Just A Great Burger

So, have you ever gone to a great restaurant and asked yourself why their burger's taste so much better than the charbroiled hockey pucks you cook at home?

It's honestly not that difficult. There are only a few basic rules to abide by and the rest will fall into place.

RULE # 1

-Fresh Beef (buy it the same day, don't freeze it if you can help it)
Always buy your meat from a reputable source. If the cornerstore butcher is sketchy, don't even bother. It's cheap enough that you can get it from a reputable vendor and still pay pennies on the dollar compared to other cuts of meat. Also, to be honest, you can still make a great burger with frozen ground beef that you defrost. It won't be the best, but it will be "good enough". It pains me to say that.

RULE # 2

-Season the Meat Well
The standard seasoning I use is 2 parts Salt, 1 part fresh ground pepper, 1 part garlic powder and 1 part onion powder. This is commonly known as "house seasoning." You can typically use about 1 tsp of seasoning per pound of beef, but obviously adjust the amount to your tastes. Also, I always put worcestershire sauce in my hamburgers. At least a couple teaspoons per pound adds a little depth of flavor.

RULE #3
-Be aware of texture
Probably the biggest killer of a burger is bad texture. If you have stale bread and you like your hamburger cooked well, taking a bite will be like eating two pieces of cardboard filled with sawdust. Instead, maybe add something smooth and creamy (avocado) and something crunchy (well rendered bacon). Or, get creative, crisp up some canadian bacon and top the burger with hollandaise sauce, call it hamburgers benedict. (I didn't say burgers were healthy) At the same time, if you are using very soft brioche buns, consider something crunchy on the inside to balance the soft outside. TEXTURE, TEXTURE, TEXTURE.

That's my only three rules. Other than that, the sky is the absolute limit. The picture above is (delicious yes) the following

A Grilled Pancetta, Avocado, Crispy Onion and Swiss Cheese Burger on a Brioche Roll. (with a side of homemade sweet potato chips) also known as, the amazing burger.

Recipe: Homemade Sweet Potato Chips

This recipe is quite difficult without a mandolin. You can try to cut the potatoes by hand, however, it's not recommended. You can also use a good cheese grater if you have one with the right depth blade or you can try to use a vegetable peeler to shave the pieces down. They may look funny, but they will taste just as good.

Ingredients:
Sweet Potato (2 Large sweet potatoes are easily enough for 4 people)
House Seasoning
Oil for Frying (Canola or vegetable is fine but "frying peanut oil" is preffered)
A large bowl or baking sheet
a spider (a tool to use when deep frying)
Paper Towels

Heat the oil to 300 degrees in at least a 1 quart Saucepan filled to about 1 inch below the top. The bigger the pot you can afford to use the better, but don't overfill it. When you add the food the oil level will rise which is especially terrible on a gas stove if it decides to overflow.

Slice the potatoes as thin as possible using any method you can.

Line the bowl or sheet pan with paper towels.

once the oil comes to temperature, drop in each slice of potato one at a time. They will sink and then quickly rise to the surface. Cook them until the bubbling slowly begins to dissipate. If they begin to turn grey or dark brown they are over done. Once finished, using either a slotted spoon or the spider, remove the chips and place onto the flat sheet pan or the bowl and immediately season with house seasoning. Continue this process until all the chips are cooked. Season each layer as you go on. If you begin stacking chips on top of chips you may want to put another layer of paper towels in order to whick away the extra oil so none of the chips get soggy.

Thats it! Toss and enjoy. Amazing, simple, and once you eat them you will ask yourself, 'seriously, that's it? Why doesn't anyone make fresh potato chips anymore'

P.S. Don't forget to shut your oil when you're done frying.

Chicken Tikka Masala...get your taste buds ready!

There’s nothing like your significant other greeting you with a home cooked meal after a long hard day, week, meeting, exam, trip around the world etc. right?!
Tonight I dove back into my English roots and made Indian food (you’ll understand if you know anyone British). I present to you my specialty and Dan’s personal favorite meal I can make all by myself: Chicken Tikka Masala.

Preparation:
1. Cut 2 chicken breasts into 1X1” cubed pieces.

