Peppercorn-Encrusted Burgers

Sometimes I remember that I don't have a grill and I wish I did.

The other day I wanted hamburgers, and I had ground beef, so I went to the cast iron pan.  I also opened a window and turned on a fan (which may or may not be necessary depending on how many you make in a row!).  It tasted great, though.

Ingredients:

1.25 pounds of lean ground beef (or a little more or less, makes about 4 burgers)

1/2 - 3/4 tsp salt

Freshly ground black pepper

A few large dashes of worcestershire sauce

Buns

Toppings: Bacon, green onions, mayonnaise or ranch, etc...

 (this only looks like so much bacon because it is cut into pieces...really)

1. Mix ground beef with salt, a few grindings of black pepper, and worcestershire sauce.  Then form it into 4 patties, remember to make them larger in diameter than the buns, since they will shrink a lot when cooked. Then grind lots of pepper onto both sides of the patties and push it lightly so it sticks.  You can use a LOT of pepper here, to coat all the surfaces, as some will be lost on the pan.

2. Heat cast iron pan over high heat on the stove.  If you're worried about things sticking, add a very thin layer of oil to the pan.  (likely you won't need this since the fat cooks out of the burgers)

3.  Cook burgers about 4 minutes, then flip and cook another 4 for medium-well.  You'll probably do best to just check one for doneness since it depends on the heat of your stove and the thickness of the patties.

4. Toast buns, cook bacon, etc, and assemble!

Feta dip...on a pita...

I'd been eyeing How Sweet Eats' Creamy Feta Dip for quite some time, and one day I finally got it together to make it.

It was delicious, but I wanted it to be even more amazing.  I decided parsley was the missing element (and would probably be good chopped up small and added to the feta!).  Instead I did the following: spread thin layer of olive oil on a pita, add crazy feta, toss in oven for 5-10 min at 350 degress, sprinkle with parsley.  It would be great for a snack or as a party appetizer, cut into pieces!

Golabki

It's interesting to think about how many cultures have some sort of beef (often ground) in some shape or wrapping.  Italian spaghetti and meatballs, Greek grape leaves (dolmathes), Mexican tamales, stuffed peppers, and of course the Polish stuffed cabbage- golabki.

These reheat well, and will feed 2 people for days!

Ingredients:
1 head of green cabbage
1 onion, diced
3-4 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 T butter
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1 cup cooked white rice (room temp/cooled)
2-3 T chopped parsley
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dry thyme (leaves or ground)
freshly ground pepper
28 oz tomato sauce
28 oz peeled whole tomatoes, broken up with your hand or a knife

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1. Prepare the cabbage- remove the core with a knife.  Then in a pot, add about 2 inches of water and bring to a boil.  Steam the cabbage for 5 minutes or so, until outer leaves are starting to wilt.  Remove to a colander and rinse with cold water so they stop cooking.  Then remove the leaves; you'll use about 10.  You can also remove some of the tough, large vein of the leaf by cutting it parallel to the leaf.  (you don't cut the whole thing out, just strip off part of it so the leaf is more uniform thickness.
2. Next, melt the butter over medium-high heat and add the onions and garlic.  Cook until onions are translucent.  Set aside and let cool.
3. Prepare the filling- mix together the 2 meats, rice, parsley, eggs, thyme, and plenty of pepper.  Add the cooled onions and garlic, and stir to combine.
4. Add about half a cup (just eyeball it) of the meat mixture onto the base of a cabbage leaf, then fold over the sides and roll it up.  If the leaf has cracks, that's ok- the meat will hold its shape.  Continue until the meat mixture is gone.
5. Place a couple of the leftover cabbage leaves in the bottom of a dutch oven, then stack all the cabbage rolls.  Add the tomato sauce and the peeled tomatoes to cover the rolls.  Then cover the dutch oven and cook in the oven for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.  At that point remove and check if the centers are fully cooked.
6. Serve with mashed potatoes!

Pulled Pork (in the crock pot)

Well, hello blog.

