Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Filthy Burger

It is almost Memorial Day weekend...So I had to come correct with a Burger Recipe...How bout a Filthy Burger?

This man-sized monster is three times the meatiness. You heard us: meat, meat and more meat. Gather your most carnivorous cronies and get your hands dirty!

 It's BEEF, BARBECUE PULLED PORK, and BACON  ON A BURGER!

INGREDIENTS:

  • ½ pound of bacon, cooked until crisp through, drained and crumbled
  • 2 cups fully cooked barbecue pulled pork roughly chopped with a knife
  • 1½ pounds ground chuck
  • kosher salt
For serving:
  • Toasted burger buns
  • tender lettuce (like mixed spring greens or butter lettuce)
  • slices of pepperjack or Monterey jack cheese or deli American
  • barbecue sauce
DIRECTIONS:
  1. Using clean hands, mix together the ground chuck, pulled pork, and bacon until everything is evenly distributed.
  2. For the most uniform burgers, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add 5 ounces of the meat mixture to a ring mold and gently press it into the edges of the mold forming a uniformly thick burger patty. Gently pull the ring mold straight up and tap down any edges that come up with it. Replace the ring mold on the parchment next to the burger and form another until all the meat mixture has been pressed into patties. Don't despair if you have a little meat that doesn't make a full burger. That can be your test patty and cook's tax. Eat that bad boy!
  3. Place the tray with the burgers in the refrigerator while you preheat the grill to MEDIUM HIGH heat. After cleaning the hot grill, gently place the burgers over direct heat and sprinkle with kosher salt. Keep a spray bottle of water handy for flare-ups. Do not move the burgers once you've placed them on the grill until the brown (cooked) area goes at least halfway up the burger and you can easily slide your spatula under them, about 4 minutes. If there are flames flaring up because of fat from the burger, give them a little spritz with water. That should help long enough to cook the burger to the point where it will turn more easily. Flip the burgers carefully and continue grilling over MEDIUM HIGH heat until there are grill marks on the underside of the burger. Transfer the burgers over to one side of the grill and shut off the burners immediately under the burgers, turning the remaining burners onto MEDIUM LOW heat. This means your burgers will finish over indirect heat. When the interior temperature of the beef is 5°F below the point you like it (RARE: 125-130°F. MEDIUM: 140-150. WELL: 160-212°F.), lay the slices of pepperjack cheese or deli American on the burgers and use a spatula to immediately transfer them to a sided tray. Let them rest, lightly tented with foil, until the cheese is melted. Serve on top of tender greens on a toasted bun with as much barbecue sauce as you fancy!
Get those grills out and get to grillin folks! Enjoy!

Friday, May 6, 2016

Chipotle Orange Chicken Legs

Hey Guys...First of the month and I'm back with yet another chicken recipe...This sweet-and-spicy Asian-inspired dish is an impressive meal, but takes less than an hour! Serve with coleslaw for an easy summer side dish...

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup fresh orange juice, divided
5 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper
2 pounds chicken drumsticks (about 8 drumsticks)
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat grill to 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat. Combine 1/4 cup orange juice, 3 Tbsp. soy sauce, 3 Tbsp. brown sugar, and next 5 ingredients in a shallow dish or large zip-top plastic freezer bag; add chicken. Cover or seal, and chill 10 minutes. Remove chicken from marinade, discarding marinade.

2. Grill chicken, covered with grill lid, 10 to 12 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from grill; cover with aluminum foil, and let stand 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, whisk together 2 tsp. brown sugar, remaining 3/4 cup orange juice, and 2 Tbsp. soy sauce in a small saucepan. Whisk together cornstarch and 2 tsp. water, and whisk into orange juice mixture. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, and cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute or until thickened. Brush sauce over chicken.


Enjoy with a cold beer!
 Eat and drink well my friends!

Food Safety Tips
Protect yourself against food-borne illnesses.


1. Use a "refrigerator thermometer" to keep your food stored at a safe temperature (below 40 degrees fahrenheit).

Cold temperatures slow the growth of bacteria. Ensuring that your refrigerator temperature stays at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or colder is one of the most effective ways to reduce your risk of food-borne illness. You can buy a refrigerator/freezer thermometer at appliance stories, home centers (i.e. Home Depot), and kitchen stores including online ones, such as Cooking.com.

