French Dip Crescent Sandwiches with Au Jus

This was a good meal on a cold night...something about dipping the warm sandwich into the hot au jus just made me feel all warm inside. Plus, talk about E-A-S-Y! It's a win-win!


French Dip Crescent Sandwiches with Au Jus for dipping
adapted from Mama Loves Food, photo from bakingbad.com

You need
1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls (8 individual rolls)
4 slices swiss cheese, cut in half
16 slices deli roast beef

Make it
1- unroll crescent rolls and separate into triangles, following the perforated lines
2- place 2 slices of roast beef and 1/2 slice of swiss cheese onto each of the 8 rolls
3- roll up each roll, starting at the wide end
4- bake in preheated oven according to directions on crescent roll package

Au Jus dipping sauce
You need

1 or 2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
3 cups water
2 beef bouillon cubes
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp all purpose flour (optional)

Make it
1- saute onion in olive oil until softened.
2- add garlic to pan and stir for about 30 seconds, or until fragrant.
3- add water, bouillon cubes and Worcestershire sauce, dissolving bouillon cubes as you stir. bring to a boil, cover and reduce to simmer for about 15 minutes.
4- uncover and let cook until reduced by about 1/2.
5- strain out all garlic and onion, keeping only sauce and serve immediately.
6- optional- if you want to thicken it up even more- whisk flour into a few tbsp of cold water, whisking vigorously to reduce clumping. return the sauce to the pan and stir in flour mixture. bring to boil, stir and serve.

Quesadillas- Just Glorified Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

So this is more of an idea than a recipe.

I love making quesadillas. They are so versatile and easy. Just butter some tortillas, stuff with whatever you have and brown it in the skillet! It's great for leftover meat!

The only "rule" is to include cheese. It's the glue that sticks the tortillas together.

Ideas
*American cheese, lunch meat, salsa
*Feta or mozzarella cheese, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, chicken
*Cooked chicken or beef, salsa, shredded cheese

Chicken Pesto Panini

This is just a sandwich, but it turns out looking so fancy!

Ingredients
Chicken breast
Olive oil
Salt and pepper (or your favorite all purpose seasoning)
Pesto (again, I recommend Classico brand)
Butter or margarine
Mozzarella cheese
Sun dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
Thickly sliced bread (I like sourdough or french bread)

Thaw your chicken breast partially. (It is easier to slice when kinda frozen, kinda thawed) Slice it horizontally so that it is in two thin layers. Cook chicken in olive oil in a skillet. Season with salt and pepper (or your favorite all purpose seasoning). Be positive it is fully cooked!!

LIGHTLY spread butter on one side of each of your bread slices (the pesto has olive oil in it, so you don't want it to be too greasy). Spread pesto on other side of both pieces of bread. Layer up your sandwich with chicken, cheese and sun dried tomatoes. Place in skillet or on George Foreman grill! Cook until golden brown.

***ENJOY***