My Italian Obsession

What could it be? Shoes? Purses? Italian. It's gotta be fashion of some sort, right?

Not in this house! It's food!

At the end of August we went to Pensacola for the birth of Brandon Xavier Edmonds. We spent a couple of days as it was late on a Sunday night when he was born.


We left the hospital on Monday afternoon after visiting the new family of 3 and went to lunch at Macaroni Grill.

How divine!

The kids thought "how fancy!"

I just thought "how delicious!"

It might have started before this, I'm not sure. But I'll get on a kick for a certain food, flavor, or type of food. No matter what I'm currently obsessing over, Italian is never far from the top of the list.

Basil, oh how I love fresh basil.....basil on fresh tomatoes...basil on pasta...basil on my eggs...you get the idea.

Anyway, this sandwich recipe was not what we ate at Macaroni Grill but we've had it a couple of times in recent months and I'm always amazed at how EASY it is! I've seen it called Chicago Beef, Drip Beef Sandwiches, Italian Beef....call it whatever you like but you'll definitely call it yummy!

You only need 4 ingredients, well...maybe 6.

chuck roast
2 or so cups of beef broth
packet of dry Italian dressing mix
a handful of pepperocini peppers, the kind in the jar (I don't think I spelled that correctly but spell check could not find the correct spelling either!)

Put all of these ingredients into the crockpot. I like to cook it on low for about 8-10 hours. About an hour before I want to eat, I like the shred the beef, removing as much fat as possible. Then, continue cooking the shredded beef another hour or so. This does wonders for the flavor!

This is what it look like going into the crockpot.



Split hoagie rolls and toast the cut side under the broiler. Top with the beef and peppers. Add provolone cheese and enjoy. Be sure to use some of the broth for dipping.

The leftovers freeze well. Oh, if you refrigerate the leftovers, be sure and remove the fat from the broth after it chills. It's that solid white stuff on top. Hey, a chuck roast isn't delicious because it is lean!

And for dessert...oh, the dessert. We DID have this at Macaroni Grill. I've used a combination of recipes for this and honestly, I can't locate the one I used at this moment. But this wonderful tiramisu was heavenly.

See, I like to eat out but when you like in a small town you have to improvise. I like to take my restaurant faves and make them at home. And I thought this was a ringer for Macaroni Grill's.

It had lady fingers
heavy cream
mascarpone cheese
Kahlua
coffee
egg yolks
sugar
vanilla
cocoa

Just look at those luscious layers.....


I've made it twice since but only because our waistlines could not handle handle it if I gave into my weekly desires for this dessert. Let me now if anyone wants the actual recipe and I will post it. Don't hate me if it's all you can think about after having it once.....psst...it's even better after a day in the fridge!