Korean Bulgogi and Kimchi Nachos

One of my favourite game day snacks is nachos and this time I though that I would combine them with one of my favourite cuisines, Korean cuisine, and so I present to you these Korean themed nachos with bulgogi, kimchi and plenty of melted cheese! Bulgogi is Korean BBQ beef that is marinated in a tasty sweet and salty sauce that is absolutely divine all by itself but it gets even better in these nachos. Kimchi is fermented cabbage that is on the sour side and can be spicy but when combined with the sweet bulgogi and the melted cheese it mellows out and really brings these nachos together! From there you can top the nachos with what you want and I like to go with sour cream (well I actually use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream), green onions and sesame seeds. If you like things hot, you can't go wrong with a spicy gochujang sauce or some sriracha! Of course everything is better when topped with a fried egg with a runny yolk so turn these bulgogi and kimchi nachos into a meal by adding some!

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Taco Salad

During the summer I often like to have salads as light meals and one of my favourites is a taco salad, which as the name implies has all of the flavours of tacos! This salad is a great way to finish off any leftover ingredients from taco night though I am usually too impatient to wait and just make it from scratch starting out with a homemade taco seasoning. This recipe is very flexible where you can use whatever your favoutite taco ingredients are and I generally like to pack the salad with plenty of healthy ones like beans, corn, tomatoes and avocado before moving onto things like cheese, Greek yogurt and salsa. Although a number of salad dressing would be perfect on this, I usually go with salsa verde as a dressing. As far as salads go this taco salad certainly makes for one tasty, light and satisfying meal meal!

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Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs with Roasted Strawberry BBQ Sauce

BBQ ribs has to be one of my favourite things about summer and I have just been itching to try cooking them in the slow cooker! Getting perfectly cooked, juicy, fall off the bone tender ribs can sometimes be tricky but the slow cooker makes it almost effortless! With the slow cooker you just need to season the ribs, place them in the slow cooker with the ribs vertical, wrapped around the inside, pour on the BBQ sauce and cook on low until nice and tender, about 6-8 hours. Once the ribs are cooked you can slather on more BBQ sauce and throw them onto the grill (or under the broiler) to get that smoky grilled flavour! Speaking of sauce, for these ribs I went with my roasted strawberry BBQ sauce which is perfect for the summer!

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One Pot Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole

I guess I missed the whole one-pot craze that went around awhile ago but I did bookmark a few recipes to try including this one-pot cheeseburger casserole from Damn Delicious. What's not to love about one-pot recipes? I am all for anything that helps cut down on the number of dishes that I need to wash and I am really into using cheeseburger flavours in interesting new dishes so this one-pot cheeseburger casserole was right up my alley. I started the casserole off with, you guessed it, bacon, because no self respecting burger can go without bacon! Up next is the beef and onions followed by a tomato base, pasta and beef broth for the liquid to cook the pasta. The casserole is seasoned with some common burger garnishes including ketchup and mustard and I like to add a hit of worcestershire sauce to my burger patties so that was in as well. Overall this cheeseburger casserole is super easy to make, you simply cook the bacon, cook the beef, throw everything into the pot and simmer until the pasta is cooked before throwing on the cheese to melt on top. The cheeseburger casserole would be amazing all by itself but why not garnish it with some fresh toppings and I like to go with some of my favourite burger topping including fresh tomatoes and diced pickles.

Check out below the recipe for more bacon cheeseburger recipe ideas!

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Tortellini Chili

When I made the spinach and artichoke dip tortellini soup the other day I realized that it had been a while since I had last used tortellini and that reminded me that I had several recipes bookmarked to try including this chili tortellini from Picky Palate. Adding cheese stuffed pasta to an already tasty dish like chili is a fabulous idea and I could not resist making it! In addition to being super tasty, this chili tortellini is easy to make, it only takes about 30 minutes and it's made in one pot! You pretty much just need to cook the onions, brown the meat, throw everything in the pot and simmer until the tortellini is ready! This chili is perfect for a quick work night meal and a great way to enjoy some tortellini!

