Chef-Inspired Recipes

The search for the “World’s Best Burger” has been a difficult one. There are so many different variations of this classic, how can one ever determine what is the “best?” Sometimes I think the fried-on-a-flat-top burgers are best but when I BBQ burgers at home I think those are the best. Who knows? What I do know is that there are certain things that one needs to do when cooking burgers that will ensure that yours are in the running for the “World’s Best Burger!”

Select the Best Meat

The best, juiciest burgers are made from ground chuck (beef), which is about 20 percent fat. Less fat makes a drier burger. Meat labeled “ground beef” or “hamburger” can be up to 30 percent fat and authorities agree that it is also best to know what part of the animal your burger is coming from.

Don’t Handle the Meat Too Much

The heat from your hands begins to melt the fat and makes the patty too dense. Move it lightly from hand to hand and loosely make a patty ¾ to one inch thick (no thicker, or you will have to cook it too long).

Don’t Squash the Burgers When Cooking

I know how tempting this is. Resist temptation! Squashing with a spatula compresses the meat, making it denser, and also squeezes the juices out of the meat leaving you a dry burger.

Make an Indentation in the Top

To keep a burger from getting that “dome” shaped top, make a ¼ inch depression in the center of the meat. The burger will then come out flat keeping your condiments in place.

Try Different Types of Meats or a Combo

Almost any kind of ground meat can be used to make burgers, or mix together different ones. You can mix pork with beef, chicken with lamb, or even buffalo with beef. For flavor, try mixing some fresh sausage or ground bacon in with another type of meat.

Adding Flavors to the Meat

Many people just want great beef, straight up with salt and pepper. You can try adding spices and other flavors to make an interesting burger. A lot of people will add soy sauce or Worcestershire to the meat. Some name brand spice mixes, like Montreal Seasoning or Cavenders, work very well. I, however, am a purist. I use Kosher salt and a little coarse ground pepper when seasoning my burger. I want to taste the meat, not a bunch of spices!

Tip: When adding other ingredients to ground meat, use a spoon or spatula to avoid heating the meat with your hands – see above.

Cooking the Burgers

A BBQ grill or specialty grill like a Big Green Egg or Webers works very well for hamburgers. You want your grill to be at least º400. Spray the grill with vegetable spray like Pam and place the burgers on. Close the lid or you will have flare ups. If your burgers are an inch or less, cook for about 5 minutes (a little less if you want it less done) on the first side. Do not turn until you have cooked on the first side for at least 3 minutes! Turn and cook on the other side for another 3 to 4 minutes until the desired temperature is reached.
It is generally recommended to cook until º160 to be safe.

The Bun

Nothing ruins a good burger faster than a lousy or stale bun. Buy good quality buns. I like to wrap them in damp paper towels and then microwave for 30 seconds. This “steams” them and makes them incredibly soft. Lastly, add your favorite condiments but remember, YOU WANT TO TASTE THE MEAT! Have fun!

A Note From Our Chef

For the next several weeks we’re going to revisit some of my favorite recipes from the past that have been featured on the blog. Then coming this autumn we will bring you a whole new collection of meal plans that will be helpful for simple get-togethers to larger occasions! You’ll see that this week’s meal plan revisits BBQ Chicken which is always good and also features ingredients that are on sale!

In This Menu:

• BBQ Chicken
• Guacamole
• Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake

People tell me all the time that they have trouble with BBQ chicken. They say it is either burnt on the outside, not done in the middle, or dry. I will admit that doing chicken on the grill outside can be a bit tricky, but with some basic tools and common sense it can be one of the best things you cook. Because I like the flavor of chicken on the grill, I probably grill chicken twice as much as any other meat. I have encountered all of the issues mentioned above and over time learned how to BBQ chicken that has a great fire-roasted flavor, is cooked through, and is still moist. I hope this helps!

Secrets to success with BBQ chicken

Grill temperature – One of the cardinal rules of BBQ chicken is a low fire. Since chicken has to be cooked completely through, it takes longer to cook than a steak. Because of this, if your fire is too hot, the chicken will be burnt before it is cooked! If you have an open top grill with no lid, use less coals than you normally would. After the coals are all glowing, move them to one side. Place the chicken on the other side and rotate and move the chicken frequently throughout the cooking process to ensure it doesn’t get too dark on any one side. If you have a Weber, Green Egg, or other grill with the ability to close the lid and adjust the air flow, close the vents to allow just a small opening for air. This will lower the temperature, reduce or eliminate flare ups, and leave you with a perfect chicken.

Different Pieces, Different Time – A chicken leg cooks in half the time as a chicken breast. So why do we put all of the bird on at the same time? Because no one ever told us differently! I usually start my breasts first and cook for about 15 minutes. Then I put the legs and thighs on and cook for another 20 minutes or so until the chicken is done.

