Greek Lamb Burger with Fried Saganaki, Homemade Bacon, and Cilantro Tzatziki [Zack]

I've been on a burger kick lately, but this Greek lamb burger with fried saganaki, homemade bacon, and cilantro tzatziki is my favorite I've ever made.  I wanted to try to make as much of the burger from scratch as I could (as a personal challenge), but high-quality store-bought ingredients are just as good.

Process:

Start by frying bacon in a medium-low frying pan to render the fat and crisp the bacon.  Remove bacon from pan when crispy and reserve the fat for cooking the lamb burger.

Mince garlic and cilantro, and combine with the mayo.  If you want a smoother presentation, you can put in the food processor or blender for a few pulses.

Toast your buns in advance so you don't have to worry about these later.

Form ground lamb into 3 patties and salt and pepper both sides.

Get 1 non-stick frying pan going over medium heat for the saganaki, and 1 cast iron or regular pan heated up over high heat for the lamb burgers.

Slice the kefalograviera (saganaki cheese) into squares and fry in a little bit of olive oil until crispy on both sides.  You can squeeze a bit of lemon on top if desired.

Cook the burger in your hot pan for a few minutes per side until it reaches your desired internal temperature.

Assemble the burger and enjoy!

Ingredients (makes about 3 burgers):
1lb of ~80/20 ground lamb
1/2lb of sliced bacon
3 burger buns

Tzatziki:
1 cup mayonnaise (or Greek yogurt)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 loose cup of cilantro leaves, minced

Saganaki:
1/2 lb kefalograviera cheese (halloumi works here too)
1T olive oil
optional 1/2 lemon

Song:  Marian Hill - Got it

Honey Habanero Teriyaki Glazed Chicken Wings [Zack]

I love making chicken wings.  They're great for any occasion that doesn't involve white clothing (sorry P Diddy).  The most popular recipe on this website is Honey Garlic Sriracha Glazed Wings, so I figured I'd post another favorite wing recipe of mine.  

You start by making a thick, spicy, and salty-sweet teriyaki sauce, and then pour it over roasted chicken wings.  Reduce the sauce to a glaze glaze under the broiler or in a pan, and they're ready to be consumed!

Process:

Lightly salt and pepper chicken wings.  Rub them with a small amount of canola oil and place in an oven at 375F / 180 C.  Cook until almost finished (about 25 minutes based on how close the wings are together), then turn on the broiler to crisp the skin.  Turn the wings over to get both sides golden brown.

While the wings are roasting, de-seed the habanero, and dice it.  Mince garlic and ginger as well.  Saute them all in a sauce pot over medium heat in 1T of sesame oil until fragrant.  Make sure to turn on your fan or the habanero will pepper-spray your house.

Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and honey and reduce.  This should take about 10 minutes.  The sauce should be the consistency of warm honey when it's finished.  Take off the stove and let it rest.

Toss the roasted wings in the teriyaki sauce and throw them back under the broiler.  You want the glaze to caramelize but not burn!  If you have not reduced your teriyaki sauce and it's too watery, you can transfer the wings to a pan and the sauce will thicken up more quickly.  This happened to me.

Serve with lots of napkins and enjoy!

Ingredients:
20 chicken wings 1T sesame oil
2 garlic cloves
1 inch ginger, diced
1 habanero, de-seeded (to taste)
1 cup soy sauce
1T rice wine vinegar
2/3 cup honey (to taste)

Song:  Erykah Badu - Hotline Bling

Smoked Beef Brisket Texas Style [Zack]

Aaron Franklin is a BBQ God.  People wait outside of his restaurant for 4+ hours, sitting in lawn chairs and tailgating the line.  He has his own PBS show and youtube channel.  I love how he keeps things simple, with both the recipe and the explanations of "why".  He's not one to do things the easy way, but if you own a smoker, I doubt you like shortcuts either.

This was the first time I've smoked a brisket and it turned out amazingly.  I used Aaron's recipe and it was great.  I'm a new user of the Weber Smokey Mountain 18.5" and I must say they've designed these smokers perfectly.  The heat source, water bowl, and meat are vertically aligned so everything cooks evenly and doesn't dry out easily.  I didn't have to wrap or spray this badboy with anything.  And it's super easy to maintain a constant temperature with a low amount of fuel.  I got by with 1/3 a bag of Kingsford and a few hickory wood chunks in the 10.5 hours of smoking.

Process:

Really, it's best to just watch Aaron Franklin on youtube, but I'll give you the high-level.



