Cooking Out? Try these recipes

As summer is the time most people cook out, here are some recipes to spark up the regular old burgers and dogs.   Enjoy!

I did these for a graduation cook out early this summer and they were a big hit.  They will be slightly bigger than a regular hamburger so make sure you have buns that can handle the larger burger.

Stuffed Hamburgers

Ingredients

3 lbs. Ground Beef

Filling of Your Choice – See Below

Suggested Fillings

 Roasted Red Peppers & Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Bacon, Mushroom, & Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Blue Cheese & Spinach

Peppers & Onions

Ham & Swiss

Jalapeno and Jack Cheese

Directions:     For the Fillings:  Roasted Peppers $ Shredded Mozzarella:  Either roast the peppers yourself or purchase roasted peppers at your local Italian Market.  Slice the peppers into strips. Bacon, Mushroom, and Cheddar:  Cook the bacon to well done and let drain on paper towels.  Slice the mushrooms and sauté in olive oil until tender but still with some body.  Set aside.  Blue Cheese and Spinach:  Pick through the spinach to remove the large stems.  Peppers and Onions:  Use Italian frying peppers.  Core and devein them and cut into strips.  Cut the onions into julienne strips as well.  Sauté in olive oil with a little salt and pepper and garlic until they are soft and the onions are translucent. Ham and Swiss:  No special preparation needed.  Jalapeno and Jack Cheese: Core and devein the jalapenos and shred the Jack Cheese.

For the Burgers   Divide the ground beef into two equal portions.  With one portion, make several burger patties, slightly smaller than you normally would. Place a portion of the filling in the center of each.  With the second portion of ground beef, make same sized burger patties.  Place a second patty on top a patty with the filling and seal the edges.  Then form the burger into as flat a double patty as possible. If you are making these in advance, separate them with wax or parchment paper to keep them from sticking together.  Cook them as you would a regular burger on the grill, slightly further away from the heat source as they will need a little longer than usual to cook through.  Serve with normal burger accompaniments like sliced raw onion and tomato.

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Ingredients

Corn on the Cob - in the husk

Melted Butter

Salt & Pepper

Optional Herbs, Spices & Seasonings

Onion Powder

Old Bay

Paprika

Garlic Salt

Basil

Oregano

Cilantro

Directions:     Peel of the outside one or two layers of husks.  Soak the un-husked ears in water for 30 minutes making sure that the corn is completely submerged.  After the corn has soaked, peel the corn half way from the point end and remove the silk.  Brush the corn with the melted butter and season with your choice of the seasonings.  Re-wrap the ears with the husks that are still attached.  Heat the grill to medium or start the charcoal and set the height of the grill to half way.  Grill the corn, turning frequently until the dark outlines of the kernels are visible.  Remove the corn from the grill with tongs as it will be very hot.  Serve immediately but warn your guests that the corn will be very hot!

Grilled Potato Wedges

Ingredients

Large Russet Baking Potatoes cut into Long Wedges

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

Optional Ingredients

¼ Cup Mayo

2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard

1 Tablespoon Chopped Fresh Rosemary

1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice

Directions:     Scrub the potatoes under cold running water to clean the skins then dry thoroughly.  If using the optional ingredients, combine all in a bowl.  Add the potatoes and mix to cover completely.  Heat a gas grill with one burner on medium high heat and another to medium low heat.  Place the coated potatoes over the medium high heat and grill on all sides until grill marks form.  Move them to the medium low heat side to finish cooking.

If not using the optional ingredients, coat the wedges with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Follow the grilling directions above.  If desired, use the optional ingredients to make a dipping sauce for the potatoes cooked with olive oil.

New Recipes

Since the summer is a usually slow time for catering......I've been doing some menu adjusting and recipe testing.  A friend of mine, Freddie, was born in Puerto Rico and will regularly share some of his wife's cooking with me.  He would be quick to correct me that he is also involved in the creation of the recipes that he shares - which I have no doubt is true!

