Over the past weeks I haven't been cooking too much either. Too busy with the showering of gifts for my impending nuptials to slave away at the stove, I mostly ate things that my fiance cooked or demanded to go to Bollywood Grille. I did manage to cook a few recipes to share with you for this, my 30th blog entry, and although it might be formulaic, they were pretty, pretty, pretty good!
One of the recipes that made me giggle when first exploring the SS was the recipe for "American Hamburgers." I don't know about you but I didn't really think american style hamburgers required much instruction. All I've ever done to cook burgers in the past is make patties and throw them on the grille. Of course, The Silver Spoon expects a little more effort.
I got started by chopping a small onion as fine as I could. I recently had to say goodbye to my beloved pampered chef version of the "slap chop" contraption. It finally cracked after ten years of abuse. In order to chop the onions up as small as possible I was forced to use a knife. My knife skills just aren't up to snuff but to get the desired reults, I used the ridges of the onion as my guide to slice then chop across in the other direction. It is not as fast as the "slap chop" but not as embarrasing either. I mixed 3.5 cups of ground beef with the onions and added a healthy amount of nana salt and pepper. Then the recipe takes a weird turn by instructing us to add a beaten egg to the meat mixture. I did, and then formed the patties. I grilled them in my new panini press Le Creuset pan for about 5 minutes, removing the press pan and adding pepper jack cheese for the last minute. The burgers were juicy and tender, and had satisfying char lines on them. (Thanks again for the great pan R.!)
Later that week I tried the recipe for Delicate Peppers. This recipe is fussier than the aforementioned burgers and instructs us to first roast several whole peppers in the oven for an hour. I started the roasting process and cleaned some part of my house until the timer went off. Next the peppers had to cool for a few minutes. As soon as they were workable I peeled off the skin, stem, membranes and seeds. I chopped the pepper meat and added it to a pan with onions. The SS then instructs that the peppers and onions should simmer for ten minutes. I complied. Then I added four chopped up, seeded tomatoes and cooked the mixture for twenty additional minutes. Oh Silver Spoon, how you love to cook your vegetables!
About 5 minutes into the process that was Delicate Peppers I readied a pan for, "Steaks with Sage." This was a definite error in timing. The steak recipe takes almost no time to prepare and I would have been better to start it in the last five minutes of the pepper recipe. Oh well, our steaks served as appetizers to the pepper dish. I dredged the steaks in flour, fried them in butter topped with a few whole leaves of sage. It was simple, aromatic and a flavorful treat. When it was all put together the peppers turned out to be more of a sauce than a side vegetable. The two dishes complemented each other very well. I would definitely do the two together again. And there you have it, I am caught up and back on the path to cooking enlightenment. This weekend, chicken with some form of peppers and dinner at J and C's house. I can't wait!
...and then my blouse caught fire.
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