Best (indoor) Burgers

Griddle Burgers

  

These burgers are my absolute favorite to make year round. I'm not big on the super thick home-made style burger full of onions and spices. I like my burger meat thinish and tasting like meat. 

Then I cover it with mustard, ketchup, relish, mayo, tomato and sometimes dill pickel. Maybe I'm not such a purist after all.

Bo was nervous the first time I said I was making these, but he was a quick convert. Sure, we still BBQ in the warm weather for a change sometimes, but it snows here a lot, and who wants to go 6 months without a decent burger! Did I mention that this will taste just like the burger from that little mom and pop dinner that's been in business for 80 years? It will. The key is to steaming it for the last couple of minutes, and getting a few crispy pieces on the edges from cooking on top of it's own fat. Ignore how gross that sounds and remember: crispy edge bits!

If you want to be really adventurous you could sauté some onions on the griddle first, then cook the burger on top of that. I haven't done this yet because I like having one meal that I can do from start to finish in less then 15 minutes. On day though :)

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 6 minutse
Serves: 4

Ingredients:


1lb lean ground beef
4 cheddar cheese slices
Salt
Pepper
4 Burger buns, buttered and lightly broiled to toast

Directions:


1. Pre-heat your griddle (or frying pan) to medium-high heat. Roughly split the ground beef into four equal portions.

2 portions shown.

2. Roll each portion out between plastic wrap until about ½" thick. Generously salt each side with salt and pepper.

3. Put the burger on the griddle and cook for 3 minutes on the first side. Flip. Cook for 1 minute on the second side, then top with cheddar cheese and cover for another 1 to 2 minutes.

3 minutes on first side.

Flip, then cook for 1 minute.

Add cheese slices.

Cover to steam and cook for 2 minutes.

Done!

Enjoy!

Pizza Rolls

Pizza Rolls (aka Pizza Fingers)

These were my favorite things to order at a restaurant called Melanie Pringles in the town I grew up in (I think it's still there). When we moved, I found them at M&M Meats, but then they stopped making them. I had no choice but to figure out the recipe on my own. Lucky me it was ridiculously easy, and they freeze well. Woot!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:


1 package large won-ton wrappers (16 count)
1 package pre-sliced pepperoni
Motzerella cheese, grated
2 small cans of pizza sauce
Any other toppings you want
1 tbl cornstarch mixed with ½ cup of water

Directions:


1. Pre-heat your deep fryer to high, or get a couple of inches of oil in a deep pot (If using a pot, prep the rolls first, then heat your oil and cook, never leave hot oil with your back turned).

2. Lay out 4 won-ton wrappers at a time. Ust a basting brush to brush the water/cornstarch mixture around all four edges, about ½" wide (this helps the edges stick). Place pepperoni, about 1½ tbsp sauce and 2 tbsp motzerella onto the center of each won-ton.

3. Now it's time to roll them up. First, fold the two corners in where the filling is. Flatten the edge as much as you can. Then roll one of the remaining corners over, and press it down along the edges. Finally roll up, and pinch any edges/ends that you can. FYI - There's usually a diagram on the back of the won-ton wrapper to follow (I'm sure I haven't done a good job of describing it here!)

Note:  You can cook right away, or just cover them with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge until you're ready to cook. I usually prep them the morning that I'm going to cook them, so that it's nice and quick later on. You can keep them in the fridge for up to a day, any longer and I would cook/freeze.

4. Fry the rolls in three batches of 6 (in a deep fryer) until golden brown, 3-5 minutes. Let cool 5 - 10 minutes before eating, the filling will be VERY hot. I like to dip them in the leftover pizza sauce, but it's gotta be warmed.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Home Made BBQ Sauce

You want to know what can take these from "Oh my god these are fantastic" all the way to "OMFG if I stop shoveling this into my mouth I will die" in two seconds flat? Garlic  toasted buns. That's right folks. Slather some garlic butter onto the buns before you toast them, maybe a hint of garlic salt and some parsley flakes too, then load them up with BBQ sauce smothered pulled pork and dip them into the extra sauce. I did it. All the cool kids are.

