Closet Cooking

Buffalo Chicken Burgers

2013-05-22T08:58:00.000-04:00

With the warmer weather here I have been thinking about grilling more and burgers definitely come to mind! When I went over all of my burger recipes I noticed a glaring omission; where were the buffalo chicken burgers? I am a huge fan of all things buffalo chicken and it is always a treat to grill up some buffalo chicken burgers in the summer. I like to start my buffalo chicken burgers off by grinding some boneless and skinless chicken in the food processor to which I add some buffalo chicken flavours including carrots, celery, onions and blue cheese in addition to the buffalo hot sauce. In general I like to avoid fillers like egg and breadcrumbs in burgers which means that the patties are a little more delicate but as long as you flip them gently they still hold together quite well. Once the patties are assembled all that is left is to grill them until cooked and slightly charred before serving them up in a bun with your favourite condiments. For buffalo chicken burgers I like to keep the condiments simple and my faourite topping is a blue cheese slaw whether it be a cabbage slaw or as in this case a broccoli slaw. These tasty buffalo chicken burgers are all set to impress at your barbecues this summer!

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Avocado and Goat Cheese Alfredo Pasta

2013-05-20T08:19:00.001-04:00

Not too long ago a reader asked me if I had ever combined avocado and goat cheese in a pasta dish, which I had not, but since I am a huge fan of both ingredients I was immediately intrigued. I have used avocado and goat cheese in a lot of recipes together but mostly where other ingredients were the star of the show with the avocado and goat cheese there as backup and it was about time to let them shine together. I already had plans for dinner that night but I had both avocado and goat cheese on hand so I threw them into the salad that I was having with the meal and that only confirmed that the two ingredients are indeed truly magical together!

I had avocado and goat cheese pasta on my mind for the next few days as I ruminated various pasta recipes and in the end I decided to go with a simple alfredo style pasta. An alfredo pasta is a pasta with a sauce made from butter and parmesan to which I like to add cream and I figured that that would be a great base to melt the goat cheese into. On the avocado side of things I knew that I would have to add some lime juice to brighten things up and from there it seemed only natural to continue with the theme and add some cilantro and jalapeño pepper. (At this point I was thinking that this was almost like a guacamole and goat cheese pasta!) I did not want to cook the avocado too long so I pureed it in a food processor and mixed it into the goat cheese sauce and heated it just until it was warm before tossing it with the pasta. This avocado and goat cheese pasta is super easy to make and all things said and done this recipe takes less than 20 minutes to make so it is definitely doable on a busy weeknight.

I had some pretty high hopes for this goat cheese and avocado pasta and they were easily exceeded! The creamy avocado and tangy goat cheese is an amazing combination and it goes fabulously well in this pasta!

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25 Recipes for the Grill

2013-05-19T08:52:00.000-04:00

With the warmer weather here grilling season is open and it is time to get your grill on! Dust off your barbecue, fire it up and start grilling your steaks, chicken, burgers, vegetables and even your fruits! Late spring is always a great time of year when the weather gets warmer and you can can start doing more things outside including cooking. With the first long weekend of warm weather upon us I thought that I would take the opportunity to pull out some of my favourite recipes that can be cooked outside on the grill. Of course burgers are featured predominately but lets not forget about chicken and fish and even fruits and vegetables. Once you have your meat or vegetable grilled you can use them in many different dishes from sandwiches to salads to wraps to tacos etc. No matter what you are grilling, it is bound to be outside cooking under the sun!

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Popper Burgers

Tequila Lime Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich with Guacamole and Roasted Jalapeno Mayo

Chicken Fajitas

Carne Asada (Grilled Marinated Steak)

Chipotle Lime Fish Tacos

Strawberry and Balsamic Grilled Chicken Salad

Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich with Avocado and Chipotle Caramelized Onions

Chicken Souvlaki Salad

Fajita Burgers

Grilled Pineapple Salsa

BBQ Chicken Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing

Strawberry BBQ Chicken Club Sandwich with Bacon, Avocado and Goat Cheese

Buffalo Chicken Club Sandwich

Chicken Satay Salad in Spicy Peanut Dressing

Cilantro and Lime Fish Tacos

Burgers Smothered in a Caramelized Onion, Mushroom and Blue Cheese Sauce

Tequila Lime Grilled Chicken

Mojito Grilled Fish Tacos with Strawberry Salsa

Banh Mi Burgers with Vietnamese Caramel BBQ Sauce

Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce

Salsa Verde Turkey Burger

Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich with Pesto Mayo

Greek Lamb Burger

Black and Blue Steak Sandwich

Bulgogi Burgers

More Recipes for the Grill

Looking for more recipes for the grill? Check out my Get Your Grill On! Pinboard.