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Beef Wellington Tarts with Mushroom Blue Cheese Sauce

This week I have been testing out some special new recipes for two for Valentine's Day and up first are these tasty beef wellington tarts. Beef wellington is a dish were a beef tenderloin is wrapped in puff pastry along with foie gras and mushrooms and it is baked until golden brown. Although beef wellington is great for large gatherings I wanted a version that was good for two and deconstructed beef wellington puff pastry tarts are a great way to go. The basic idea behind these tarts is to make small puff pastry shells, cook the filet mignon, slice it, place it in the shells and top it with sauteed mushrooms. A topping of melted foie gras mousse would fit with the beef wellington theme here but I really like the blue cheese and steak and mushroom combo so I decided to go with a mushroom blue cheese sauce instead. Since I always enjoy adding greens to my meals so I added a base of sauteed kale to the tart. This truly is one decadently delicious treat for a special Valentine's Day dinner that they won't forget!

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20 Minute Light Mongolian Beef

Today marks the beginning of the new Chinese or Lunar year and I thought that I would celebrate by making this classic American-Chinese dish Mongolian Beef, which I know, has nothing to do with Mongolia but it is tasty none the less. Mongolian beef is a dish that is served at a lot of American-Chinese restaurants and it is super quick and easy to make at home and much better than takeout! Really, this dish is as easy to make as sauteing the beef and mixing in the tasty sauce and you have a meal ready in less than 20 minutes!

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Mushroom Crusted Prime Rib Roast

Although cookies and treats get a lot of the focus over the holidays you are also going to be hosting some big meals and it is always nice to have something special like a roast turkey or a prime rib. This year I was thinking about prime rib, which is always a good option, and I thought that I would try something new, a mushroom crusted prime rib. Beef and mushrooms are a fabulous flavour combination that creates plenty of umami so you really cannot go wrong crusting mushrooms on your prime rib. This recipe starts by rubbing the roast with a mixture of dijon mustard, white miso paste, garlic and fresh cracked black pepper and then pressing on the crust of chopped dried porcini mushrooms. One of the great things about a prime rib roast is that it's just that easy, you coat it as desired, place it in the oven and roast it until a meat thermometer indicated that is is done, let it rest and then slice it! While the prime rib is roasting you are free to work on side dishes or to chat with family and friends. No matter how you slice it, this mushroom crusted prime rib dinner is sure to be a hit for your special holiday dinner!

Don't forget to us the pan drippings to make some au jus (see below), gravy or yorkshire pudding!

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Moussaka Patty Melts

With the cooling weather I have been thinking about cold weather dishes more often like moussaka, a Mediterranean casserole consisting of layers of meat in a tomato sauce, eggplant and a bechamel sauce. During the summer I made some burgers inspired by moussaka and given my fascination with grilled cheese sandwiches I could not help but think that a moussaka patty melt would also be great! For this sandwich I start out with patties of ground lamb seasoned simply with a bit of garlic and cinnamon, topped with a layer of grilled eggplant, a simple and yet tasty tomato sauce and of course plenty of melted cheese! Speaking of cheese, I went with a Greek cheese, graviera, which melts well so it is perfect for grilled cheese sandwiches. When I made the moussaka burgers I used a bechamel sauce which is a bit to wet to go inside a grilled cheese sandwich but it does go great as a topping along with some extra tomato sauce!

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Moussaka Burgers

With the long weekend coming up I have been thinking about grilling and in particular about these moussaka burgers. Moussaka is a tasty Mediterranean dish that is typically made with layers of eggplant, meat, a tomato sauce and a cheese bechamel sauce and I have been wanting to try making burgers with these flavours for a while now. I started the burgers off by making a tomato sauce with the hints of cinnamon and allspice that moussaka often has and then I moved on to make a simple bechamel sauce with plenty of melted melted cheese. Up next were the patties which I kept nice and simple, once again seasoning with hints of cinnamon and allspice, and the last component was slices of eggplant that I grilled along with the patties.

All said and done these burgers are amazingly good and they definitely taste like moussaka, only better! These burgers take a bit of time to make but you can easily make the sauces and patties a day ahead and then just warm the sauces and grill the patties and eggplant of the day of your get together with minimal effort. I served the moussaka burgers with a fresh Greek salad.

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Steak and Eggs Benedict with Asparagus in Bearnaise Sauce

Father's Day is this weekend and what better way to show him how much you care than to cook something special for him. Dads might not be all that big on breakfast in bed but you cannot go wrong making him a nice breakfast or brunch. Some dads aren't into the whole quiche or even eggs benedict breakfast thing so when I came across the idea for this steak and eggs benedict on Nibble Me This I knew that I had found an eggs benedict that even dad would love! Steak and eggs is a classic breakfast combo, asparagus goes well with steak and bearnaise sauce goes phenomenally well with both steak and asparagus so this dish is a hit on every front!

