The Marlboro Man Sandwich- The Best Steak Sandwich

I've been reading the Pioneer Woman's blog for awhile and loved it, so when I stumbled upon this sandwich the other day, I knew it was finally time to try one of her recipes.

I had to make a couple of substitutions, but the result was super delicious.

Next time I will definitely just buy cube steak at the store. I thought that I could just buy steak and use one of those meat tenderizer mallets, but I didn't have one. I got it pretty tender with the bottom of a wine bottle, but that was a lot of work.

I assumed we would have hot sauce in the house, but it all got used up at a party the night before (lots of chicken wings). I used srichacia instead and it was delicious.

Try to find a sturdy roll for the sandwich or the whole thing will be a mess, and of course use whatever cheese you like.

The Marlboro Man Sandwich

1 whole Large Onions, sliced
1 stick of butter
2 pounds Cube Steak
Steak Seasoning
½ cups (approximately) Worcestershire Sauce
Hot Sauce (your favorite), to taste
4 whole French/deli Rolls

Melt two tablespoons of butter a big skillet.

Add the sliced onions, let them cook on medium, until soft and brown (about 7 minutes).

Slice the steak and season with the steak seasoning.

Once the onions are done, transfer them to a bowl and add another two tablespoons of butter to the pan. Get it very hot.

Add all the steak in an even layer. Let it cook for several minutes, until the bottom is nice and brown. Then flip the steak.

Once it's cooked through, add about half a cup of Worcestershire Sauce and the hot sauce. Add another two tablespoons of butter.

And the onions.

Butter the rolls and toast them under the broiler, or on a griddle if you have one.

Top the toasted rolls with the steak, onions and some cheese if you'd like.

Enjoy!

Cheese Puffs

The quintessential party snack Cheese Puffs are light, fluffy and of course very cheesy.

They require a few steps, but the end result looks effortless and tastes delicious. I think these will be joining my roster of surefire hits.

There are plenty of recipes for these out there, but I used this one, they gave instructions for freezing too, if you're in a make ahead mood.

Don't be intimidated by making the dough, I made a similar one for the Croquembouche and if you follow the instructions it's super simple. You can use whatever kind of cheese you want, but it should be something sharp and very flavorful, something like mozzarella wouldn't work as well.

You might want to make a double batch though, these were devoured in minutes.

Cheese Puffs
1 cup water
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
large pinch of cayenne pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
24 chives, finely-minced (can be omitted)
1 1/2 cups (about 6 ounces) cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a saucepan, heat the water, butter, salt and cayenne pepper just until the butter is melted (don't let it simmer or boil).

Add all the flour at once and stir vigorously until it forms a smooth ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Take it off the heat and let it rest for 2 minutes.

Transfer to a stand mixer or a bowl, add the eggs one at a time. After the first 2 eggs the dough should start to become shiny and smooth.

After the eggs, add the cheese and chives.

Scoop all of the dough into a plastic baggy or piping bag (of course I always use a plastic baggy). Pipe about a tablespoon sized circles about an inch apart on the parchment.

Dip your finger in water and smooth the tops of the each puff. Sprinkle each with a little cheese.

Bake at 425 for 10 minutes then turn the oven down to 375 and bake for another 20 minutes.

Serve warm.

DIY: Hot Chocolate Spoons

Homemade edible gifts are the best.
They're cheap, just take a little time and effort and the recipient doesn't have to worry about finding a place for another piece of kitsch.
Also they're delicious.

I found this post in the summer and couldn't use it then, I've been saving it.
Today when I ran out of the powdered stuff, I knew it was time to try it out (and make enough for stocking stuffers).

While the resulting hot chocolate spoons don't look anything like the ones in the original post, they do make a rich delicious cup of hot chocolate.

An ice cube tray and some disposable spoons work perfectly, no need for any fancy candy making supplies.

I have to reiterate the original blogger's warning: Do not use candy wafers or chocolate chips, they won't melt properly. Use baking chocolate or real chocolate. Also don't add water, the whole thing will seize up.

