Bacon cheeseburger meatballs

Yum! I served with my favorite salad, french fry salad. The dressing was a good dipping sauce for the meatballs but I found myself craving good old ketchup. I used the same seasonings/mix ins as the Juicy Lucy. However, I used 13 oz of beef and two slices of bacon, minced in food processor. I was debating if I should precook the bacon a little. I decided to treat the bacon like ground pork and stir the ground bacon into the meat. I cut small squares of cheddar to stuff inside. I made the meatballs pretty small, the size of my rounded mini cookie scoop. They baked in a 400 oven for about 10 minutes. I put them on a greased cooling rack in the oven so the heat could circulate.

http://easy.betterrecipes.com/inside-out-bacon-cheeseburger-meatballs.html

Spinach artichoke dip with alfredo sauce

I referred to recipes that used a mix of cream cheese and alfredo sauce. And of course, I made my own alfredo! Leftover alfredo went into Chicken Alfredo sandwiches. 🙂

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/alfredo-sauce-2/Detail.aspx

http://www.food.com/recipe/copycat-applebees-hot-artichoke-and-spinach-dip-111797

Vanilla bean ice cream

Perfect!

http://www.dishingthedivine.com/2011/07/25/best-ever-homemade-vanilla-ice-cream/

Strawberry balsamic pizza on sourdough crust

This pizza was kind of “out there.” I omitted the chicken and fresh strawberries. Instead of cilantro, I used chopped parsley and thyme for the topping. I did use the bacon and caramelized onions though! I used most of the cheeses in my fridge, which at this time included: mozzarella, gruyere, fontina, parmesan, and feta. I wasn’t a huge fan of the strawberry balsamic sriracha sauce. I love balsamic drizzles on pizzas though. I made a sourdough pizza crust that I found on King Arthur flour’s website. It uses unfed starter straight from the fridge. My total rising time was 4-5 hours in a warn kitchen. My second rise was only an hour. I made one half of the recipe and spread the dough into a 9×13 oiled baking sheet. The one hour rise time created a perfectly medium thick crust with good air pockets. It tasted great, and Jacob declared it the best crust ever. 🙂 He even liked the sauce/cheese/topping combo a lot and said he would request it again! Maybe fig jam instead as the sauce, and a balsamic drizzle on top? Hmm…

http://thecafesucrefarine.blogspot.com/2011/07/strawberry-balsamic-pizza-with-chicken.html

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sourdough-pizza-crust-recipe

Cajun mac and cheese

I combined a yummy cajun chicken alfredo recipe with my favorite way to cook mac and cheese. This made more than four servings. I made my own Cajun Seasoning from a recipe on All Recipes, but it was a little heavy on the salt. I used 2 oz cheddar, 2 oz fontina, and 1 oz parmesan.

• 6 0z pasta (I used a fun looking orichette)
• 1 link andouille sausage, uncooked, casings removed
• 1 cup sun dried tomatoes
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 2 chicken thighs, cooked and chopped
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup milk/cream mixed
• 5 oz cheese, plus a little for on top
• Cajun seasoning

Make the cheese sauce after cooking and crumbling the sausage in the pot. Check the seasoning and get a good consistency, then stir in sausage, chicken, sun dried tomatoes, green onions, and cajun seasoning, and pasta. Sprinkle cheese and/or buttered topping, then place under broiler for 2 ish minutes.

 

super-creamy stove top mac & cheese

Mac and cheese (finally!)

Creamy Cajun Linguini

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cajun-spice-seasoning-mix-in-a-jar/detail.aspx

Clam chowder

I mainly followed Thomas Keller’s recipe for Clam Chowder. I used a quick method for cleaning the clams, because I didn’t want to wait 8 hours. My plan was to fry some clam strips for garnish, but the amount of meat from 2 pounds of clams didn’t really leave enough to spare. Here are my ingredients/quantities. 

 

• 3 slices bacon
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 russet potato, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 10 peppercorns, 2 sprigs thyme, 1 bay leaf, 1 clove crushed garlic
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 2 cups seafood stock
• 1 cup clam juice
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup cream
• 2 tbsp butter 
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 lbs littleneck clams
• 3 tbsp green onions, chopped

http://justonecookbook.com/blog/recipes/thomas-keller’s-clam-chowder-giveaway-winners/

Chicken picatta burgers

My burger obsession continues! My goal is to turn simples dishes that I would probably never make at home into a burger. Today it was chicken picatta. I might increase the amount of bread crumbs or use dried next time. My burgers hold together great in the skillet but when cutting/biting pieces crumble off. The texture is inconsistent. Partly because I didn’t process/mix the chicken as much as I could. It’s important to put only one or two small pieces in the food processor at a time, or you are left with chicken chunks.

