Frito Chili Grilled Cheese

 

If your going to mess with Frito chili, you might as well shove it in a grilled cheese.  Right?  Well, the thought came to me, I went with it and... OH MY. 

What you need:

sliced bread

tomato slices

shredded cheese (any variety you have on hand)

Frito chips

chili 

hot sauce (optional, but quite important if you ask me!)

I made up a batch of chili, to try this out.  I eliminated a lot of the

liquid that is normally found in a bowl of chili.  I browned 1 lb. of 97% lean

ground beef with a large onion, diced.  Once cooked I added chili powder,

sweet paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper to taste. 

 Once I thought it was perfect I added a few T. ketchup.  Then hot sauce!

You could certainly make life even easier by subbing a package of chili

seasoning...then add the ketchup and hot sauce to taste.

On a hot skillet melt a bit of butter and start layering on the base bread.

 

You could also bake these sandwiches, which I would do if I was making 

multiples.  On a parchment lined baking sheet build the sandwiches,

spreading a bit of butter on the top piece of bread and bake at 

375 for 12-17 minutes.  Until the bread is golden and a bit crusty

and cheese is melted and gooey.

I mean...whaaaat!  This is for sure will change up your thoughts

on grilled cheese!  I think I will be baking a bunch of these up for a

football party ASAP!  

And as Cousin Eddie (National Lampoons Vacation) so eloquently put it:

I don't know why they call this stuff hamburger helper. It does just fine by itself, huh?

I like it better than tuna helper myself, don't you, Clark?

October Fest Egg Bake

 

Just under the end-of-October-wire I knocked out this egg bake today.

I have been thinking about it for weeks (as pretzel buns feel like a pantry

staple this time of year AND who doesn't love an egg bake on a Sunday morning?)

Slice (or chop, however you desire) a large yellow onion, over medium/high

heat slowly saute with 3 T of butter.  Add salt & pepper.

After ~10 minutes the onions will be soft and translucent. Transfer to 

a bowl and pop in the refrigerator to cool.

Some of the other ingredients, in addition to the sauteed onions:

pretzel buns

peppers (mild, slightly sweet)

sausages (any variety would work just fine)

 3 T spicy brown mustard

Not pictured:

shredded cheese (any variety will do, so use up what you have)

Eggs (I used a 32 ounce carton of egg whites)

Wash the peppers, cut off the tops, and cut down the middle lengthwise.

Use a spoon to scoop out all of the seeds. Then chop the peppers.

 I did to say how much peppers to add, as you can add as little or many

to your liking.  I cut enough peppers to yield 1/2 cup chopped.

I cubed 6 cups of pretzel buns.  To the bowl of sauteed onions I added

the chopped peppers, spicy brown mustard and sausages.  

 Place the pretzel bun chunks in the base of a greased pan (this oval

is just  a couple inches shy of being the equivalent of a 9x13 pan).

Top the pretzel chunks with the onion & sausage mixture.

Top with cheese (I used 2 cups total of shredded jack, asiago and parmesan)

Like I said, any cheese will work. I had a bag of shredded jack in the

refrigerator and always seem to have a wedge of parmesan and asiago on

hand.  The combo of these cheeses was excellent!

Top with eggs (I used a 32 ounce carton of egg whites) that have been 

whipped with salt and pepper and cover for the night.  

A true egg bake always sits in the refrigerator overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350, uncover the 

dish and bake for ~1 hour.

The egg bake will be golden brown, crusty and puffy like a souffle!

Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving!

It's probably appropriate to serve this with beer, at breakfast!