Hot Chocolate Spoons
11 plastic spoons
ice cube tray
1 plastic baggy/piping bag
8oz of chocolate (semi-sweet, milk chocolate, whatever you want)
1/4 cup of cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 cup of powdered sugar, sifted

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave (at 30 second intervals).
Stir in the cocoa powder and powdered sugar. If it gets to thick to stir, give it another 30 seconds in the microwave. This happened to me and I panicked for a moment, but a little time in the microwave smoothed it out.
Pull into a piping bag or plastic baggy (I always just use plastic baggies).
Fill each square of the ice cube tray individually, nearly to the top (I had enough to fill 11 squares). Give the ice cube tray several sharp taps against the counter to shake out air bubbles.
Stick one spoon into each square and let set in the fridge for about an hour. (Don't leave them in much longer, chocolate tends to soak up odors in the fridge).

Once they have set, carefully remove the chocolate squares. (I found that bending the tray a little caused them to pop right out.) If they won't come out, put back in the fridge for another half an hour.

If you don't like how they look, dip them into some more chocolate and let them cool. Decorate with sprinkles or marshmallows. Wrap in little treat bags and give to friends or store for yourself. Dark chocolate lasts a year, white or milk chocolate last a few months.

Enjoying the Hot Chocolate Spoons
Heat one mug of milk to piping hot. (I used skim milk, but whatever you like works.)
Stir with hot chocolate spoon, until chocolate melts.
Drink.

My First Product Review- Microwaveable Cinnnamon Rolls

Recently my dad purchased several different frozen treats, I think from his coworkers' kids (school fundraising, you know the deal).
Since I can't really modify any of them, I thought it would be fun to try them all out and review them.

First up, Heidi's Homemade Desserts Microwaveable Cinnamon Rolls, we had these for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving, which was perfect, because no one felt like cooking.

The rolls take about a minute and a half in the microwave, when I took them out of the package I was hoping they'd puff up in the microwave, but they didn't.

The rolls did however get nice and bubbly, then it was time to top them with the individual packets of frosting. The portions of frosting were generous and much too much for me. The frosting was very sweet, I only needed about half of it. The rolls themselves were pretty sweet.

Overall the cinnamon rolls were gooey and delicious (and a little messy). My sister complained about the way they smell but I disagree, they gave the house a nice cinnamon-y scent.
Definitely a good choice for when you're feeling lazy and just want something sweet.

Kiwi Mojitos

It would probably help to start with the fact that I am underage, so this will be a virgin cocktail.

Why bother with virgin cocktails? Because I'm sick of drinking soda while everyone is drinking wine and fancy mixed drinks. It's not fair. I want to feel fancy too, so I was delighted when I stumbled upon this recipe the other day. I didn't have any parties coming up to try it out on, so I made them for a grueling study session. They were, of course, a refreshing hit.

I made them again tonight for me and my sister. I just checked the original recipe and apparently both times I made these I made them pretty differently. My way turned out pretty well. :)

Virgin Kiwi Mojitos
(for 1 serving)
Half of a ripe kiwi
Half a lime
4-6 mint leaves
Diet lemon-lime soda
Ice

Find a nice tall glass.
Add the mint and kiwi, muddle (mash) them together. You can use a muddler, if you have one but I used a tablespoon spoon and it worked perfectly. Really mash them, you want the mint to release it's oils and break the fruit up well.
Squeeze the lime it and then fill the glass the rest of the way with soda. Stir.
Add ice and a straw. Enjoy.

(If you want to have a little more fun, add 2 oz of light rum.)

Halloween Treats Part 2- Ghostbusters Cupcakes

This post is SO late, I'm really sorry. (As soon as I finish it I'm writing up 2 more.)

As previously mentioned, I made these showstopping Ghostbusters cupcakes for our annual Halloween party. Everyone seemed really impresssed, at first by the adorable white chocolate logos and then by the surprise "slime" filling.

The original recipe is here, but of course changes have been made.

I cheated, as much as I love making things from scratch, but then I've got 3 other things to make and the party is quickly approaching, I turn to the boxed cake mix. Boxed cake mix is great, and with the homemade slime filling, no one could tell the difference.

The logos might seem a little daunting (and I wish I had more pictures of steps), but if you give yourself enough time and work slowly, they'll turn out great.

