I'm not going to lie, I make really good hamburgers. When we have people over and I grill hamburgers, they're always amazed how flavorful and juicy my burgers are. I put a lot of interest into making them unique. I think they have a very distinct taste.
I always finely chop an onion and garlic and mix it with the ground beef. I also like using Worcestershire sauce and teryaki sauce. Sometimes I put barbecue or other sauces in to assure they're the juiciest burgers around. Tonight, I stayed clear of the barbecue sauce because I was afraid of how that would work with the cast-iron skillet. Instead, I put in some shredded cheese. It worked out very well. I put an egg in, too.
The cast-iron skillet that I have has ridges. It leaves marks that look like whatever you're cooking spent some time on the grill. Each patty was almost 3/4 pound. They were very, very good - juicy and full of flavor.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Three bean turkey chili
This has been a fantastic weekend so far. Liz and I were able to spend our entire Saturday at home with Isaiah. Of course, I followed my wrestlers online, but my heart was with my family. It was very nice and refreshing. We both needed it. I was able to put some time and effort into making a hearty and healthy batch of chili. It all felt so right.
Before yesterday, I had never made chili. I've eaten a lot of it, though - healthy, meaty, spicy, weird, etc., I've tried it all. Since I've had so many varieties, I knew exactly what I wanted and what would feel the most like "our home."
I browned ground turkey seasoned with Lawry's Seasoning, drained the excess liquid and set aside. In my lovely Dutch oven, I warmed 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and added an onion, a shallot, a red pepper, three stalks of celery and Andouille chicken sausage. I also added a bunch of chili powder, a dash of crushed red pepper and salt and pepper. I covered the pot and cooked for about 15 minutes then added five cloves of minced garlic and the ground turkey and mixed everything together.
In no particular order, I added a large can of diced tomatoes, a small can of tomato sauce (and one can of water), a can of black beans, a can of kidney beans and a can of garbanzo beans. I also added more chili powder and salt and pepper. Finally, I added whole wheat fusilli pasta. It took an additional 10-15 minutes until the pasta was ready.
I put a lot of thought and effort into the ingredients and the best part was, as always, eating it. I made enough to have left overs for a few days...isn't that the best way to make chili? I love going to the fridge for left over chili more than any other left over.
Before yesterday, I had never made chili. I've eaten a lot of it, though - healthy, meaty, spicy, weird, etc., I've tried it all. Since I've had so many varieties, I knew exactly what I wanted and what would feel the most like "our home."
I browned ground turkey seasoned with Lawry's Seasoning, drained the excess liquid and set aside. In my lovely Dutch oven, I warmed 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and added an onion, a shallot, a red pepper, three stalks of celery and Andouille chicken sausage. I also added a bunch of chili powder, a dash of crushed red pepper and salt and pepper. I covered the pot and cooked for about 15 minutes then added five cloves of minced garlic and the ground turkey and mixed everything together.
In no particular order, I added a large can of diced tomatoes, a small can of tomato sauce (and one can of water), a can of black beans, a can of kidney beans and a can of garbanzo beans. I also added more chili powder and salt and pepper. Finally, I added whole wheat fusilli pasta. It took an additional 10-15 minutes until the pasta was ready.
I put a lot of thought and effort into the ingredients and the best part was, as always, eating it. I made enough to have left overs for a few days...isn't that the best way to make chili? I love going to the fridge for left over chili more than any other left over.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Fried pan-fish
I graciously received two bags of freshly caught perch from the parent of a young Victory athlete. It was imparative to cook the fish while they were still fresh. So, fried fish was on the menu for lunch today.
I mixed flour, salt, pepper and garlic salt in a small bowl and rolled the fillets in the flour mixture. I warmed some extra virgin olive oil in a pan and fried the battered fish for approximately 5-6 minutes before I flipped the fillets. After flipping them, I cooked them for an extra 3-4 minutes.