2. MAKE THE MASALA MARINADE:
In a large glass bowl combine 1 cup of plain Greek or non-fat yogurt, 1 tsp. grated ginger, 1 tbl. fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 ½ tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp Garam Masala spice blend, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp paprika, ½ tsp chili powder, ½ tsp mustard powder, 1 tsp salt and “enough” fresh ground black pepper. Of course, this can be adjusted to your own taste and spice tolerance.

3. Marinate cubed chicken pieces in this mixture for at least 1 hour. Can be marinated overnight.
Marinade should look like:


Cooking & Serving:
Grill marinated chicken pieces on a lightly oiled cast iron skillet until cooked through. Place aside on a plate. In a 4 qt. sauce pan turn heat to medium and melt 2 tbl butter or oil, while browning 2 minced cloves of garlic, a chopped seeded jalapeno pepper, and 1 diced onion. Add 1 tsp of each of the following: Garam masala, chile powder, coriander, paprika, cinnamon and cayenne pepper and let cook for 1 minute. Add 6 ounce can of tomato paste and 1 tbl sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5-10 mins. Sauce will be pasty and thick. Add 1 cup heavy cream and stir for a few mins over low heat until thickened again. Add the chicken and let simmer for approx. 10 minutes.

Serve over basmati rice, which takes approx. 45 mins to cook. Squeeze fresh lime juice over the chicken. Garnish with chopped fresh grown cilantro. You can also add your favorite Nan bread, or a side dish of samosas! Do I hear a future post???

The Infamous "Sauce Recipe"

So apparently, according to my girlfriend, I owe everyone willing to pay attention a sauce recipe. My sauce recipe is not necessarily typical, it's not low-fat, it takes forever but it tastes damn good. None of the techniques are above an established beginner other than having the patience to wait around a bit.

Ingredients
1 Hormel Salt Pork (you can find it in almost ANY supermarket, although none of us really know its there.
2 Large Onions
4 Cloves of Garlic
Olive Oil
Dried Oregano
Dried Basil
2 Bay Leaves
2 28 Ounce cans of Tuttorosso Crushed Tomatoes (with basil)

Tools:
Wooden Spoon
A Blender
4 Qt Pot and Lid


The process takes at least 3 hours, it can be rushed if need be, but "your patience will be rewarded."


Add about 1 tbsp of oil to the 4qt pan and place on a medium low flame. Using a sharp knife, remove the skin from the salt pork and discard. Dice the remaining piece of pork into a medium dice. The dice should be about the size of your pinky nail. Add to the warmed pot and begin rendering out the fat. Cut a large dice on the onions and add them to the pot as well as a pinch of salt.

Stir this every ten or so minutes just to make sure the bacon does not stick and burn to the pan. What you want to do is cook this down until the majority of the fat is rendered from the salt pork and the onions are dark brown and literally falling apart to mush. Usually between 45 -60 minutes on low heat, depending on your burner.

Take this mixture and put it in the blender and let it go until it is mush. It may need a little thinning so the blender does not bind, do that with some olive oil if need be.

Put the blended mixture into the pot and turn the heat up to medium. Finely dice the garlic and add it to the pan. The white garlic will stand out against the dark brown mixture, cook it until the garlic is very fragrant and it begins become more closely colored to the meat mixture. Once the garlic is a nice brown shade add 1 tbsp of each of the spices and the 2 bay leaves. Cook for about 2-3 minutes and then stir in the crushed tomatoes. Make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any browned bits and stir the sauce well to incorporate the seasoning. Lower the heat to low, or simmer, and let it go. Stir every 20 minutes or longer, it all depends on your burner and the quality of your sauce pan. You do not want to scorch the tomatoes. They contain some sugar which can burn pretty easily and if you mix that into your sauce it will overwhelm a lot of flavors. After the sauce begins to bubble you want to start skimming the foam at the top in between stirs. It removes the impurities in the sauce and, in my opinion, makes it less acidic. (Now is when you can use the pot lid. Leave it cracked so moisture can come out of the pot and the sauce can thicken)

That's pretty much it. Taste the sauce every 30 minutes or so until it has the desired flavor and consistancy. The more you cook it, the less raw tomato flavor it will have.

It's pretty difficult to describe all of the details in such a forum so if you decide to make the sauce and have any questions just comment the blog or send an email. Catinella@gmail.com Good luck!

