My Cooking Adventures

I made burgers last night, and oh-my-oh-my they were so good! I used the recipe found here, Really Good Burgers. My old neighbor & I invented this recipe ourselves one night, just throwing things into a bowl. I have to say, it is super yummy!

Source: me!

Ingredients:

1-2 lbs ground beef
1 cup bbq sauce
1 tsp Tony C's seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic salt
2 slices of bread, torn in pieces

Directions:

1. Place a grill pan on the stove, and turn on medium high heat. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.

2. With clean hands, mix all ingredients above in a large bowl.*

3. Patty out round burgers; using 3 fingers, carefully and lightly push in the middle of the burgers to create a well. [This will help the burgers to plump up when cooking - tip courtesy of Bobby Flay from his Throwdown episode with Green Chili Burgers!]

4. Place burgers, flat side down first, onto the grill pan. Cook for approximately 5 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Be careful when flipping burgers - use a spatula - the burgers will be very moist and juicy and can easily fall apart if not handled with care. Top with cheese of choice during last 2 minutes of cooking if desired.

5. When done, place on a plate with paper towels to soak any excess grease. Serve & enjoy!

*Cooking Tip: Use hands to mix instead of a spoon or tools. This will ensure that all ingredients are completely mixed in, and all the burgers get the complete flavor intensity. Just be sure to wash, wash, wash! Sanitation is key to great cooking!

Being that I am now jobless, I spend a lot more time baking, or at least thinking about baking. I went to the bookstore about a week ago, just to waste time. I browsed the cooking section [shocker] and came upon a book titled "The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread." Well, being that I am a sucker for anything with my name in the title, I had to take a peek. It turned out to be a collection of recipes from a bakery in New York City, called Amy's Bread. I found a few recipes that looked like things I could easily do, plus I loved that the book gave you a history of each recipe, and a tutorial at the beginning of each chapter or section. This recipe is from that cookbook, and it has such a great story.

"Amy tried half a dozen recipes for double chocolate chip cookies, but none of them quite matched the cookie she had in her imagination. So she took the best qualities from each of her tests and finally came up with this winner. Not too sweet, crunchy on the edges, moist and chewy in the middle - this cookie fills your mouth with the flavor of deep dark chocolate, melted butter, and a hint of toasted pecans from the first bite...Sadly, we no longer sell double chocolate chip cookies in our cafes. Their delicate texture made them too fragile to transport to our other retail locations safely, so a lot of them were broken when they arrived."
--from the recipe for Double Chocolate Chip Cookies, "The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread"


Ingredients:
1 5/8 cups Unbleached all purpose flour
3/8 cup cocoa powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp Kosher salt
2 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup pecans, toasted, chopped

Directions:

1. Position one rack in the top third of the oven, one rack in the bottom third of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the cookies sheets with baking parchment.
2. In a bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk together.
3. In a glass bowl, melt 1 1/2 cups of the chocolate chip in a microwave oven at 50% power for 3 mins. Stir them to make them smooth, then set aside to cool.
4. In another bowl, using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl frequently. Pour in the melted chocolate and continue mixing until the mixture is uniform in color. The chocolate should be pourable but not hot, or the butter will melt. Gradually add the eggs and the vanilla, mixing until everything is well combined.
5. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in stages. Mix only until everything is well combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl frequently. There should not be any pockets of dry flour left in the dough. Add the remaining chocolate chips and the pecans and continue mixing at low speed until the chips and nuts are evenly distributed. Chill the dough in the refrigerator until it is firm but not hard.
6. Using a large soup spoon, a metal ice cream scoop, or your clean hands moistened with water, scoop out big balls of dough, placing 6 balls on each prepared cookie sheet. Each ball of dough should weigh approximately 90 g/3.17 oz each. If you don't have a scale, use a scant 1/2 cup to estimate the size. The dough balls should be about 2 1/4 inches in diameter. Press each ball very lightly on the top, just to level the top of the ball. Do not flatten the ball. Bake the cookies for about 18-20 minutes, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through the baking time. These cookies will spread a lot during baking. They should be just set when done.
7. Cool the cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes, then move them to a rack and cool completely before serving.
   

Newsflash: So I recently left my job. Which hopefully means, for readers of this blog, that I will have more time to cook & bake. Yay! Last night, I made dinner for two. It felt great to be back in the kitchen, really putting my all into the food. I love the smell of fresh herbs, like thyme and rosemary, especially when chopping them up, as the aromas are released. Shallots + garlic sauteing in the pan with olive oil create such a distinct smell as well, anyone around knows there's something delicious about to come. I hope to start back with cooking on a regular basis, and sharing in my adventures like I used to. Especially now that I've come such a long way from before!

Pork Tenderloin Diane
adapted from allrecipes.com

1 whole pork tenderloin, cut into 8 pieces crosswise
2 tsp lemon pepper
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp Worcerstershire sauce
3 tsp mustard (Dijon or regular)
1 tbsp minced parsley

Place each piece of tenderloin between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Flatten slightly with heel of hand. Sprinkle surfaces of pork with lemon pepper.