Although eggs benedict is more involved than a lot of breakfast recipes, it is actually pretty easy to make. To lighten the load in the morning, grill up an extra steak for dinner the night before and set it aside in the fridge for breakfast the next day. All that is left to do is toast the english muffins, steam the asparagus, make the bearnaise sauce and poach the eggs. To make things even easier I like to use a simple blender version of the bearnaise sauce that only takes a few minutes to make which means that the hardest part of this recipe is poaching the eggs which is easy peasy.

Dad is sure to appreciate this steak and eggs benedict with asparagus in bearnaise sauce for breakfast on Father's Day!

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Carne Asada Tacos

Speaking of grilling, after making the carne asada a few weeks ago I have been obsessing about it and I just had to make it again. The carne asada is flank steak that is marinated in a tasty Mexican style mojo with orange juice, lime juice, garlic, jalapeno and cilantro and then grilled until a perfect medium rare, or well done if you prefer. I used the last batch of carne asada that I made in a carne asada salad but I had been dreaming of carne asada tacos ever since. I hardly need an excuse to grill some steak so the carne asada tacos quickly made it to my meal plan! I kept things nice and easy to let the grilled steak shine and used a homemade pico de gallo along with some dice avocado and crumbled cotija to complete the tacos. It is always wondeerful to see such simple ingredients come together to make something so fantastically good! What a great way to enjoy some steak and to get outside and to use the grill!

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Carne Asada Salad

Normally I would tend to use a fresh batch of carne asada carne asada to make some carne asada tacos but since April is the National Salad Month it seemed only appropriate to make a carne asada salad. I mean you really cannot go wrong starting a salad off with some grilled medium-rare meat, right? I used lettuce for the base of the salad and then I build it out with some homemade pico de gallo, which contains all sorts of good things like tomatoes, onions, jalapeno peppers and cilantro, and then I continued with some creamy avocado and I finished the salad off with some black beans, corn and crumbled cotija. The only thing left to decide on was the dressing and what better to use for the dressing than the marinade that carne asada was marinated in? The carne asada marinade is a mojo style sauce with a base of sour orange, or a combo of orange and lime juice, and garlic and this one I season with jalapeno, cilantro, cumin and and oregano. All in all this is one really nice, refreshing, filling, tasty and healthy salad and a great way to enjoy some carne asada!

This salad work great with warm or room temperature carne asada so in the unlikely event that you have some leftover carne asada from some other use, this salad is a great way to enjoy it!

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Carne Asada (Grilled Marinated Steak)

Next up in my exploration of Mexican meats is a classic that is perfect for the warming weather, carne asada or grilled steak. Carne asada can be as simple as grilling up a steak seasoned with salt and pepper or it can be marinated with a number of different marinades. Marinades for carne asada often contain lime juice which helps to tenderize the steak which is commonly a flank steak or a skirt steak. I like a mojo style marinade with a base or orange and lime juice that is seasoned with garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, cumin and oregano which, although simple makes for some really tasty steak! Carne asada is typically cooked well done but I prefer mine a nice moist and tender, medium-rare. Of course carne asada can be used in a number of dishes from tacos to fajitas to burritos to salads, etc.

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Taco Grilled Cheese Sandwich

This will be the last new grilled cheese for the National Grilled Cheese Month and it is possibly the tastiest, the taco grilled cheese. The basic idea is to take all of the flavours of taco night and stuff them into one rather large grilled cheese sandwich! This sandwich starts with some taco seasoned ground beef made with a homemade taco seasoning and then it continues with the classic taco toppings including salsa, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, guacamole and it is of course finished with plenty of melted cheese! With all of those ingredients this is one large sandwich and with the salsa, sour cream and guacamole in there it can be one messy sandwich. Feel free to omit the salsa and sour cream from the sandwich and serve them on the side for dipping and it is also fun to serve this grilled cheese topped with them along with the guacamole and eating it with a knife and fork. This sandwich is definitely a nice way to celebrate the upcoming Cinco de Mayo in grilled cheese style!