The fish was wonderful. The more fillets I cooked, the better feel I had for when to flip them. It was best when I coooked them longer than I had anticipated, leaving a little crunch to the batter. Regardless, every fillet was scrum-didily-umptious.
I mixed flour, salt, pepper and garlic salt in a small bowl and rolled the fillets in the flour mixture. I warmed some extra virgin olive oil in a pan and fried the battered fish for approximately 5-6 minutes before I flipped the fillets. After flipping them, I cooked them for an extra 3-4 minutes.
The fish was wonderful. The more fillets I cooked, the better feel I had for when to flip them. It was best when I coooked them longer than I had anticipated, leaving a little crunch to the batter. Regardless, every fillet was scrum-didily-umptious.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Pancakes
This morning I got up earlier than usual so I could make pancakes for Liz before she left for work. We both love pancakes and it works out well because Isaiah happens to love pancakes, too (I think he likes the syrup most). I had a Sturdiwheat pancake mix, so I decided to take the easy route today.
Sturdiwheat pancakes are amazing. They're extremely easy to make and easier to eat because they taste great. All it takes is equal parts water and pancake mix to create the smooth batter.
We have a nice griddle - one of many wedding gifts that we're still using - and I sprayed it with Pam spray and poured eight dollar size pancakes. For me, the fun part to making pancakes is watching the batter transform into a soft and chewy pancake. When they bubble, they ready to flip. I only flip them one time.
One of the most important ingredients with pancakes is the syrup. We're syrup snobs and it's the only way to go if you're intending on enjoying pancakes or waffles at anytime. 100% pure maple syrup is how we do it. I used to have a wrestler who brought me syrup from his syrup farm, now we buy it. It's expensive and it's worth it.
Ingredients:
1 cup Sturdiwheat pancake mix
1 cup warm water
Music: Brook Fraser - The Thief
Weather: 13 degrees (it's going to be in the 30's)
Sturdiwheat pancakes are amazing. They're extremely easy to make and easier to eat because they taste great. All it takes is equal parts water and pancake mix to create the smooth batter.
We have a nice griddle - one of many wedding gifts that we're still using - and I sprayed it with Pam spray and poured eight dollar size pancakes. For me, the fun part to making pancakes is watching the batter transform into a soft and chewy pancake. When they bubble, they ready to flip. I only flip them one time.
One of the most important ingredients with pancakes is the syrup. We're syrup snobs and it's the only way to go if you're intending on enjoying pancakes or waffles at anytime. 100% pure maple syrup is how we do it. I used to have a wrestler who brought me syrup from his syrup farm, now we buy it. It's expensive and it's worth it.
Ingredients:
1 cup Sturdiwheat pancake mix
1 cup warm water
Music: Brook Fraser - The Thief
Weather: 13 degrees (it's going to be in the 30's)
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Sunday Soup Day: Southwestern chicken vegetable
This wonderfully amazing soup didn't exactly follow my challenge. I went to Aldi and purchased a few vegetables so it would be hearty and fresh. In my mind, I decided I could make Southwestern chicken vegetable if I bought a combination of vegetables found in a burrito (at Qdoba or Chipotle) and then add a few spices.
As always, I cooked onion, celery, carrots and a green pepper in my Dutch oven. Meanwhile, I cooked three chicken breasts in a frying pan on the stove with some olive oil. I cut the chicken into small pieces before cooking it.
I added two cans of diced tomatoes with chiles, one can of corn and one can of black beans. I also added the spices - crushed red pepper and mild chili powder. I also used cilantro and parsley along with freshly grated pepper and salt. I stirred everything a few times then added the chicken broth (made from boullion).
It was very good and the spices provided a little "kick." It was actually the perfect soup for today. It hit the spot for both Liz and me. To our surprise, it was incredibily fresh tasting, too. The supplies cost me less than $8.00 from Aldi...my sister was right.