This pork is just all torn up over something. Groan.

BBQ Sauce


To make this sauce for the pulled pork you have to multiply it by 4. You can always just head off to the grocery store and use your favorite brand.


Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Makes: 1.5 cups 



Ingredients:


2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp chili powder

¼ tsp cayenne powder

1 cup ketchup

5 tbsp molasses

2 tbsp dark cider vinegar

2 tbsp Worcestershire

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp Franks red hot

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the oil until shimmering the add the onion and cook until translucent and softened. Stir in the garlic, chili powder and cayenne and cook until fragrant, it only takes about 20 seconds.

2. Stir in the remaining ingredients and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cool to room temperature before serving (if you're using this on the pulled pork you don't have to cool it before pouring it into the pot).

3. The sauce can be refrigerated for 1 week, or frozen up to 2 months.


NOTE: When pairing with the pulled pork, I always make the sauce on the weekend. This makes for a really easy week night meal, just dump the pork and the sauce into the slow cooker, turn it on, and go to work. It's ready when you walk in the door. I'm wondering why I didn't do this today now :(


Pulled Pork

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 7-8 hours on low, 10-11 hours on high
Serves: 8 - 10 people 



Ingredients:

1 6lb - 7lb boneless boston butt, cut in half

6 to 7 cups BBQ sauce (anything store bought works just as well as the homemade sauce above)

Salt and pepper for seasoning

Directions:

1. Season the pork with salt & pepper and place it in the slow cooker. Pour the bbq sauce over it, cover, and cook (low for 7-9 hours or high for 10 to 11 hours) until fork tender and falling apart.

2. Transfer the meat to a large bowl and let cool. Let the cooking liquid settle for 5 minutes, then skim off the fat. Season with a little dash of cider vinegar and Frank's Red Hot sauce if you want to.

3. When the meat is cool enough to handle, shred it using your fingers, discarding any excess fat. Toss the shredded meat with 1 cup of the cooking sauce and serve on toasted buns. Keep extra sauce for dipping.

I grabbed these from my go-to kitchen bible of the moment, America's Test Kitchen Family Favorites. Get it. Right now. 

Chevapi and Crostini

This is an absolute favourite of Bo's, being that he's Croatian/Serbian it's basically a staple. There's a little butcher shop about a 45 minute drive from here that you can get them at, but they aren't hard at all to make, it just comes down to how lazy I'm feeling, lol.

Chevapi

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs ground pork
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 lb ground lamb (or ground pork if you can't find lamb)
1 egg
4 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tbl Vegeta (a Serbian jarred spice mix, optional)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat your grill (if using)

2. Add all ingredients to a large bowl and mix with your hands until well combined.

3. Roll into rectangular mini sausages, 3" long and 3/4" in wide.

4. Place all of the chevapi in a single layer in a disposable foil baking pan and place onto your preheated grill on med-high heat. You can also cook these on a griddle, or in a large frying pan in a couple of batches (try to cook them all at once though, because it takes a bit of time). Turn the chevapi about every 7 or 8 minutes, once that side is well browned and has a slight crust. Be careful not to over cook though.

Note: These are fantastic on there own, but equally good dipped into ketchup or tzatziki sauce. Bo likes to load a bunch into a bun sometimes too for a sand which of sorts.

Make Ahead: After you've formed the chevapi you and just wrap them as a batch in plastic wrap, then put them in a zip-lock bag and freeze them for later. I like to do this on a weekend, make a huge batch of them then just pop them out of the freezer whenever we want!

Crostini

This is the easiest way to make brilliant little toasts to accompany a dinner

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Bakes Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 6 - 8

Ingredients:

1 baguette or Parisian loaf
olive oil
Fleur de sel (or sea salt)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees

2. Slice your baguette into 3/8" think (1cm) slices and place on a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet

3. Drizzle lightly with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt.

4. Bake for 10 minutes and removing from the baking sheet immediately.

Buffalo Chicken Bites, Baked Macaroni & Cheese, Garlic Toast, and Garlic Butter

Buffalo Chicken Bites

Ok, so Bo felt like something tossed in my chicken wing sauce, but not chicken wings. He didn't know what he felt like, so I went with chicken bites, nice and easy to make. And they were delicious! They were even delicious the next day warmed under the broiler (though completely different tasting, not as spicy, like a warm spice).

