Balsamic Double Onion Roast Beef Sandwich

Who is your favorite Top Chef? Well mine is Fabio Viviani. And after eating this sandwich which is from his upcoming book, Fabio's Italian Kitchen, I am guessing he may be my husband's favorite too!

We decided to put the sandwiches on the panini press. Excellent idea. We also made a horseradish spread in place of the dill pickles. Roast Beef and horseradish always go together.

And what's that on the side of the plate? Fries! Yes 5 Minute Frozen French Fries. Not something we have very often but one of our favorites. They taste just like fast food fries. Love them!

Balsamic Double Onion Roast Beef Sandwich (with my variations)

Ingredients -
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 teaspoon horseradish sauce
2 slices Rye Bread, slightly warmed
2 ounces thinly sliced Roast Beef
1 tablespoon aged balsamic Vinegar
½ dill pickle, minced
½ cup caramelized onions
½ cup French fried Onions

Method -
Spread the mustard, mayonnaise and horseradish sauce on the bread and form a sandwich with the beef.
Combine vinegar, pickles and onions in a bowl and place on top of beef. 
Put the other piece of bread on top.
Grill on panini press for until bread is toasted.

Grilled Cheese with Roasted Onions and Peppers

Keep it simple Friday. The onions and peppers were roasted on Sunday and went very nicely with the rye bread and cheese. Some Dijon mustard on the side was all the sandwich needed.

We also had some Italian Wedding Soup that I had in the freezer. Love the little meatballs!

Happy Friday!

Eggplant Balls

My sister made this a while ago and I loved it. The original recipe is from Claire's Corner Copia Cookbook. I was not sure if Chris would go nuts over this but he did! I heated them up in some Marinara Sauce and we made sandwiches with that bread my sister gave us. The recipe from the book says you can fry the meatballs. I am sure that would have tasted amazing but the option for baking was also listed so that is what I did.

1/4 cup olive
2 large eggplants, peeled and diced
2 tbsp water
2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves
4 oz shredded mozzarella
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup flour for rolling the eggplant balls

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the diced eggplant and stir to coat. Add the water, cover and cook about 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the eggplant is very soft. Remove from the heat and turn into a bowl. Add the bread crumbs, parsley, basil, mozzarella, eggs, Parmesan, salt and pepper. Stir to mix well. Let the mixture stand for 15 minutes.
Form the mixture into meatball size balls. Gently roll each ball in the flour to coat evenly.
Bake in a preheated 350-degrees oven about 30 minutes, turning once after 15 minutes.