2. Defrost food in the refrigerator, the microwave, or in cold water... never on the counter!

Perishable foods should never be thawed on the counter for longer than two hours because, while the center of the food may remain frozen, the outer surface may enter the Danger Zone, the range of temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees fahrenheit, in which bacteria multiply rapidly. If you’re short on time, use the microwave or you can thaw meat and poultry in airtight packaging in cold water. Change the water every half-hour so it stays cold and use the thawed food immediately.

3. Always use separate cutting boards for raw meat/poultry/fish and cooked foods/fresh produce.

Bacteria from uncooked meat, poultry, and fish can contaminate cooked foods and fresh produce. An important way to reduce this risk is to use separate cutting boards for raw meat/poultry/ fish, and cooked foods/fresh produce.

4. Always cook meat to proper temperatures, using a calibrated instant-read thermometer to make sure.

One effective way to prevent illness is to use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature of meat, poultry, and egg dishes. The USDA Recommended Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures are as follows:

* Beef, veal, and lamb (steaks and roasts), fish - 145 degrees fahrenheit

* Pork and ground beef - 160 degrees fahrenheit

* Poultry - 165 degrees fahrenheit.

Cook meats like roasts and steaks to lower temperatures, closer to medium-rare, so that they retain their moisture. It is recommended that those who are at high risk for developing food-borne illness (i.e. pregnant women and their unborn babies, newborns, young children, older adults, people with weakened immune systems, or certain chronic illnesses) should follow the USDA guidelines.

5. Avoid unpasteurized/raw milk and cheeses made from unpasteurized milk that are aged less than 60 days.

Raw milk is milk from cows, sheep, or goats that has not been pasteurized (heated to a very high temperature for a specific length of time) to kill harmful bacteria that may be present. These bacteria, which include salmonella, E. coli and listeria, can cause serious illness and sometimes even death. The bacteria in raw milk can be especially dangerous to pregnant women, children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems or chronic illnesses. Raw milk cheeses aged 60 days or longer are okay, since the salt and acidity of the cheese-making process make for a hostile environment to pathogens.

6. Never eat "runny" eggs or foods, such as cookie dough, that contain raw eggs.

Even eggs that have clean, intact shells may be contaminated with salmonella, so it’s important to cook eggs thoroughly until both the yolk and the white are firm. Casseroles and other dishes containing eggs should be cooked to 160 degrees fahrenheit and you can use an instant-read food thermometer to check. Eggs should always be cooked fully and those who are at high risk for developing foodborne illness (pregnant women and their unborn babies, newborns, young children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems or certain chronic illnesses should follow the USDA guidelines. If you can’t resist runny eggs or sampling cookie batter, use pasteurized eggs. They’re found near other eggs in large supermarkets.

7. Always wash your hands in warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds before handling food and after touching raw meat, poultry, or eggs.

You can pick up a lot of bacteria out in the world, so it’s important to always wash your hands before you eat or prepare food. You should also wash your hands after touching any uncooked meat, poultry, fish, or eggs, as the bacteria from these foods can contaminate cooked foods and fresh produce. Use soap and warm water and wash thoroughly for at least 20 seconds.

8. Always heat leftover foods to 165 degrees fahrenheit.

The USDA recommends heating all cooked leftovers to 165 degrees fahrenheit in order to kill all potentially dangerous bacteria.

9. Never eat meat, poultry, eggs, or sliced fresh fruits and vegetables that have been left out for more than two hours or more than one hour in temperatures hotter than 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you leave perishable foods out of the refrigerator or freezer for more than two hours they may enter the Danger Zone—the unsafe temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, in which bacteria multiply rapidly.

10. Whenever there’s a food recall, check products stored at home to make sure they are safe.

You should discard any food that’s been recalled because it’s associated with the outbreak of a food-borne illness. But, according to a survey conducted by Rutgers University during the fall of 2008, only about 60% of Americans search their homes for foods that have been recalled because of contamination. For more information on food recalls, visit the website Recalls.gov






Cavier & Vodka
Courtesy of The Lady (Bug) of the Household