Ingredients:
1 onion
4 stalks celery
1/2 bag baby carrots, chopped
1 green pepper
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 can diced tomatoes with chiles
1 can sweet corn
1 can black beans
4 cups water
3 cubes chicken boullion
Music: US National Anthem (the beginning of the Olympics)
Weather: low 20's, afternoon snow
As always, I cooked onion, celery, carrots and a green pepper in my Dutch oven. Meanwhile, I cooked three chicken breasts in a frying pan on the stove with some olive oil. I cut the chicken into small pieces before cooking it.
I added two cans of diced tomatoes with chiles, one can of corn and one can of black beans. I also added the spices - crushed red pepper and mild chili powder. I also used cilantro and parsley along with freshly grated pepper and salt. I stirred everything a few times then added the chicken broth (made from boullion).
It was very good and the spices provided a little "kick." It was actually the perfect soup for today. It hit the spot for both Liz and me. To our surprise, it was incredibily fresh tasting, too. The supplies cost me less than $8.00 from Aldi...my sister was right.
Ingredients:
1 onion
4 stalks celery
1/2 bag baby carrots, chopped
1 green pepper
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 can diced tomatoes with chiles
1 can sweet corn
1 can black beans
4 cups water
3 cubes chicken boullion
Music: US National Anthem (the beginning of the Olympics)
Weather: low 20's, afternoon snow
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Friendship soup
Day two of my challenge to cook from my cupboards brought me a delicious soup. Soup is difficult to ruin, which is why I love making it so often. It gives me the ability to experiment with flavors so I know what goes well together when I want to make a less-forgiving meal.
For Christmas, my mom gave each of us a jar of soup mix called "Friendship soup." I believe it was made by someone she works with and came in a jar with a recipe tied to the jar with cute ribbons. I didn't follow the recipe at all, though.
I chopped an onion, a leek, a zucchini and lightly sauteed them in olive oil (in my Dutch oven). Meanwhile, I browned a pound of hamburger. I seasoned it with ground pepper and garlic salt. When the vegetables were cooked, I added a carton of Trader Joe's roasted red pepper soup and four cups of water. I also added the entire jar of soup mix and brought the soup to a boil before letting is simmer for 40 minutes.
It came out very thick, so I added another cup of water. It looked almost like chili and gave me the idea to use this mix to, in fact, make chili in the future. I have one more jar, so I'll probably give it a try within the next few weeks.
For Christmas, my mom gave each of us a jar of soup mix called "Friendship soup." I believe it was made by someone she works with and came in a jar with a recipe tied to the jar with cute ribbons. I didn't follow the recipe at all, though.
I chopped an onion, a leek, a zucchini and lightly sauteed them in olive oil (in my Dutch oven). Meanwhile, I browned a pound of hamburger. I seasoned it with ground pepper and garlic salt. When the vegetables were cooked, I added a carton of Trader Joe's roasted red pepper soup and four cups of water. I also added the entire jar of soup mix and brought the soup to a boil before letting is simmer for 40 minutes.
It came out very thick, so I added another cup of water. It looked almost like chili and gave me the idea to use this mix to, in fact, make chili in the future. I have one more jar, so I'll probably give it a try within the next few weeks.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
February plans...
Liz and I are exploring options to pay close attention to our family budget. As a result, we realized that this blog has ended up costing us a lot of money in the grocery category. Needless to say, I need to "take it easy" when it comes to creating meals with only the finest ingredients.
This presented me with an idea that I'm turning into a challenge. I'm going to attempt creating meals using ingredients from my cupboards and refrigerator. Of course, I'll need to update my fruit and vegetable supply, but I'm going to try cooking all of the boxes, mixes and premade meals that we have in stock. It probably won't be very exciting, however, I'm going to attempt to put a little spin on everything I make by throwing caution to the wind and re-writting a few of the directions. Sometimes it may be subtle, but that will be part of the challenge.