Strawberry BBQ Chicken Spinach and Quinoa Salad with Bacon, Avocado and Goat Cheese

2013-05-17T08:12:00.000-04:00

After making the strawberry BBQ chicken club sandwiches with bacon, avocado and goat cheese I still had plenty of the roasted strawberry BBQ sauce leftover and I knew just what I wanted to make with it, a strawberry BBQ quinoa salad. I have been wanting to try making a BBQ chicken quinoa salad with black beans and corn for a while now but a strawberry BBQ quinoa salad suddenly sounded like a much better idea! I used a lot of the same flavours as in the strawberry BBQ chicken sandwich in this quinoa salad including the avocado, bacon and goat cheese since they worked so amazingly well together. I filled the quinoa salad out with baby spinach along with some green onions and cilantro. If you have the cooked chicken on hand, this salad is as easy to make as cooking the quinoa and throwing everything together and despite that it is so fantastically good!

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Crispy Baked Asparagus Fries

2013-05-16T08:31:00.000-04:00

I have really been looking forward to spring and the fresh local asparagus and one of the first things that I wanted to make with it was some crispy baked asparagus fries! Ever since I discovered that you can coat vegetables in panko bread crumbs and bake them that they would become healthy 'fries' I have been doing it with pretty much every vegetable that I can get my hands on. Given that asparagus is already in perfect 'fry' shape it seemed only natural to turn them in fries and it couldn't be easier to do so! You pretty much just need to dredge the asparagus in flour, dip in egg, coat in panko breadcrumbs and bake until crispy. All said and told you can be enjoying these healthy baked asparagus fries in about 20 minutes so you can make them whenever you want. If you are a fan of asparagus, you will definitely enjoy these asparagus fries and they might just be that one new asparagus that you absolutely need to try this spring!

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Strawberry BBQ Chicken Club Sandwich with Bacon, Avocado and Goat Cheese

2013-05-15T08:38:00.002-04:00

Armed with my shiny new roasted strawberry BBQ sauce I was ready to use it on something grilled! Before I had even made the strawberry BBQ sauce I was already thinking about using it in a grilled chicken club sandwich with lettuce, tomato and bacon in addition to the grilled chicken and the BBQ sauce. Even though the sandwich would be great just like that I really could not resist kicking it up a bit! I find that a creamy and tangy goat cheese tends to go really well with fruity sweet and spicy sauces like this strawberry BBQ sauce so I had to include some and a chicken club sandwich always benefits from some cool and creamy avocado! The flavours in this grilled chicken sandwich meld together magically and you will definitely be licking you fingers clean after eating one! With grilling season about to begin these strawberry BBQ chicken club sandwiches are a great way to kick things off this upcoming long weekend!

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Roasted Strawberry BBQ Sauce

2013-05-14T08:11:00.000-04:00

Grilling season is quickly approaching and I am getting ready by making some homemade BBQ sauces starting with this seasonal strawberry BBQ sauce. This strawberry BBQ sauce was inspired by the flavours in my strawberry and balsamic grilled chicken salad and my balsamic strawberry and chicken pizza with sweet onions and smoked bacon which predominantly feature the strawberry and balsamic vinegar flavours along with some Asian influences. I really wanted to be able to taste the strawberries in this BBQ sauce so that meant starting with a lot of strawberries and roasting them to concentrate their flavour. I like a BBQ sauce with a nice sweet side so for the sweetener I went with a combo of maple syrup and some homemade strawberry jam to add even more strawberry flavour. Up next was the balsamic vinegar for some tartness, soy sauce for the saltiness and a smoky and spicy chipotle chili in adobo. Continuing with the Asian influence I added plenty of garlic and ginger along with some BBQ sauce staples with a fresh cilantro finish. I have to say that this roasted strawberry BBQ sauce is addictively good! The strawberry flavours shine through and it has a really nice balance of sweet, spicy, tart and salty and lets not forget those sultry smoky undertones.

