The Guido Burger

This is another one of those things that Laura and I made to put a spin on spaghetti. We both love a good meat sauce and we both love meatball sandwiches. Why not put those on a freaking burger!!
(salivation begins, the heavens open and angels rejoice in song)
This one is going down as The Guido. It's a beef and Italian sausage mixed burger with tomato sauce, and provalone cheese. It's simple, easy, and tastes like an Italian restaurant had a love child with a burger dive. Here's your list of ingredients:

1 lb of  Ground beef
1 lb of Italian Sausage (not in casings)
1 green Pepper (diced)
6 large mushrooms (diced)
1 onion (diced fine)
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning mix
1 tsp garlic,
2 slices of crumbled white toast
1 egg
8 slices of Bread (toasted)
1 Jar of spaghetti sauce (your choice)
Sliced provalone Cheese

Combine beef, sausage (uncased), mushrooms, green pepper, onion, garlic, seasoning, crumbled toast, and egg into a bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands. Form into 4 (yes they are going to be large, the fat cooks out)patties and place them in a hot skillet. Flip after about 6 minutes. Cook an additional 4-5 minutes and flip. Place a slice of provolone on each burger and cover the pan with a mixing bowl to allow a steam fry to melt the cheese. Remove from heat and lay out toast. Cover each piece of toast with tomato Sauce and place burgers on 4 slices using the other slices as cover.
There you have it. Not too complicated, but the flavor that comes out of these things is freaking killer. Have fun everyone.

Creole Bourbon Butter Injection.

I'm always coming across new things and new ideas for things to do with turkeys and ways to inject and marinate them. One of my favorites is a Creole bourbon butter marinade that makes a delicious injection for any kind of meat. It's quick and its easy to make and is more cost efficient in the long run if you mix it in advance and save the rest for a rainy day. Here are the things you need.

1 food grade injection syringe
1/2 pint of bourbon whiskey
1 cup of melted butter
1/4 cup honey
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp Cajun seasoning mix (I use Zattarains)
1tbsp garlic powder

Mix ingredients together in an old ketchup bottle or something sililar while warm and shake well until all spices are dissolved. Pour into separate cup if not using all of it and save the rest. This will avoid cross contamination with different kinds of protein. This is absolutely wonderful and all together delicious for Thanksgiving or any other special occasion roast. Enjoy!!!

Quick Garlic Dill Pickles

One thing that I always loved growing up was the crisp bite of a good Claussen Kosher Dill Pickle. It's raw, flavorful, fat free, and other than the salt content, good for you. Something however started getting to me a couple of months ago though...I always liked the chip style pickles over the sandwich slices. You can't find the chip style of pickles anywhere in the refrigerated section where all the Claussens are. Also, I'm not spending $5 a jar on those things. So I spend 69 cents on one cucumber or a buck for some pickling cukes and started making them at home. The secret is the brine. That is the only cooking that you will ever have to do. The other stuff goes into the jar. And this is the basic gist of it.

2 cups of water
1/2 cup white or cider vinegar
2 tbsp kosher salt (has to be kosher)

2 cloves of minced garlic
1 tsp crushed red pepper flake
1-2 sprigs of dill or a tsp of dried dill
1/2 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp black peppercorn
1/2 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp hot sauce (optional)

3 small pickling cucumbers or one large cucumber.

1 large container or glass jar

Put top three ingredients into a small saucepot and allow to reach boiling. Remove from heat for 1 minute. While above mixture is heating up do the second step.
    Put 2nd list of ingredients in a sanitized jar. Cut the pickles into 1/8" to 1/4" slices and fill up the jar or container as much as you can and still be able to apply the lid. Pour hot mixed brine until the container is filled. Cover mouth of jar or container with plastic wrap and screw on or apply a lid. If you do put them into a canning jar, you can follow the instructions to seal your jars for later use, but I personally put them in the fridge and they stay good for about two weeks. Make sure that you allow these to marinate for at least 6 hours before tasting. I always wait 24 hours. These come out perfect for frying by the way. Just another reason improve on the fried pickle.

Pot Stewed Bbq Beans

Although I do love baked beans, sometimes I just don't have time to do them right. So, I have a fast simmer method that is pretty darn tasty in their own right. These are very easy to do and basically involve the same flavors as my baked beans. Here are the things you will need.

