We had a celebrity guest chef for Fakeout this week! Best part? I didn’t shop OR cook! Although…maybe the mac and cheese was the best part. Tasted just like the real thing! Some of the recipes can’t be shared because they’re top secret, but here are a few!
Click here for the mac and cheese recipe.
Click here for the tomato cucumber salad recipe.
“I’m not ready for a professional kitchen. I’d get ‘chopped’ for being too slow!” says the chef, “But I loved cooking for my friends!”
Probably one of our most authentic in terms of flavor. Delicious! (Have to be honest though…my sister’s boyfriend stopped and got the actual shredded cheese from Chipotle. Did you know they’ll sell you 4 oz. of any of their sides for $1?!)
Click here for the recipe for the chicken.
Click here for the recipe for the cilanto-lime brown rice.
Click here for the recipe for the corn salsa.
Click here for the recipe for the bunuelos.
An easy and fun week…tapas style! Started with pretzels and beer cheese, guacamole, and spinach and artichoke dip, then moved on to boneless wings and mozzarella sticks, then finished off the night with Blue Ribbon Brownies!
Click here for the beer cheese recipe.
Click here for the spinach and artichoke dip recipe.
Click here for the brownie recipe.
With the new Chick Fil A open in Cicero, we were inspired to try this out! For the sandwich, we used Wegmans breaded fillets, we used Alexia brand seasoned waffle fries, and for the nuggets, we fried pieces of chicken cutlet (and actually used the breading/frying technique from the Bonefish Grill Bang Bang Shrimp!)
Click here for the sauce recipe.
My sister-in-law gets the credit for this idea. She had them in San Diego and raved about them! Had to do a little research to figure out what restaurant we were “faking out” and found out about Santana’s! A Calfornia Burrito is carne asada (steak), french fries, and then basically taco fillings.
I thought I’d try a homemade Swiss Cake Roll for dessert because they kind of look like burritos, but this was a Fakeout Fail. 😦
Click here for the carne asada recipe.
Who doesn’t love a calzone? Even though Zonies is closed, we still enjoyed it! No recipe for this one…just buy some dough and your favorite fillings! (Mine had pepperoni, mushrooms, and spinach. Yum!)
Garbage Plate night was super popular and was our biggest crowd yet. Can you say six pounds of meat sauce?! For this one, we grilled burgers and hot dogs, baked crinkle cut fries (though you can use diced potatoes/hash browns if you want to be more authentic) and I made a really simple macaroni salad that just had scallions, shredded carrots, elbow pasta, mayo, salt and pepper. Top the plate with meat sauce, ketchup, mustard, and diced onions, and you’ll feel like a Rochester native!
Click here for the meat sauce recipe. (After browning the beef, put it in a food processor to make it really fine and then add it back to the saucepan. I added some used grounds from a K-cup to the sauce while it was simmering.)
For these, we simply warmed the roast beef from the deli in au jus and then toasted them in the oven with provolone cheese. The fries are Wegmans brand seasoned curly fries.
Click here for the recipe for Arby’s Sauce.
My husband LOVES Mexican food, so even though we couldn’t find real copycat recipes for Cantina, we found these to replicate items from their menu. We didn’t follow a specific recipe for the brownies; they are a box mix with added walnuts and sundae toppings.
Click here for the recipe for the mole enchiladas. (Use less chocolate than the recipe calls for; it was too overpowering.)
Click here for the recipe for the sour cream poblano enchiladas.
Takeout Fakeout 