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Bake Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4 (so long as you have something else on the side)

Ingredients:

2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut unto bite (or two-bite) size pieces

1/3 cup flour

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups Italian style bread crumbs (or regular breadcrumbs with some Italian seasoning mixed in)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup butter

1 cup hot sauce (we use and love Franks Red Hot, I highly recommend it)

Directions:

1. Take 3 zip-lock bags. Put the flour, salt and pepper in the first, the eggs in the second, and the breadcrumbs in the third.

2. Toss the chicken cubes in the flour mixture until well covered, then put the chicken pieces into the egg mixture and move around until all the pieces are wet on all sides. For the bread crumbs, toss about 6 pieces at a time, and make sure that you let any excess egg drip off before moving them to that last bag (you don't want to gum up the breadcrumbs). Place the chicken pieces onto a plate, because you're ready to fry.

3. Now, I have one of those ridiculously unhealthy but FANTASTIC counter top deep fryers. Bo and I love chicken wings, especially in the winter in front of the TV while we watch a hockey game. I thought it was common for people to have deep fryers, until our cousin Jenny looked at it with pure disgust. So, I get it, you make not have a deep fryer. So, put a couple of inches of oil (I use peanut for deep frying) in a pot (a cast iron one retains the heat best, think Le Creuset or Kitchen Aid who makes a good imitation) and heat it to between 350 and 375 degrees. Drop your chicken in, and fry until deep golden brown, about 8 minutes

4. While the chicken is cooking, it's time for the sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and then whisk in the hot sauce. That's it, we're done.

5. Toss the cooked chicken in the hot sauce and enjoy!

NOTE: When I do a breading like this I usually double bread them because it will give you a ridiculous crunch, this time though it was late and I just didn't have the time. If you'd like to, at this point cover the chicken pieces with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (you can do this for a couple of hours if you want to do most of the prep ahead of time). Then, you repeat the egg and breadcrumb dip, then continue with frying.

   

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

 

I love macaroni and cheese. It's that comfort food for me like no other (those of you for whom soup is your comfort food, I feel for you). I saw this recipe on Cooks Country TV (by America's Test Kitchen). Now, I have a serious hard on for America's Test Kitchen, I have never made a recipe by them that I didn't love, and that didn't turn out exactly as they said it would (and I've got over a hundred of their magazines and almost every cook book they've put out). That said, baked macaroni and cheese is my thing, I immediately saw some tweaks that would make this even better, but I will say that their white sauce base kicked my base's ass. Anyway, here's "our" recipe for baked macaroni...you will love...trust!

 

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Bake Time: 25 to 30 minutes

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

4 slices white sandwich bread , torn into large pieces

11 tablespoons unsalted butter , 6 tablespoons melted

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tbl + 2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Pepper

1 pound elbow macaroni

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 (12-ounce) cans evaporated milk

2 teaspoons hot sauce

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon dry mustard

3 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

3/4 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and macaroni to boiling water and cook until just al dente, about 6 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup macaroni cooking water, then drain and rinse macaroni in colander under cold running water. Set aside.

3. White the macaroni is cooking pulse bread in a food processor until ground to a fine crumb. Add the melted butter and Parmesan and pulse again to combine. Pour breadcrumb mixture into a small frying pan and toast the crumbs until golden brown, stirring almost constantly.

4. Melt the remaining 5 tablespoons butter in the now-empty pasta pot over medium-high heat until foaming. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture turns light brown, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the evaporated milk, hot sauce, nutmeg, mustard, pepper and 2 teaspoons salt and cook until mixture begins to simmer and is slightly thickened, about 4 minutes. Off heat, whisk in cheeses and 1/2 cup reserved pasta water until cheese melts. Stir in macaroni until completely coated.

