Almost Hatch Burgers

For some reason we launched into a conversation about Hatch Peppers this week. The Food Lion is not known for carrying them, but we decided to give it a shot with what we had. This is our Hatch-ish Turkey Burger. And it turned out great. We seared two Cubennela peppers in avocado oil and then added some thin sliced Vidalia onions. These were set aside. The plan was to do this on our flattop grill, but we had a storm moving through, so everything here is on a single cast iron skillet. We sweated down some onions, then added some garden fresh basil and then some minced garlic. This was set aside to cool. Meanwhile we mixed some yogurt with some mustard, hot sauce and ketchup to make a quick sauce. In a bowl we mixed a pound of ground turkey with a teaspoon of...

Dijon Chicken made with a homemade Dijon Mustard

First, buy some Black Mustard seeds. Soak them overnight. Drain. Put them in a mortal and pastel an break down the husks. Allow about 20 minutes of this. Then add a tablespoon of white wine vinegar, one of white whine and one of apple cider vinegar. Add about a tablespoon of mustard powder and a bit of salt. To bring down the bitterness, put in about 1 tsp of agave. Continue to grind/blend. Put this in a sieve and press down for a fine Dijon. Set this aside. A day or two would be fine for most uses, but since we’re cooking with it, just give it a few hours. In a skillet, melt a couple tablespoons of butter and bring to heat. Pound down 3 chicken breasts. Add to the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Add about 1/4 cup of white wine. Flip after a few...

Five Guys burger and fries

I had the hankering for a Five Guys burger today. The restaurant was founded in Alexandria VA back in the late 80’s and I enjoyed my first one in the 2010’s in Merritt Island Florida. The last one I had was a few years ago in Dahlgren Virginia. I didn’t want to drive to Dahlgren, and I certainly didn’t want to pay the $34 for two meals. I am the child of Depression-era parents. So I spent the day researching how to replicate the burger AND the fries. This is what I do now. I love being retired. So I picked up my ingredients at our Food Lion, and at dinnertime I dove in. First I heated a pot of salted water and I added my think sliced potatoes. Big mistake. I should have just put them in water to remove the starch. But Food Lion only had...

Beef & Cheddar Sandwich

While trying to figure out what to do with my remaining thin sliced, deli-cut Angus top round roast beef, I came across a series of videos on YouTube of people replicating Arby’s Beef & Cheddar. So I thought I’d give it a shot. First, I toasted a couple slices of sourdough with a little butter. I turned off thee heat on the skillet, set the toast aside and tossed in about 1/3 LB of my roast beef, just to warm it slightly. Meanwhile, to make my Arby Sauce I mixed ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and a splash of apple cider vinegar. To make the cheese sauce I melted a couple tablespoons of butter, mixed in a couple tablespoons of flour. After blended, I added about 1/4 cup of milk. So, a Béchamel sauce. Once well mixed, I added 3 slices of chopped up...

Shrimp Pasta with basil and feta.

I’m leaning into a classic tonight. A simple meal of basil shrimp and pasta. My garden basil is looking stressed because of the heat, so I wanted to celebrate it a bit. Cook the shrimp in olive oil, black pepper, dried basil. Boil a pot of water with a bit of virgin olive oil. Toss in some angel hair pasta. Dice up the fresh garden basil and grate some parmigiano reggiano. Drain the pasta, toss in some Kerrigold butter, stir in garlic and the basil while it is hot so it ‘cooks’ a bit. Crush in black pepper. Add half the parm and mix well. Plate the pasta. Top with the remaining parmigiano reggiano. Add the cooked shrimp. Dust with feta cheese crumbles. It doesn’t get much better than...