"Learning" surgery has devoured every ounce of my energy and almost all of my free time.  I've been living off of things I made 3 weeks ago and put in the freezer for what I know would be busy weeks ahead.  Now that I think about it, I feel a little like a squirrel- hiding nuts to have later.  Or something.

So this weekend another en masse meal had to happen to feed us for the week.  Pulled pork in the crock pot it was.

Adapted from a recipe on this finance website (where it breaks down the cost of the recipe, because pork shoulder is relatively cheap).

Ingredients:
One 4-6 pound pork shoulder roast
Water
1-2 onions
6 cloves garlic
Dry BBQ seasoning
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 T chili powder
1-3 tsp cayenne pepper
1 T liquid smoke
Jar/bottle BBQ sauce of your favorite variety
Buns and Sriracha mayo (see below), for serving

(0. Optional: Rub dry BBQ seasoning generously over the pork and let sit, wrapped in cling wrap or covered somehow, in the fridge overnight.)
1. Cut the onion(s) into large chunks.  Slice garlic cloves in half.  Toss in bottom of slow cooker.
2.  Rub BBQ seasoning generously over pork if you didn't let it sit overnight with this.  Place entire roast in slow cooker.
3. Add bouillon cube (whole), chili powder, cayenne, and liquid smoke.  Then fill with water until meat is 3/4 covered.
4. Cook on low 2 hours, then high for 4 hours.  (Or you could do low for likely 8-10 hours; I didn't wake up early enough in the morning to accomplish this)
5. Pour off/drain all the liquid.  Discard the onions/garlic if you wish, or leave them if you're into that sort of thing.  Then use 2 forks to shred the meat.  It should pretty much fall apart when you touch it.  Discard any fat.
6. Put back in crock pot, on low, and add as much BBQ sauce as you would like.  Let it warm for 5-10 minutes, then serve on buns with sriracha mayo, additional BBQ sauce, and any other toppings you would like.

Sriracha Mayo (not really a recipe)
2 T mayonnaise (light will do)
1 tsp Sriracha (more to taste)

Mix, then use on sandwiches.

Croque Madame Breakfast Skillet

Happy New Year! (so I'm a few days late...current work hours have been crazy)

So this recipe breaks a few rules...it's not a sandwich like a typical croque madame, but it may be even better.  Everything is better with potatoes, right?  So I decided to skip the bread and add some hash browns.  In theory a croque madame should also involve some gruyere, but I went for a creamy mornay-like sauce.  This recipe is for one serving, but it would be easy to make in large quantities (and you could skip shredding potatoes and buy frozen hash browns to speed things along).

Ingredients:
1 potato, grated
1-2 T canola oil
ham (as much or as little as you like), cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 plus 1 T butter or oil
1/2 T flour
1 small clove of garlic, minced
1/2 C milk
1/4 C parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
nutmeg
egg

First, potatoes
1. Grate the potatoes using a box grater or food processor, then soak in water for 10-15 minutes.  Rinse, then use paper towels to dry really well.
2. Warm oil in a skillet on medium-high heat.
3. Fry potatoes in a single thin layer, covered, for 3-4 minutes or until browned.
4. Flip potatoes, uncover, and finish cooking the other side (another 3-4 minutes).
5. Remove to plate (if you aren't doing the sauce/egg simultaneously, consider putting plate in a 250-degree oven to keep warm)

While the potatoes are cooking, start the sauce
1. Melt butter over medium heat in a small saucepan, add the garlic at the same time as the butter
2. Once butter is completely melted, add flour and whisk together to form a roux.  Cook for a minute or so
3. Add milk and continue to whisk, a little bit at a time
4. Add salt, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg
5. Once milk is bubbly (a few minutes), add parmesan cheese, stir, and then remove from heat

Ham and egg
1. Warm pieces of ham in a skillet
2. Then remove ham, melt some butter or oil (about 1 T) in skillet over medium-high.  When hot, gently pour in egg
3. Cook for one minute, then flip and cook another 30 seconds, or longer if you desire your eggs more over-medium or over-hard.  Then don't accidentally break the yolk like I did.

Assemble!
Hashbrowns, then ham, then sauce, then egg!