Mustard

As with most families these days, I have some vegetarians in mine. Being the conscious cook, I decided to try and make a vegetarian version of baked beans that would be so delicious that no one would miss the pork or even realize something was different. I based the beans off a hearty Italian tomato sauce, and added every non-meat based version of umami I could think of. Within 5 minutes of getting to the annual 4th of July party, my vegetarian aunt reminded me that she hates beans. Oh well! These beans were worth it anyways.

Fried Cheese… with club sauce. Popcorn shrimp… with club sauce. Chicken fingers… with spicy club sauce! I had no idea what club sauce was, but I imagined it to be like a cross between bbq sauce and cocktail sauce. The internet didn’t really help me in figuring out what it was, so I just made it how I wanted it to be. Honestly I thought the sauce was awesome, but the people I was with apparently don’t really like horseradish, so they didn’t enjoy the sauce as much as I did. I probably should have asked them before I dumped a bunch of horseradish into the sauce!

A perfectly rare and spiced lamb tenderloin served with a creamy bacon polenta.

This mini burger has french fries as the bun.

Mac and cheese with kielbasa and mustard mixed right in.

A few months back, I made some tostone tostadas. The initial plan of that meal was for them to be sandwiches, but the fillings were not solid enough, and the tostones a little thick. I’m glad that plan didn’t work out because for one, those tostadas were delicious, but more importantly, the destiny of the tostone sandwich was clearly to house ham, pork, pickles, cheese, and mustard.

About a year or so ago, I was on a mission to change every famous sandwich into a dip. I made a few awesome dips out of sandwiches, but it hasn’t been a feature on here for awhile. Today I am announcing that its back! There are a few more neat ideas up my sleeve for this feature, but for now, a more obvious one that I missed earlier. I love Cuban sandwiches and have played with the flavors a few times in the past, but this dip was the true essence of a Cuban in a nice bite sized form.

Honey mustard chicken in risotto form.