Steak Sandwiches

Today was a perfect summer day. I spent the afternoon at the beach with my parents, Brittany and friends Erin and Kelli. The sun was actually out today, something we've been missing here in Orange County lately. It's wasn't too hot or too cold. And I think I even got a little color on my way too white for this late in the summer skin, without getting burned. After the beach we headed to the pool and hot tub, a perfect way to rinse all the sunblock off our faces and SPF 4 tanning oil off our legs. While at the pool we decided to make dinner and thought that nothing says perfect summer dinner like corn on the cob and watermelon. And so to go along with that Britt suggested steak sandwiches, something I made a few times last summer, and we loved.

Tonight's sandwiches were even better than we remembered. We made a few changes from the first go around. I got the recipe from the Barefoot Contessa, and it instructs you to cook the steak in a pan on the stove, which I did the first time. But tonight my mom and dad barbecued the steak and it was so much more tender. When you cook the steak in the pan, you then remove the meat and saute your onions in the juices. Since we did it on the barbecue I added a little olive oil to a pan and the poured in the juices that were on the plate of the finished steak. This makes the onions have amazing flavor, don't skip this step. Dad sliced the steak into thin pieces, last time I did thicker slices. The thinner slices were easier make the sandwiches with and way easier to eat. I make the sandwiches on the country French rolls from Trader Joe's. Top these little lovelies off with the dijon mustard, mayo, and sour cream spread, and a little arugula and you have one tasty summer sandwich. A perfect way to finish off the perfect summer day.

Steak Sandwiches Recipe

Balsamic BBQ Chicken

As I was driving home today I was going through my cupboards in my head, trying to figuring out what I could make for dinner with out going to the grocery store. I decided on barbecue chicken. My basic barbecue chicken consists of broiling chicken and basting it with Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Barbecue sauce. Now don't get me wrong, it's a tasty chicken, but it tastes very average. So I decided to make my own barbecue sauce tonight. Not having a recipe in my collection, I headed over to Food Network and and searched out barbecue chicken. I happened upon a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis that she made on her Every Day Italian show. It had a different twist on the sauce, and the ingredients were everything I already had in my cupboard. (Which is a huge bonus for me!) The sauce was delicious! It is not your average barbecue sauce. You can most definitely taste the balsamic vinegar and that makes the sauce kind of tangy. Brian really liked it, said it was different than regular barbecue sauce, with a taste he didn't expect. I might like the sauce to be a bit sweeter next time, but overall, an excellent sauce. I followed the cooking instructions as written, and the sauce reduced down, but it definitely wasn't as thick as a store bought sauce.

I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts and grilled them on my Cuisinart Griddler. (That's been getting a lot of use lately) The recipe also says you can bake the chicken, use any part of the bird you'd like, or suggests also using on steak, which I'd love to try. I kept basting the chicken as it was grilling, but I think it could be great to marinate the chicken in the sauce for a bit first. I had plenty of sauce to baste and use some as a side sauce for serving. I'm a huge fan of extra sauce. I served the chicken up with some baked seasoned potato slices. This is quick, easy, and another great way to spice up that average barbecue chicken.

Balsamic BBQ Chicken Recipe