Burger Dog

So I was racking my brain about what to make for dinner tonight, and the starting point was knowing what protein I had on hand, which turned out to be lean ground beef. Since we've been having pasta all week, it was time for a break. We had some hot dog buns so I thought, "Why not a burger?" When I tossed the idea to Ken, he was on board with getting burger buns, but then we'd end up with a giant pile of leftover burger and hot dog buns. I went ahead with the burger dog idea and they turned out just fine.

I made a mixture of ground beef, chopped onions and cilantro (from the garden!). The burger was too lean so I added some grape seed oil and shredded parmesan cheese to the mixture (don't forget the salt). Since I didn't have any sliced cheese, I stuffed the burgers with mozzarella medallions that were cut into halves to fit the elongated patty shape. I made two of the elongated patties and used the rest of the mixture to make round burger patties.

And since I only had cherry tomatoes from the garden, I made a caprece salad on the side in place of the standard lettuce and tomatoes that would've gone into the burger, which made this burger somewhat deconstructed. Anyway, this was a good way to get dinner on the table by making do with whatever we had on hand at the time. Yay!

Pasta Night x 2

On those days when you don't really feel like cooking and still need to get something out quickly and easily, this one's it. It's more like dressing up your spaghetti dish while getting in your protein, veggies and starch at the same time. Start by browning up Italian sausage into chunks (preferably without the casing but either will work) or lean ground beef, add garlic and onions (and mushrooms if I have any), add about 2 steamed squash (Ken's stepmom got him a microwavable steamer that I use all the time), then simmer the whole mixture in marinara sauce. Combine the sauce together with your favorite pasta and there should be enough to last you a second meal the next day (as in our case tonight). One trick to remake it for the next meal is to turn it into a creamy sauce (add cream, or creme fraiche in my case, while simmering), add a little chili pepper, then toss in a few shrimps. Ken liked it better the second time around (and who doesn't like creamy?).

Linguini & Eggs

Asians add eggs to just about every dish conceivable, so it didn't seem unusual to me when I heard about this one. The program was called "Best Thing I Ever Ate", which featured favorite dishes of some of Food Network's celebrities, and this episode happened to be on breakfasts. One of the dishes was a breakfast pasta, which included linguini, olive oil, parmesan cheese, and scrambled eggs. Basically, you take cooked pasta (I only had capellini on hand at the time), add it to the pan with olive oil, pour uncooked scrambled egg over it, throw in lots of garlic and some parmesan cheese (and don't forget salt), toss it around for a few minutes and you're done!

I tried it for lunch today and it's very tasty! I made it a bit on the crispier side as a personal preference, and somehow forgot the parmesan cheese. I'm so excited and can't wait to make it again soon with the parmesan. Now just because there are eggs in it doesn't necessarily make this dish a breakfast item...it's good for any meal of the day.

* This picture was taken on August 4, when I made it again for dinner, this time with the parmesan and shrimp added. Also, see Linguini & Eggs update posted 8/30.

Mozzarella Cheese Balls

While at TJ's last week, I accidentally bought more fresh mozzarella than I intended to: small balls and medallions. Then it occurred to me to deep fry them and found this simple recipe online. I also had some shredded parmesan cheese and added it to the breading on a few of the balls. Luckily, I also had marinara sauce on hand and used it as a dip. Since I had the deep fryer out already, I also fried up the last two portions of calamari that my dad brought over a few weeks ago along with spring rolls. It was a lot of fried food for one evening, and a good thing that my parents were here to help eat it all!

Not So Vanilla Vanilla Ice Cream

We received a set of Delizia balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil from my cousin Alice last year, and hadn't opened them up until recently. A suggestion on the balsamic vinegar label was to pour it over vanilla ice cream (who would've thought?), which I tried and didn't love at first but the flavors grew on me. It was still missing something, so I drizzled a little of the olive oil over it and holy smokes--it's amazing! I love ice cream, mostly plain instead of dressed up as a sundae, and have to say that this is its own special type of sundae. I'm not a big dessert person so this combination of a little sweet and a little savory works perfectly for me. Try it!

Linguini with Clam Sauce

I wanted to make the crab cakes again and thought that they would go great with clam linguini, and found this really easy recipe from Rachel Ray on the Food Network.

