Cheeseburger on Ciabatta Roll & Fries

If you live in the North-land and have crazy Spring Fever -- 44 degrees is warm enough to get ya out to the grill again! Brrr! Well, here's our fab recipe for delicious burgers - Weber-inspired - & some great accompanying fries.

Burgers:
1.5 lbs ground chuck (80-85% lean)
1 TBSP ketchup
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 Worcester sauce
1/2 tsp Louisiana hot sauce
1/4 tsp pepper
4 slices American cheddar
4 Ciabatta rolls, sliced
4 tomato slices
4 lettuce leaves
4 onion rings

1. In medium bowl, using your hands, gently combine ground chuck with ketchup, basil, thyme, salt, Worcestershire, hot sauce, pepper. Shape into 4 patties.
2. Grill over Direct High Heat until medium, 8-10 mins, turning once. During last minute of grilling, place a single slice of cheese on each patty to melt and grill Ciabatta rolls, cut side down, until toasted. Assemble burgers w/ lettuce, tomato, ketchup. Serve warm.

Fries
1-2 Russet potatoes, sliced into desired length/width of fries
Salt and pepper OR Tony Chachere's

Soak fries in water for at least 30 mins in refrigerator. Heat fryer or skillet with peanut oil to 325 degrees. Fry the potatoes for 4 minutes until pale blonde. Drain; put in lined bowl w/ paper towels. Increase temp of oil to 375 degrees. Fry potatoes again 3-4 mins. Remove from heat, drain - pat w/ paper towels. Season w/ salt/pepper or Tony Chachere's. mmmmm

Pan Seared Filet Mignon w/ Brandy and Blue Cheese

This one is good enough for a New Year's Eve meal. Surprisingly, it's a pan-seared steak. One of our top 10 (maybe top 5) recipes all-time. Use the same amounts of everything even if you only make 2. The sauce is good. Easy. Enjoy!!

2 TBSP butter
4 filet mignon steaks, 1/2 inch thick
Salt
2-3 tsp cracked black peppercorns
1 c beef broth
1/2 cup brandy/cognac
1 c crumbled blue cheese

In a large skillet, heat the butter. Season the steaks w/ salt & pepper firmly onto both sides. Add the steaks to the skillet and cook over medium-high heat until nicely browned on the outside and cooked to the desired degree of doneness within, about 3 mins per side for medium-rare. Transfer the steaks to a plate, leaving the drippings in the pan.
Add the broth and brandy to the skillet, raise the heat to high, and boil, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until the sauce is syrupy and reduced to about 2/3 cup, 3-5 mins.
Spoon the sauce over the meat, top each steak with the crumbled blue cheese, and serve.

Great with mashed potatoes, bread, salad as sides. Can even make blue cheese mashed potatoes if you want. A nice Cab Sav or Merlot compliments it well also :-)

Irish Beef Stew

We're getting into soups/stews now that we are experiencing a winter in the north-land :-) Keith actually found this recipe online. The Guinness & wine combine w/ other seasonings to give it a nice & complex flavor; my new fav stew. Be generous with the salt, in my opinion. Check it out:

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/4 pounds well-marbled chuck beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces (NOT extra-lean)
• 6 large garlic cloves, minced
• 6 cups beef broth
• I cup of Guinness beer
• 1 cup of fine red wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 7 cups)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled carrots
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Method

1 Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Lightly salt the beef pieces. Working in batches if necessary, add the beef (do not crowd the pan, or the meat will steam and not brown) and cook, without stirring, until nicely browned on one side, then use tongs to turn the pieces over. Continue to cook in this manner until all sides are browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add beef stock, Guinness, red wine, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

2 While the meat and stock is simmering, melt butter in another large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion and carrots. Sauté vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes. Set aside until the beef stew in step one has simmered for one hour.

3 Add vegetables to beef stew. Simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are very tender, about 40 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Tilt pan and spoon off fat. Transfer stew to serving bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. (Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before serving.)

Serves 4 to 6.

Super Easy Veggie Chili

This recipe was given to me by a friend years ago, and I finally made it when my sister was a vegetarian & visiting me. It is cheap, simple, pretty (it's quite colorful), and good. Of course, as with all chili, it's better after it sits in the fridge a few days. Enjoy!

1 TBSP vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped bell pepper (mix of yellow and green)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBSP brown sugar
1.5 TBSP chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 16oz cans stewed tomatoes, undrained
2 15oz cans black beans, rinsed & drained (I like Goya or Bush's best)
1 15oz can kidney beans, rinsed & drained
1 15oz can pinto beans, rinsed & drained

Heat oil in dutch oven over med-hi. Add onion, peppers, garlic; saute 5 mins or until tender. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat & simmer 30 mins. Serves 8. This will be my healthy lunch this week as I prepare to pig out for Thanksgiving :-)

Shrimp w/ Tomato Sauce and Feta

Made this instead of my normal shrimp scampi due to being inspired by Darwell Yeager :-)

Shrimp - enough for 2; if you live north, you might have to buy them frozen if you don't want to spend a ridiculous amount of money. Buy the raw, frozen ones, defrost, and peel.
Basil
Oregano
Olive Oil
Feta
Tomatoes - 1-2
Farfalle pasta
3 cloves garlic - minced

Drizzle some olive oil in a frying pan. Once oil gets hot, add shrimp & garlic. Cook about 3 mins, turning the shrimp halfway through. Remove shrimp from pan. Add a little more olive oil and 1-2 tomatoes, diced. (I like the vine ones or get the freshest ones you can find.) Cook over medium and sprinkle oregano & basil to taste. Cook this about 10 mins while you cook the pasta to al dente for 8-10 mins. Add everything together once pasta is cooked and drained, and sprinkle plenty of feta on top. Garlic bread and salad are nice compliments. Easy, quick, delicious meal! You could add crushed red pepper to add some spice if you want. Enjoy :-)

Chicken Marsala w/ Prosciutto

This is my classic standby meal - good for company or a weekend evening. It all started b/c I screwed up chicken marsala so bad that Keith told me I should never cook it again. Well, being the competitive person I am - of course - I transformed my "worst" meal into my best! I recommend serving it with some garlic bread and salad or make a simple penne drizzled with olive oil and parmesan cheese.

CHICKEN MARSALA

4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts
all-purpose flour
salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 package prosciutto (3-4 oz)
8 oz (1 package) mushrooms - crimini or porcini, stemmed and halved
1/2 c marsala wine
1/2 c chicken stock
2 TBSP unsalted butter

Either buy thin chicken breasts or put parchment paper over the chicken breasts and pound flat to 1/4 inch thickness with a meat mallet. Put the flour in a shallow pan; add salt and pepper and stir. Heat the oil over medium-high in a large skillet. When the oil is hot, dredge both sides of the chicken breasts and add to the oil. Cook for 3-5 mins on each side until golden. Only turn once. Remove chicken to a large platter in a single layer to keep warm.
Lower heat to medium & add the prosciutto to the drippings in the pan. Saute for a minute to render out some of the fat. Add mushrooms; saute til brown and moisture has evaporated -- about 5 mins. Season w/ salt and pepper. Pour marsala into pan & cook for a minute or so. Add chicken stock and simmer for a minute to reduce the sauce slightly. Stir in the butter and return the chicken to the pan; simmer gently for a minute or so to heat the chicken through. That's it. Serve the chicken, ladling the gravy on top. Delicioso!