Burgers Today

It’s another day at the burger bar. My wife and I thought that we would bring you something creamy from the burger menu for today. This chicken burger was inspired by one of our favorite recipes Chicken Alfredo with Angel Hair pasta and our love for
good quality Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Who says you have to put the usual cheese on a burger?

The items that you will need for this chicken burger recipe are:
Hamburger buns
3oz of ground chicken
egg
salt to taste
pepper to taste
our Chicken alfredo sauce
1 oz of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Prepare the Chicken alfredo sauce and keep warm.

Mix your ground chicken, salt, pepper, and egg together in a small bowl. Form into a chicken burger and grill until done.

Put your chicken burger together and top with chicken alfredo sauce and an ounce of the grated parmigiano reggiano cheese. Place to top bun on the burger and your done.

Since the Chicken Alfredo is such an earthy and rich burger, I usually like to serve it topped with fresh mushrooms. I also like to serve the Chicken Burger with a side of cold or warm pasta topped with Parmigiano Reggiano.

During the summer time you can serve the Chicken Alfredo Burger with fresh fruit or streamed summer squash for a lighter choice on your burger menu.

The Chicken Alfredo burger is a great chicken burger if you want something rich and filling but don’t have a lot of time.

My wife and I decided to change up the menu and focus this site on burgers. When we talk about burgers we mean, hamburger, cheeseburger, chicken burger, veal burger, mushroom burger, and vegie burger.

If it comes from a burger menu or a burger bar then we will be talking about it. I absolutely love burgers and hamburgers. If done correctly a hamburger can be a healthy meal any day of the week.

Today’s burger is inspired by one of our favorite pizza places. I love Pizza Chicago but at times can not afford the price tag that comes with pizza with high quality ingredients. As you can guess by the title our Chicken burger from the burger menu is our Elliot Ness Burger.

The Chicken burger items you’ll need is:
3 oz of ground chicken
2 oz of smoked gouda
2 Tbsp BBQ sauce
1 Tbsp chopped red onions
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Mix the ground chicken with the red onions and form into a 3 oz patty. Grill the ground chicken until done.

While the chicken burger is cooking, spread the BBQ sauce on toasted hamburger buns. Place the chopped fresh cilantro on the toasted hamburger buns.

When the Chicken Burger is almost done, top with the gouda cheese and then cover with a small metal lid. This will allow the gouda cheese to melt over the chicken burger.

Place the chicken burger on top of the lower bun and top with your favorite toppings like more red onions, lettuce, tomatoes, mayo, or whatever chicken burger topping you might think would be tasty.

Enjoy your Elliot Ness Chicken Burger
MJ

It doesn’t matter what you call them. I absolutely love them. When it comes to having Chinese food from a restaurant, I always have to order Gyoza. Usually I would have to order Chinese food from a restaurant just because I wanted these yummy little snacks.

That’s until I started Restaurant at home. Now I try to make everything from scratch because it usually cost me least money than a restaurant and I don’t have to deal with all the preservatives.

I found this great Chinese dumpling recipe online at About.com. Instead of using pork, I substitute ground chicken for the pork. I also like to add slivers of carrot to my mixture.

I have also seen people use ground duck, lamb, mushrooms, and even cheese. I guess when it comes to dough and a little water your imagination is the limit. I know that I’m going to have a great time finding things to create my own restaurant at home.

Do you like Chinese dumplings, Gyoza, or Postickers? What are your favorite fillings if you make them at home?

Would you like some Escargot recipes? People have been eating them for years. I’ve even seen Escargot being used in Gumbo recipes and chowders. Often they are used in a recipe called road kill gumbo that includes, fowl, Alligator, and more.

Let me know. I’d love to write up a post about the history of Escargot and find different recipes for you to enjoy.

Blessings Fellow Foodie

MJ

We started with the ingredients for Garlic, Brown, Sweet and Sour sauce so that you can make Chinese food into everyday food recipes. I want to continue with that and give you the ingredients for XO sauce, Black Bean, and Lobster sauce.

You can buy these sauces already made at your local food chain grocery store or at a local chinese market but I think that it’s always best to add fresh ingredients into your foods because you can control the amount of salt and sugar that goes into a recipe.

XO Sauce
Did you know that the XO in XO sauce comes from Xtra Old Cognac. Don’t worry about serving this sauce to children. The alcohol loses it’s effect when heat and flame are added to it and many people don’t use the alcohol at all.

The ingredients are:
Old Cognac 2 oz
Diced onion
Dried scallop
Fresh red chilli
Ground black pepper
Jinhua ham
Large dried shrimp, shelled
Minced garlic
rapeseed oil
Salted cured fish
Tiny dried shrimp, unshelled

For the dried shrimp, you may have to purchase those at a whole foods, local chinese market, or local spanish market. I haven’t seen tiny dried shrimp on display at major supermarkets, at least not at my major local supermarket.

Black Bean Sauce
peanut oil
fermented black beans
garlic
chicken broth
soy sauce
rice wine
sugar
cornstarch

Lobster Sauce
I love the fact that Chinese Lobster sauce doesn’t actually have Lobster in it but the sauce can be used with Lobster and shrimp. The sauce works really well with Chinese Snow peas, mushrooms, and shrimp.

ground pork
soy sauce
Pepper, to taste
cornstarch
fermented black beans
garlic cloves
green onions (spring onions, scallions)
sherry
granulated sugar
chicken broth
cornstarch
water
2 eggs
salt
cooking oil

That’s it for today. Tomorrow I’ll tell you about more ingredients that you will want in your kitchen to prepare Orange Ginger, Sesame Garlic, Hoisin BBQ, and other sauces for everyday Chinese food recipes.