For my next batch I plan on adding bacon since both the salad and the pizza that inspired this dressing include bacon!

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Crispy Baked Quinoa Crusted Chicken Parmesan

2013-05-13T08:31:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, I am a big fan of quinoa and I have been ever since I first tried it. You can use quinoa in surprisingly many ways and I have been enjoying experimenting with different ways of using it over the last few years. My next experiment was to use it as a replacement for breadcrumbs to get a crispy coating on chicken (or other things) that was inspired by the fact that when you bake or toast cooked quinoa it gets nice and crispy. One of the first things that came to mind to try the quinoa coating on was chicken parmesan which typically consists of breaded chicken that is fried or baked and then covered in a marinara sauce and melted cheese. The recipe for the quinoa crusted version of chicken parmesan could not be simpler, you pretty much just take your basic baked chicken parmesan recipe and replace the breadcrumbs with cooked quinoa.

The cooked quinoa coating on the chicken toasted up nice and crispy and golden brown on the chicken just like bread crumbs and I quite enjoyed the texture of it! Now that I know that the quinoa coating works I can't wait to try it on other things! Crispy quinoa crusted zucchini fries anyone?

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34 Spring Recipes

2013-05-12T10:44:00.000-04:00

Although spring has officially been here for a while now I don't really see spring as having started until the weather gets warmer and the local asparagus starts to show up, which it finally did this week. This is always a happy time of year for me as it means that for the next few months I will get to head down to the farmers market every week to see what is new and pick up a few things up. With the first spring produce here I thought that it was a great opportunity to gather some of my favourite recipes using some spring ingredients including asparagus, ramps, fiddleheads, peas, fava beans, rhubarb, strawberries, artichokes and morel mushrooms. I hope that you enjoy these spring recipes! I am definitely looking forward to using them in some new recipes over the next few weeks!

Strawberries

Balsamic Strawberry and Chicken Pizza with Sweet Onions and Smoked Bacon

Strawberry and Balsamic Grilled Chicken Salad

Roast Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

Mojito Grilled Fish Tacos with Strawberry Salsa

Strawberry and Avocado Salsa

Strawberry Greek Yogurt Banana Bread

Strawberry and Avocado Spinach Salad

Strawberry and Nutella Crepes

Strawberry Shortcake

Asparagus

Asparagus and Gruyere Tart

Warm Mushroom, Roasted Asparagus and Wild Rice Salad with Feta

Asparagus Gratin

Asparagus and Feta Fritters

Asparagus Carbonara

Asparagus and Double Smoked Bacon Popover

Roast Asparagus and Caramelized Mushroom Quesadillas with Goat Cheese

Asparagus, Halloumi and Chickpea Farro Salad

Asparagus Risotto with a Poached Egg

Smoked Salmon Asparagus Quinoa Cake Eggs Benedict

Asparagus Amandine

Ramps / Wild Leeks

Ramp Carbonara

Asparagus and Ramp Pesto Mac n Cheese

Wild Leek and Double Smoked Bacon Tart

Wild Leek (aka Ramp) Pesto

Fried Eggs with Ramps and Bacon

Artichokes

Asparagus and Baby Artichoke Quinoa Salad

Baby Artichoke Heart Quinoa Risotto with Shrimp and Meyer Lemon Pesto

Morel Mushrooms

Morel Mushroom and Asparagus Eggs Benedict

Asparagus, Morel and Ramp Quiche with a Brown Rice Crust

Fiddleheads

Fiddlehead and Gruyere Tart

Peas

Spaghetti alla Carbonara with Peas

Creamy Pea and Artichoke Pesto Pasta Salad

Fresh Pea Salad with Bacon and Cheddar

Rhubarb

Rhubarb Syrup

More Recipes for 34 Spring Recipes

Looking for more recipes for 34 Spring Recipes? Check out my 34 Spring Recipes Pinboard.

21 Mother's Day Recipes

2013-05-10T07:57:00.000-04:00

This Sunday is Mother's Day and that is a great opportunity to show her how much you care! A great way to do that is to cook for her and whether you make her breakfast in bed, a special brunch, dinner or a treat for dessert I am sure that she will appreciate it. If you are still looking for some last minute recipe ideas I have collected collected a few of my favourite options for Mother's Day to share with you. Most of these recipes are pretty easy to make though there are a few more challenging and all of them are sure to impress!