5. Transfer mixture to 13 by 9-inch baking dish and top evenly with entire bread crumb mixture. Bake until cheese is bubbling around edges and top is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

MAKE AHEAD: Cooks Country TV has directions for making this ahead of time. I can't speak for how well this works because I haven't tried it, but here is their directions in case any of you want to give it a go. If you do shoot me a line and let me know how it goes so I can let others know.

The macaroni and cheese can be made in advance through step 3; since the pasta continues to absorb moisture, adjustments must be made to avoid a dry filling. To do so, increase amount of reserved pasta cooking water to 1 cup. Pour filling into 13 by 9-inch baking dish, lay plastic wrap directly on surface of pasta, and refrigerate for up to 1 day. The bread crumb mixture may be refrigerated in airtight container up to 2 days (Don't toast the breadcrumbs first though, that's something that I added to get a better crunch from them). When ready to bake, remove plastic wrap, cover macaroni mixture with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle bread crumbs over top, and bake until topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes longer.

Garlic Toast

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Bake Time: 5 minutes

Here's just a quick run down for my garlic toast, which is SO easy to make, and so fantastic to eat!

Ingredients:

Calabrese bread (it's got a nice dense crumb that holds the topping well)

Garlic butter (store bought, or recipe below)

Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Slice the bread into 3/4" thick pieces and spread one side with the garlic butter mix (I usually cheat here and buy it at the grocery store, but it's so easy to make too!)

2. Top with a light sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese, and for this I actually prefer the store bought pre-grated stuff (like Kraft) to the real thing. Go figure.

3. Place on the middle rack of your oven and broil for about 5 minutes, until the top is a little crunchy feeling and starting to turn golden brown. Watch this carefully though, as it can go from golden to burnt very quickly.

Garlic Butter

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground paprika

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together

Notes: This butter is also fantastic on steaks, melted to dip seafood in, and mixed into mashed potatoes. It also stores well in your fridge. Simply roll into a log using plastic wrap and refrigerate, cutting off what you need (example, cut 1/4" rounds and place atop a steak straight off the grill).

Porcupine Balls and Apple Crisp

Porcupine Balls

Ignore the name, they're just meatballs with rice in them that puffs out the sides, hence the "porcupine" moniker. This is a family favourite, passed down to me from my Nana, but I've tweaked it a lot over the last 4 years and finally have a perfected recipe. Enjoy

Prep time: 15 minutes

Bake time: 1 hour

Server: 5 to 6

Ingredients (measurements are a little rough, but this part is very hard to screw up)

Meatballs:

1lb lean ground beef

1 large handful rice

1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs (or regular breadcrumbs with Italian seasoning mixed in)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tbl milk

Mix all above ingredients in a bowl with your hands until very well combined. The mixture will feel a little wet, but not dripping. If you think it's too wet you can add a bit more breadcrumbs. Roll into meatballs, I usually do them the size of a ping pong ball, and place them into an oven safe baking dish (yeah corning ware).

Sauce:

3 cans tomato soup

2/3 tomato soup can of beef broth

1/2 tomato soup can of water

1/3 c rice

Whisk together all sauce ingredients in the bowl that you mixed the meatballs in (this will grab any of the little bits left behind. Pour the sauce over the meatballs, then spin the meatballs around a bit to cover them in the sauce.

Cover the dish with foil and bake for 1 hour in a 425 degree oven. Serve this up with bread to dip in the leftover sauce and you're laughing! Leftovers are fantastic the next day for lunch too! 

 What's left of our porcupine balls. I was hungry, so no photos until we entered leftover territory.

Apple Crisp

Prep time: 20 minutes

Bake time: 45 minutes

Serves: 8

This is by far the best apple crisp I've ever had, another of my perfected recipes! Bo and I like lots of topping though, so if you don't you're weird you can cut it in half.

Ingredients:

10 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced thinly

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/4 cup water

Put the apple slices into a large oven safe dish (I use a 9" x 13" corning ware). Whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour the sugar mixture over the apples, then toss to evenly coat. Pour the water over the apples, do not mix. (If you like your apple crisp more juicy, you can up the water to 1/3 or even 1/2 a cup without ruining the crisp, I just prefer mine only a little juicy, with apples that still have some bite).