Tonight I made Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken with brown fried rice. The chicken comes frozen and needs to be fried in a little olive oil. The orange sauce goes over the top after the chicken is ready. To add a little twist, I added some Asian seasoning. It gave it a little kick. Either way, the orange chicken is very, very good. I highly recommend it. It takes less than 15 minutes to prepare. The rice only took one minute. Simple and delicious.
My guess is this February won't be extremely exciting in the blogoshpere as far as Kevin Eats in concerned, but these little challenges turn out to be surprising at times. I'm also planning on incorporating some of my readers' recipes and featuring a few guests bloggers.
Music: Idina Mezel & Kristen Chenoweth - Defying Gravity from Wicked (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
Weather: 19-degrees, snow
This presented me with an idea that I'm turning into a challenge. I'm going to attempt creating meals using ingredients from my cupboards and refrigerator. Of course, I'll need to update my fruit and vegetable supply, but I'm going to try cooking all of the boxes, mixes and premade meals that we have in stock. It probably won't be very exciting, however, I'm going to attempt to put a little spin on everything I make by throwing caution to the wind and re-writting a few of the directions. Sometimes it may be subtle, but that will be part of the challenge.
Tonight I made Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken with brown fried rice. The chicken comes frozen and needs to be fried in a little olive oil. The orange sauce goes over the top after the chicken is ready. To add a little twist, I added some Asian seasoning. It gave it a little kick. Either way, the orange chicken is very, very good. I highly recommend it. It takes less than 15 minutes to prepare. The rice only took one minute. Simple and delicious.
My guess is this February won't be extremely exciting in the blogoshpere as far as Kevin Eats in concerned, but these little challenges turn out to be surprising at times. I'm also planning on incorporating some of my readers' recipes and featuring a few guests bloggers.
Music: Idina Mezel & Kristen Chenoweth - Defying Gravity from Wicked (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
Weather: 19-degrees, snow
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Traditional apple pie
Well, it worked. An experimental apple pie with nearly no directions or plan. I don't really know how it happened, but it did and it tastes very good. To be honest, I just threw together a few ingredients anticipating a disaster, but it all worked. Isn't it great when somehow everything works out, even when things seem like they're spinning out of control? Cooking can be a great metaphor for life sometimes...
We've had a pie crust in the freezer for almost a year and it's been on my nerves for the past three months. I've starting making desserts with the hopes of using the crust, but never did. I have no idea why it's been in the freezer this long. Liz and I even had a lengthy discussion about throwing it in the garbage and we both agreed to do so, but we didn't "pulled the trigger." Well, it's no longer there as it became the motivation to throw together this pie.
I used Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced. I tossed them in sugar, brown sugar and lemon juice and placed them in the premade crust. That probably would have been good enough, but I couldn't envision myself enjoying an apple pie without crust on top, too.
So, without further ado, I mixed a combination of ingredients that I thought would make a crust. And it worked. Flour, shortening, butter and salt is all I needed. I had all of those ingredients, so it was fairly easy. I had to add an entire cup of flour after my first attempt (bringing the total flour used to two cups) because it was too sticky and I couldn't flatten it without the dough sticking to everything. Once I felt comfortable with the dough, I blobbed it on top of the apples and spread it across the top and placed it in the oven at 400-degrees.
Once the pie was in the oven, I peeked online at a few recipes for crust and must say I did fairly well. I didn't refrigerate the crust before baking it, though. It still turned out great. A little flaky for my taste, but the filling won me over. My first taste consisted of three whole pieces. I really hope I can use some self-discipline so Liz can have a piece when she gets home, but I'm afraid I'm going to eat it all.
Ingredients:
Filling
6 small Granny Smith apples, cored and thinly sliced
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
a little nutmeg
Crust
2 cups flour
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
4 tbsp butter (1 stick)
1 tbsp salt
3 tbsp water
Music: Mika - Lollipop
Weather: 15 with light, fluffy snow
We've had a pie crust in the freezer for almost a year and it's been on my nerves for the past three months. I've starting making desserts with the hopes of using the crust, but never did. I have no idea why it's been in the freezer this long. Liz and I even had a lengthy discussion about throwing it in the garbage and we both agreed to do so, but we didn't "pulled the trigger." Well, it's no longer there as it became the motivation to throw together this pie.