Breakfast in Bed or A Special Brunch

Strawberry Greek Yogurt Banana Bread

Smoked Salmon Asparagus Quinoa Cake Eggs Benedict

Strawberry and Nutella Crepes

Poached Egg on Toast with Chipotle Mayonnaise, Bacon and Avocado

Asparagus and Double Smoked Bacon Popover

Blueberry Quinoa Parfait

Wild Leek and Double Smoked Bacon Tart

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Blueberry Cheesecake Pancakes

Quinoa Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Pesto, Goat Cheese and a Poached Egg

Baklava French Toast

Snacks

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Roasted Cauliflower and Aged White Cheddar Dip

Spinach and Artichoke Hummus

Easy Special Dinners

Chicken Marsala

Shrimp Linguine in a Tomato and White Wine Sauce

Skinny Chicken Saltimbocca

Shrimp Scampi

Chicken Piccata

Desserts

Roast Cherry Dark Chocolate Brownie Sundaes

Molten Chocolate Cake

More Recipes for Mother's Day

Looking for more recipes for Mother's Day? Check out my Mother's Day Pinboard.

Trout Amandine

2013-05-09T06:03:00.001-04:00

The other day I noticed a sale on trout which reminded me that it has been a long time since I last made a fish dish and it was the perfect excuse to do so. Fish amandine, or in this case trout amandine, is a super quick and easy dish where the fish is fried and then served in a browned butter, lemon and almond sauce and it can be made with any number of different fish fillets. Essentially after frying the fish all that needs to be done is to brown the butter in the pan, add the almonds and toast in the butter until lightly golden brown and then hit the sauce with some lemon juice before serving over the fish. This dish is definitely easy enough to tackle on a weeknight and it is also sure to impress at a dinner party.

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Carne Asada Salad

2013-05-03T09:55:00.000-04:00

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)

2013-05-03T08:25:00.000-04:00

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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Carnitas Tacos

2013-05-02T11:05:00.000-04:00

Carnitas, a crispy Mexican style pulled pork, can be used in a number of different dishes and sometimes simple is best, especially when you want to experience the carnitas in all their glory, and tacos fit the bill perfectly. My initial thought for tacos is almost always to simply throw some diced sweet onion and cilantro in along with the meat but carnitas and salsa verde are such a great combo that I cannot resist adding them to the mix. For carnitas tacos I very often go with the simple combination of carnitas, salsa verde, pickled red onions and the cilantro with an optional touch of crumbled cotija and this combo shows off the carnitas nicely.

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Carnitas (a Lighter Version)

2013-05-02T08:39:00.000-04:00

Carnitas are a Mexican pulled pork dish where the pork is crispy on the outside and moist and tender on the inside. Traditionally a pork butt or shoulder is braised in lard until tender and then the heat is turned up so that the pork fries and gets crispy on the outside. For todays home cook looking to replicate carnitas an easier way is to simmer the same fatty cut of pork, a butt or shoulder, in a liquid until the pork is tender, then to turn up the heat until the liquid is gone and the fat has rendered and then let the pork fry in its own rendered fat until crispy. This is the way that I have been enjoying carnitas for a while but I wanted to try something a little lighter without having to sacrifice anything in the way of flavour.

The way I see it there are 3 required characteristics of carnitas including that it is a pulled pork, that it is moist and tender and crispy at the same time and that it is full of flavour, so that is what I was seeking with this new recipe. I decided to use the same cut of pork, the butt or shoulder, but this time I trimmed the excess fat to make it lighter. To start building up the flavour the pork is browned in the pan and then all of those brown bits of tastiness from the bottom of the pan are scraped up into the simmering liquid. The pork is then simmered in a simple orange, lime and garlic mojo style liquid until tender but this time it is simmered covered to retain the liquid which is just packed with flavour. After the pork has cooked the liquid is skimmed of ant remaining fat, reduced and concentrated and then mixed into the pork before it is broiled until crispy. The final result is indeed a super tasty pulled pork that is both moist and tender and crispy at the same time and simply irresistible!

Note: This recipe can easy be made in a slow cooker or crockpot and I have included the instructions for that in the recipe below.