Ghostbusters Logos
(makes 24)
14oz of red candy melts
about a 1lb of white chocolate or white candy melts

Line two trays with parchment paper. Find a smallish cup about the size you want the logos to be. Trace the bottom twelve times onto each sheet with a marker. Flip the pieces of parchment (you don't want to get ink on the chocolate.)
Melt about half of the red candy melts (it's a lot easier to it in batches) in the microwave (30 second intervals will work). (I always use sandwich bags).
Pipe circles onto the parchment, using your tracing as a guide. Then put a slash through each like the Ghostbusters logo.
Let the red circles set completely, if you're impatient put them in the fridge/freezer.

Once they have set, melt some of the white chocolate and pour the chocolate into a pastry bag or a disposable plastic baggie. Fill in both sides of the circles and 4 lines on each side (for the hands). Next to each logo pipe out and fill in a tear drop shaped head. Let everything set up. Then take each of the heads and using a little white chocolate adhere them to the logos.
And that's it.
Now to the cupcakes!
"Slime" Lime Curd Filling
3 eggs
1/3 cup juice from about 8-10 Key limes
1 t. finely grated or chopped lime zest
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
green food coloring

Combine the lime juice, sugar, and eggs in a metal bowl. Heat up a couple cups of water in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and place the bowl on top of that, heating up the mixture and stirring constantly. Keep stirring until the mixture starts to thicken. Remove the mixture from the heat and immediately pour it into a fine mesh strainer to remove any pulp or eggs that could have curdled. (Never skip straining!)

Stir in the butter and the zest, and then add in a couple drops of green food coloring until you get the desired shade of “Slimer” green. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool in the fridge.

Mix up your favorite vanilla boxed cake mix (or if you're feeling ambitious your favorite from scratch batter).

Put cupcake liners in your baking trays and then fill each with 1/3 of the way with cake batter, then add about a teaspoon of the lime curd. Then fill it up with more cake batter, to about the 2/3 mark.

Bake as directed for the cake mix.

Frosting time! The Ghostbusters recipe called for a buttercream frosting, but I felt like using my old standby frosting recipe.

Vanilla Frosting
1 cup of Crisco (vegetable shortening)
6 cups of powdered sugar
a few tablespoons of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Cream Crisco in mixer and slowly add powdered sugar and vanilla. Add milk to smooth it out then let the frosting whip for a few minutes to get airy.

To assemble the cupcakes, just frost and top with the candy logos.
Drizzle extra lime curd over the cupcakes just before serving.

Halloween Treats Part 1- Candy Sushi

Yes, Halloween is over, but luckily my Halloween treats are perfect for all year round.

Candy sushi is a staple at all of my parties and while it's the easiest treat to make, I always get a lot of compliments. I made these along with Ghostbusters cupcakes and cake pops (both of which I'll be posting soon).

Nothing gets me compliments like candy sushi does, some people love it on sight, others have been weary, but in the end they all rave about it. It tastes a bit like Fruit Loops.


I don't have a definite link to attribute this recipe to, I've found it on a few different sites.

You really only need about half a batch of rice krispie treats, but I always just make a full batch and feed the rest to my family.

Candy Sushi
half a batch of rice krispie treats (I use this recipe)
10 fruit roll-ups, whatever color you want
20 sour gummi worms

Unroll all the fruit rollups, but leave them on the plastic sheets (it makes rolling them much easier).

Pull off about a fourth of the rice krispie treats and microwave for a few seconds until warm and pliable.

Take a small amount of the rise krispies and flatten it in the middle of the fruit rollup, you want to cover about 2/3 of the fruit rollup. Then place 1 or 2 gummi worms on top of the rice krispies.

Roll the whole thing up like a piece of sushi, making sure to completely close it. If it isn't completely circular, once the edges are sealed roll it over our counter till it's cylindrical. Repeat with the rest of your supplies. (If the first few are a little messy, don't worry, you just need practice.)

If you're going to serve the candy sushi now, pull the plastic off and slice it into about 4-5 pieces.
If you're making it ahead of time, put all the sushi rolls into a ziploc bag and then cut them right before you plan to serve them (you don't want them to get stale). They'll keep for a day or two. I usually roll them the night before a party.

To complete the "sushi" look, set a small bowl of soy sauce (chocolate syrup) and wasabi (green frosting) next to the sushi. Don't forget chopsticks.