Week 17: Childhood - Cheeseburger Pie

Ahh childhood.

So many things ran through my mind as possible meals with the theme of childhood. I could have made macaroni and cheese soup, which is what happens when you don't drain the box macaroni before putting in the box cheese packet (happened the first time I made Mac and Cheese). I could have made english muffin pizzas (first real thing I "cooked"). I could have made any of the myriad of things that I think of when I think of my mom's cooking, chicken noodles, beef stew, pork and sauerkraut, corned beef, chili. Or zucchini boats, which my mother made and forced me to eat, which started my long hatred of zucchini (I like it now). There were so many other options.

But it wasn't hard to decide. I almost immediately thought of a dish that my Granddad made for us when we visited his house. He would make it most times that we visited for long periods of time. I can only remember my mom making it once or twice for us, when we begged her for it.

Cheeseburger Pie. Yum. (I told my wife that I was making cheeseburger pie, and she, having no idea what it was, said, "Yeah, I want cheeseburger pie.")

I had no idea that this was a super simple recipe that he must have gotten off of a box of Bisquick or from one of my grandmother's Good Housekeeping magazines. In my mind, it was a delicacy. Now, I know how to make it, and I will definitely make it again as it did remind me of my childhood.

Cheeseburger Pie
based on recipe by Betty Crocker

1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef

1 large onion, chopped (1 cup) 

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)

1/2 cup Original Bisquick® mix

1 cup milk

2 eggs

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon dried mustard

Shake or two of red pepper flake

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray.

2. In 10-inch skillet, cook beef until mostly brown over medium heat, about 4 minutes. Add onion and garlic over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until onions are soft and beef is totally browned. Stir in salt. Spread in pie plate. Sprinkle with cheese.

I added in my red pepper flake to the egg mixture, but I would recommend adding it to the beef with the onion. That's what I will do in the future. 

I used ground sirloin, so I didn't drain it.

Another piece of childhood was the pie pan that was my Mom's growing up

3. In small bowl, stir remaining ingredients with fork or wire whisk until blended. Pour into pie plate.

In the future, I think that I would reserve about 1/2 cup of cheese and halfway through the bake, pull out the pie, add tomato slices and top with the rest of the cheese. Your choice, just a thought.

 4. Bake about 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
 

Cheeseburger pie with sauteed mushrooms, peas and shallots in vermouth and sliced tomato

Basically, it is a hamburger quiche. But better.

There wasn't as much egg/Bisquick mixture as I remember. I might make three eggs next time. That would take a little adjustment though.
 To be fair, I was a bit lazy. I should have made a side of savory pea panna cotta with a single pea sitting in the middle to represent the one time my cousin made us all laugh so hard that my brother brought a pea he was eating through his nose and out into his milk.)

It wasn't as good as I remember, but how could it be. I wasn't at Granddad's table in the summertime with the window air conditioner blowing on me.

Week 16: Asparagus - Stir-Fried Shrimp and Asparagus in Lemon Sauce

I don't particularly care for asparagus. Growing up, my parent's took wild asparagus from the side of country roads and cultivated it at our house. When we moved, I don't think that the brought it with us. Canned asparagus became the norm. Canned asparagus tastes like crap. It is often filled with woody pieces that are over cooked and stinky. Now, as a rule, I avoid asparagus. Every once in a while it will show up at a wedding as part of the salad, and I will eat a spear. But I wasn't looking forward to this week.

I decided to go with a recipe from the Cooks Illustrated The Best Light Recipe, stir-fried Shrimp and Asparagus in Lemon Sauce. I will be honest, it wasn't that bad. In fact, I would willingly make this again. The asparagus that I bought was significantly thick. When I stopped by the store on the way home today, the asparagus was thin  and would have been much more tender.

Stir-Fried Shrimp and Asparagus in Lemon Sauce
from Cook's Illustrated The Best Light Recipe, 2006

1 pound extra-large shrimp (21-25 per pound), peeled and deveined
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons dry sherry
3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
3 scallions, white parts minced and green parts cut into 1/4-inch lengths
5 teaspoons peanut or vegetable oil
1 pound asparagus, tough ends removed, sliced on the bias into 2-inch lengths
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch matchsticks
1 recipe Lemon Sauce

Lemon Sauce
6 tablespoons low-sodium chicken stock
1/4 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1/4 cup dry sherry
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. (Easy right?)

1. Toss the shrimp with the soy sauce and sherry in  medium bowl. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, ginger, scallion whites, and 2 teaspoons of the oil.

2. Heat one more teaspoon oil in a 12-inch non-stick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until curled and bright pink, about 1 1/2 minute. Transfer the shrimp to a clean bowl.

3. Add one more teaspoon oil to the pan ans return to high heat until shimmering. Add the asparagus and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the asparagus to a clean bowl. Add the remaining teaspoon oil and carrots to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Return the asparagus to the pan.