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41 Recipes for Cinco de Mayo

2013-05-01T08:20:00.000-04:00

It is May already and that means that Cinco de Mayo is right around the corner! Once again it kind of snuck up on me this year despite the fact that it is on May 5th every year and it is time to make up for the lost time! Mexican cuisine is one of my favourites so I see Cinco de Mayo as the perfect opportunity to pull out some of my favourite Mexican recipes and to try some new ones! I figured that the best way to kick things off was gather up all of my favourite Mexican recipes and share them with you in this roundup and that was not an easy task! After my first pass through I ended up with a list of over 100 recipes which I thought was way to many to include in a roundup so I trimmed it down a bit to my top 41 recipes which I present to you here.

Keep an eye out for some tasty new recipes over the next few days!

(Sorry for all of these large roundup posts in a row, everything just happened at the same time...)

Breakfasts

Mexican Baked Eggs

Chorizo Scrambled Eggs Breakfast Tacos

Breakfast Queso Fundido

Breakfast Chorizo Quesadilla Topped with a Fried Egg

Asparagus Huevos Rancheros

Corn and Black Bean Huevos Rancheros with Roast Zucchini Salsa

Appetizers

Esquites (Mexican Corn Salad)

Bacon Guacamole

Chorizo Queso Fundido

Taco Dip

Blue Cheese Guacamole

Mains

Chicken and Avocado Enchiladas in Creamy Avocado Sauce

Taco Stuffed Shells

Chicken Fajitas

Chicken Enchilada Stuffed Zucchini

Taco Pizza

Sweet Chili Chicken and Avocado Enchiladas

Fajita Burgers

Chipotle Butternut Squash and Black Bean Burrito Bowl

Quesadillas/Sandwiches

Taco Quesadilla Pizzas

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadillas with Swiss Chard Pesto

BBQ Chicken and Pineapple Quesadillas

Spicy Peanut Chicken Quesadillas

Roast Asparagus and Caramelized Mushroom Quesadillas with Goat Cheese

Sweet Chili Chicken Quesadilla

Taco Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Jalapeno Cornbread Grilled Cheese with Chipotle Caramelized Onions, Refried Black Beans and Guacamole

Tacos

Cilantro and Lime Fish Tacos

Crispy Rolled Shrimp Tacos

Chipotle Lime Fish Tacos

Duck Tacos with Chipotle Cherry Salsa and Goat Cheese

Mojito Grilled Fish Tacos with Strawberry Salsa

Salmon Bulgogi Tacos with Blueberry Habanero Salsa

Caramelized Corn and Black Bean Tacos with Roast Zucchini Salsa and Roasted Poblano Crema

Salsas

Grilled Pineapple Salsa

Avocado and Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Tomatillo Pico de Gallo

Green Olive Salsa Verde with Cilantro Lime Grilled Halibut

Roast Zucchini Salsa

Swiss Chard Pesto

Sides

Mexican Quinoa

More Recipes for Cinco de Mayo

Looking for more recipes for Cinco de Mayo? Check out my Cinco de Mayo Pinboard.

30 Amazing Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

2013-04-30T08:37:00.000-04:00

April is the National Grilled Cheese Month and it has been full of tasty grilled cheese sandwiches but unfortunately it is coming to an end. During the last month 10 all new tasty grilled cheese sandwiches were added to Closet Cookings already rather large collection bringing the total to almost 60! With this being the last day of April I thought that it would be a great opportunity to roundup the best of those grilled cheese sandwiches and it only seemed appropriate to gather the top 30, one for every day in the National Grilled Cheese Month. It was difficult choosing only 30 but here you have them!

Side Note: The Melty Grilled Cheese eCookbook is now available on iBooks here.

