Nacho Burgers

March 20, 2013 by 5 Comments

Oozy nacho cheese sauce, jalapenos, and salsa. Need I say more? What if I put it on top of juicy burger and between two fresh, buttered, brioche hamburger buns? Did you drool a little? Because I did when I first saw this burger on the cover of Food & Wine. This burger is the sort of thing my dreams are made of.

After drooling over the photo on the cover of the magazine for almost a year, I finally made it for myself this weekend. I have to say, it was just as delicious as I thought it would be. Of course I did make a few small changes. First, the tomatoes at my grocer looked really pathetic, so rather than making my own salsa I bought some of the good pre-made stuff  from the refrigerated section (the kind in the plastic tub with flecks of real fresh cilantro and onions). I also added a dash of Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce (Cholula) to the burger meat.  Mmmm!

Nacho Burgers

Ingredients
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
2 Tbsp fresh grated Parmesan cheese or Pecorino cheese
salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1-2 tsp hot sauce
1-2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper

4 hamburger buns, salsa, jarred jalapenos, and blue corn chips for assembly

Directions
In a small saucepan over medium heat melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and cook for 30 seconds. Slowly pour in the milk while whisking. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and thickened, whisking continuously. Add the shredded Monterey Jack in several increments, allowing each to fully melt before adding the next, until it has all melted. Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool and thicken.

Prepare a grill or preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat. While the grill or grill pan is heating, mix together the ground beef, hot sauce, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper. Divide meat into four and form patties. Lightly brush with oil. Grill for about 4 minutes then flip and grill for another 4 minutes. While the patties are finishing toast the inside of the buns.

To assemble, place burgers on toasted buns and then top with cheese sauce, salsa, jalapenos, and crushed blue corn chips.

Source: Food & Wine Magazine, January 2012

What else can you put between delicious homemade brioche buns?

BBQ Turkey Burgers
Homemade Sloppy Joes
Shredded BBQ Chicken
 

Filed Under: Beef, Grill, Main Course, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Chunky Beef Stew

January 15, 2013 by 7 Comments

I know that I am not going to get any sympathy from northern blog readers, but it’s been darn right cold in San Diego. It’s actually even been raining quite a bit. But to be perfectly honest, I kind of like it. There is something kind of nice about staying in to avoid the cold, wet weather and making the inside of my house warm and comforting. It also gives me a great excuse to break out one of my favorite cookbooks –  The Ski House Cookbook. Yeah I know, 50 degrees outside (it feels colder with the ocean breeze!) isn’t exactly snow ski weather, but it’s as close as I’ll get in San Diego!

This beef stew is a recipe that I have come back to every year since my aunt gave me this cookbook. One thing that sets it apart is the cooking of the vegetables and stew separately but at the same time. This helps to avoid mushy vegetables or having to keep an eye on the clock to add the vegetables at just the right time to cook them without overcooking them. You’re going to want a fork AND a spoon for this stew so you don’t miss any of the chunky vegetables/meat or delicious gravy.

 

Chunky Beef Stew

Ingredients
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
salt & fresh ground pepper
4 lbs beef chuck, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1 yellow onion, diced into 1-inch chunks
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
2 Tbsp white whole wheat flour*
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 (16-ounce) can low-sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves
2 lbs red or gold potatoes, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
3-4 large carrots, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dry)
1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped (or 1/2 tsp dry)
1 cup frozen peas, thawed

*All-purpose is also OK, I just like the nuttiness the whole wheat adds. 

Directions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Adjust racks to make room for a large dutch oven or covered pot.

In a large dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat the vegetable oil. Season the beef cubes with salt and pepper. Add the beef in 3-4 batches (avoid crowding the pot) cooking each batch for 5-8 minutes, or until meat is dark golden brown . After each batch, place the browned beef on a plate.

After the last batch has been removed, add the onions to the pot. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the edges of the onions start to brown. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste, flour, and soy sauce. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the broth, using a wooden spatula to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom/sides of the pot.

Return the beef to the pot and add the bay leaves. Bring the liquid to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and place in the oven. Set a timer for 6 hours.

Once the beef is in the oven, add the chopped vegetables to baking dish with a lid. Toss with olive oil, thyme, and rosemary. Put the lid on the baking dish and place in the oven.

After six hours, remove the pot and dish from the oven. Discard the bay leaves and stir peas into the stew. Divide the vegetables among bowls and ladle the stew over the vegetables. *Serve hot with fresh biscuits.

*I actually increased the heat to 400 when there was 15 minutes of roasting left. Then I removed the pot and dish and set aside for 15-20 minutes while I baked my biscuits. The meat and vegetables stayed plenty hot during that time.

