Tasty and Thirsty Thursday

Happy last Thursday of November!

Today’s Tasty comes from The Great Grilled Cheese book (Amazon).

I’m a fairly brave eater but some of these sammies are over the edge for me and others are just to much work. I love to cook but to be honest I don’t want to spend 3 hours making a grilled cheese.  By this I mean I’m not making a beef roast just for a grilled cheese, I’ll be overjoyed to use the leftover after I’ve eaten it with mash potatoes, green beans, and garlic cheese rolls. 🙂

Eric Greenspan includes a lot of extra recipes (corn bread, strawberry jam, even how to make your own american cheese!). My two favorite pineapple-jalapeno relish (which goes on the big island) and apricot-caper spread (for the champ).

I have only made two of the grilled chesse from this book (no pics because they ‘somehow’ were deleted off my phone after my 7 year-old was playing with it. He swears he didn’t hid them in that small garabage in the corner

>.<)

Johnny Apple Cheese was good. I have an apple chuntey recipe that I perfer but overall it was a good fall sammie. I served it with a roasted veggie salad with a apple vingarette.

For the salad (sorry, have to get the book for the sammie)

What you need:

• 2 cups fresh brussel sprouts, ends cut off and sliced in half lengthwise
• 1 small head of purple cauliflower cut into small florets
• 1 small head of green cauliflower cut into small florets
• 1 cup butternut squash cut into small cubes
• ½ cup fresh purple pearl onions peeled and sliced in halves
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 cups organic mixed greens

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place all vegetables, olive oil, salt and pepper into a large zip-top bag.
3. Seal and shake gently until vegetables are evenly coated in oil and spices.
4. Pour contents of bag on a large baking sheet and roast for about 30 minutes or until veggies are golden brown.
5. Allow veggies to cool for 15 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring balsamic vinegar and honey to a boil.
7. Once it boils, turn the heat down and allow to simmer for about ten minutes, mixing frequently, until it thickens.
8. Remove from heat.
9. Place an even layer of mixed greens on a large serving platter.
10. Place roasted veggies over the top of mixed greens

For the apple vinaigrette

What you need:

• ¹⁄₂ cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
• ¹⁄₄ cup cider vinegar
• ¹⁄₄ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¹⁄₄ cup apple juice
• 3 fresh basil leaves
• 2 teaspoons honey
• ³⁄₄ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon ground black pepper

What you do:

Combine parsley, vinegar, olive oil, apple juice, basil, honey, salt, mustard and pepper in a blender or food processor. Process until smooth. Serve over salad.

Grown-up butter hot cocoa

We love this drink but it’s super rich so we only have it on ‘special’ mornings, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Winter break. Joliegh makes the schnapps free verison of this recipe in The Christmas Reunion – my swee Christmas romance. Check it out here

What you need:

4 c. milk (preferably whole)

3/4 c. white chocolate chips

1/2 c. butterscotch chips

1 tbsp. melted butter

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup butterscoth schnapps

whipped cream, for garnish (optional)

Gold sprinkles, for garnish (optional)

butterscotch syrup, for garnish (optional)

What you do:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring milk to a simmer. Turn off heat, then add white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, melted butter and vanilla. Stir until white chocolate and butterscotch chips have melted. Remove from heat. Stir in butterscoth schnapps.
2. Carefully pour hot cocoa into mugs.Top with whipped cream and sprinkles then drizzle with butterscotch syrup. Serve.

Enjoy your week!