Bacon Guacamole Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Mushroom Grilled Cheese Sandwich (aka The Mushroom Melt)

Bacon Double Cheeseburger Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Spinach Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Spicy Peanut Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich (aka The Chicken Satay Melt)

BLT Grilled Cheese (BLTGC)

Chicken Fajita Grilled Cheese

Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Bacon and Fried Green Tomato Pimento Grilled Cheese

Caramel Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwich (with Bacon)

Corned Beef Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Guinness Caramelized Onions

BBQ Pulled Pork Grilled Cheese

Bacon Jam and Avocado Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Caprese Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Kimchi and Bacon Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Taco Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Sweet Chili Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Sloppy Joe Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Cuban Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Reuben Sandwich

The Rachel Sandwich (aka Roast Turkey Reuben Sandwich)

Kimchi Reuben Sandwich

Chicken Gyro Grilled Cheese (aka The Gyro Melt)

Grilled Brie and Goat Cheese Sandwich with Bacon and Green Tomato

Asparagus Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Marinated Roasted Red Pepper Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Asparagus Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Jalapeno Cornbread Grilled Cheese with Chipotle Caramelized Onions, Refried Black Beans and Guacamole

Monte Cristo

How to Make The Perfect Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Now that you have a ton of tasty grilled cheese sandwich ideas, how about some tips on how to make a perfect grilled cheese sandwich every time?

How to Make The Perfect Grilled Cheese Sandwich

More Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Looking for more grilled cheese sandwiches? Check out my Grilled Cheese Sandwich Pinboard.

Melty Grilled Cheese eCookbook

The best of these grilled cheese sandwiches along with all new ones are conveniently collected in the Melty Grilled Cheese eCookbook!

Get Melty Grilled Cheese Now!

Happy 6th Birthday Closet Cooking!

2013-04-29T08:23:00.000-04:00

Today is Closet Cookings 6th Birthday!

This last year of Closet Cooking was full of new recipes and they might just be the tastiest ones yet! With all of the tantalizing new recipes added this year there are now almost 1700 recipes on Closet Cooking with no signs of stopping! When I first started Closet Cooking 6 years ago it was more of an experiment, a way of chronicling my adventures in the kitchen but with your support it has grown into so much more and it is now one of my passions and an obsession! Here's to another tasty year at Closet Cooking!

Continuing with the Closet Cooking birthday tradition I took the time to look back over the last year and I chose one of my favourite recipes from each month. It was really difficult choosing just one recipe from each month but here they are in reverse order:

Roasted Cauliflower and Mushroom Quinoa Salad in Balsamic Vinaigrette

Pepperoni Pizza Casserole

Cauliflower Pizza Crust (with BBQ Chicken Pizza)

Buffalo Roasted Cauliflower

Chocolate and Maraschino Cherry Shortbread Cookies

Cheesy Broccoli Quinoa

Rolo Cheesecake Bars

Chicken and Avocado Enchiladas in Creamy Avocado Sauce

Maple Bourbon Bacon Jam

Pineapple and Shrimp Fried Quinoa

Creamy Avocado Dressing (aka Guacamole Buttermilk Dressing)

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Popper Burgers

New eCookbooks

During the last year I was very pleased to release the following four new eCookbooks each of which contains some favourite recipes from Closet Cookng and some all new recipes.

Melty Grilled Cheese

Craving a grilled cheese? These 25 drool inducing grilled cheese sandwiches are just stuffed full of ooey gooey melted cheese and sure to satisfy even the strongest craving. Never have a boring grilled cheese again!

Tasty Soups

Soup is pure comfort food any time and this cookbook collects 25 of tastiest the soup recipes ever to come out of my closet sized kitchen, including exclusive new recipes!

Game Day Party Food

Having some friends over for the game? This cookbook contains 25 quick and easy recipes that will disappear quickly have your guests raving about the food at your party!

The Best of Closet Cooking 2013

The 25 tastiest and most popular recipes on Closet Cooking as of 2013 collected into one easy to use cookbook available in multiple formats for your convenience.

Taco Grilled Cheese Sandwich

2013-04-28T11:59:00.000-04:00

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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BBQ Pulled Pork Grilled Cheese

2013-04-27T14:37:00.002-04:00

The National Grilled Cheese Month is coming to an end soon but I still have a few grilled cheese sandwiches up my sleeves including this tasty BBQ pulled pork grilled cheese! In my opinion it is hard to go wrong combining succulent pulled pork in a sweet, tangy and spicy BBQ sauce and then smothering it in ooey gooey melted cheese! BBQ pulled pork sandwiches are often served with the addition of a cool and creamy coleslaw right in the sandwich and I see nothing wrong with adding some to the grilled cheese version either, though it does make for a slightly messier sandwich. The next time you make some pulled pork, make a lot to ensure that you have some leftovers for these BBQ pulled pork grilled cheese sandwiches!