It’s time to prepare your kitchen for Chinese food. I thought it would be a good time to prepare the kitchen with Chinese sauces and spices since it is the new year and we are so close to the Chinese New Year. It’s the year of the OX which means growth through hard work. I know that many of us will be working hard to produce everyday food recipes with a Chinese flair.

Before we can be like the Chinese dragon and set our burners aflame, the kitchen has to be stocked with sauces and spices so that everyday food recipes will be a breeze in the kitchen.

So get out your shopping list and I hope to get you prepared with these items.

Sauces
There are more than twenty sauces that restaurants use when preparing Chinese food. You can buy some of these already made at the store but most of them need to be made at home. The ingredients that you need are:

For Sweet and Sour Sauce
cornstarch
white vinegar
ketchup or tomato paste
orange juice
light soy sauce
salt
granulated sugar
vegetable oil or peanut oil
fresh ginger

For Brown Sauce
Brown Sauce is used a lot for beef dishes and my wife likes to dip her tofu in brown sauce.
beef broth (beef bouillion cubes can be used)
oyster sauce
dark soy sauce
sugar
cornstarch

Garlic Sauce
My wife loves to use Garlic Sauce with Chinese Chicken and Seafood recipes. You will need.
rce vinegar
granulated sugar
light soy sauce
dark soy sauce
Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
chili sauce
Asian sesame oil
cornstarch
vegetable or peanut oil
garlic cloves

That’s it for today. Tomorrow I’ll tell you about more ingredients that you will want in your kitchen to prepare XO Sauce, Black Bean, Lobster Sauce, and other sauces for everyday Chinese food recipes.

different plates by cmaher
Do you know that a dinner plate isn’t just a plate? It’s a canvas for the food that is going to be served. Your serving dish is another element of dinner that can capture the eye and tempt the palette.

That’s why I want to suggest that you not be afraid to try different styles of plates, bowls and dishes. There is a  large selection to choose from. Today’s stores carry funky martini and margarita glasses. You can find square plates, rectangle plates, and deep-dish plates at almost any store.

I have a few suggestions to get you started. Try these out once in a while or you can branch out on your own.

Soup – Try serving in square bowls, mugs, or really deep coffee cups. Clam chowder and gumbo works really well with old fashion mugs. One of my favorite starters was a selection of different soups served in small coffee cups on a plate.

Egg rolls – Things like egg rolls and pot stickers always look better on rectangle plates compared to being bunched together.

Deserts – Deserts look really nice when served in long stem glasses or rectangle plates.

Get into the routine of glancing through online photographs and magazines to get additional plating ideas. Your imagination is basically the limit. So try to push your imagination to the limit.

Good Saturday morning everyone. It’s time to head back into the kitchen and work on that Spice Rack. Today I’ll be giving you some information about Basil, Bay Leaves, and Caraway Seeds.

Basil

You would think that our travels on the spice trade would take us to Italy for Basil. Did you know that Basil actually originated in Asia in the 1600’s? It’s an important culinary herb because people use it in salads, casseroles, sauces and even some liqueurs.

Fresh Basil is always best but you can easily find Basil flakes at the dollar store or your local grocery store. Do your best to purchase herbs from a local farmer though. The Basil will be fresher and your supporting your local economy.

Sweet Basil will have the aromatics and taste of Licorice/Anise or cloves. Basil works really well with sliced tomatoes or tomato products. I’ve been known to add a little Basil in my salsa just for some extra kick.

Bay Leaves

Anything that is a leaf will take longer to release its aromatics and flavor. You can help it along my rubbing the leaves in your hands to release the oils from the Bay Leaves.

Bay Leaves come from the Bay tree. This tree is native to the Mediterranean. Bay Leaves will give off a woodsy aromatic and astringent/clean taste to your cooking. French, Mediterranean, and Indian recipes call for Bay Leaves a lot.

Caraway Seeds

I personally do not like caraway seeds because they get stuck in my teeth. Anyways, Caraway Seeds come from the parsley family and give off a peppery taste to them. Often people will use them in all types of dips for parties.

If you remember the tip that I gave you yesterday, brown the Caraway Seeds just like you would Anise.

That’s it for the spice rack today. Everyone enjoy his or her weekend. I’m going to try to post something tomorrow but since it’s my only day off. I’m not promising anything. The next set of spices I should be covering is Celery Flakes, Chili Powder, and Chives.

 Until then have fun cooking!

 I recently was invited to a Birthday party where the host asked our family to bring an item. If you’re trying to create restaurant quality food at home, don’t be afraid to fake it.

These days’ grocery stores offer plenty of items that can turn a simple homemade item into something from an American food restaurant.  

Sandra Lee is an amazing example of making the best eats out of 70% store bought. I’m just going to use the same idea and apply it to catered food.  

O.K. back to our dilemma of having to bring something to a pot luck Birthday party. Not having any time to cook, I decided to grab pre-made sandwiches that were on sell at the grocery store. I decided to add fancier mustard, extra Boar’s Head sliced meat, and baby greens.

Don’t forget about garnishes. You can make your platter look like it came out of an American food restaurant by adding garnishes. Things like radishes, grapes, and a selection of different olives work wonders on a sandwich display.

Remember if you want your guests and friends to be crying “Best Eats” then learn how to jazz up pre-made store items, jazz up store items, and just remember the jazz Chefs put on their restaurant items.

Photograph by Kris El