Kobe Beef Burgers

My husband and I love burgers.  This doesn't sound like a significant thing, but it really, truly is.  It can be hard to find something we both absolutely, unabashedly crave and love when it comes to food.  For some reason we really bond over burgers.  We stare into each others eyes with a huge smile when we are eating really good burgers.  We are always on the same page.  Like clockwork, we'll look at each other on a random Saturday and say "I kind of want a burger".  A serious burger.  A big burger, with cheese.  Slathered with mayo, with fries, dipped in mayo, ice cold fountain coke (for the record, I'm the only one with the mayo obsession).  We usually go out for burgers: In N Out, Five Guys, Ray's, Good Guys, West End Bistro.  We have our favorites (I absolutely loathe Ray's....I'm not even going to go into it).  We recently tried Elevation Burger and are now devotees.  We also like to have burgers at home, but I must admit it can be hard having a burger without fries.  Since the weather last weekend was beautiful, we fired up the grill and decided it was the perfect occasion to grill some kobe beef burgers.  Did you know that Greg Norman has a Wagyu beef farm in Australia?  We found a local butcher in Del Ray, Alexandria that we love and he carries these burgers (the butcher calls them kobe though they aren't from Japan so I guess you can't call them that) and can I please tell you they are the most amazing burgers ever?  Melt in your mouth burgers.  I mean, melt. in. your. mouth.  Just sprinkle on some salt and throw them on a grill.  So track down some Greg Norman Wagyu beef burgers, you will not be disappointed.  I mean, look at that picture - is that not a beautiful burger?  OK, if you don't like mayo then it probably isn't.      

Tilapia with Asparagus and Spinach Pesto

Tilapia has no flavor.  None, right?  But I love its simplicity, its silky texture.  It needs a good partner, something that really carries its weight, but doesn't smother the tilapia.  Remember this pesto?  I know, I love that picture.  I still have a crush on the pesto - I love tossing it with pasta.  I changed things up this week and added arugula to the spinach and asparagus and it had even more of an attractive flavor.  I baked some tilapia with the leftover pesto and it came out really well.  Simple, delicious and healthy.  Make this pesto, toss it with pasta the first day and bake it with some fish the next (I baked four fillets).


Pesto
1/2 lb thin spaghetti or linguini
1 lb green asparagus
handful of baby spinach and asparagus

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan

juice of half a lemon

salt, pepper, to taste

olive oil (about 1/4 cup)

Wash and trim the asparagus and cut into 1 inch pieces, cutting the tips together. Boil in salted water for a few minutes, strain and reserve some of the cooking water (you'll use a bit for the pesto, and I ended up leaving some in the pot, adding fresh water and then boiling the pasta in the light green water). In food processor, toss in garlic, pine nuts (you can leave a tablespoon aside to toss with pasta), lemon juice, spinach, asparagus, salt, pepper and asparagus, keeping a handful of the tips aside. Pulse until combined, then pour in olive oil while smoothing out mixture. Add 1/4 cup or less of cooking water if the pesto is too thick. Spoon out pesto from food processor and fold in parmesan cheese. Boil pasta, drain nearly all of the water, keeping a tablespoon or so in the pot, fold in desired amount of pesto, toss in pine nuts and asparagus tips, serve with freshly grated parmesan.   


For tilapia - preheat oven to 350.  Place tilapia fillets on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and spoon a generous amount of pesto over each one.  Top with a pad of butter. Bake for 12-14 minutes.

Butter Chicken

This is one of my husband's favorite dishes.  It's decadent and comforting.  It is not low-fat.  And it's worth every calorie.  OK, it's on my list of favorite dishes as well.  The last time I made this was almost a year ago, I believe, and my husband recently starting dropping hints that he would greatly appreciate if I decided to make it again.  I always tell myself I won't spoil him by granting such wishes, but I never can seem to resist.  This time I used a recipe my mother shared with me which was a lot easier than the one I tried before. A lot.  Butter chicken can be on the simpe side, or insanely complicated.  American's Test Kitchen made it a little too easy.  Try this recipe instead.  The first step is to make tandoori chicken, or use leftover tandoori chicken.  Seriously, who has leftover tandoori chicken lying around?  Normally, when I make tandoori chicken I use my mother's amazing spice mix she makes at home, except I was out of it.  So sad.  But we have discovered an amazing store-bought brand of tandoori masala, Rajah.  It comes in a small little tin and you should be able to find it at most Indian/Pakistani grocery stores.


