It is good to be back! I have taken a two year hiatus from blogging about food, but due to constant harassment I have returned.
What you need to know:
1) I'm still a good cook
2) I now cook for friends and guys I meet on the Internet that I shouldn't go out in public with
To start the new blog a good friend of mine John Kinloch (blogs: The Shirtless Chef, Cooking like a man) decided he is a better chef than myself. John and his blog are both entertaining. The first "iron chef off" is "The Burg". This is a crowd favorite especially among Kinloch's friends as they mostly eat out of Styrofoam and brown paper bags.
I'm confident and cocky for a win. Why? John Kinloch's favorite food is the hot dog and chicken wings.
Wanna make a juicy burger? Mix some ground Bison meat into your lean ground Beef. I have gone all out and purchased my meat from the farmer's market (support local). I have also added a small amount of this meat marinade just to really solidify my win.
Meat Marinade (can be used on tougher steaks or cuts of beef)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper
Shake together and you have a never fail beef marinade.
I added a splash of this to my ground beef/bison and created some patties.
Gorgonzola and Chipotle Sauce
This is where the spicy creamy best burger award is going to come from.
Olive oil, enough to brown your mushrooms
1 cup mushrooms, diced finely (i prefer shiitake or portabello)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups of whipping cream
1 cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1-2 tsp minced canned chipotle chilies (how hot do you want it?)
Heat your pan on medium and brown your mushrooms and garlic, add cream. Bring to a boil, stirring often, turn heat down and stir in cheese and chipotles. Keep stirring as the cheese will melt and you then have a great cream sauce to accompany your burger, perhaps a steak sandwich, or the left overs are great on some pasta.
Bun and Toppings
Bun - would have preferred a brioche or firmer bun but its the long weekend and I didn't feel like baking. A Cheese bun from Safeway will have to do!
Toppings- Fresh Leaf lettuce, a gorgeous red tomato slice, and some chipotle cheese sauce (recipe above) drizzled on the perfectly BBQ`d patty. You can add some fried up onion if you like that sort of thing.
I was proud of John's efforts - a spicy jalapeno hamburger with a center of jalapeno cheese, crispy onions, and some fresh lettuce and tomato on a firm bun. Please check out John's Blog for an inside view of why I need new friends.
www.cookinlikeaman.blogspot.ca/
It was a tie, we will have to repeat with another competition.
Now because this is a blog about food and dating this is where the dating part becomes relevant. My friends (bless their souls) feel that I can not be happy single and make it their mission to set me up. The requirements: SINGLE. That's it. Well at least that's what it seems to be. On the night prior to the burger competition I had the pleasure of one of these great set ups. Within 2 minutes and less than 5 sentences I had been hoisted over this gentleman`s head and flung to the ground, landing on my poor neck. Now 2 days later with a concussion and bruises from my ear to my ass I can hear my brother`s voice, ``We don`t think you will be a cat lady, you will be that chick off Bridesmaids with all the puppies.`` and I think I`m okay with that....
Chantal xx
