Fully aware, happy and looking forward. Here is a picture of summer

Hamburgers, and food hang-ups

Anyone watching ‘Next Food Network Star’? I always watch this during the summer when all the other shows are on hiatus. They did a burger bash, and I was hooked. I kept daydreaming about burgers, pictures of burgers, and ways to dress them up. I will share my madness below.

I am not going to go into crazy detail on my food hang-ups, but let’s just say I have to have a burger a certain way, with an OCD meat/bun ratio. Hey it’s my thing, I own it, but some people find it odd (i will just say no meat can hang over the bun) So this burger has a big bun, to cover all the meat. I garnished it with a combo slaw, stone ground yellow mustard, red onions, and tomatoes. The meat is seasoned with just salt and pepper, and cooked on the stove in a grill pan. I got a pound of ground chuck for two burgers, the butcher told me a half pound per burger. And make sure your meat has some fat in it, so it will stay juicy and tasty. Some people mix meats, but I am a ground meat purist. 

My informal recipe-make your patties, thick and round. Heat up your grill pan pretty hot, and go to town. Flip once the meat has had a few minutes to brown on one side. I also used a pot top to cover the burger, let the steam stay in to cook through. Once it’s to your doneness (i am a well done girl, i know, i know) add your cheese (I used fresh deli sliced provolone) and let melt. Garnish with any toppings you like, and enjoy with a beer, lemonade, fries, chips, pickles, or solo. It’s summer people. Let’s do this. 

 

 

Love songs

I haven’t baked lately, and I am starting to really feel it. I had a bad case of strep throat, my not so little one went out of town, and life has just been in the way. But I already have the cookbook open to the next recipe, and I can’t wait to bake it and take pictures. Coming soon

Since I have been sick, I have been spending a lot of time listening to podcasts, music, and spending some time with my old friend Goran (Law and Order Criminal Intent) One song I play over and over is ‘Sideways’ by Citizen Cope. If you haven’t heard it, Youtube it, I guarantee we have all been there or are there. So this is my post until I can get back in the kitchen, a song about loss, love, and everything we feel with our hearts and souls. I will add a picture for those of us who are visual. 

Key lime (lemonish) pie with cookie crust

There are so many ways you can make key lime pie. Purists would tell you a certain way to do it, someone who wants to make it quicker would tell you another way. Basically it’s how you want to make it.

We went to Trader Joe’s this weekend, and they had Meyer Lemon cookie thins at the register. I had already intended to make key lime pie, but wasn’t sure what I was going to use for the crust. Once I saw the cookies, I knew I was going to use them. 

http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article.asp?article_id=38

 

Few things I might do differently with my key lime pie:

1. Always extra zest and juice. Always. If it calls for a teaspoon, I add a half a teaspoon more. 1/2 cup of juice becomes a tad more. I just like the extra tartness

2. For this recipe I used half key lime lemon juice, and half fresh lime juice. Gave it a lemon/lime combo

3. Zest in my whipped cream. *I just add some heavy cream (say 1/2 cup) 2 T of powdered sugar (more if you want) and whip until medium peaks. Fold in about 1/2 tsp of lime zest for flavor and color

 

My key lime pie:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Crust

Box of Trader Joe’s Meyer lemon cookie thins, crushed

2 T of melted butter

pinch of salt

 

Mix all ingredients together and place in a pie tin. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are brown. Set aside while you make filling. 

Filling 

1 T plus 1/4 tsp lime zest (I usually use 4-6 limes)

2 egg yolks

14 oz (1 can) of sweetened condensed milk 

1/2 cup to 3/4 cup lime juice or a combo lime/lemon (I did a combo for this recipe)

*homemade whipped cream as described above 

 

Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix until creamy and thick. Place in pie crust and bake for 15 minutes, or until middle is set. Let cool for up to two hours and add lime zest whip cream. Chill in fridge for five days if not serving right away. 

Enjoy!

Pound cake

Pound cake. I love it. Not too sweet, but definitely addicting. My gran makes probably the best pound cake in the world, but she doesn’t really have a recipe, she wings it. So I use Smitten Kitchen’s and it’s delicious. You really should sift the flour three times like it says, the amount really does make this light and airy. You could always go cute and use mini bundt pans like I did, or go traditional and use a regular loaf pan. My advice when baking anything really is to put whatever you are making on a sheet pan-bakes more evenly and easy to transfer in and out. Make some pound cake, it’s good for the soul. 

P.S.-three of my pictures made it on tastespotting.com today, and it made a great Monday even better.  

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/08/lighter-airy-pound-cake/