Showing posts with label hearty suppers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hearty suppers. Show all posts
We had a lovely lunch at our friends Tina and Tony's the other week. That Tina is an excellent cook.
I have never not thoroughly enjoyed what she has prepared, even her gammon, egg and chips. (Heaven!) No small wonder as she has run some restaurants in her time and is very good at what she does!
While we were there, we got to talking about food (as we always do) and the subject of her burgers came up.
Her grandchildren really love her burgers. I was intrigued and just had to ask how she made them!
Basically, they are just a quality store made beef burger, put together with fried onions, mushrooms, bacon, cheese with a fried egg, some tomatoes, lettuce, etc. all on an open face toasted bun.
On the burger side you slather the bottom toasted bun (And I used Brioche buns) with your favourite burger toppings.
Be they tomato ketchup, mustard, relish, etc, and then top with fried onions and mushrooms.
Then your grilled/fried burger which has had a nice slice of cheddar melted on top and then finish it off with a couple of slices of crisp streaky bacon.
On the other side you slather the toasted bun with some mayonnaise (I used garlic mayonnaise) some lettuce leaves, slices tomatoes and a nicely fried egg!
These are knife and fork burgers, meant to be eaten open-faced and a meal in and of themselves. I did make my own beef burgers, using a good minced steak, with just a small amount of fat.
You need some of the burgers would be far too dry. I seasoned them with salt, pepper and both onion and garlic powders.
They were absolutely perfect. You don't want them too thick, so really flatten your patties out with a gentle hand. (I do this between the palms of my hands and then chill.)
Your burgers will shrink in somewhat, so if you haven't started with too thick a burger then they will end up the right size. I even flatten out store made burgers, for this very reason.
I also like to make a bit of a dip in the centre of each patty which helps.
We like our streaky bacon dry cured and smoked, and done until just a little bit crisp.
I used sliced strong cheddar cheese.
I only ever use free range eggs, RSPCA assured. I think that it is worth the extra money to support an industry that is about animal welfare. Did you know that as much as 50% of egg laying hens in the UK are still kept in cages.
Free range does not necessarily mean free range. You can be pretty sure however that if the eggs you buy are RSPCA assureded the hens are either kept in barns with plenty of space, perches and nest boxes or in free range systems where hens also have access to an outside range.
This is important to me. I can't do alot, but I can do this. In any case, I now know why Tina's grands really love her burgers! They're fabulously tasty!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE TINA'S BURGERS
These
are fabulously delicious open burgers, knife and fork burgers, created
via inspiration from my good friend Tina! If you can eat a whole one of
these, you are amazing!
4 thick slices cheddar cheese
8 slices streaky bacon
butter
4 large free range eggs
mayonnaise
HOW TO MAKE TINA'S BURGERS
Note: I
baked some vegetable fries to serve with mine and they looked really
good. If you have a really hearty appetite these would be a great
addition.
My husband and I could not eat it all. In fact I could only
eat 1/2 my burger. It was really, REALLY good however!
I think these would be great for Father's Day! These would also be really great for breakfast made with
sausage patties! Bon Appetit!
Yield: 4
Tina's Burgers
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 30 Min
These are fabulously delicious open burgers, knife and fork burgers, created via inspiration from my good friend Tina! If you can eat a whole one of these, you are amazing!
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground steak
- 1/2 tsp each salt, black pepper, onion powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 4 thick slices cheddar cheese
- 8 slices streaky bacon
- butter
- 4 large free range eggs
- 1 large onion, peeled, cut in half and sliced into half moons
- a large handful of closed cup mushrooms sliced
- 2 large ripe tomatoes, cut into slices
- lettuce leaves
- 4 brioche buns, split, buttered and toasted
- mayonnaise
- your favorite toppings to serve (relish, mustard, ketchup, etc.)
Instructions
- First make your burgers Place the ground steak, salt, pepper and onion and garlic powders into a bowl. Mix together well with your hands and divide into quarters.
- Shape each quarter into a round ball and then flatten it out to make patties not much thicker than 1/3 inch. (As the beef cooks the burgers will shrink back into themselves) Make a slight dip in the center of each to minimize shrinkage, place onto a plate and chill in the refrigerator until you are ready to proceed.
- Melt a bit of butter in a skillet, add the onions and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they are golden brown and softened. Scoop out to a small bowl and keep warm.
- Wipe the pan out. Add the streaky bacon and cook until your desired crispness. Remove, keep warm.