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Sloppy Joe Grilled Cheese Sandwich

My next grilled cheese sandwich for National Grilled Cheese Month combines two childhood favourites, sloppy joes and grilled cheese, for one really sloppy sandwich that is kid approved! Sloppy Joes are a quick and easy meal consisting of a ground meat in a sauce that is served in a bun and as its name suggests it can be a little messy to eat. I figured that you really could not go wrong taking the filling of one already tasty sandwich and throwing it into a grilled cheese sandwich with plenty of ooey gooey melted cheese and golden brown, toasty and buttery bread! This is one of those cases where taking two things results in something that is greater than the sum of its part and this is one truly tasty grilled cheese sandwich! Like the sloppy joe, this grilled cheese can be a bit messy but it is definitely worth it! The next time you make sloppy joes, make extra for sloppy joe grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch the next day!

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Bacon Double Cheeseburger Grilled Cheese Sandwich

April is National grilled cheese month! Given my obsession with grilled cheese sandwiches you can bet that there are going to be some new grilled cheese sandwiches on Closet Cooking over the next few weeks starting off with these absolutely tasty bacon double cheeseburger grilled cheese sandwiches! The idea here is to include all of the flavours of a mouth watering bacon double cheese burger in grilled cheese form. This sandwich starts out with the bacon and then it moves on to some ground beef that is seasoned with some classic burger patty flavours such as onions, garlic, worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper or steak seasoning. You can't have a burger without some condiments like ketchup and/or mustard and since you don't really want a soggy grilled cheese sandwich I add them to the ground beef and cook off some of the excess moisture. Up next is the double cheese, the cheddar and mozzarella, followed by the fresh condiments including shredded lettuce, diced tomato and pickle. (You could skip the lettuce and tomato but trust me they work well in the sandwich without wilting or making it soggy.) I have to say that these are one of my new favourite grilled cheese sandwiches and they taste just like a bacon double cheese burger, only better!

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Reuben Cauliflower Corned Beef Hash

If you are lucky enough to still have any leftover corned beef, I have one more tasty way for you to enjoy it; in a reuben style corned beef and cauliflower hash. This hash has all of the flavours of a reuben sandwich including the corned beef, sauerkraut, melted swiss cheese, russian dressing and caraway seeds for the dark rye bread flavour. This dish could of course be done with the more common potatoes but I wanted to lighten it up a bit and went with cauliflower this time as it does amazingly well in hash! This might just be one of the easiest and tastiest ways to enjoy some leftover corned beef for breakfast!

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Reuben Quiche

With a bit of luck, or planning, after your St Patrick's Day dinner you will have some leftover corned beef to use in a new dish or two and this reuben quiche is definitely a tasty place to start. For this quiche I wanted to include all of the flavours of a reuben sandwich in quiche form for breakfast. The quiche itself is rather easy coming together with the standard eggs and cream along with some swiss cheese and it is filled it out with the leftover corned beef, some sauerkraut and a touch of russian or thousand island dressing. The only thing that is missing was the rye bread that a reuben sandwich is normally made with and I include it by making the quiches crust out of rye breadcrumbs held together with a touch of butter and some more swiss cheese that I pre-bake to ensure that it is nice and crisp. I have to say that this is one truly amazing way to do breakfast the day after St Patrick's Day!

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Corned Beef Cuban Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I recently made some lechon asado (Cuban roast pork) and I used it to make some tasty Cuban style sandwiches. A reader recently suggested trying a St Patrick's Day take on the Cuban sandwich replacing the ham with corned beef which sounded really good! I am no stranger to mixing things up and one of my favourite takes on a Cuban sandwich has to be my Thanksgiving Cuban sandwich where the roast pork is replaced with roast turkey and cranberry sauce is thrown into the mix, so I needed little convincing to try the St Patrick's day version! As luck would have it I still had some roast pork in the freezer and I had just made some corned beef so I was all set to go. Normally a Cuban sandwich is made in a Cuban bun and cooked pressed but I decided to make this sandwich more grilled cheese style in golden brown crispy butter-y bread that is grilled to perfection. I have to say that the corned beef makes for an excellent substitution for the ham in a Cuban sandwich and I will definitely be making these again! Next time I think I might throw some russian or thousand island dressing and try to work in some sauerkraut and make it more of a reuben Cuban sandwich!

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