Tandoori Chicken
4 chicken breasts, cubed
4 T tandoori masala
1/4 c plain yogurt (Greek if you have it)
1 T ginger paste
1 T garlic paste
juice from 1/2 lemon
drizzle of olive oil
salt, pepper


Marinate chicken in all the above ingredients for several hours. Overnight is great, but 4-6 is also fine.  Grill chicken on skewers if you can, or, broil it in the oven.  Set aside.


Butter Chicken
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 stick butter (hey, it's called butter chicken!)
2 T tomato paste
1 T ginger paste (or freshly grated ginger)
1 T garam masala
2 T cumin seeds (or ground cumin)
1 T red chili powder
1 fresh green chili, chopped
freshly chopped cilantro


Roast the cumin on a small pan over medium-low heat.  It will darken and become extremely aromatic.  If using seeds, grind seeds after removing from heat.  Melt butter in large sauce pan or dutch oven. While butter is melting mix tomato paste with 1/4 c water in a medium bowl.  Pour in cream and whisk.  Add ginger, cumin, garam masala, red chili, and fresh chili.  Pour into the sauce pan.  Let this simmer for 10 minutes and thicken.  Add about 1/2 c water or so to thin in out (this is a preference and may depend on if you are having it with naan or rice).  Toss in chicken and let this simmer for a few more minutes.  Salt, pepper and add in freshly chopped cilantro.     

French Lentils

I feel like Martha Stewart's voice over on Everyday Food: "Have you tried French lentils?  Make these legumes part of your everyday meals".  Except, I will say, these aren't all that everyday as they took a few hours to cook.  We had this dish at friend's place the other week and I begged him for the recipe.  He is one of those cooks that doesn't seem to ever follow a recipe so when you ask for one of his it's "a little of this, a little of that".  This made interpreting his recipe a bit tough, but I was determined.  They did not come out quite like his, but they were still delicious.  I served them with grilled sausages since my husband loves French food.  


2 cups French lentils
2 cups coconut milk
bay leaf
chili pepper
1 T fresh ginger
1 T tomato paste  
t ground cumin
t turmeric
t asafoetida
t ground coriander
1 stick of cinnamon 
cardamom pod


Simmer lentils in coconut milk and 4 cups water (you may need to add more water along the way), bay leaf and chili.  After about 30 minutes, add remainder of ingredients and let simmer for 2 hours, covered, until lentils are soft.  Drizzle olive oil, sprinkle with salt and add freshly chopped cilantro before serving.

Blueberry Crumb Cake

Everything Ina makes looks so good.  Everything Ina makes, I want to make.  I know you know how I feel.  I made this blueberry crumb cake over the weekend for brunch because I had been needing an excuse to try it.  I have a few points to make about it, and I will share the recipe.  Just a side note, I used a springform pan instead of a cake pan so I could remove the cake easily without having to cut into the pan.  


*  The crumb topping weighed a bit too heavily in the center, pressing the cake down.  
*  I felt the cake part was not light and fluffy enough.  Though moist, I like cakes airy.  Does using cake flour solve this?  Maybe no sour cream?  Less topping?  


Blueberry Crumb Cake (courtesy Barefoot Contessa)


Topping:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

Cake:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

2/3 cup sour cream

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup fresh blueberries

Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.  Crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.  

Easy Orzo Salad

I think orzo is a great base for salads.  It's the kind of deal where if you have a bunch of things in your fridge you want to use up, you can toss them with orzo and it's a safe bet  you'll end up with a nice salad.  I had some extra Persian cucumbers, some feta cheese and a bell pepper, so I chopped up the veggies and tossed it with this.  I made a mayonnaise based dressing, but you could make a more....healthy dressing.  This salad would go really well with some grilled chicken, or turkey meatloaf which is what I'm doing.

 serves 4

1 c orzo
3 Persian cucumbers, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 c feta cheese
1/4 c toasted pine nuts

Dressing
1 T mayo
1/4 c olive oil
juice from 1/2 lemon
dash of curry powder
salt, pepper

Boil orzo in salted water, drain and let cool for a few minutes.  Toss with cheese, pine nuts and vegetables.  Stir in dressing.