Pre-heat your smoker to 225F.  I lugged myself out of bed at 5am to do so.  Organize your coals using the "minion method".  This means pour unlit coals into the smoker, organize some wood chunks around the outside, and make a volcano cavity.  Pour about 12 light briquettes into the center.  The coals will slowly light from top to bottom over time, and will therefore keep the temperature constant.

Rub a brisket with a 50/50 mix of salt and freshly crack black peppercorns.  Season liberally so you have a nice bark in the end.  Place the brisket on the smoker once hits an even 225F, making sure you have a water pan to keep everything moist.

Smoke the brisket for about 10.5 hours (for 8.5lbs, times will vary).  Pull the brisket once the internal temperature reaches 190F.  Note, the temperature will "stall" at around 170F for multiple hours.  I hit 170F at around 2.5 hours and it didn't exceed 174F until about 9 hours into the smoke.

Keep that temperature constant and check the meat as infrequently as possible.  I added some home-cured bacon and homemade BBQ beans on the top rack to keep things interesting.

 

Once the beef reaches 190F, pull it off the smoker and wrap it in foil.  Let it rest for around 1 hour.

Slice it against the grain.  The grain switches about halfway through.  Again, just watch Aaron explain it.

Fend off everyone until you are finished with your presentation.  They will be dying for scraps.

Ingredients:
8.5lb of beef brisket (trimmed)
salt
black pepercorns, cracked with a mortar and pestle
however many beers you may need to stare at a smoker for ~10.5 hours

Song: Maya Payne - If Only

Sous Vide Pork Belly Porchetta [Zack]

I've enjoyed using my Anova Sous Vide machine for long, slow cooking sessions on big hunks of meat.  It's so much easier to get a perfect, consistent, and repeatable outcome.  I've actually been following recipes that I've found online while I'm learning to use the new tool.

Everyone loves pork belly, and this porchetta recipe is perfect if you want to make something besides bacon.  It's crispy, rich, salty, fatty, and balances well with something light and fresh.  All of the credit goes to my favorite food writer, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt for creating the All Belly Sous Vide recipe.

Process:

Lay the pork belly skin-side down on a cutting board and cross-hatch the inner meat portion with about 1/2 inch diagonal cuts.  Rub salt, crushed black peppercorns, crushed fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, smashed garlic, and rosemary all over the inside.  Roll the belly tightly and tie it with butcher string.

Season the outside of the belly with a 2-to-1 ratio of salt and baking powder.  Vacuum seal the belly and let it rest in the fridge for 12 hours or so.

Sous vide the belly at 155F / 68.3C for 36 hours.  Transfer belly to an ice bath if you're not cooking it right away.

Remove the belly from the pouch and reserve the liquid that it exuded.  You can reduce this down for a sauce if you want.

Shallow-fry the porchetta, spooning oil over it and turning when needed.

Remove from the oil when it's nicely golden brown and crispy on all sides.

Slice, and serve over crusty toast and with some cole slaw to offset the richness.

Ingredients:
See Kenji's Recipe

Song:  Since this cooks for a while, just jam out to James Blake's whole album:  James Blake

Israeli Vegetarian Lentil Soup [Zack]

Winter is raging outside and I wanted something to comfort my insides.  I chose to cook one of my favorite soups from an awesome little restaurant named Beni Falafel in the Jewish quarter of Antwerp.  They are known for making great falafel sandwiches, but I also really enjoy their lentil soup which is healthy, vegetarian, and kosher.

My version is very close to the original - I used lots of lentils, potatoes, red pepper, spinach, onion, garlic, and whole cumin seeds.  You'll feel like a super hero when you're finished eating - it's filling but doesn't feel heavy. 

Process:

Slice and dice all of your veggies.  

In a pot over medium heat, add 2T of olive oil and your onion, red pepper, and diced mushrooms.  Saute for about 5 minutes, then add the garlic and cumin seeds.  Cook for another 1-2 minutes until fragrant.  Dump in the potatoes, tomato, and your veggie stock.  

Add 3 handfuls of lentils to the pot (check for stones first) and bring to a simmer.  Lower the heat to low and place the lid on top a bit askew.  Cook the lentils for about 30-45 minutes depending on your texture preference.  

Add the spinach during the last 3 minutes of cooking and serve hot.  A small squeeze of sriracha can add some heat and a bit of sweetness to the soup.

You'll warm away any winter blues!

