The Ugly Slider

 This slider really reminds me of the ugly duckling story.  He was ugly as a duckling, but he became a beautiful swan in the end.  This slider was the same way.  It looks ugly on the outside, but when you bite into it, it's a beautiful flavor combination!  The fragrance in the kitchen was so amazing that just being near it made me hungry all over again even after I'd eaten!  This is a wonderfully simple and quick meal to make.  I always take longer to do recipes that I'm unfamiliar with so it took me 30 minutes to make this, but I know I can get this down to about 10-15 minutes next time, which is about the recommended amount of time that the original recipe states.
Depending on how big your sliders are, you can make 2 or 3 of these as a good sized lunch or make a whole cookie sheet full for a party, family visit, movie night, or whatever the occasion.  If you have kids, this can make a good snack time meal and it's easy enough that the kids can help.  But before I keep rambling, as I do love to do, let's cut to the chase.  Quick last minute note, I cut the recipe in half since I wasn't doing this for a large gathering and I had some fairly large sliders.  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• For the sandwiches:
• 12 slider rolls
• 12-24 slices honey ham
• This will depend on how thick your ham is.  We prefer almost shredded thin so I had to use 2 or 3 slices per slider.  If you prefer big slices, you should be fine with 12.  Make it to your preference, like any other sandwich.
• 12 small slices Swiss cheese
• Mayonnaise
• For the sauce:
• 2 1/2 tsp. yellow mustard
• 4 tbsp. butter, melted
• 1/2 tbsp. finely minced onion (or 1 tsp. dried minced onion)
• With my dad not being a fan of onions, I added 1 tsp. of onion powder to get the onion like flavor without the pieces of onion.
• 1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• Poppy seeds, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  
2. Split the slider rolls and spread the insides lightly with mayonnaise.  Fold the slices of ham to fit on each slider bun, and top with a slice of Swiss cheese.  
3. Replace the top bun to assemble the sandwiches.  Place the sandwiches on a baking sheet.
4. To make the sauce, combine all ingredients except the poppy seeds in a small bowl and whisk to combine.  Don't be concerned if the mustard doesn't combine well with the ingredients.  Drizzle the sauce over the tops of the slider buns.  
• My personal suggestion is to use the back of your spoon and spread the mustard on top as it'll most likely be small bits of it uncombined.
5. Sprinkle with poppy seeds.  
6. Cover with foil and bake 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted.  Remove the foil and bake 2 minutes longer. 

These are so delicious!  For mine, I left the poppy seeds off since I'm not a fan of them, but that's always your own choice.  The next time I make these, and here's a suggestion for you all too, add some shredded chicken to it as a way to make a Chicken Cordon Bleu sandwich.  I love Chicken Cordon Bleu any delicious way I can get it, and I'm excited to make this potential edit to the recipe!  For the lazy chef like myself, a good way to get chicken ready to just be shredded and put on the sandwich is to buy a rotisserie chicken from your local grocery store on the way home and just shred a breast or two.  This is my favorite way to avoid boiling, baking, grilling, however you prefer to cook chicken so that I can cut down on how long I'm cooking.  The shorter time it takes to cook and the less dishes there are afterwards, the happier I am!! :D 

When I pulled these out of the oven, despite their tempting smell, I was really nervous about how they looked since our eyes do tend to help our senses cast judgment on food.  But after trying so many new things over my time, both amazing looking to looking like it was worse than thrown together, I've learned that appearances can definitely be deceiving!  Much like people, don't just a dish by it's presentation.  The original recipe can be found here.  If you have questions about the recipe, have comments to make, or have made your own adjustments, make sure to leave a comment below!  As always, happy eating!

S'more Cheesecake Please

One thing I'm always trying to do when I cook or bake is find things that can be loved by all.  In our house, cheesecake is adored by all of us!  The only exception is that s'mores isn't.  I am a huge fan of s'mores!  My dad isn't a fan of s'mores, but he loves a good char-burned marshmallow like I do.  My mother can't find the love in a good char-burned piece of marshmallow nor wants to combine it with chocolate and graham crackers.  The fact I haven't disowned them yet is amazing!  I kid mum and dad, you know I love you!  My life goal in the kitchen has been to find ways to incorporate s'mores into anything I can to find something they like.  And now, I've found the one!
This was my first time using a food processor, and let me tell you if you've never used one, it is so much fun!  It'll be loud and sound like you're going to break it, but no worries.  Your food will be pulverized in no time!  So for all you s'mores and cheesecake lovers, or those trying to convert overs to the dark side, here's the recipe:


Ingredients:

• 3 sleeves graham crackers squares
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 16 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups marshmallows (about 24), softened
• 3 chocolate bars (I prefer Hershey's)

Directions:

1. Place graham crackers in a food processor and process until they're fine crumbs.
2. Place the melted butter in the food processor with the graham cracker crumbs and process again until combined.
3. Measure the bottom of a 9" pie pan with parchment paper and cut out a circle big enough to fit in the bottom of the pan.  Line the pan and pour the graham cracker mixture in.  
4. Spread evenly and press the crumbs down with a flat-bottomed glass to flatten the crust.  Put the crust in the freezer.
5. Soften the marshmallows by placing them into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30-45 seconds.  
6. Place the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and softened marshmallows in your food processor and process until smooth and creamy.
7. Remove the crust from the freezer and pour the filling onto the crust.  Spread evenly.
8. Place the chocolate bars in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted, smooth, and creamy.  Do this in 30-second intervals and stir in between.  It should only take about 1 minute to melt it completely.
9. Pour the melted chocolate over the cheesecake filling and marble into the cheesecake mixture.  
• The marbling is my personal suggestion.  The original recipe says to pour on top of the cheesecake in a spiral pattern, but for me, the chocolate solidified into a version of the magic shell chocolate coating for ice cream, so I don't personally suggest this method.
10. Let chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes at least so that the cheesecake can sit before serving.

This cheesecake was so delicious!  Another thing I want to expand on though is lining the pan.  The original recipe suggests lining your pan with aluminum foil, which lining it with something is a good plan so that your crust doesn't stick to your pan; and no one wants a cheesecake without the crust.  If you want to use the aluminum foil, you can; but I suggest pulling it out of the pan to cut it.  I lined mine with aluminum foil and tried to cut it out without pulling it out of the pan.... oh my gosh, what a nightmare that was!  The benefit with the aluminum foil is that you can pull the cheesecake in and out of the pan as needed, but for someone like me ,(the lazy cook), that's too much work!  This is why I suggest lining the bottom of the pan with parchment paper instead so that you can leave it in the pan and have an easier time cutting it.

As always, this is my version.  The original recipe can be found here.  If you have questions, comments, or your own recipe recommendations/changes, leave a comment below.  I really hope that this can be enjoyed by all in your family as it was with my own, no matter the difference in taste buds.  Happy eating!