mix the steak, onions, and peppers together. Set aside.
-Slice a baguette into 2 inch slices.
Time to assemble!
1. Preheat the oven to 350F
2. Line a sheet pan with parchment or a silicon baking mat.
3. Take a slice of bread- spread a good amount of the cheese sauce onto it.
4. Top that with the steak/onion/pepper mixture.
5. Grab that sliced Monterey Jack cheese from earlier and place on right on top.
6. Once you have all of he bites assembled, pop into the oven for 10-15 minutes until they are golden and bubbly.
Now you can serve to your hungry football fans. None for those Seahawks fans though... juuuuust kidding, they can have some. Enjoy!
Another dish I have been obsessing over lately are nachos. BBQ chicken nachos are some serious business. Mine don't have a lot of frill and fuss, but they taste bomb every time. So simple and easy and cheap! If it wasn't for the darn chicken taking so long, it would take only minutes to whip up and eat. With this is a dish you can totally customize to your liking- go to town on the things, I'm a pretty plain Jane so feel free to go all out. Also I don't really use exact measurements, I kind of just throw on whatever : ) This recipe feeds a few people, but go ahead and double or triple it!
-4 chicken thighs (You can use breasts, but thighs are where it's at.)
-Dijon mustard
-BBQ sauce
-Tortilla chips
-Monterey Jack cheese
1. Preheat the oven to 400F
2. Lay out the chicken on a lined sheet pan.
3. Spread equal amounts of BBQ sauce and dijon mustard onto the chicken- salt and pepper to taste.
4. Once the oven has come to temp, stick the chicken in for 30-40 minutes. Just make sure it's cooked. You can also fry these up in a pan, but it's less messy this way.
5. Wait and wait and wait for the chicken to cook. Once it's done, chop into bite sized pieces.
6. In another lined sheet tray, put a single layer of chips down. I'm not a fan of overlapping because you want a little something on every chip! Not a nakend one hiding underneath a fully dressed one!
7. Pour on a good layer of BBQ sauce.
8. Next sprinkle half of the chicken on top. (This is a two layer nacho dish here.)
9. Top with a layer of the Monterey Jack cheese.
10. Repeat steps 6-9. Then top it off with some more BBQ sauce.
11. Pop these in the oven until the cheese melts and it's all gooey, takes about 10 or so minutes. But beware- these burn in a second, you must keep an eye on the nachos. Mine burnt a little, I was being careless. They still taste good though, don't worry.
I made these for a game a few weeks ago for my dad. He told me he wasn't really a fan of nachos. Challenge accepted. I made these up, placed them in front of him, and they were gone. I think he likes nachos, well at least the ones I make.
Whatever you choose to make for the big game, just make sure it's something you and your guests will like and make sure it doesn't keep you in the kitchen the whole time! And of course, cheer for the right team *cough* Patriots *cough*.
Time to get my man's jersey out and get in the kitchen to prep. It's going to b a good game!
GO PATRIOTS <3
-Meaghan
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