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Tom Yum Gai (Thai Hot and Sour Chicken Soup)

2013-04-26T16:49:00.000-04:00

One of my favourite things to order at Thai restaurants is soups as they are always so vibrant, fresh and tasty! As it turns out they are also really easy to make at home with just a few exotic ingredients that you should be able to easily find at a local Asian grocery store. This chicken soup balances spicy, sour, salty and sweet elements with a focus on the spicy and sour provided by the chilies and lime juice. Of course this soup is finished off with plenty of fresh herbs including kaffir lime leaves and cilantro. Whether you are looking for a warming soup for cooler days of a light soup for warmer days, this soup fits the bill nicely!

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Hungarian Mushroom Soup

2013-04-20T06:42:00.000-04:00

I first came across this recipe for a Hungarian mushroom soup a few years ago on All Recipes and as soon as I tried it, it became a favourite and a staple! I am a big fan of mushrooms and you really cannot go wrong with a tasty paprika and sour cream sauce so combining them all in a soup is bound to be loads of tasty! The final component of the flavour profile for this soup is the dill which I always enjoy using and it makes this soup truly sublime! Not only is this soup all sorts of goodness but it is also easy to make and it comes together fairly quickly so it is certainly a candidate for a weeknight meal. The one thing that you want to pay attention to when making it is when you add the flour, you want to make sure that you cook it well before moving on to add the liquids so that you do not end up with the taste of raw flour in your soup.

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Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

2013-04-19T07:37:00.000-04:00

The other day I was looking for a snack and I wanted something light and healthy. Hummus, a mixture of pureed chickpeas, tahini (sesame paste), garlic and lemon juice, is one of my go-to appetizers in these sort of situations since despite being so simple, it is so addictively good! Although a basic hummus is amazing all by itself I like to change things up every once in a while by some extra flavour like in this case, roasted red peppers. The roasted red peppers add a nice sweetness and a hint of smokiness that goes really well in hummus making for a special treat indeed! One of the best things about hummus, other than eating it, is that you can throw it together in about 10 minutes so you can make it whenever you want and if you are entertaining you can whip up a batch at the last minute if not a day or two ahead of time. I like to serve hummus with toasted whole wheat pita wedges seasoned with salt and pepper for a healthy dipping option and they can be toasted in about as much time as it takes to make the hummus. Snacking on hummus is definitely a great idea when you have a case of the munchies and never fear leftovers as it goes well in sandwiches and wraps or even for breakfast!

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Chicken Fajita Grilled Cheese

2013-04-18T08:44:00.000-04:00

Up next for National Grilled Cheese Month is a sandwich that is inspired by both a bar room staple and plain old family fun meal, chicken fajitas! Chicken fajitas are seasoned, grilled chicken, sauteed peppers and onions served with fresh tortillas and condiments like shredded cheese, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream. The ingredients for chicken fajitas are typically served separate at the table so that you can construct your own, the way you like it, and who doesn't like to make their own meal at the table? These fajitas grilled cheese are not served to construct 'as you like' at the table but you can certainly make them 'as you like' by filling them with what you want from just the seasoned grilled chicken and sauteed peppers and onions to fully loaded with the salsa, guacamole and sour cream. I like to fill the sandwich with just the seasoned grilled chicken and sauteed peppers and onions and serve it with the with the salsa, guacamole and sour cream on the side for dipping but loading them all up into the grilled cheese is also good! The next time you make chicken fajitas, make a double batch so that you can make these chicken fajita grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch the next day or forget waiting and just make a batch for these grilled cheese sandwiches!

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Baked Avocado Bacon and Eggs

2013-04-17T08:23:00.000-04:00

I have been seeing these baked avocado bacon and eggs on pinterest for a while now and I cannot believe that it has taken me so long to make them! Both avocados and bacon are two of my favourite foods and eggs are not far behind so combining them together in one simple dish can only be loads of goodness! The basic idea is to cut an avocado in half, scoop out enough to fit an egg, fill it with the egg and then bake it until the egg is set the way you like. In total it only takes about 15 to 20 minutes and in that time you can cook some bacon up to sprinkle on top. Once baked you can eat it by the spoonful right out of the avocado shell or you can spread it on toast. The warm baked avocado is sublimely good and combined with a runny egg yolk and smokey bacon and you have a breakfast made in heaven! (See below for the runny egg yolk in all of it's glory!)

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