Pigs in Blankets

Memorial Day: The Ultimate Burger

To celebrate memorial day, we made these mini-burgers, perfect for a day out in the park! They are made from scratch: the buns, caramelised onion, crispy bacon, and a whole new way to make the patty.

Homemade Buns from Craving Comfort

1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup milk, slightly warmed
3/4 cups bread flour
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg

Instructions

Mix all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the hook attachment. Knead until the dough is smooth. Cover and let rise until doubled in size. Make small balls of dough and bake at 180 ºC (356 F) for ten minutes. Paint with one beaten egg with a pinch of salt and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Continue baking until golden brown.

Nice buns!

Caramelized Onions

1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
Olive oil
2 onions

Instructions

Thinly slice the onions. Place in a saucepan over medium heat and drizzle with olive oil. Cook until translucent. Add the sugar and vinegar and cook over low heat until caramelized.

Crispy Bacon from David Lebovitz

1/4 cup brown sugar
5 bacon strips

Instructions

Place bacon strips on a wire rack and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake in the oven at 180 ºC (356 F) until crispy.

Burgers adapted from BBQ addicts

8 bacon strips
Ground meat

Instructions

Weave bacon strips to form a tight mesh.Place ground meat on top of the weave and press. Roll the mat and secure with toothpicks. Place in the oven at 180 ºC (356 F) until the bacon crisps and the roll feels firm to the touch. Let rest for five minutes.

Assembly

Slice buns open and toast them. Slice the meat roll and place a slice on the bun. Place cheese, caramelised onions and crispy bacon on top. Grill in the oven at 200 ºC (392 F) until the cheese melts. Remove from the oven, add lettuce and tomato, place the top of the bun. Enjoy the awesomeness of the massive mini-burger and eat!

Fajitas

Cinco de Mayo is the perfect excuse to eat fajitas and drink delicious frozen strawberry margaritas, so happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone!

Fajita Seasoning Mix adapted from RecipeZaar

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Mix all the ingredients and grind them with an electric mixer or a mortar. Store in an airtight container and reserve.

Guacamole

1/2 purple onion
1 roma tomato
Cilantro leaves
1 avocado
1 lime
Salt

Instructions

Finely dice the tomato and onion and reserve. Dice the avocado, add salt to taste and crush it with the help of a fork. Juice the lime and add the juice to the avocado. Mix well and add the tomato and onion. Chop the cilantro leaves very finely and add them to the guacamole. Taste and add more salt or lime juice as needed.

Fajitas

1 1/2 cups chicken stock
3 chicken breasts
2 green peppers
2 red peppers
1 onion

Instructions

Slice peppers and onion and place over medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil. Cover and let simmer until tender. Add the chicken breasts, cut in strips. Add two tablespoons of the seasoning mix, and one and a half cups of the chicken broth. Stir until thoroughly cooked and the liquid thickens.

Frozen Strawberry Margarita

2 cups lemon juice
1 cup Cointreau
2 cups Tequila
10 Strawberries
Sugar
Ice

Instructions

Mix the liquors with the lemon juice. Add strawberries and blend with an electric mixer. Add sugar to taste. Add ice and crush with a blender. Keep adding ice until a slushie texture is obtained.

Note: the standard measurements for a margarita are 2 oz. Tequila, 1 oz. Cointreau and 1/2 oz. lemon juice. I increased the amount of lemon juice and added sugar to water down this cocktail because it is pretty strong!

Assembly

Chop lettuce and tomatoes finely. Heat tortillas in the microwave as directed in the package. Place one tortilla on a plate, add chicken mixture, lettuce and tomato. I like to put a bit of guacamole in my fajita, too.

Serve guacamole on a bowl, with nachos. You can chill some glasses in the freezer overnight and serve the margaritas in them to get a frosted effect. Pour yourself a drink, sit back and enjoy!

Mother’s Day Breakfast

Breakfast in bed is always a great treat. It gets even better when that breakfast consists of the fluffiest pancakes you have ever seen and a delicious cardamom infused orange juice. This post is dedicated to all the moms, but especially to mine, because she is the best in the whole world!

Fluffy Pancakes

Chocolate chips, varied fruit
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup seltzer water
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. fine salt
1 1/4 tsp. sugar
1 cup yogurt
2 cups flour
Butter

Instructions

Sift together the flour, sugar, and salt. Mix the yogurt and baking soda in a large bowl and let rest for 10 minutes. Beat the eggs and mix with the seltzer water. Mix egg, yogurt and flour mixtures and whisk until combined. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes.