When I was with catering company we used to regularly make Empanadas. A disk of bread type pastry dough, filled with a ground meat or cheese mixture, folded over to make a puffed disk, then either deep fried or baked. They can also be filled with a sweet filling.  Most recipes for the dough of the sweet filling called for the addition of sugar to the ingredients.  Freddie shared some of what he calls Empanadillas but instead of being smaller as you might expect by the suffix to the name, they were much bigger - sandwich sized disks which he deep fries.  The seasoned meat filling is very robust in flavor to which Freddie adds sliced Spanish Olives.  To make the meat taste right, sofrito is added when the meat is being browned.  Sofrito is a mixture of onion, red and green peppers (the addition of the red pepper is my choice, not in the original recipe but I like the additional flavor), garlic, and seasonings almost pureed in a blender or food processor with some olive oil.  The sofrito can be frozen in small amounts to save for other recipes or when you next make empandas.

There are many recipes available on line for the dough.  Some call for the use of shortening only, some call for shortening and eggs.  I opted for one that used eggs thinking that it would be lighter than those using only shortening or lard.

So here's what I came up with.  I haven't seen Freddie to see what his expert opinion is but I will be making them for the next time I see him and I'll let you know what he says.

Empanadas

Ingredients

For the Dough

3 Cups All Purpose Flour

(Plus More for Handling the Dough)

1 Teaspoon Salt

1.2 Cup Cold Water

3 Tablespoons Shortening

2 Eggs

1 Teaspoon Vinegar

For the Sofrito

1 Medium Onion – Rough Chopped

1 Green Bell Pepper – Cored, Seeded, and Rough Chopped

1 Red Bell pepper – Cored, Seeded, and Rough Chopped

1 Italian Frying Pepper – Cored, Seeded, and Rough Chopped

3 Cloves Garlic – Rough Chopped

½ Bunch Cilantro – Chopped

(If your taste buds tell you that cilantro tastes like soap, use parsley instead)

1 Tablespoon Chili Powder

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Fresh Ground Pepper

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil – More or Less

For the Meat Filling

1 lb. Ground Beef (I use the 80/20 lean to fat version for this recipe)

½ cup Sofrito

10 Spanish Olives Stuffed with Pimentos

Oil for Frying (if frying the assembled Empanadas)

In traditional Spanish recipes, olive oil is used for frying.  If you use olive oil, be careful not to heat it beyond the 375 degree mark as it will start to smoke.

Directions:       For the Dough:  Sift the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl and set aside.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, water, and vinegar and set aside.  Cut the shortening into the flour mixture with two knives until the flour looks like small floured pebbles.  Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and add the wet ingredients a bit at a time with a fork until the liquid is all incorporated.  Place the dough on a floured cutting board or flat surface.  Knead the dough until all of the flour is mixed in and the dough is no longer sticky.  Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for no less than an hour and not more than a day.  When you are ready to assemble the empanadas, Pull a section of the dough from the ball and roll with a rolling pin (again on a floured surface) to about 1/8 of an inch.  Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into 3 inch circles.

For the Sofrito:  Combine all ingredients, except the olive oil, in a food processor and pulse until completely ground together.  Add the olive oil a little at a time until the mixture resembles a wet paste. You can use ice cube trays to freeze in small amounts for later use.

For the Meat Filling:  Brown the meat in a sauté pan over medium heat.  Drain the excess grease then add the sofrito and cook until mixed completely.  When the mixture is completely cooked, set aside to rest in a mesh strainer over a bowl to allow the remainder of the grease to drip away from the meat.   

To Assemble:  If baking, pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.  If deep frying, heat the frying oil in a sauce pan over medium high heat to 375 degrees. Place a tablespoon or so of the filling mixture on one side of a dough circle.  Moisten the edges of the circle with water and fold the other side over to form a half moon.  Using the tines of a fork, press down along the curved edge to seal and scallop the edge.  If baking, place on a sheet pan, brush with egg wash, then place in  the oven and bake for 30 – 40 minutes until golden brown.  If frying, carefully place up to four pieces in the oil making sure they do not stick together.  When they are golden brown and the surface of the dough is bubbly, remove the pieces to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. 

Recipes from Appetizer Demo

Back again.  A bit of a hiatus - been very busy but as promised, here are the recipes from the Appetizer Demo at Domas on Thursday 21 July.  Enjoy!

