Slider Night!

Most of you can probably relate to the story that brought about "slider night." My sister and I lived several hours apart from each other for our college years, and we are finally only about 40 minutes away from one another. And, after *mumblenumber* of boyfriends that I really didn't like so well, she has a boyfriend that I am very fond of, and actually like to spend time with. Trouble is, all of us work full time, and we all have variable hours. Thus, our family time is limited. So, after not getting to spend time together as a family-group for the last 6 months or so, we finally found a night to get together for dinner. With this being such a rare and golden opportunity, we made a big to-do about it, and had "slider night," also known as "a smorgasbord of sliders" (because that is more alliterative). It was a grand success: as a result, I have recipes and photos to share!

To begin, here are the basic ingredients for the filling of our sliders, which required no preparation more complicated than slicing:
Slider Buns! (also known as dinner rolls)
tomatoes
smoked salmon
cheese! mozzarella, havarti, goat cheese, red leicester
fresh basil

Also, there were 4 filling options that actually required cooking, but since we made so many fillings, none were too difficult.

Roasted Peppers (START THESE FIRST!):
1 red bell pepper, large chopped
1 green bell pepper, large chopped
1 orange bell pepper, large chopped
1 T olive oil
1 T balsamic vinegar

Toss peppers in oil and vinegar; place in baking pan. Bake at 400 degrees for about an hour.

Grilled Portabellas:
1 T olive oil
2 portabella caps, sliced into slider-bun-sized pieces
salt and pepper

Oil a portable grill (such as a Foreman Grill) and preheat. Add mushrooms, season, and cook until done.

Sauteed Squash:
1 small zucchini, sliced
1 small yellow squash, sliced

1 small onion, diced

1 T olive oil
1 t garlic powder
1 t paprika
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat olive oil in medium pan; add onion and cook until translucent. Add squash and seasoning, cook until it reaches desired texture.

Also there was steak, but I did not make the steak, so I will hold no responsibility for what was in it or how it tasted.

And, last but not least, I made homemade tsatsiki, which is incredibly easy and the recipe was stolen, so I won't bore you with the details.

So! All these ingredients came together to create these exciting sliders:

Veggie Philly: sauteed squash, havarti or red leicester cheese, mayo (optional)
Roasted Peppers and Goat Cheese: self-explanatory, with optional drizzle of honey
Grilled Mushroom with Tsatsiki: also self-explanatory
Caprese: fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil
Bagel-Caprese: mozzarella or cream cheese, tomato, basil, smoked salmon

And obviously one can mix-and-match to his/her heart's content. I even made dessert, from a recipe 100% stolen from the Food Network. On that note, I shall leave you to salivate:

A Study in (Soup) Contrasts

I have all sorts of exciting explanations that I cooked up (ba-dum bum!) for today's recipes -- Tortilla Soup in honor of Cinco de Mayo, a double-recipe post to make up for having been absent for a month, that sort of thing. Really and truly, though, I've been sitting on these two soup recipes for weeks and weeks, and I'm just now getting around to posting them. Because I am a slacker. Hopefully these will prove to be worth their wait (I am on FIRE!) in deliciousness. Also because I'm a slacker, this is yet another post without any pictures to entice you. Sorry.

Tortilla Soup

This recipe was actually a conversion of one that I found on the Food Network site. You will not BELIEVE how many chicken tortilla soup recipes are out there, and practically no non-chicken ones. It's obnoxious, really.

2 tbsp peanut oil
2 small onions, chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp chipotle powder
2 tsp salt
6 cups vegetable broth
1 cup frozen corn
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 c fresh cilantro
1/4 c fresh lime juice
a handful of tortilla strips

Heat oil in a medium cooking pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, chipotle powder, and salt, and cook until onion is translucent. Add broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add corn, and give it another 5 minutes or so (just until heated through). Remove from heat, and add the tomato, cilantro, and lime. Add a small pile of tortilla strips to the bottom of each bowl and ladle the soup over it. This ended up serving about 3. I actually did an experiment and made flour tortilla strips -- I don't recommend it. They get soggy and squishy. Corn tortilla strips will stay more crisp in the soup.

Creamy-Dilly Fish Chowda

I made this recipe up all by myself. I was inspired by a pot of fish chowder at the grocery store (in the hot food bar) that smelled so fantastic, I decided I needed to make some of my own...because I am morally opposed to buying that sort of thing pre-made. It's super-easy, but you have to pronounce it "Chowda!" If I catch anyone saying "chowder" I will take their soup away from them. It is that simple.

1/2 stick butter
3 tbsp flour
1 small onion, chopped
1 c frozen corn, thawed
1 large, or 2 medium, whitefish fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces
note: I used cod, but I think something a little more flavorful, like flounder, might be good next time. Any ole whitefish will do, though. Be a cheapskate! It's just soup!
1 c heavy cream
2 c milk
2 tbsp dried dill
salt and pepper, to taste

Melt your butter in your soup pot over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until consistent, then whisk more slowly, but constantly, until the mixture stops forming bubbles. At this point, immediately add your onion, corn, and fish. Trade your whisk out for a rubber spatula and continue to stir constantly for a minute or two (just long enough to get your roux heated back up). Add the heavy cream, and stir until consistent. Add the milk gradually, continuing to stir until smooth (not the whole thing, obviously, but you want the cream-base-part to be consistent). Add the dill, salt and pepper, and simmer for another 10-15 minutes, until your fish is cooked through and the flavors are distributed. I recommend serving this with toast for dipping, or just throwing some croutons on top if you've got them. This is exceedingly simple and SO GOOD. But then, everything with heavy cream in it is going to be delicious.