Meatballs! ("Spaghetti and"...sauce recipe coming soon)

In honor of my cousin Max staying with me from England the last week due to unexpected travel delays thanks to volcano Eyjafjallajokull (no, this is not a typo), we decided to give him some good old Italian/American meals. This is our best meatballs recipe, for your traditional spaghetti and meatballs dish. Dan's famous tomato sauce will be posted soon also.

What you will need:
Salt
Pepper
Mix of veal, pork, beef (1.75 - 2.00 pounds worth)
Fresh Parsley
Milk
Breadcrumbs (we use Jasons brand)
Eggs


How it works:
Place mixed meat in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper, 2 eggs, 2 tbsp of fresh parsley chopped fine, 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (homemade is obviously preferred), 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.
Dan says to grate onion for about ¼ cup into the mix also…
AND add more black pepper than you would expect.

Mix ingredients thoroughly with your hands, then form round meat balls to whatever size your heart desires. We then place them in mini-cupcake pans to keep their form while they bake in the oven for 30 mins on 375. After meatballs are nice and brown and cooked through, add them to your sauce (which you've made from scratch of course) and let simmer for 2+ hours. Voila!

A Boston's Breakfast

Can anyone think of a better way to start a day then Challah Stuffed French Toast with homemade whipped cream, chocolate chips, handmade sausage and salt cured bacon? I didn't think so.

The recipe is obviously multi faceted, but once you learn the basic ideas behind the meal it's pretty simple. (Like all things culinary)

Recipe

In my opinion Challah Bread is best suited for French Toast. It's a little chewey, sweet and usually the perfect size. The trick is to allow the bread to get a little stale. Either leave it out the night before or, if you don't feel like preplanning your meal 12 hours, just put your oven on the lowest setting and the let the bread sit inside till it dries out a little.

French Toast Dip I made about 8 slices and these are all estimates.
1/4 heavy cream
1/4 cup milk
1 Tsp Vanilla
2 Tsp of Sugar
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
2 Eggs
Pinch of Salt

Combine all the ingredients in a 9x9 baking pan (or whatever you have that works) with the exception of the eggs. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Add the eggs and whisk until combined. Take the bread and place it in the mixture letting it soak in to each side for about 10 seconds. Don't let the bread become so saturated it falls apart. Cook them on a griddle on medium heat or in a non stick pan at the same temperature. They will get nice and golden brown, crispy on the outside and soft and delicious on the inside.

Filling This was for 4 people.

6 Oz Room Temperature Cream Cheese
Heavy Cream or Milk
Pinch of salt
Vanilla
Cinnamon
Any other flavorings you want to use

This mix is all about texture. Placing it between two warm pieces of bread will obviously melt the filling so leave it a little thicker consistancy than you would expect. In a stand mixer whip the cream chease until soft and fluffy (about two minutes on high) Add the salt, vanilla and cinnamon to flavor. If there are any other liquid flavorings (orange juice, lemon juice etc) add them now. Then add the heavy cream or milk until the desired consistancy. Once complete you can fold in chocolate chips or fruit or anything your heart desires.

Whipped Cream

Heavy Cream
Confectioner's Sugar
Vanilla

Put heavy cream in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Mix on medium low until it begins to froth then increase it to the second highest setting. Once the cream begins to increase in size and is noticeably thicker stop the mixer, add the confectioner's sugar and vanilla and resume mixing. Mix until you begin to see stiff peaks. What's that you ask?

Place the whisk into the cream and pull straight out. Turn the whisk over paying attention to the tip of the whipped cream on the whisk. If the cone shapped tip keeps its shap it has stiff peaks. If the tip folds slightly downwards it is said to have soft peaks.

Sides
For the bacon and sausage we purchased Whole Foods own brand of meats. They were surprisingly cheap. For 8 slices of bacon and 8 sausage links it was somewhere around 5 dollars which is about the same as buying that packaged crap, and I don't use the term loosely.

To put it all together, spread the filling on top of a piece of cooked french toast, (we sprinkled some chocolate chips and strawberries inside) top with second piece of french toast and whipped cream. Add the delicious breakfast meats and serve. Yum.

My name is Chloe and I'm a Food-A-Holic.