- Add the burgers and cook over high heat, until golden brown on both sides, and cooked through to your preference. Try not to press them down too much. Too much pressing helps all their natural juices to escape.
- Place a slice of cheese on top of each. Cover and keep warm while you cook your eggs..
- Take a clean skillet and add a knob of butter. Heat until the butter begins to foam. Carefully break in the eggs. Cook over medium heat until the bottoms turn golden brown and the whites are set. (I like to pop a lid over top for several minutes to aid in this.)
- To assemble. Place your toasted bun halves on each of four warm plates. Place your desired burger toppings on the bottom halves. Top with the fried onions and mushrooms and a burger patty. Place two slices of streaky bacon over each. On the other halves, place a dollop of mayonnaise and spread it out. (I like garlic mayo) Top with the lettuce and tomatoes and finally a perfectly fried egg.
- Serve immediately.
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I confess I have only ever really had Cassoulet once. It was when we were visiting my son in Canada and it was delicious. He's a good cook, and he's not afraid to try new things. He's always been that way. Normally Cassoulet contains duck and takes hours to prepare. This delicious casserole uses chicken thighs and tinned beans and uses only a fraction of the time of this traditional French stew.
After his hospital procedure today I wanted to make Todd something he would really enjoy for his tea. Apparently he was talking about stew and dumplings in the operating theatre and how good my stew is that I make. I didn't have any stewing beef or lamb in the house, and no way of getting to the shops to get any, but I did have some leftover cooked chicken, and another of Todd's favourites is a nice and creamy soup. I had found this recipe on the net the other day and thought it looked pretty good and so I decided to make it, but with a few adaptions.
If you were to ask any Canadian what one of their favorite indulgent dishes is . . . and hands down . . . you are sure to come up with more than one answer of Poutine! Poutine, that Canadian dish of hot chips (french fries) topped with squeaky cheese curds, and hot gravy . . . the chips and the gravy melting the cheese so that every forkful is a mix of oozy gravy, hot chip goodness!
Another favourite diner meal would be the Hot Turkey Sandwich. I know I ate a fair few of these in my lifetime! Canadians love to embrace turkey any way they can get it and a hot sandwich with two slices of bread layered with hot turkey and slathered in gravy, and served along french fries, peas and carrots and a pot of homemade coleslaw are up there on the list of favourites as well!
This tasty dish today combines two of those favourite indulgences into something you are going to find yourself asking . . . now, why didn't "I" think of that! DOH! Don't worry about it, I've done all the thinking for you.
What you have here is hot chips (french fries) . . . you can make your own from scratch, or you can use a good oven chip . . . topped with two scoops of poultry stuffing, and some chunks of roasted turkey . . . slathered in hot turkey gravy . . . and then doused with a combination of both cheddar and mozzarella cheeses.
What you have here is a bit of a wicked indulgence perhaps . . . but oh well . . . you don't really have to eat the whole thing do you???
Ok, I'll admit it . . . it's pretty hard not to. ☺ By the way, you have to make my stuffing with this . . . it's really the best, if I don't say so myself, and I know . . . I just did.
*Hot Turkey Poutine*
Serves 4 they're gorgeous!)
4 ounces grated cheddar cheese (about 1 cup)
4 ounces grated mozzarella cheese (about 1 cup
leftover stuffing
*Poultry Stuffing*
Makes 12 servings
This
is delicious. Don't balk at the ingredients. They absolutely work.
Just open your mind and go with it. This is the most delicious
stuffing. It freezes well. I pack it into a loaf tin and chill. I
then dump it out, slice and then wrap each slice individually and
freeze. When we are ready to eat it, I just take out what I want and
cook it (frozen) in some hot butter, browning it on both sides.
Delicious! Alternately you can spoon it into a baking dish, cover and
bake at 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3 for about 25 minutes.
6 potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 TBS butter
2 slices white bread, crumbled
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 TBS white sugar
1 TBS soft light brown sugar
1 TBS mild molasses
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp dried powdered sage
1 TBS dried summer savory
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Cook
your potatoes until soft in a pot of lightly salted water. Drain well
and mash along with the butter until smooth. Add the crumbled bread to
the mashed potatoes along with the onion, sugars, herbs, molasses,
vinegar, salt and pepper. Mix together well. Pack into a buttered 9
by 5 inch loaf pan. Cover and chill for several hours. This can be
frozen at this point. When ready to serve, melt some butter in a pan.
Slice the dressing and lightly brown for about 5 minutes per side.
This blows stove top stuffing out of the water!
Go on . . . make it, you know you really want to!
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