Don’t Sauce Too Early – Chicken burns so easily because most of us think that if we start slopping the BBQ on the meat right away it will be better. The problem with this philosophy is that BBQ sauce is full of sugar. When cooked, sugar turns brown or “caramelizes”; the burnt crust you often see on BBQ chicken is usually made up of sauce. I water down my sauce so that the sugar content is thinned. Never add sauce until the last 10 or 15 minutes of cooking.

INGREDIENTS

For the Chicken:

• 4 chicken breasts
• 4 chicken thighs
• 4 chicken legs

For the Dry Rub:

• ¼ cup chile powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano

PREPARATION

The Sauce:
1 part your favorite BBQ sauce mixed with 1 part water

To make the dry rub, mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl. Rinse the chicken, pat dry with a paper towel then add the chicken, one piece at a time to the spice bowl and turn chicken until it is completely coated with the dry rub. Shake off excess rub, then repeat until all of the chicken pieces are coated.

Place the chicken on the grill, following the procedures outlined above. Check every 10 minutes or so and turn frequently to ensure that the fire is not getting too hot and that the chicken is not burning on any particular side. Start basting the chicken with the sauce and water mixture after the chicken has been cooking for about 20 to 25 minutes. The total cooking time for the chicken, depending of course on the size of the pieces and the temperature of your grill, will be about an hour for the breasts and 30 to 45 minutes for the thighs and legs. This is assuming you are using average-sized chicken cooked over a fire that is about 300°.

When chicken is done, remove from grill and let chicken rest for 10 minutes, cooling a bit. This gives the juices a chance to reabsorb into the tissue. Serve hot with fresh, and buttered, corn on the cobb.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 ripe avocados
• 1 medium red onion-diced
• 1 large, ripe tomato-diced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 Poblano chiles, roasted, skinned, seeded, and diced*
• ½ cup loose packed cilantro
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce or Cholula
• 2 teaspoons salt

PREPARATION

Peel and seed the avocados. In a small bowl, mash the avocados with the back of a spoon. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

*To roast Poblanos; rub peppers with olive oil evenly coating the skin. Place on a greased cookie sheet and cook in a 450° oven for 15 minutes, turn over, then cook for another 15 minutes. Total cooking time is 30 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately place in a brown bag or other tight fitting container. Wait 20 minutes or so then remove chiles from bag and peel skin from the peppers. Open them up and remove seeds. They are now ready to dice. This procedure can be used to skin and seed any pepper.

INGREDIENTS

For the Crust:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 4 oz. butter
• 2 eggs

For the Filling:

• 2 cups fresh blueberries

For the Topping:

• 4½ cups powdered sugar
• 12 oz. cream cheese
• 3 eggs

PREPARATION

In a medium mixing bowl, mix cake mix with butter and eggs until a thick dough is formed. Make sure that the cream cheese is room temperature then mix topping ingredients well.

For a large cake, wet your hands with cold water then press crust evenly into a 9″x13″ pan. Sprinkle berries evenly over crust. Pour topping over berries. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

You can do individual cakes by using soufflé dishes, cupcake molds, or other single serving bakeware. The number you end up with depends on the size of the pans you are using. Just follow the same procedure; crust in bottom followed by berries then topping. Bake until golden brown on top.

In This Menu:

• Spinach and Watermelon Salad
• Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
• Peach Bread Pudding

It is true. I like Mexican food. A lot. I just spent the weekend in St. Louis celebrating my mother-in-law’s birthday. Happy Birthday Virginia, you’re the best! I was able to cook with my sister-in-law, Gloria, who is not too shabby when it comes to Mexican cooking (growing up there helps). Gloria is passionate about food, family, and entertaining and because of that, cooking with her is truly a joy! This is the long explanation as to why I did enchiladas this week.

I wanted to give you a recipe for enchiladas that is fairly quick and easy. The ground Smart Chicken is an amazing product and you should be able to get this dish in the oven in less than 45 minutes. It freezes well and if you are looking for a dish to take to a friend, this does very well in a foil pan. Salud!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• Dash of salt
• 4 cups torn spinach
• 4 cups thinly sliced romaine
  lettuce

• 2 cups (1 inch) watermelon
  balls

• 1 cup sliced strawberries
• ½ cup sliced cucumber
• ¼ cup thinly sliced onion, separated into rings

PREPARATION

Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl; stir well with a whisk. Set aside.
Combine spinach and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle dressing over salad, and toss gently to coat. Serve immediately.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small white onions, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 ears Olathe corn cut from cob
• 1 lb. ground Smart Chicken
• Salt and pepper
• 1, 12 oz. can black beans
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 lb. soft, Mexican cheese grated
• 12, 8 inch corn tortillas
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 can green enchilada sauce
• 8 oz. sour cream
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 bunch cilantro, rough chop

PREPARATION

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, corn, and chicken and sauté, tossing frequently until chicken is cooked through. Drain meat, then place in bowl. Add black beans, ½ of the chopped cilantro, ½ of the cheese, and lime juice to chicken and stir to mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Heat vegetable oil on low heat. Dip tortillas one at a time in hot oil and set aside on paper towels to drain. Fill each tortilla with about ¼ cup of the filling, roll and place in a greased ovenproof pan, like a Pyrex.