Ingredients:

1 medium red onion, sliced

1 red pepper, diced
6 baby bella mushrooms, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1T whole cumin seeds
1 tomato, diced

8 golf ball-sized baby red potatoes, diced

3 handfuls of green lentils

1 quart (1 liter) veggie stock
1-2 big handfuls of spinach
salt and pepper to taste

squeeze of sriracha if desired

Song: D'Angelo - Betray My Heart

Stracotto (Italian Pot Roast) over Pappardelle. (June)

It evens gets cold in Florida and when the temperature dropped the other day, I was thinking of "comfort food".  One of our favorite restaurants, Brio Tuscan Grill, had sent an e-mail with this recipe and it sounded perfect for a chilly Sunday dinner.

Ingredients

3 tbsp Olive Oil
2 Lbs Chuck Roast
1 Cup Chopped Onion
1 Cup Chopped Celery
1 Cup Chopped Carrots
4 Cloves Garlic, Sliced
1 Cup Beef Broth
1 Can (16 oz) Tomatoes, Diced
3 tbsp Tomato Paste
1 tsp Chopped Garlic
1 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Dried Thyme
1 Bay Leaf
1/2 Cup Red Wine
1/4 Cup Chopped Parsley
1 Lb Pappardelle (recipe below for homemade or use store bought)

Heat oil in a Dutch oven.  Add chuck roast, sear on all sides, remove & set aside.

Add onions, celery, carrots & slivered garlic to the pot.  Cook until soft - about 10 minutes.  Remove from pot and set aside.

 

Place rack in bottom of the pot. (I didn't have one so I used a small, disposable aluminum pan)  Place roast on rack & add beef broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350.  Remove roast and cut into 1/2" slices.  Remove rack and return sliced meat to the pot.  Add tomatoes, tomato paste, chopped garlic, pepper, salt, thyme, bay leaf, red wine and cooked vegetables to pot. 

Bake covered for 1 1/2 hours or until meat is falling apart. Discard bay leaf.  Add parsley, heat through.  Cook pappardelle according to recipe or package directions.  Serve the meat and sauce over the pappardelle.

 

 

Homemade Pappardelle

 

1 3/4 Cups All-purpose Flour

1 Cup Semolina Flour

6 Large Eggs

4 tsps Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 

Sift both flours together on a large work surface & make a well in the center.  Place the eggs, olive oil and a pinch of salt in a bowl and break up with a fork.  Gradually add the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and mix just until combined. Using your hands works best!

 

 

Knead the dough until smooth and elastic.  Divide dough in half and pat into balls, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.  (you can freeze one ball for later, or roll both and freeze cut pasta)

 

 

 

Place one ball of dough on lightly floured surface and dust with flour and roll dough into a sheet.  Continue to roll the dough until you can see your fingers through it.  We used our pasta maker to roll out ours.  Let dry about 10 minutes.

 

Dust the top of the sheet with flour and loosely roll into a cylinder.  Using a sharp knife, cut into 3/4 inch wide slices.  Unroll, dust with semolina and lay on a sheet pan until ready to cook. 

 

Not the perfect, even length pasta you might buy, but it was more fun to make it!

 

 

 

Confession!  We didn't get ours thin enough and it took forever to cook.

Black Truffle and Shiitake Mushroom Fettuccine [Zack]

It happened folks.  Lauren and I bought a truffle slicer.  There’s a great mushroom stand at the Antwerp Saturday market and they had some “early season” truffles that were surprisingly not expensive.  The best truffles cost more than cocaine by weight, but we paid a total of around $7 for the amount we used to top our pasta (still was great).  And of course, we needed a truffle slicer to shave the truffle.

Truffles are a weird ingredient.  The biggest impact to your final dish is the funky aroma that they add when the plate is placed in front of you. In terms of value add:  the order is smell > texture > flavor.  Freshly shaved truffles are nice, but if you are in the mood for a mushroom extravaganza, you’ll have to add something else to further boost the mushroom flavors.

Hence, we made a pasta with sautéed shiitake mushrooms, pecorino cheese, parmesan cheese, and some freshly shaved truffle on top.  It was heaven.

Process: 

Start by slicing your shiitake mushrooms and mincing your garlic.  Also, grate both cheeses.  Get a pot of salted water boiling.

Start up a sautee pan over medium heat, large enough to hold both the mushrooms and the pasta (later on).  Add the 3T of butter and 2T of olive oil when the pan is hot.  Toss in the mushrooms and sautee until they are browned.  Add the garlic to the pan and immediately take off the heat so the garlic doesn't brown.

