Let’s kick this Monday off with a “lounge in front of the TV on a Saturday night comfort food dinner plate“.  That is exactly what we did on Saturday night.  It was a busy day over all with a birthday party,  house work and a trip to the stock car races only to be canceled due to rain.  So when we finally got the kids to bed we made a little snack for the couch.  This really is my kind of food.  Simple and easy yet tasty and wholesome.

It all started with some fresh rolls from the bakery and a thought of a tuna melt and fries.  Then it slightly adapted roasted potato wedges and my version of zesty sliders.

Ingredients

• 2 cans of Tuna ( drained)
• 1 Tbsp. mayonnaise
• 1 Tsp. Thyme
• 1 Cup shredded cheese
• 2 handful baby potatoes ( halved )
• 2 Tbsp. Olive oil
• 1 Tsp. Chili powder
• 1 Tsp. Garlic powder
• 1/2 Tsp. Celery salt
• 1 Tsp. Black pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line cookie sheet with parchment paper
2. Halve and slice potatoes and then rinse well and pat dry with paper towel.
3. In a large bowl add potatoes, olive oil, celery salt, garlic, black pepper and chili powder and mix well
4. Pour out on a cookie sheet and bake 20-25 minutes turning occasionally until golden brown





5. For the tuna, open and drain cans and dump tuna in a bowl and mix with mayo, thyme.
6. Split open the rolls, top with the tuna mixture, sprinkle with cheese and bake until cheese melts.



7. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: For a nice crunch in your tuna, add chopped up dill pickles or celery.  It adds a great dimension of texture and flavor.  I couldn’t because Mrs. zesty is not a fan at all.

Alright, a new week begins.  I have a funny feeling this week is going to fly by as it is a short week with Canada day celebrations taking place on Thursday and me taking Friday off.  What is your favorite type of slider? They seem to be all the rage now.  For me, I am leaning towards a nice juicy lamb slider will a cool topping of yogurt and mint.  Have a fantastic Monday and keep smiling.

Take care

zesty

Sunday cook-offs are turning out to be so much fun.  Yesterday was no exception.  The only downfall with yesterday’s cook off was that I didn’t do any baking.  I figured I better take a break after both the brownies that will change your life and the no bake oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

This week’s cooking included:

• Whole Wheat Lasagna
• Turkey Chili
• Olde Fashion Chicken Noodle Soup from Scratch
• Slow cooked- Beef Shank with Beer and Tomatoes

I will be posting these in the coming days but today I have one of my favorite things ever to post….. BREAD!

Garlic Bread with Asiago Cheese and a Giveaway

The folks at Dempster’s Bread company sent me 8 loaves of bread as well as some coupons for some free loaves of their new Oven Fresh Baguettes ( More on this later on).  To put this short and sweet – I loved them.  They were super easy to prepare and very tasty.

Now of course you can just bake the bread straight up and add a dollop of butter and be very happy.  In fact I did that as soon as they came in the mail.  The whole zesty house approved of the bread and gobbled it in record time.

Demspter’s also gave me some recipe ideas so I had to check them out of course and see what they were like.  Check out this recipe for a simple twist on garlic bread.

Ingredients

• 1 Clove garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. Soft butter
• 1 Tbsp. Chopped chives
• 1 Tbsp. Chopped oil packed sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 DEMPSTER’S® OvenFreshTM White or Multigrain Baguette
• ¼ Cup Crumbled Asiago cheese

Method

1. PREHEAT oven to 400°F.
2. COMBINE garlic, butter, chives and sundried tomatoes in a bowl.
3. CUT vertical slits in the baguette almost to the bottom and place on a baking sheet; spoon the butter mixture over the top of the baguette making sure to get the mixture down inside each cut.
4. TOP the baguette evenly with Asiago cheese; bake for 8 minutes or until cheese is softened and baguette is hot and crisp.
5. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: For quicker preparation replace butter, garlic, and chives with ready prepared garlic butter.

Dempster’s is Canada’s leading bread manufacturer has launched a new line of partially baked, preservative free baguettes and dinner rolls called Dempster’s® OvenFresh™.  The white and multigrain baguettes and rolls just need to be ‘finished’ in the oven or BBQ for eight minutes and then they are ready to enjoy. The baguettes and rolls come in a special vacuum sealed package which extends their shelf life without preservatives or the need to freeze.

I have 4 Free loaves to giveaway 4 lucky readers.

Now onto the details

I wanted to create a little more excitement on how to enter into this contest instead of just the traditional – sign up thru RSS. I have come up with a number of ways you can enter into this contest in hope of winning the Dempster’s Oven Fresh Baguette. The different ways are listed below.

How To Enter:

• Become a new email subscriber and automatically get an entry on draw date. Note that only verified subscribers count (you will receive a verification email). (+1 entry)
• Leave a comment listing your “FAVORITE” Bread Topping. (+1 entry)
• Post on your “FACEBOOK” page.
• Tweet about the giveaway and include @zestycook and the link to the giveaway in the tweet. (+1 entry)
• Earn an extra chance to win by linking back to this post on your own blog (if you have one). (+1 entry) (please email me if you link back)

The Rules:

• Please only 1 comment entry / person (please enter a valid email address). Your email will be kept private and never given/sold to third parties.
• The winners will receive 1 packet of Dempster’s Oven Fresh Baguette

So let me know your favorite Bread Topping in the comments below! A random generator will be used to pick the winner. Contest will end at 5pm EST March 31st, 2010.

Alright so make sure you join the contest, tell your friends and for goodness sake… eat more BREAD!  Have a great Monday and I will be back with some more exciting news in the very near future.  I can barely wait to tell you this latest news that I found out last week.

Take care

zesty