1 large can Pinto Beans
3 strips Bacon
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
2 tbsp Dried Onion Flake
1 1/2 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tbsp Chilli Powder
3/4 tbsp Paprika
1 tsp dry mustard powder
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt

In a saucepan add 3 strips of chopped bacon and cook until slightly crispy. Combine all the other ingredients together and start simmering on medium high heat. Bring to a fast simmer and cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, cover and reduce heat to mid-low for 10 minutes and serve. It's a quick 20 minute fix and goes well with grilled foods and an by kind of Bbq. Quick sides can bring a meal to another level with flavor profiles going on your tongue to offer some great combinations of tastes. Just remember to have fun with these. Add tomato, green chilies, cheese, onion, jalapenos, chipotles, or other peppers to try different flavors. Love the food. It loves you.

Creamy Honey Mustard

By now you realize that I'm a sauce and dressing guy. One of the best things I've ever come across is a delicious and sweet honey mustard that rivals those like restaurants make. It goes well with fried chicken salads, chicken fingers, chick fila sandwiches, and other things involving chicken. This is very similar to Marzetti's, Ken's, and O'Charlie's. Here are the things you will need:

1/2 cup mayo
1/3 cup yellow mustard
1/4 cup honey
1 tbsp white/cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper

Mix ingredients together in a container or small bowl. The theory of this recipe makes sense in these terms. Mayo and mustard to make the dressing, honey to provide the sweetness, vinegar for the twang, and spices and salt to promote the depth of flavor. It's easy, fast, and quick to make this and keeps quite well in the fridge. Also if you combine this with Hot bacon dressing, you have a combo that will knock your socks off. I'll include the hot bacon dressing recipe soon. Just remember to just experiment in the kitchen. Cooking great things it's easy. Find flavors you like, add a little bit of this and that, and maybe a dash of something else. Great flavor is not that hard to create. Food is awesome and makes us happy.

Mushroom Beer Gravy

I've made this stuff many times for many different dishes and decided to tell everyone how easy it is. Gravies are usually very easy to make and are quick sauce solutions to go with meats and potatoes. You basically mix equal parts of fat and flour, mix into a roux and pour water, stock, or your choice of alcohol over it. What you get is a creamy, delightful collision of happy flavors. This particular one is great on beef and pork and is a pretty good sauce on chicken. This particular instance I was building the best mushroom burger that my wife could muster. It's her favorite burger everywhere she goes. So I think gravy on a burger. Yum was the answer I was seeking and it was awesome. The gravy alone grants its own blog entry. Here are the things you'll need:

1 package of sliced button or Cremini mushrooms
1 beer
1/2 stick of butter (unsalted)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 tbsp course grind Black Pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

In a skillet, melt butter on medium high heat and add the entire package of sliced mushrooms. When mushrooms are slightly browned, pour in Worcestershire and stir. Add in the flour and stir until gloppy. Roux should be medium brown color. Add beer slowly in stages and stir constantly (Guinness is the best beer for this, but any beer will work). Once gravy is a creamy consistency, turn heat to low. Add remaining seasonings and simmer for 3 minutes. Add green onion for color and flavor and you're ready to roll. Start to finish takes about 5-7 minutes once the butter is melted. This stuff is delicious on anything and is wonderful on mashed potatoes. As a burger, I had to use very dense absorbent bread so French bread is what I used. That way the bread soaked up the gravy without destroying the integrity of the roll.This stuff is great and I hope everyone can enjoy this recipe. Awesome sauce idea.

Grilled Italian Roasted Chicken Melt

Looking at things I really like, I pick the thing that I've always thought of as holy. That one thing is a chicken parmesan sandwich. But doing the normal chicken parmesan sandwich is passe. How about I roast the chicken instead of it being breaded. How about making a grilled cheese out of it. Yes and yes!! Here's your ingredient list.

2 whole split chicken breasts (bone in)
1 jar of tomato sauce.
2 tbsp Italian Seasoning
On hand garlic powder
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Sliced bread
Butter

Preheat oven to 375°F and prepare the 2 chicken breasts by topping them with melted butter, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder (Add red pepper flake if you like, I did). Cover with foil and roast in oven for an hour. Once hour is over, remove from oven and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Remove chicken from oven and separate from bone. Dice the chicken and put in pot on medium heat with the fire roasted tomato and garlic sauce and mix together. While the chicken and sauce mix is simmering. Melt a 1/2 tsp of butter in skillet and sprinkle in garlic powder and place 1 slice of bread in coat it in the melted garlic butter and let grill in skillet. Top with chicken/sauce mix and top with cheese. Melt another 1/2 tsp of butter and sprinkle garlic powder. Flip and coat in melted butter and garlic and finish grilling until crispy and cheese is melted. Repeat and it'll make 5 sandwiches. I feel like dinner at my place is a creation of an episode of Chopped somehow. Awesome how something so experimental can turn out so freaking good.