Preheat the broiler.

Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp towel and slice them. Heat the EVOO and butter in a deep skillet over medium heat. When the butter melts into the oil, add the bay leaf, garlic, and sliced mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms are dark and tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper and add the wine, stirring the skillet with a wooden spoon to deglaze. Shake the pan and add the Worcestershire and thyme. Turn off the heat.

Split the loaf first lengthwise and then across. Pull out and discard a bit of the soft insides. Toast the bread lightly under the broiler then fill each section of bread evenly with mushrooms. Top liberally with the cheese. Return the bread sections to the broiler until the cheese browns and bubbles then remove the pizzas from the oven and serve.

EXPRESS LANE SHOPPING LIST.

- [image]8 large Portobello mushrooms Portobello mushrooms - [image]1 pound button mushrooms button mushrooms - [image] pound fresh shiitake mushrooms shiitake mushrooms - [image]1 bunch fresh thyme thyme - [image]1 24-inch loaf French bread French bread - [image]1 pound Gruyere Gruyere or Swiss cheese or 2 10-ounce sacks shredded or Swiss cheese or 2 10-ounce sacks shredded And make sure you have the following On Hand: - EVOO - Butter - Bay leaf - Garlic - Salt and black pepper - Dry white wine - Worcestershire

Wafflewiches The Monte Cristo, a ham, turkey, and cheese sammie on French toast, is a fave of mine. This is guilty pleasure fun-and-tasty twist on the traditional 'Cristo.

MAKES 4 SAMMIES.

2.

tablespoons softened tablespoons softened butter butter

4.

tablespoons tablespoons honey mustard honey mustard

8.

waffles, waffles, such as Eggos, lightly toasted such as Eggos, lightly toasted .

pound deli-sliced pound deli-sliced ham ham .

pound deli-sliced pound deli-sliced smoked turkey smoked turkey or honey roast turkey or honey roast turkey .

pound deli-sliced pound deli-sliced Swiss cheese Swiss cheese .

cup prepared cup prepared cranberry sauce cranberry sauce

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and melt it. Assemble the sandwiches by spreading honey mustard on 4 of the waffles, then topping with equal amounts of ham, turkey, and Swiss cheese. Spread cranberry sauce liberally on the remaining 4 waffles and place them atop the sandwiches. Fry the assembled sandwiches in the melted butter and cook for a few minutes on each side until they are deeply golden in color and the cheese melts.

EXPRESS LANE SHOPPING LIST.

- [image]1 small jar honey mustard honey mustard - [image]1 box frozen waffles waffles, such as Eggos - [image] pound deli-sliced ham ham - [image] pound deli-sliced smoked turkey smoked turkey - [image] pound sliced Swiss cheese Swiss cheese - [image]1 tub cranberry sauce cranberry sauce And make sure you have the following On Hand:Butter

Bacon Bit Burgers with Smoked Gouda and Steak House Smothered Onions and Baby Spinach Salad Bacon-what's not to like? It's smoky flavored salt and fat! Yum-o! In fact, the only way to improve on bacon is to wrap it up with beef and top it with cheese, then open wide! You gotta be more hungry than tired for this one!

4 SERVINGS.

6.

smoky bacon slices smoky bacon slices, chopped into inch pieces

6.

tablespoons tablespoons EVOO EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil) plus more for for drizzling (extra-virgin olive oil) plus more for for drizzling

2.

yellow yellow onions onions, finely chopped, 1 thinly sliced 1.

pounds pounds ground sirloin ground sirloin

2.

teaspoons teaspoons Worcestershire sauce Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it

1.

teaspoon teaspoon hot sauce hot sauce, eyeball it

1.

heaping tablespoon heaping tablespoon grill seasoning grill seasoning, such as McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning (a rounded palmful)

4.

crusty crusty Kaiser rolls Kaiser rolls, poppy seed or plain, split

4.

slices slices smoked Gouda smoked Gouda .

cup plus 1 tablespoon cup plus 1 tablespoon steak sauce steak sauce, such as A-1 or Lea and Perrins

1.

tablespoon tablespoon balsamic vinegar balsamic vinegar

1.

sack washed sack washed baby spinach leaves baby spinach leaves

Salt and and black pepper black pepper

Preheat the broiler and place a medium nonstick skillet over medium high heat.

Add the bacon and a drizzle of EVOO to the hot skillet and cook until crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper towellined plate and drain off all but 1 tablespoon or so of the fat from the skillet. Return the pan to medium low heat and add the finely chopped onions to sweat out in the remaining fat, 2 to 3 minutes.

Preheat a second medium nonstick skillet with 2 tablespoons of the EVOO, 2 times around the pan, over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add all the thinly sliced onions and top them with a plate that can fit inside the skillet. Top the plate with a heavy can and smother the onions for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lift the plate with tongs; it'll be hot!

Place the beef in a bowl and top with the Worcestershire, hot sauce, and grill seasoning.

Remove the chopped onions to the plate with the bacon to cool. Turn off the heat and reserve the pan. Once the onions are cool, add them and the bacon to the ground sirloin and combine well. Score the meat into 4 even sections and form 4 large patties. Add 1 tablespoon of EVOO to the skillet and reheat it over medium high heat. Add the burgers and cook for 4 minutes on each side for medium rare, 6 minutes on each side for medium well.

Toast the split rolls under the hot broiler until golden. Place the burgers on the bun bottoms and top with the smoked Gouda. Remove the bun tops from the broiler pan. Return the burgers to the broiler just to melt the cheese, about 30 seconds.

Stir cup of the steak sauce into the smothered onions. Top the burgers with the onions and set the bun tops in place.

Place the remaining tablespoon of steak sauce in a small salad bowl. Add about 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and whisk in about 3 tablespoons of EVOO. Toss with the spinach, season with salt and pepper, and serve alongside the burgers.

EXPRESS LANE SHOPPING LIST.