We started this blog because we both find cooking food together to be rewarding in many aspects. As a therapist I know that creating something is an incredible release of tension and helps focus your energy in a positive direction, especially something delicious… especially if you can eat it afterwards. Cooking at home not only saves money (after you’ve built up a sizable pantry of spices and staples, not to mention the pots, pans and accessories you‘ll need, but we’ll save that for another entry) but also can strengthen your relationship with your other half, your kids, your friends, whomever. Cooking helps us stay sane in an insane world and will help you get to know each other on a deeper level. We feel it’s the best kind of couples therapy, or at least its the most fun.

Food has gotten a bad wrap. We’re too scared to over eat it, under eat it, or consume the myriad of chemicals it now contains. We’re here to help change that fear. We hope to convey our love for food and show how it can be a healthy obsession as we divulge our deepest, darkest & most delicious recipes. Following a few common sense rules and a little knowledge of where to shop and what to look for in ingredients, you can once again enjoy food without the guilt.

And now a confession:
Tonight, due to deadlines, busy schedules, extra-curricular activities, you name it… we didn’t actually cook (GASP!) However, I feel the need to share the café I frequent for take out, healthy smoothies or a quick snack from time to time. It also has a create-your-own meal station, and offers only fresh organic, free of artificial preservatives, additives, chemicals, dyes etc. ingredients & healthy portion sizes.
The place is FeelGoods Healthy Family Café. If you live in the St. James area like we do, you’ve probably heard of it. If you don’t, you can read about them and lust here: http://www.feelgoodscafe.com/
Become a fan on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/search/?flt=1&q=feelgoods&o=65&sid=55301566.880975884..1#!/pages/Saint-James-NY/FeelGoods-Cafe/102291173304?v=wall&ref=mf

Tonight I sampled their lean turkey and spinach lasagna, with a sweet potato pancake and a stuffed portobello mushroom as sides. I’ll do my best to either get the recipes, or challenge Dan to recreate them. Look out for that post!

Easter Breakfast

Message from Dan
Breakfast in general has to be one of my favorite meals to cook. With simple ingredients and very basic techniques you can put together a great breakfast. My favorite part is that it emphasises the freshness and quality of the ingredients. Recipes with only 2 or 3 ingredients will easily show poor quality ingredients, but don't be fooled. Good ingredients are no longer hard to find and are not at all too expensive. In fact, if most people knew exactly what to look for when purchasing fruits and vegetables you may not need to change your buying habits all that much.

This Easter morning, we decided to go a little overboard for the simple sake of overboardedness. Breakfast consisted of, (it's always homemade by the way) pancakes with strawberries, banana's and chocolate chips. Spiced homefries with sauteed onions, omelets with sauteed peppers and onions and sliced chicken (Left Overs) with cheddar cheese, bacon and coffee. It was incredibly delicious....and easy. Here's how.


Tools
Spatula
Griddle (preferably) A large non stick pan would suffice
Non-Stick 6 or 8 inch omelets pan (totally not necessary)
Box Grater
Sauce Pan

Pancake Recipe
Yields: 4 Large Pancakes (More than enough for 2 people eating like human beings)
1 1/2 Cups AP Flour
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt (Kosher Salt please)
1 Tablespoon White Sugar (Regular table sugar)
1 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
1 Egg
Vanilla Extract (to flavor - use sparingly)

Simply combine all the dry ingredients, (don't forget sugar is a wet ingredient) in a seperate bowl, combine the wet ingredients and whisk well. Add the wet to the dry and mix until smooth. This shouldn't take any longer than 10-15 seconds of stirring lightly. DO NOT OVERMIX or your pancakes will become heavy and dense.

Once combined let sit for 3-5 minutes. While the batter rests turn on your griddle to medium/medium low. If you put butter on the griddle and it browns quickly or smokes the griddle is way too hot. Lower the heat and let it cool before continuing. After the griddle is preheated, ladle the batter onto the griddle in desired sizes. Let cook for 1-2 minutes before placing fillings into the pancakes. We used strawberries (because they were fresh) bananas (because they were ripe and on sale) and chocolate chips (because they were in the pantry, and I mean come on? Banana's strawberries and chocolate chips...Duh). Let the pancakes cook until they are browned on one side and flip. Cook until cooked through and brown on both sides and remove them from heat. Serve them immediately or keep in a warmed oven (200 degrees or lower) until ready to eat.

Welcome to Our Blog

My girlfriend Chloe and I have been cooking on a regular basis for quite some time. We have decided to begin sharing the various recipes and experiences we have revolving around food.