2 c quick-cooking oats

2 c all-purpose flour

2 c packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup butter, melted

Whisk together everything except the butter so it's well combined. Pour the butter over the mixture and combine with a fork or your hands (which is way faster), until there are no dry bits left and it comes together is small clumps in your hands. Evenly sprinkle the topping over the apple mixture.

Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes until brown on top and bubbling at the edges. Let cool slightly, and enjoy!

Turkey Parmigina and Mini Banana Muffins

Turkey Parmigiana

This recipe is one that I've tucked into my "perfected" file. I basically cook a recipe over and over again, trying to simplify everything I can while making absolutely fantastic tasting food (taste always comes first though, I just save the time consuming dishes for weekends).

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes (10 of which are in oven)

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

4 Turkey scaloppini (or chicken or veal, turkey is WAY cheaper though)

1 cup Panko bread crumbs

1/3 cup fresh grated parmigiana cheese

1 egg

Olive oil

1 jar of pasta sauce (Bo makes me use Ragu, lol)

1/3 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Steps:

1. Pre-heat your over to 400.

2. Put the bread crumbs and parmigiana cheese in a dish and mix well together. Put the egg in a second dish and whip up with a fork.

3. Dip each cutlet into the egg, and then put it into the bread crumb mixture. Make sure that they've evenly coated with crumbs. The panko crumbs won't look as uniform as regular bread crumbs, but the crunch? Oh la!

4. Heat some olive oil in a large, non-stick skillet (about 1/8" think coating). Make sure the oil it super hot, but not smoking. Look for it to start to shimmer on the surface, this is when you're ready to rock!

5. Put the cutlets into the pan, carefully! Always start with the chicken hitting the pan closest to you, then drop it down towards the back, this way you don't get splashed with boiling hot oil (trust me on this one). Cook each cutlet until well browned, about 3 or 4 minutes on each side over med-high heat. The best part about this, it's totally ok to flip it back and forth a couple of times (I always do), to make sure it's nice and brown!

6. As the turkey is cooking, pour your pasta sauce into a large rectangular baking dish. HINT: Line the dish with foil first, this makes for a really easy clean up! When the turkey is done, lay the cutlets in the sauce and then top each one with a sprinkle of the mozzarella cheese. Throw this puppy in the oven for 10 minutes, just until the cheese has melted and the sauce heated up. If you're in a rush, you can throw it under the broiler and it'll be ready in 3 - 5 minutes, just be careful that it doesn't burn!

NOTES: Don't put any sauce on top of the cutlets, as this gets rid of that incredible crunch that the panko crumbs adds. Instead, when you serve, put a nice dollop of sauce on the side for dipping, and if you want to go all fancy drag your spoon through it on a curve to make a tail.

If you want to make the scaloppini yourself, just butterfly a chicken breast, and then pound to 1/4" thickness between two sheets of cling wrap.

For the garlic pasta with vegetables: Go to your freezer isle, buy a bag for $2, pour it into a pot with 1/2 cup of water and crank the heat for 6 minutes. Delicious!

Mini Banana Muffins

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Bake Time: 15 minutes

Makes: 48 mini muffins

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup plain yogurt (good substitutions are sour cream, or milk if you don't have either of those)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (3 med bananas, 4 small bananas, make sure they're VERY ripe, mostly brown)

Topping:

2 tablespoons white sugar

Dash of cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350.

2. In a medium bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

3. In a second, smaller bowl, mix together the egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture until combined (It will seem quite stiff).

4. Mash the bananas in the bowl that the wet ingredients were in. Make sure that you mash them really well, then mix into the batter.

5. Drop by a spoon into mini muffin tins (filling 3/4 of the way up the sides)

6. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon for the topping, and just lightly dust the top of each muffin.

7. Bake for 15 - 17 minutes, until golden brown, and enjoy!

NOTES: If you want to make full size muffins, just increase the baking time to about 25 minutes. You can also add some chocolate chips, or toasted walnut pieces to these and it'll be DELICIOUS!