Boil your pasta per the instructions for al dente on the package.  Grab a coffee mug and reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water.

Add the pan with the mushrooms back to the stove over medium heat.  Strain the pasta and add it in with the mushrooms and garlic. Toss the cheese, cream, and pasta water in with the pasta.  The liquids will combine with the cheese to make an awesome sauce.  Crack lots of black pepper on top.

To serve, go crazy with the truffle!  

Ingredients:

½ pound fettuccini pasta

~15 medium shiitake mushrooms, sliced

3T butter

2T olive oil (or you can get crazy and use half truffle oil!)

2 fat cloves garlic, minced

2T cream (to taste)
1/2 cup pasta water

1/3 cup finely grated pecorino romano cheese

1/3 cup finely grated parm reggiano

freshly cracked black pepper

freshly-shaved truffle

Song:  ZHU - Faded

Pork Belly Confit with Truffle Honey [Zack]

Confit pork belly is one of the best things you can make in your kitchen.  The belly of a pig is what is commonly used to make bacon.  Instead of the usual curing and smoking process to make bacon, you should try confit. 

When you look at the cross-section of pork belly, you’ll see alternating layers of meat and fat.  The confit process transforms the meat part into a delicate pulled pork-type texture and the fat becomes soft and creamy.  When you want to serve the belly, cut it into cubes, sprinkle with a bit of sea salt, and crisp the outside.  You can choose to top it with a sauce or glaze, or just eat it right out of the pan.  I chose to drizzle the crispy belly with truffle honey.  That was a good decision.

This is a 5-ingredient recipe: pork belly, some type of cooking fat, salt, pepper, and truffle honey.  It takes a bit of time to make, but it’s all idle time, not hard work.

Process:

Ask your butcher for as much pork belly as you’d like to cook (a.k.a. how big is your pot?)  Make sure they take the bones out of the underside so you don’t have to deal with those later.  The more square the cut is from the butcher, the better your outcome will be in the end.  But I never bother with a square cut – I consider the extra scraps I cut off bonus nibbles.

Take the belly home and cure it.  I covered it with a generous amount of sea salt and black pepper and put it in a covered container in my fridge.

After about 2 days, take the belly out and wipe off the excess salt.  Place the belly in an oven-proof pot and submerge it completely in fat.  I used a combination of pork fat and canola oil, but any non-flavored oil will suit.  Bring the pot to a gentle simmer.

Cover the pot and place it in an oven at 300F/150C.  The cooking time will vary depending on how thick the belly is.  Mine took around 5.5 hours.  You know it’s finished when a knife slides into the meat side easily (similar to ribs). 

Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool off.  Place the belly in the fridge – it will keep for a week or so.  Theoretically it should not spoil as long as it’s submerged in fat and you discard the meat juice. 

The belly is easier to slice if it’s straight out of the fridge.  Remove the skin.

Cut the pork belly into cubes or strips.

Place it into a cold frying pan with a little bit of the confit fat and crisp all of the sides over medium heat.

If you’re using a glaze, pour off the excess fat and gently coat all sides of the belly.  If you can find some truffle honey, use that.

Drizzle the honey over the pork belly when it's still hot.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Pork belly (skin on or off, up to you)

Sea salt

Black pepper

Pork fat or other type of non-flavored oil

Truffle honey

Glaze ideas:
A sticky hoisin sauce glaze (from this recipe)
Roasted red pepper puree and honey
Honey with rosemary and garlic

Song: Paolo Nutini - Let Me Down Easy 

Panko Crusted Shrimp with Honey Garlic Szechuan Glaze [Zack]

You can’t beat bang bang shrimp, but this recipe is close!  If you’re not in the mood for the savory/spicy mayonnaise flavor of bang bang, this sweet alternative is akin to the sauce for General Tso’s Chicken.  You’ll crisp up some shrimp with a combination of corn starch and panko.  Then you lightly toss the shrimp in a honey szechuan sauce.  Coat with sesame seeds and some cilantro, and wow your guests!  These would be a welcome addition to a salad, on top of rice, or on a party platter with tooth pics in them. 

Process:

Defrost your shrimp – I am lazy and buy the de-veined and de-shelled shrimp.  Pour the water off of them and place them on a towel.

Crush your szechuan peppers.  

Mince the garlic.  Add 1T of sesame oil to a sauce pot over medium heat.  Saute the minced garlic in the oil and then add the ground szechuan pepper for 1 minute.  