It turned out okay. The liguini was TJ's with garlic & basil infused into it, which might have made it taste bitter. I got too caught up in cooking the crab cakes at the same time and left the noodles sitting in the sauce for too long, so they turned out on the gummy side. The sauce itself was a bit bland. It needed more clammy goodness (more clam juice?) and less olive oil, and perhaps more cooking time with the anchovies. I left out the chili flakes because we're not into spicy. Even thought there weren't any raves on this one, I would give the recipe another try for its simplicity, perhaps including fresh clams in addition to the canned ones, and incorporating a pinch of the chili flakes.

One more note: It's very important to make sure the linguini is done before starting the sauce because the sauce part takes very little time. I didn't realize it and ended up getting flustered from too much going on!

* Since we had about half of it left over, I reheated it on the stove the next day and added some more wine to juice it up again.

Cuban-Style Pork

My dad gave us their grill, since they hardly ever use it, so I thought to celebrate this heat wave by throwing something on. We received a cookbook called "Eating By Color" as a wedding gift, and I found this pork recipe that's perfect for grilling.

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• grated zest of 1/2 orange & 1/2 lime
• 2 tbsp each orange juice & lime juice
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar (I only had red wine vinegar)
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp each ground cumin & allspice (didn't have allspice)
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• 4 bone-in center-cut rib or loin pork chops, about 3/4 inch thick
• 4 pineapple slices (optional)

Combine all the ingredients together and marinate the pork in half the marinade in the refrigerator for up to 2 hours or room temperature for 20 minutes. Bring to room temperature before grilling. Grill pork on medium-high heat until golden on outside and just faintly pink in center (145 F), about 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove to a platter, tent with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes. Drizzle reserved marinade and serve immediately.

The recipe called for grilled plantains on the side, but we didn't have any so I served grilled artichokes, zucchini and corn on the cob instead. Sorry no picture this time...left my camera at my booth at the Art-A-Fair and won't be there to pick it up until tomorrow.

Couscous Stuffed Salmon

My parents came over tonight so I wanted to cook a dinner that we loved yet quick and easy to make, so we had these salmon stuffed with dill-seasoned couscous from TJ's, topped with a white-wine reduction that Ken loves so much. The trick to cooking the salmon is to seal it in aluminum foil (don't forget to spray with cooking oil), and bake for about 35 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees. On the side were my favorite asparagus risotto, also from TJ's, and sauteed squash. According to my dad, Ken's a lucky guy, a compliment I'll take any day!

Tomato Salad

Now that we have our own house, I finally got my garden...sort of. The property came with a few cherry tomato plants and I recently bought some herbs. I already had some cherry tomatoes that my mom picked when she visited last last week, then picked some more this morning, which yielded a pretty good load. Since I also had a basil plant, I immediately thought of making a tomato and mozzarella salad. I happen to find fresh mozzarella in the same shape as the tomatoes, which I quartered and added to the halved tomatoes and chopped basil. Lightly toss with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar (I used this really tasty one from Delizia, gifted from my cousin Alice), salt and pepper.

Fried Calamari

My dad was gifted a pile of squid from his friend, who was first gifted with an even bigger pile of squid from his fisherman friend, and I became the sole recipient of all the squid from my dad. He first brought it over last Friday, which I cleaned and fried up. I have never cleaned squid but had a general idea, since there isn't much to their anatomy: a body tube with the quill and a head with tentacles.

The attempt was pretty successful for a first but the squid could've been cleaned better. Separate the eyes and tentacles by pulling away from the body, and pull out the quill and the membranous lining in the tube. Cut the tentacles away from the eyes, careful not to cut the ink sacs in the eye area. Cut the tube into 1/2 inch segments. Be sure to rinse out the tube bits thoroughly. Tonight was my second attempt and I made a more thorough cleaning job. I dusted the tubes and tentacles in flour and dropped the pieces into the deep fryer until golden, then seasoned with salt and finely ground white pepper (Chinese style and no aioli required!).

Funny thing tonight that after we were done with dinner, Alton Brown's "Good Eats" episode happened to be on squid and gave some great cleaning and cooking tips. Be sure to remove the rudder!

Ken and Dad were quite pleased with the outcome. My favorite's the tentacles and it's a good thing for me that Ken only likes the tubes.