Saturday, January 22, 2011 BYO Dinner Party Success

Look at the colors popping out of that sammich and tell me the first BYO Dinner Party was not a success...you can't do it! Because it looks DDelicious!

My guests came through, bringing such goodies as prosciutto, basil and fresh mozzerella to homemade sour dough bread to BACON!

Oh yeah, screw the diet, I ate me an Elvis sandwich - peanut butter, banana and BACON!

They also brought a ton of cold cuts, so we had a succession of 6 sandwich combinations. I was cooking them up on the vintage Snackmaster and George Foreman Grill simultaneously, slicing them up and supplying the guests with a steady stream of sammiches.

My cheeseburger soup came out fantastic! Here's a brief rundown of the recipe. Keep in mind I made this with my own goose stock and my own beef stock (plus some College Inn Broth I had left over in the fridge), so if you make it at home you may want to consider making some homemade stock, to add a flavor all your own.

1 1/2 pounds browned ground beef
1 big can of crushed tomatoes
3 cups of beef stock
4 cups goose stock

Shredded cheddar, lettuce, tomato and onion for garnish.

Put it all in the crockpot on high and let it come together. Adjust the seasonings if you want. My soup was pretty liquid so I added butter and flour all mashed up together as a thickener. I also dusted corn starch on the bag of shredded cheese before I stirred it into the soup. Garnish with chopped tomato, onion and lettuce.

My soup had a real chargrilled taste because I made my beef stock with a steakbone from my New Year's Eve dinner at Capital Grille. I know it sounds odd, but it's not like it's been sitting around in my purse, it was in the freezer, and it was real tasty!

And the ice cream sandwiches...you can see here how good they were. And how fun they were to make!

Bang on, my peeps!

-HH