I used Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced. I tossed them in sugar, brown sugar and lemon juice and placed them in the premade crust. That probably would have been good enough, but I couldn't envision myself enjoying an apple pie without crust on top, too.
So, without further ado, I mixed a combination of ingredients that I thought would make a crust. And it worked. Flour, shortening, butter and salt is all I needed. I had all of those ingredients, so it was fairly easy. I had to add an entire cup of flour after my first attempt (bringing the total flour used to two cups) because it was too sticky and I couldn't flatten it without the dough sticking to everything. Once I felt comfortable with the dough, I blobbed it on top of the apples and spread it across the top and placed it in the oven at 400-degrees.
Once the pie was in the oven, I peeked online at a few recipes for crust and must say I did fairly well. I didn't refrigerate the crust before baking it, though. It still turned out great. A little flaky for my taste, but the filling won me over. My first taste consisted of three whole pieces. I really hope I can use some self-discipline so Liz can have a piece when she gets home, but I'm afraid I'm going to eat it all.
Ingredients:
Filling
6 small Granny Smith apples, cored and thinly sliced
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
a little nutmeg
Crust
2 cups flour
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
4 tbsp butter (1 stick)
1 tbsp salt
3 tbsp water
Music: Mika - Lollipop
Weather: 15 with light, fluffy snow
Monday, February 1, 2010
Sunday Soup Day: Chicken noodle
It's been a while since I've written about my fabulous food adventures because I traveled over the weekend. I did return home in time for Sunday Soup Day, though. I made a simple chicken noodle soup. Liz has a terrible cold, so chicken noodle soup was absolutely delightful.
Last week, we read an article on Yahoo! that mentioned the benefits to homemade chicken noodle soup when you're sick. It's important not to boil the chicken broth because some of those goodies that actually help cure sicknesses "cook out" of the soup, so I kept soup warm, but never brought it to a boil.
I cooked the veggies in the Dutch oven with olive oil until they were soft before I added the seasoning and bay leaves. Then I added a box of chicken broth and the noodles while I cooked three chicken breasts in salted water, creating the remaining stock. When the chicken was ready, I skimmed the fat off the top of the stock and added it to the soup. I cut the chicken into small pieces and added it to the soup. Before I served the soup, I let it cook for another 20 minutes until the noodles were fully cooked.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 white onion
6 ounces carrots, chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped
2 bay leaves
seasoning
1 carton (28 ounce) chicken broth
1 cup Annelletti pasta rings
2 cups salted water
3 skinless boneless chicken breasts
salt and pepper to taste
Music: David Crowder Band - All Around Me
Weather: 21-degrees
Last week, we read an article on Yahoo! that mentioned the benefits to homemade chicken noodle soup when you're sick. It's important not to boil the chicken broth because some of those goodies that actually help cure sicknesses "cook out" of the soup, so I kept soup warm, but never brought it to a boil.
I cooked the veggies in the Dutch oven with olive oil until they were soft before I added the seasoning and bay leaves. Then I added a box of chicken broth and the noodles while I cooked three chicken breasts in salted water, creating the remaining stock. When the chicken was ready, I skimmed the fat off the top of the stock and added it to the soup. I cut the chicken into small pieces and added it to the soup. Before I served the soup, I let it cook for another 20 minutes until the noodles were fully cooked.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 white onion
6 ounces carrots, chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped
2 bay leaves
seasoning
1 carton (28 ounce) chicken broth
1 cup Annelletti pasta rings
2 cups salted water
3 skinless boneless chicken breasts
salt and pepper to taste
Music: David Crowder Band - All Around Me
Weather: 21-degrees
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