Spoon honey into the pot, and add the fish sauce and soy sauce.  It should bubble as the water cooks out. 

In a bowl, combine about 50% corn starch and 50% panko.  The corn starch will create a crust and the panko will give the shrimp more texture.

Heat up a frying pan over medium heat and coat the bottom in a light layer of non-flavored oil.  Toss the shrimp in the corn starch and panko mixture.  The crusting will stick to the shrimp because they are a little bit damp.  Cook in the frying pan on both sides until light golden-brown and cooked through.

Check on your honey szechuan sauce.  After 10 minutes, it should stop bubbling so much and the viscosity should return back to the original honey thickness.  

Be careful not to cook the sauce too long, or else you’ll be left with a hard caramel.  If this happens, add a touch of water to return it back to the honey consistency.  Also note, as the sauce cools off, it will noticeably thicken.

Toss the shrimp lightly in the honey sauce.

  

Top with sesame seeds and cilantro and serve hot.

Ingredients (for about 30 medium shrimp):
4 heaping T of honey
2 cloves garlic
3 dried Szechuan peppers
1T sesame oil
1/4 tsp fish sauce
1T soy sauce

30 medium shrimp
panko and corn starch in equal quantities to coat the shrimp
vegetable or canola oil
sesame seeds
cilantro

Song:  Mar - Man x Woman

Coconut Curry Chicken (Tom)

What you will need for dinner for 4 peeps:

- 1 Chicken breast, boneless and skinned cut into 1" x 1/2" cubes
- 1 Red bell pepper, 1" pieces
- 1 Onion, small, diced
- 2 Carrots, 1" pieces
- 1 Tomato, small, diced
- 2 Celery stalks, 1/4" pieces
- 1 Garlic clove, large, chopped in small pieces
- 1 tablespoon of curry powder
- 8 oz. can of Cream of Coconut
- 1 cup of cooked rice, we like Jasmine Rice
- 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Time to cook.

The flavors of the curry and the sweetness from the coconut cream really make your taste buds jump up and down.
We like to cut our veggies and chicken and set them on the side or put back in refrigerator until we're ready to go.

Have an additional clean plate on the side for the chicken.

Start your rice if you have not.
Rice is great because it will stay warm for 20 minutes.

Have your wok or large pan ready.
Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil to your pan. Heat medium to high depending how fast you work.
Stir in the chicken cubes and cook for about 3 minutes until all sides are no longer pink. Take out put in a clean plate. Add the remaining vegetable oil to the wok or pan, heat for one minute.
Add the peppers, onions, celery and carrots. Stir fry for 5 minutes. add the garlic and diced tomatoes.

Add the chicken.

Stir in the curry powder followed by the cream of coconut. Cook for one to minutes, stirring the mixture to create a sauce. 

Argentine Steak with Chimichurri Sauce [Zack]

From an omniscient octopus to picking who has cuter jerseys, people have been trying their own ways of predicting the winner of the World Cup.  In my mind, the only fair way to decide the victor is to cook a famous food item from each country.  The more delicious of the two will decide the outcome of the 2014 World Cup.

I have chosen the ubiquitous Berliner snack food currywurst from Germany to go up against the Argentinean steak with a zippy chimichurri sauce.  Both are simple preparations of a basic nationally-loved food.  The Germans are known for their sausages and snack food culture, and the Argentinians are known for sitting around a campfire roasting huge hunks of meat on swords.  Seems like a fair fight.

In the end we decided that the Argentine steak with chimichurri sauce slightly edged out the currywurst.  It's therefore expected to be a close match on Saturday.

Here is the recipe for the steak with chimichurri sauce.

Process:

Here are the ingredients:

Mince the shallot and garlic.  If you have a mortar and pestle, grind up the peppers.  Add the shallot and garlic, and smash them a few times.

Strip the leaves off of the oregano, and then roll all of the herbs together and mince.  Add the herbs to the mortar and pestle.  Then stir in the liquids.

Heat up a pan, and salt and pepper your steak.  Cook the steak over medium-high heat until you reach desired doneness.

Let the steak rest for 5 minutes on a cutting board before slicing thinly and layering a generous portion of chimichurri sauce on top.

Ingredients:
1/2 shallot
1 clove garlic
2 pinches of salt
freshly ground black pepper
1T red pepper flakes, or 6 dried peppers
6 sprigs fresh oregano
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch parsley
1/2 lime
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup olive oil
2 thick and nicely marbled steaks

Song:  Atella - The Monster