Melt a couple teaspoons of butter in the microwave. Brush the bottom of a saucepan with the melted butter. Pipe the batter in a spiralling motion starting in the center of the pan and moving outward. Place the pan over medium heat. When the batter starts to bubble, you can add chocolate chips or the fruit of your choice. When the top of the pancake stars to dry, flip it and finish cooking.

Cardamom infused Orange Juice

5 cardamom berries
1 glass orange juice

Instructions

Retrieve the seeds from the cardamom berries and place in the orange juice. Heat the mixture until it reaches 50 ºC (122 F). Cool, let infuse for a day and serve.

Source: Saveur's Blueberry Pancakes, Yann Duytsche's cooking class at Hofmann cooking school.

Apple Financiers

Financiers are a small french teacake. They are similar to madeleines, but smaller and more tender. They are usually rectangular, but they can be found in many shapes. They can be plain or filled with any fruit that can be baked in the oven (such as blueberries, raspberries, apple, pear or mango). These financiers are filled with sautéed apple and baked in rose-shaped molds.

Financiers

135 g egg whites (about 4 medium ones)
125 g hazelnut butter
75 g almonds
150 g sugar
13 g honey
50 g flour

Instructions

Beurre noisette or hazelnut butter is a heated butter used in french cuisine. It is made by heating regular unsalted butter over medium heat until the whey caramelizes. The resulting butter has a nutty aroma and remains liquid at room temperature, keeping the financiers moist once out of the oven.

To make the butter, melt it over medium heat on a pan. Let it stand over the heat until foam starts to form on the surface of the butter. The foam will start to sink and caramelize. When the bottom of the pan is coated with a golden substance, remove butter from heat, strain through a fine sieve and reserve.

Grind the almonds with the sugar in an electric mixer with short pulses. Grind for a couple of seconds and let the mixture cool down before continuing the grinding process. This is to prevent the almonds from losing oil and creating a paste. The final product should be a flour-like mixture.

Sift flour with the ground almond and sugar mixture. Add the egg whites and mix with the help of a whisk. Add the hazelnut butter at room temperature and mix until incorporated. Chill batter in the freezer for about an hour.

Filling

1 Russet apple
Lemon juice
Cinnamon
Butter
Sugar

Instructions

Peel, core and finely dice the apple. Drizzle with lemon juice to prevent oxidation. Place a dollop of butter and a couple tablespoons of sugar on a pan, and melt over low heat. Add the apple, sprinkle with cinnamon and sautée until golden but still firm.

Assembly

Remove batter from freezer and introduce it in a piping bag. Pipe some on the filling on the bottom of each mold. Place a lump of apple filling on each mold and cover with some more batter. Fill only up to two thirds of the mold, as the financiers will rise. Bake at 190 ºC for about 10 minutes or until the top of the financiers is cracked and golden.

Casadielles

Casadielles are a typical dessert from Asturias, which is a region at the north-west of Spain. They are some sort of pasties with a sweet filling. The dough is usually puff pastry although when made at home, a simpler dough is used. The filling is normally made with walnuts but it can be made with any nut.

Filling

About 3 tablespoons anise liqueur
80 g (3/8 cups) sugar
1 cup walnuts

Instructions

Crack walnuts open and place them on top of a clean kitchen cloth. Cover with another cloth and crush them with the help of a glass bottle.

Crush walnuts until a fine texture is obtained. This can also be done with a food processor, but it is hard to get the right texture. I would recommend trying the traditional way because it is always nice to remember the way things used to be done by our elders. Also, crushing nuts with a bottle is way more fun than pressing a button.

Transfer walnuts to a mixing bowl and add sugar, mix with a spoon and add the liqueur. Keep mixing until the sugar is incorporated and all the nuts are coated with liqueur and moist.

Dough

1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup white wine
1 cup olive oil
Flour

Instructions
Mix wine and oil in a mixing bowl and add the baking soda and baking powder. Start sifting the flour on top of the liquid mix.

Mix well and keep sifting flour until thickened.

Keep adding flour and start kneading by hand.

Transfer the dough to a clean surface and keep kneading until a smooth texture is obtained, adding more flour if needed.

On a lightly floured surface, spread dough with the help of a rolling pin. Cut rectangles with a pastry cutter or knife.

Place a spoonful of the nut filling on the center of the dough rectangle.

Fold dough to form the casadiella and reserve. Meanwhile, heat a pan with a generous amount of olive oil. When the casadielles are shaped, place them on the pan and fry until golden brown. Remove from oil, drain well and sprinkle generously with sugar. Serve and enjoy!