Very slightly adapted from The Ski House Cookbook

 

Filed Under: Beef, Main Course Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Best Fajita Marinade

September 27, 2012 by 8 Comments

Whew!! It’s been a busy couple of weeks. As I mentioned in my last post, my in-laws flew all the way from Ohio to visit us here in China. Never having been to China (as I think is the case for most Americans!), they wanted to do lots of sightseeing. During their 2 week visit we did a lot of traveling. First we flew to Hong Kong, where we walked Nathan Road, road to the top of the peak, shopped till we dropped at the Ladies Market in Mongkok, and just generally wore out the bottoms of our shoes. After Hong Kong we had just 2 days of rest in Suzhou before hopping on a high-speed train to Beijing. In Beijing we climbed the Great Wall, walked in THE Water Cube, toured the Forbidden City, walked Tiananmen Square, and, of course, ate the most delicious noodles ever!

By the time we got back to Suzhou we had just enough time to squeeze in one last bit of excitement – by riding the scooters to Guanqian during rush hour. If you know Suzhou, you know how crazy that is! Needless to say, I’m exhausted! I *almost* didn’t even have the energy to write this post, but I had to because I couldn’t wait any longer to share this recipe!

I first made this marinade last month and I was blown away by the flavor! My search for the best fajita marinade is now over. This keeps the meat (chicken or steak)  juicy and provides just the right amount of heat and citrus. The key/secret to this marinade is the zest. Donna, from Apron Springs, wrote up a great post about it so if you’re interested in reading about why she chose zest over juice, check it out!

 

Best Fajita Marinade

Ingredients
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Zest from one lime (~2 tsp)
1/4 red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions
Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Pour into a Ziploc bag* with 1 1/2-2 pounds of the meat of your choice. Let stand for at least one hour, or as long as overnight, occasionally squeezing and turning bag to evenly distribute marinade.

Remove the meat from the bag and wipe off any excess marinade.

Cook using your preferred method (I have been cooking mine in a skillet because we do not have a grill, but grill is really ideal). Allow meat to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with bell peppers, onions, tortillas, sour cream, salsa… any of your favorite fajita fixins!

*I reserved 1 tablespoon of the marinade and tossed with bell peppers and onions before cooking.

Source: Apron Strings

Here are a few more great marinade/sauce ideas to add variety to your chicken/fish/beef!
Southwest Marinade
Lemon Greek Chicken
Grilled Marinated Mahi Mahi

Filed Under: Beef, Chicken, Grill, Main Course, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Barbacoa Beef for Burrito Bowls

July 21, 2012 by 7 Comments

I love parties, I love to cook, I love to make cakes, and I love to entertain, so when one of our friends had a birthday recently, it only felt right to throw a party for her! I knew right away that I wanted to make some kind of Western foods. Something new and different for the birthday girl. Thinking about how much she likes spicy food, Mexican food came to mind. I’ve been absolutely CRAVING Chipotle recently, so I’m not surprised that’s where my mind went. 🙂

With Chipotle on the brain, I came up with party menu plan. Being a little nervous about how my guests react to Mexican food, I thought a buffet style meal would be a safe way to go. That way everyone could take as little or as much of each food as they wanted, and everyone could build their own burrito bowls. I am happy to say the party was a success and the guests devoured the food!

For the bowls I made cilantro-lime rice, black beans, barbacoa beef, and pico de gallo. And because no bowl would be complete without it, I also had freshly grated cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Keep an eye out because next week I’ll be sharing the cake that I made for the party! It’s a pretty one!

 

Barbacoa Beef 

Ingredients

3 lbs beef eye of round or bottom round roast, most of the fat trimmed*
5 cloves garlic
1/2 medium onion, cut into chunks
1/2 lime, juice
2-4 chipotles in adobo sauce**
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground oregano
1/2 tsp ground cloves
salt and pepper
3 bay leaves
1 Tbsp oil
1 cup water

*Skinny Taste called for removing all of the fat, but what’s the fun in that? 😉 I left a little of the fat and I think it helped to maintain the moisture in the beef and make it tastier. 
**Use less for less heat/spice and more for more heat/spice. I used 3 and probably could have handled the heat of 4. 
 
Directions
Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Add, garlic, onion,  lime juice, chipotles, cumin, oregano, and cloves to the bowl of a food processor or blender. Process until liquified.

Heat oil in a dutch oven over high-heat. Cut beef into 4 large chunks and season with salt and pepper. Add the chunks to the dutch oven and brown each side. Add the liquified seasonings, bay leaves, and water. Put a lid on the dutch oven and cook in the oven for 4-5 hours, or until the meat easily shreds.

Discard the bay leaf and shred the beef in the dutch oven. Taste and add additional seasoning if necessary. Place the dutch oven over medium heat and cook at a low simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve with cilantro-lime rice, black beans, pico de gallo, cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips and lime wedges.

Slightly adapted from Skinny Taste

 

 

Filed Under: Beef, Dinner, Mexican Tagged With: , , , , , ,