Heat butter in heavy nonstick skillet; brown pork evenly, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove to serving platter, keep warm.

Add lemon juice, Worcerstershire sauce, and mustard to skillet. Cook, stirring with pan juices, until heated through. Add pork back to pan, and let simmer for about 5-7 more minutes, turning pork over half-way through. You can either add parsley to the pan, or sprinkle on medallions after removing from pan. Remove medallions from pan, pour sauce over medallions, and serve.


Herbed New Potatoes
adapted from the Bon Appetit cookbook by Barbara Fairchild

1 pkg Organic red potatoes, scrubbed, quartered
2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 clove shallot, minced
Assorted chopped fresh herbs (I just used rosemary)
Salt + pepper to taste

Steam potatoes until tender, about 10 minutes.

Heat oil in large skillet over med high heat. Add garlic and shallots, and stir 30 seconds. Add potatoes and herbs; sprinkle lightly with salt & pepper. Saute until potatoes are heated through and golden, about 8 minutes. Season to taste with more salt & pepper, if desired. Transfer to bowl and serve.

Tonight's meal was enjoyed with a bottle of Yellowtail Shiraz.

This is so easy to make, yet so delicious. I got this recipe from Giada's Easy Italian recipe book (I made a few adaptations). I made it with a side of mashed potatoes.



Pork Milanese

2 pork loin chops, bone in (trimmed before pounding & cooking)
1/3 cup flour
2 large eggs, beaten to blend
1 1/4 cups plain Panko Japanese bread crumbs
2/3 cups shredded Italian cheese blend
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp butter
1/3 cup oil (olive oil, veg oil, safflower oil, etc.)

Place the flour in a wide, shallow bowl. Place the eggs in another wide, shallow bowl. Mix the bread crumbs, cheese, basil and thyme in a third wide, shallow bowl.

Using a meat mallot, pound the pork chops on the work surface until they are 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle the pork chops with 1 tsp each of salt and pepper. Working with one pork chop at a time, dredge the chops in the flour to coat lightly, then dip the chops into the beaten eggs, allowing the excess egg to drip off. Finally, coat the pork chops with the bread crumb mixture, pressing gently to adhere. Set the pork chops in a single layer on a baking sheet.

In a large, heavy saute pan with high sides, melt the butter in the oil over medium heat until hot. Carefully place the pork chops in the oil mixture and cook until light golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the chops to a plate and sprinkle with more salt to taste.

What's great about this recipe is the leftovers make for a great sandwich the next day! Giada even has a recipe in her book for a Milanese sandwich! It has avocado, arugula leaves...it looks so yummy!

My sister & I cooked this the other night for us, our brother, and her fiance. Ok, she actually did most the cooking. But I'll admit it turned out delicious!



Shrimp Stir Fry

As you can tell, I haven't been up to date with my cooking. Not to say I haven't cooked, I just haven't cooked anything new. Two nights ago I made my chicken casserole, this past weekend I baked chocolate chip cookies, a couple weeks ago I made my Beer Bread, boring stuff like that.

I'm finally working from home more and traveling less, so I actually have time to cook! I'm planning to bake this weekend, probably some Blondies.

I did make pancakes from scratch Saturday. Nothing fancy, just some plain homemade pancakes! I like making those from scratch because they are fluffier and much tastier. It's so easy too! Hopefully soon I'll have something to post about, something new!

Until then, enjoy some of my favorites:
Spinach & Artichoke Dip
Hot Dip
Gourmet Mint Brownies
Beer Braised Pork Chops

Happy Cooking!

I've been working really long hours lately, since tax season has ended. Since I work with accounting firms, once they're busy season is over, my busy season starts. So starting last week, I started working my round of 10-12 hour days, while my clients were taking vacation, going golfing, and so on. So basically, my meals have consisted of quick pasta & spaghetti sauce, ham sandwiches, or McDonalds. Or, the more common, lunch & dinner meetings with clients. Tonight, however, I made a point to actually remove myself from my chair, and go into the kitchen and cook. I had thawed out a couple swordfish steaks from Whole Foods last night, so I pulled those out, and on the package there was a great recipe that I decided to try. As you would have guess, I tweaked it, and I'll make sure to let you know what I did different so you can try your own version. For a side, I just had a mixed greens salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing, walnuts & italian blend cheese.

Swordfish With a Balsamic Butter Sauce

1 package Swordfish Steaks, thawed (mine came from Whole Foods, branded Whole Catch)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp honey
1 tsp mustard*

Simmer butter until melted in medium saucepan until deep golden brown. Remove from heat. Whisk in balsamic vinegar, honey, and mustard.

Brush swordfish steaks with olive oil, season with salt & pepper to taste. Heat heavy large skillet over med/high heat. Add swordfish steaks. Saute just until opaque in the center about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to plates.

Whisk sauce over low heat to re-warm and spoon over steaks.

*Recipe calls for Dijon mustard; I used regular. Also, recipe calls for 1Tbsp capers, and chopped fresh tomatoes, to be added after spooning sauce over the steaks.