4. Clear the center of the pan and add the garlic mixture. Cook, mashing the garlic mixture into the pan with the back of a spatula, until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Stir the garlic mixture into the vegetables. Add the scallion greens and shrimp and toss to combine. Whisk the sauce to recombine, then add it to the pan and bring to a simmer. Remove the pan from the heat and toss until all the ingredients are well coated with sauce and sizzling hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Week 15: One-Pot - Baked Cod over Chorizo and Potatoes

Here it is folks. A one-pot meal.

My grocery is not great so I couldn't find Spanish chorizo so I had to make do with Aidells Andouille, which is basically a hot dog. I added a lot of papika and some butter to simulate the effects of sauteeing real chorizo. But here it ia:

Leeks are dirty little things. Make sure you wash them real good.

Saute the potatoes and sausage.

Add in the spices and herbs. Place the fish on top and bake at 450

I added some turnip greens to the mix because my wife is pregnant and I didn't think that there was enough vegetables. But other than that the recipe can be found at the source.

Week 14: Sandwiches - Cubanos

Everybody loves sandwiches. They're quick and easy to make. They are often a full balanced meal by themselves. For this week, though, I didn't want to just throw some meat and cheese between two pieces of bread and call it done. I wanted to make a sandwich that was a special treat. So Cubanos it is.

Whenever my wife and  go to New York City, we try to try as many different types of food as possible, since you can get anything and everything in that crazy town. One of our more positive memories was stopping in a small Cuban restaurant near the Museum of Natural History. Their Cuban sandwiches were perfect. I wanted to try to replicate that. But to make a Cuban sandwich, you need to plan ahead. I don't know about you, but I don't typically have leftover roast pork in my fridge. So on Sunday, we made Cuban roasted pork, Lechon Asado, with some rice and black beans.

 Now to assemble:

 First, I threw in my two cast iron skillets into a 350 degree oven for ten minutes.

Gather the necessary ingredients

Nothing fancy, just regular yellow mustard

Next add on thinly sliced lechon asado

Add on a layer of ham

Next provolone cheese

Sliced pickles. Don't be stingy.

Take your skillets out of the oven. Since they are cast iron, they will hold all the heat that you need, so there is no need to turn on the stovetop. Just add in your sandwiches, place the second skillet on top and weigh it down, so that the sandwiches are pressed. Alternatively, if you have a sandwich press, you could just use that.

They turned out pretty good. I don't know why, but I kept thinking that it needed salt. But I will tell you that this was well worth the effort. So yummy and oh so much food. We were stuffed afterwards!

BONUS SANDWICH

While we are talking about sandwiches, I am going to share one of my family's dark secrets. It is one of those secret family meals that would make the normal person  think you are insane. I am sure that you have something like this in your family. Either that or my family is made up of lunatics. Here it is:

Don't knock it until you try it. My wife did, but after she tried it, well let's just say that now I can't make just one of these.

Week 13: Russian - Beef Stroganoff

Today I learned that the original beef stroganoff did not include onions, or mushrooms. I cannot imagine a dish without onions. I therefore did not make an original stroganoff.  I made one full of onions and mushrooms. I also did this one by ear. I read several recipes, but there wasn't one of them that had all of the things that I wanted. So here we go.

Get yourself the following:

1.5 lbs of beef steak (boneless chuck was on sale so that's what I went with)
1 tsp dried mustard
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp corn starch

I learned the corn starch thing from Chinese week. It makes really good stir fry and since this is basically a stir fry for the first part, it fit. Turned out pretty well.

Now mix that all together and let it stew for 20 minutes.

 While that is marinating, do some mise en place:

1 medium red onion, sliced
10 oz white mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced

Warm up a super big skillet over medium high heat, 'cause this is gonna take some room. Add in some olive oil, about 1 tbsp. Once it is shimmering, add in the mushrooms. Saute them for a bit, 2-4 minutes, and then add in the garlic and some salt. Continue to saute for another 2 minutes.

(I sprinkled 1 tbsp flour over the mushrooms and cooked them for an additional 1-2 minutes. I don't think that you need to do this, because the corn starch in the meat should thicken things up. I did have to add extra broth)

Remove the mushrooms from the pan, wipe it out, add another 1 tbsp of oil. Once it is shimmering, add in the onion. Saute for 4-6 minutes on medium high heat.

Add in your meat and stir fry it.

After you meat has browned, add in about 1/2 cup of beef broth and a bouillon cube. Turn your heat down to medium low and let your meat cook for 8 minutes. If your met starts to get thick, add in some more broth. After about 8 minutes, add in your mushrooms and 1 cup of sour cream, and stir.

I always serve these over egg noodles. I don't know how traditional that is, but that is the way that I do it. This was goooood. But then I don't know where you can go wrong with a sour cream sauce. Top it off with a bit of parsley.

Enjoy!

ps. Tonight's dinner was Cuban roasted pork with black beans and rice. I never would have expected Sandwich week to be one that I needed to plan out two meals for.