Thursday, June 30, 2011

West Coast Cheese Burgers

West Coast Cheese Burgers

Special Sauce:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
3 Tbsp catsup
1 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 Tbsp Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp honey

Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together until well blended. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Grilled Onions:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large Vidalia onion, chopped
1 Tbsp BBQ sauce

Heat the oil in a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft and lightly caramelized, about 15 minutes. Add the BBQ sauce and cook 2 minutes more. Remove the onions from the pan to a small bowl and set aside.

Burgers:
1 lb ground chuck
Garlic Salt & Pepper
4 slices American cheese
4 Hamburger Buns with sesame seeds
2 Tbsp butter
Splash of Worcestershire sauce
Sliced ripe Beefsteak tomatoes
Shredded Lettuce

Preheat the broiler. Shape the ground chuck gently into 4 patties. Season with garlic salt and pepper and set aside. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Lightly brush the split buns with some of the butter and place cut side up on a sheet pan. Cook the hamburger patties in the buttered skillet 4-5 minutes on the first side, then flip and cook the other side until the burger is as done as you want it. Splash on some Worcestershire sauce after you flip them. Top with cheese slices about 1 minute before they're done. In the meantime, lightly toast the buns under the broiler.

To assemble, spread about 1 Tbsp of the sauce on both bun halves. Place the patties on the bottom half of each bun and top with the BBQ onions, tomatoes and lettuce. Cover with the top half of the bun to serve.

Good burgers! The sauce and the onions were very tasty! John ate 2!

Adapted from a Brian Boitano recipe.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Baked Penne

Baked Penne

1 lb sausage
1/2 lb ground chuck
Garlic Salt & Pepper to taste
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp dried Greek oregano
1 heaping tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp ground rosemary
2 tbsp dried mixed vegetables
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Splash of Worcestershire sauce
24 oz jar Classico Italian Sausage with Peppers & Onion pasta sauce
14.5 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
2 palm fulls grated Parmesan cheese
16 oz penne regate
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
16 oz small curd cottage cheese
8 oz Six Cheese Italian blend cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
4 oz shredded mozzarella

In a large skillet, crumble the sausage and ground chuck with garlic salt, pepper, onions and garlic until well browned and cooked through. Add oregano, basil, rosemary, dried veggies, crushed pepper flakes, garlic powder and Worcestershire sauce. Stir in pasta sauce, tomatoes and parmesan and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, bring a large pot full of salted water to a boil and cook the penne according the the instructions until al dente. Drain well. Add butter and garlic powder to pasta and toss until butter has melted and coated the pasta. Stir in cottage cheese and the 6-Cheese Italian blend.

Spoon about 2 cups of the sauce into the bottom of a deep casserole dish. Top with the cheese-pasta mixture and spread evenly in the pan. Top with remaining sauce, the parmesan and the mozzarella. Cover pan with foil and bake at 350^F for 30 minutes or until hot through. Remove foil and bake another 15-20 minutes until mozzarella starts to brown a tiny bit.

Yummy, cheesy, GOOD!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Mongolian Style Beef

Mongolian Style Beef

1 lb lean beef round, sliced into thin strips
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp beef base
2 cups water
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 cup lite soy sauce
1/4 cup Tamari
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp molasses
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp red chili pepper flakes
1/2 Tbsp peanut butter
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp honey
Hot, cooked rice

Heat canola oil in a large skillet and brown the beef stirring occasionally. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Stir in the beef base and water and bring to a boil. Cook until water is reduced to a small amount and the beef is tender.

In a small bowl combine the remaining ingredients (except the rice) and whisk until blended. Pour over the tenderized beef and simmer about 15 minutes. Serve over rice.

Adapted from the blog, "A Year of Slow Cooking". I had intended to put this in the crockpot but I was lazy and kept procrastinating until it was too late to cook it that way! It was so salty I couldn't eat it. The flavor was good, but if I ever made it again I'd only use about 1/2 the soy sauce/Tamari.

Yankee Chicken Chili

Yankee Chicken Chili

16 oz pkg Great Northern Beans, washed
32 oz chicken broth
4 oz can chopped green chiles
2 Tbsp Ancho chile powder
1/2 cup Sofrito
Garlic Salt & Pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp Hot Mexican chili powder
1 large Vidalia onion, coarsely chopped
1 Lime
1 cup water

Place the beans in a crockpot with the chicken broth, green chiles, ancho chile powder, sofrito and Garlic Salt & Pepper.

Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet. Season the chicken breasts with Garlic Salt, pepper and Hot Mexican chili powder and cook in oil over medium heat until well browned on both sides., adding chopped onions about halfway through cooking time. Squeeze lime juice over chicken and onions and add water. Bring to boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits, then add mixture in skillet to the beans in the crockpot.

Cook on high 6-8 hours or until beans are tender. Chop the chicken and return to the pot. Simmer 5-10 minutes and then serve.

6/11/11 - This was really good, especially the broth and the chicken. Try making this without the beans (just a Braised Chicken kind of thing). The beans were actually kind of bland, so I may experiment with a sour cream/salsa based topping or maybe a Ranch/Sour Cream flavor.