Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Homemade Croutons

Everyone loves croutons right? Of course! How can you have a salad without croutons? They give all those greens a little more substance. Actually croutons are really, really easy to make, and usually, fresh homemade ones taste way better than those super dry, crunchy ones from the supermarket. Of course, there's something to be said for those too.

Ingredients

Bread (sliced)
Olive oil (or butter)
garlic powder
Italian seasoning

Cooking Instructions:

1.) Preheat the broiler on your oven (yes, the broiler)

2.) Cut the bread into cubes (the size you want your croutons)

3.) Put the cubes into a bowl and drizzle liberally with olive oil

4.) Mix the cubes with the oil with garlic powder and Italian seasoning, to flavor

5.) Spread the cubes out on a cookie sheet

6.) Broil with the oven open a crack for 1-2 minutes, flip if you want it crispy on all sides

And voila, homemade croutons! So, you note in the ingredients that it says you can use butter as well. The original way I learned it was to use melted butter instead of olive oil, I've found though, that olive oil works just as well. Just kind of depends on what you like in terms of flavor. Since you are using the broiler, make sure that you don't leave them in there too long, or they get burned. Feel free to mix in any other seasonings and such that you think would taste good. Enjoy!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Hand-pressed Cheddar and Jalapeno stuffed Burgers

So, after making these last night (they were good), I have a new respect for places that hand press their burgers. Kudos out to those employees at places like In-N-Out and Five Guys Burgers, my respect level is high now that I've tried it myself. Anyways, this isn't anything super original, I mean, I think you can buy a frozen variation of this somewhere, however, there's something satisfying when you make it yourself, and I think it tastes better. I have to try this again with a new batch of meat, I think it can be better.

Ingredients:

Ground beef
1 onion
salt
pepper
garlic salt
sharp cheddar
jalapenos (the deli style ones work pretty well)

Directions:

1.) Dice the onion

2.) In a large mixing bowl, mix the beef with the onions, then flavor/season with salt, pepper, and garlic salt (feel free to experiment here, maybe I should've tried some of that dry steak rub)

3.) On a flat surface make a very thin flat patty, about double the size of a bun

4.) Place one slice of cheese and jalapenos on the patty

5.) Collapse the patty on itself (usually I just fold it in half and cover everything up)

6.) Grill the burger (yes in this case a George Foreman does count as a grill)

There you have it. They'll usually come out pretty big, but they have a little kick, and flavor. I really liked it. If you want cheesier add more cheese, it's as simple as that. You can probably do the same with a chicken sandwich, in which you use chicken breast and slice down the middle, then stuff the middle, but of course, it's entirely up to you. It's not quite as easy as like a frozen burger, but it's probably healthier, and you get a certain degree of satisfaction from it, in that's it's "from scratch". If you use a George Foreman, honestly, the cleanup is pretty similar, only an extra bowl possibly, and I think you can get a lot more burgers out of it.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Ray Choi's Enchiladas

I have never had the honor of meeting Ray Choi, but I would like to thank him for whatever contributions he has made to the culinary world by providing this enchilada recipe. I hear various stories about proper attribution of this enchilada recipe, but I'll leave that for another time and another place, here we care about the food. Honestly, this is a very straightforward recipe in terms of prep, and I've actually heard it dubbed, "the best enchiladas ever". So after hearing so, I feel compelled to share the wonder of it with everyone else.

Ingredients:

1 bundle of scallions
1 onion
1 tub of sour cream
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 can of jalepenos
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 can of enchilada sauce
Mexican cheese
tortilla rolls (I like to use the soft taco sized ones)

1.) Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F

2.) Boil the chicken breast

3.) Chop (dice) the onions and green onions

4.) In a large mixing bowl, mix together the sour cream, cream of chicken, jalepenos, and some cheese

5.) Once the chicken is cooked cut it into bite sized pieces and mix into the mix you started previously

6.) Roll in the tortilla rolls, and place into a large greased roasting tray, you might need more than one (roasting tray)

7.) After you have filled the tray, use the remaining filling to cover the enchiladas

8.) Put a coat of cheese over everything

9.) Pour in the can of enchilada sauce

10.) Cover with foil and put in oven to bake for 45 minutes

11.) Remove foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes

So the original recipe calls for use of a can of olives, of course, I don't like olives so I didn't put them in. Additionally, the jalepenos can be optional, as they can get to be very spicy, you might not want to use too large of a can or opt out of them completely. Finally, I usually get the red, mild enchilada sauce, but again, I leave it to your discretion. Enjoy!