Make sauce by mixing enchilada sauce with sour cream and salt. Pour sauce over enchiladas and bake for 45 minutes at 375°.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 fresh peaches, peeled and
  sliced thin

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 6 cage free eggs
• ½ cup honey
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• Pinch of salt
• Several slices of dense, white
  bread, crusts removed

PREPARATION

Slice peaches, place in bowl with brown sugar and set aside.

Beat eggs with next 5 ingredients and set aside. Butter a 8″x8″ Pyrex. Line bottom of Pyrex with peach slices, slightly overlapping. Top peach layer with a layer of bread to completely cover peaches. Repeat until pan is full. Pour custard over all and let the custard soak into the bread. Bake in water bath for about 90 minutes at 275° or until a toothpick comes out clean.

In This Menu:

• Pork Quesadillas
• Arugula Salad with Peaches and Pecans
• Strawberry Cream Tart

We love quesadillas at my house. What’s not to like about crispy tortillas filled with some type of goodness swimming in melted white cheese topped with a tangy sauce and velvety sour cream? I have a flat top griddle on my range which makes it very easy to cook two quesadillas at a time. The quesadilla recipe below uses components from two other Mexican recipes: Cochinita Pibil and Corn and Black Bean Salsa.

For Pork:

• 1½ lbs of country style pork ribs
• 2 tablespoons chile powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small white onion, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• Diced green chiles, one can
• Juice of two oranges
• Juice of one lemon
• Juice of two limes

Sprinkle spices all over pork to coat evenly. Get a large skillet very hot over high heat. Add oil, then pork. Allow pork to sear until golden brown then turn and sear other side. Add onions and garlic to pan, reduce heat, cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until onions begin to soften. Add the green chiles and the three fruit juices, recover pan and simmer on low heat for at least one and one half hours. Remove pork from pan, leaving sauce in pan on stove for another 10 to 15 minutes or until sauce thickens to consistency of salsa. When sauce is thick, remove from heat and set aside. When pork is cool, tear the meat into shreds with your hands. After meat is shredded, place back in sauce and toss until the sauce and meat are thoroughly mixed.

For Salsa:

• One 12 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup of fine diced, white onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 ears of Olathe corn
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a medium skillet and add onions and garlic. Remove husk from corn and cut kernels from cob. Add corn to skillet. Sauté, tossing frequently until onions are soft and corn is cooked. Remove from heat, add black beans, cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

For Quesadillas:

• Eight, 10 inch flour tortillas
• One pound of white, Mexican cheese grated
• Vegetable oil
• Sour Cream
• Salsa

Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until 350°. Place one tortilla on a plate and cover moderately with cheese (about 2 oz). Top cheese with about ½ cup of the black bean salsa and about ½ cup of the meat mixture. Top meat with more cheese, then another tortilla. Place in microwave for one minute to start melting the cheeses to help hold the quesadillas together. Brush griddle or skillet with a light coating of vegetable oil with a pastry brush or just add 2 teaspoons or so of oil and swirl around. Place quesadilla on griddle. Brush top of quesadilla with more oil. Cook until golden brown then turn and cook other side. Remove from heat and cut into 6 triangle pieces. Serve with sour cream and salsa if desired.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 container organic, baby
  arugula

• 2 fresh, Missouri peaches,
  peeled and sliced

• One, 6 oz. bag chopped
  pecans

For Dressing:

• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon or so of honey

PREPARATION

In a small bowl, with a wire whip, mix balsamic with oil, salt, and honey until dressing is one color. Place arugula in a bowl and add just enough dressing to coat and toss to coat evenly. Divide arugula evenly on 4 plates. Put peaches and pecans in the bowl with a little more of the dressing. Toss to coat peaches. Top arugula with peaches and pecans.

INGREDIENTS

For Crust:

• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1¼ cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons milk
• ½ teaspoon almond extract

For Filling:

• 3 oz. package cream cheese,
  softened

• ½ cup powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup sour cream

For Topping:

• 1 pint fresh, organic strawberries hulled and cut in half
• 2-6 tablespoons strawberry jelly, melted

PREPARATION

Heat oven to 400°. In small mixer bowl beat butter and sugar at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add flour, milk and ½ teaspoon almond extract. Reduce speed to low; continue beating, scraping bowl often, until mixture leaves sides of bowl and forms a ball. Press dough on bottom and up sides of greased 10″ tart pan or 12″ pizza pan; prick with fork. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool.

In small mixer bowl combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and ½ teaspoon almond extract. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add sour cream; continue beating until mixture is thick and fluffy (2 to 3 minutes). Spread over top of cooled crust. Refrigerate at least 1 hour just before serving. Arrange fruit on filling. Brush or drizzle melted jelly over fruit.