For the burger:

• 2 chicken thighs, bone and skin removed (It ended up being 13 oz I think)
• 1-2 tbsp lemon garlic chive mayo
• 1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs (I might increase or use dried, if I want the burgers to be a little firmer)
• 1 green onion, minced
• 1 tbsp capers
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 tsp salt and pepper, plus some for sides when cooking

For the mushrooms:

• 1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 splash white wine or dry sherry
• Fresh thyme

Lemon garlic chive mayo:

• 1 clove garlic
• 1 green onion, diced
• 1 tsp capers
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• Salt, pepper

For my sandwiches, I made a panini in the skillet at the same time as the burgers. I used small pieces of sourdough bread, buttered and salted. I filled with sautéed mushrooms, fontina cheese, the mayo, and capers. The burger took about 8 ish minutes to hit the 160s. I squeezed some lemon juice over the patties while cooking. When the panini and burger were done, I served patty melt style. 🙂

Chicken enchilada soup

I love soup. I’m addicted. I’ve made and eaten chicken tortilla soup a lot, and I like it, but sometimes it’s a little too broth-y. I loved loved loved the homemade enchilada sauce I made a long time ago, so I thought I could use that in a soup. Unfortunately, I made that sauce a long time ago and didn’t record which recipe I used. I’m almost positive it is the 10 minute enchilada sauce from All Recipes, but I forgot about that one until the sauce was already simmering. I followed a recipe from Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures instead. Still good! I also referenced a popular Cook’s Illustrated chicken enchilada recipe, that suggests adding a diced fresh tomato in the homemade enchilada sauce. That recipe is at the bottom.

http://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com/2009/04/homemade-enchilada-sauce.html

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/ten-minute-enchilada-sauce/

Once the sauce simmered, I had to let it cool before blending it. So I started the base of the soup.

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, diced (I probably only used 3/4 of the onion)
• 1 jalapeño, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• Chili powder, cumin, mexican oregano (in descending order of amounts used)
• Pinch of sugar
• 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes (without garlic, that flavor is funny)
• 1 batch enchilada sauce from one 15 oz can
• 2 cups chicken stock + 1 cup water
• 2 bone in chicken thighs, marinated in spices/lime juice/white vinegar + marinade

I simmered the soup until the chicken was done. Another option would be to slow cook the soup for 6 or so hours so the chicken will shred nicely.

I then cooled the soup and transferred it to the fridge overnight. On day two, I removed the chicken and brought the soup to a boil. Then, I combined 1/3 cornmeal and a few spoonfuls of hot soup in a small bowl. Once the cornmeal was wet and mushy, I added it to the soup to thicken and flavor it. I then simmered the soup for a good 45 minutes to an hour. I then added

• 2/3 cup ish frozen corn
• 1/2 can black beans
• 1 poblano pepper, roasted, skin peeled, and diced

15 or so minutes later, I added diced chicken and maybe 2 tbsp of cream. I then seasoned to taste and dug in! This soup should be served with queso fresco, green onions,  and lime juice.

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/12/crock-pot-chicken-enchilada-soup.html

http://annies-eats.com/2010/02/15/chicken-enchiladas/

Chocolate frozen yogurt, samoa style

I needed to use up greek yogurt because it’s expiration date was looming. So I found a great frozen yogurt recipe! It only uses milk, not cream, but I think I used a splash of cream anyway. I made half of the recipe and during the last few minutes of churning, I added shredded sweetened coconut, salted caramel sauce, and chopped samoa cookies. It made a delicious dessert, but I will admit, it was a little too tangy. It could have been because I used Greek yogurt instead of plain. But next time I don’t think I will do a 1:1 ratio of milk:yogurt. Maybe a little less yogurt next time. I like that this is a few less calories than straight up ice cream. Well, I think it is. I didn’t actually do the calculations.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2008/07/chocolate-frozen-yogurt-recipe.html

Update 4/12: I tried making chocolate frozen yogurt again, but I ran into some problems. I made a full batch, combining the serious eats recipe and a recipe from Handle the Heat. Here is what went into my ice cream:

• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3 oz bittersweet chocolate

Half of the yogurt was for smokes frozen yogurt. I toasted some mini marshmallows and stirred them in, but they got crunch and had a weird texture. Regular marshmallows also went in, and only slightly froze. Definitely would go with non toasted. I also stirred in crushed graham crackers, which weren’t necessarily crunchy but they did maintain a good texture and didn’t turn to gross mush. I also had a pack of chocolate coated graham cracker bites, which were perfect in the frozen yogurt.

The other half was samoa frozen yogurt again. I didn’t add the caramel because I figured I would save it for on top.

The yogurt unfortunately came out icy and a little grainy. I was very disappointed. Possible reasons:

• Combining two recipes and techniques – need to stick to one. The serious eats one was great except for too much yogurt taste. Stick to 1:1 ratio and use regular yogurt. The thin mint ice cream base was awesome, maybe I can find a yogurt version. It didn’t have eggs I think.
• Overcooking the eggs. Custards only need to go to 170, mine was closer to 190…
• Overchurning. When it looks thicker and like ice cream, stop. It doesn’t benefit the ice cream to leave it going a few extra minutes.

Seared scallops with lemon caper sauce, sun choke puree

This meal came to be because I had leftover capers, I love seafood, and scallops were “on sale.” Those suckers are pricy! But Jacob and I figured this meal in a restaurant would cost $60, but to make at home it cost maybe $18. We got six U-10 scallops. Sunchokes are interesting, they are actually called Jerusalem artichokes, and they have a similar texture to a potato. They were kind of odd tasting. It worked as a complete dish, and I’m glad I tried something new, but I probably wouldn’t buy them again. I boiled the sun chokes water flavored with lemon zest, onion, and garlic. The sauce and scallops were awesome. I used a meyer lemon, which is a cool flavor. Last time I made scallops, I salted them too early and the moisture was drawn out. This made it impossible to caramelize them. This time, I waited until the pan was hot and I was ready to sauté before seasoning with salt, pepper, and sugar. Yes sugar!

http://californiacountry.org/recipes/recipes.aspx?rID=433

http://honestcooking.com/2011/03/07/pan-seared-scallops-with-sunchoke-puree-and-capers-sauce/