Asian Noodle Twists

Ingredients

For the Noodle Twists

3 Eggs

½ lb angel hair pasta

1/8 cup soy sauce

1/8 cup Thai fish sauce

1/4 tablespoons sesame oil

1/8 cup rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon hot sauce (more or less to taste)

1 green onion – minced

½ bunch cilantro minced

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

For the Garlic Ginger Soy Sauce

1 cup lite soy sauce

1 tablespoon minced garlic

 tablespoon minced ginger

1 tablespoon minced green onion – green part only 

Directions:       Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions to al dente.  While the water is coming to a boil, in a medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs.  Then add all other ingredients and mix thoroughly.  When the pasta is done, drain and rinse with cold water until luke warm.  Add the pasta to the mixture and combine completely.  Spray a sheet pan with cooking spray.  Twirl the pasta with a two pronged fork and spoon to desired size.  Place on the sheet pan.  When all the nests have been twirled, place in the oven and cook for approximately 10 minutes or until the nests are firm and set.  For the dipping sauce, combine all ingredients and let sit in the refrigerator for at least one hour.  To serve – place the noodle twists on a platter with a bamboo skewer inserted through them and drizzle with the dipping sauce.  Serve hot or at room temperature.

Smoked Salmon Mousse in

Cucumber Cups

Ingredients

4 oz. Smoked Salmon

8 oz. Softened Cream Cheese divided into 8 pieces

¼ Cup Heavy Cream (or more if necessary)

1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

1 Tablespoon Dill – Chopped

1/4 Teaspoon Fresh Ground Pepper

1 Hot House (English) Cucumber

Dill Sprigs for Garnish

Special Equipment

Piping or Pastry Bag with Decorative Tip

Food Processor

Channel Knife

Melon Baller

Directions: Put the salmon into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it becomes a paste.  Add the Lemon Juice and pulse a few more times.  Add the cream cheese one piece at a time and mix until smooth.  With the processor running, add the cream (add more if the mousse is too thick.)  Add the chopped dill and pepper and pulse a few more times.  Put the mousse in the piping bag using a baking spatula and set aside to rest while preparing the cucumber.

Cut the ends off the cucumber and discard.  Using a channel knife or dinner fork, score the entire length of the cucumber on all sides.  Cut into 1 inch pieces and with the melon baller, scoop out one side to make a small bowl for the mousse.  Squeeze the mousse into the cucumber cups in a circular swirling fashion.  Carefully put a small sprig of dill on top of the mousse and serve immediately or refrigerate for 30 – 60 minutes covered.

Cremini Mushrooms Stuffed with

Herbed Goat Cheese

Ingredients

20 Cremini Mushrooms – stems removed

Olive Oil

Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper

8 oz Goat Cheese - Softened

1 Teaspoon Fresh Thyme – Chopped

1 Teaspoon Fresh Rosemary – Chopped

1 Teaspoon Fresh Dill – Chopped

1 Teaspoon Fresh Basil – Chopped

1 Tablespoon (or more) Heavy Cream

Salt and Pepper to taste

Equipment

Mixing Bowl

Wooden or Bamboo Spoon

(Or use a Food Processor)

Piping or Pastry Bag

(Or gallon sized plastic bag)

Cooking Spatula

Sheet Pan

Directions:  Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Using the end of a small spoon, clean out the mushrooms to make rooms for the goat cheese mixture.  Put the mushrooms in a mixing bowl and season with olive oil, salt, and pepper and gently mix to coat.  Place the mushrooms right side up on a sheet pan and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove the mushrooms to a plate covered with paper towels to drain any excess liquid. 

You can process the goat cheese mixture in a food processor or by hand in a mixing bowl.  Whichever you choose, mix the goat cheese, herbs, cream, and pepper together thoroughly.  Put the goat cheese mixture in a piping bag.  If using a plastic bag, cut a small hole in one of the corners to allow the mixture out. Turn the mushrooms out upside down on a sheet pan.  Fill each mushroom with the goat cheese mixture.  Turn the oven on to high broil and move the oven rack to the highest position.  Broil until the goat cheese bubbles and begins to brown, about 5 minutes.  Serve hot.

If you would like the recipes for the other menu items from that night just let me know!