Cooking Challenge Week 30 (Late!) - Burgers - Burger Trio

Yes, I'm aware there's four burgers, not three, but two of them are made the same way.

All the burgers have Spicy Montreal Steak Seasoning worked into the meat before cooking.  This, in my husband's family, has become a verb:  "Do you want me to Montreal your burgers?"  (Hint:  "No" is never the right answer.)  Also, all four got sharp cheddar cheese on top after flipping.

My burger, on the right, is topped with diced red onions and green peppers.  When I saw how they went all over the place, I put them on the bottom bun of one of my husband's burgers, instead of on top, which made for easier eating.

Hubby's burger #2 was sprinkled liberally with cherry hot sauce.

Burger #3 has stone-ground mustard on the bottom bun and got a sunny-side-up egg on top.

And yes, we ate them with top buns.  But how would you see all the lovely variety if I'd taken the picture that way?

Cooking Challenge Week 29 (Late!) - Inspired by a Color - Burritos Blanco

They were supposed to be Burritos Verde, really, but both of my green elements turned out not-so-green.

They're made from chopped cooked chicken tossed with this fantastic tomatillo sauce, and cilantro-lime rice.  And they're delcious, even if they're not very green!

Baking Challenge Week 29 (Late!) - Summer - Nectarine Almond Tart

I was never much of a pie lover growing up.  The texture of most cooked fruits really put me off--to this day, I still can't abide applesauce.  Chocolate cream pie?  Sure.  Blueberry or cherry or peach?  No, thank you.

But tastes change, and I'm making up for lost time.  What says "summer" as much as a seasonal fruit pie?

I looked at a lot of recipes in my favorite baking books, and one stood out above the rest as unusual (and knowing that nectarines were on sale this week, timely.)  It's an almond cream base with sliced nectarines arrayed on top.

But I'm not sharing the recipe...because it turned out a little weird.

The almond "cream" had a very strange, grainy texture.  The blanched almonds got ground finely with flour (to keep it from becoming almond butter, I'd wager) and added to a creamed butter/sugar/egg mix.  But creaming butter and sugar together incorporates a lot of air pockets (usually that's the point!) so the whole thing is grainy and fluffy at the same time.  Very, very strange.

I will say this, though.  We're eating it anyway, because nectarine + almond = awesome.  I had no idea!

Baking Challenge Week 28 (Late!) - South American - Marraquetas

From this recipe.  There's nothing wrong with them, but aside from the shape, they're incredibly basic, and a little boring.

Though my husband did walk into the kitchen and say, "Why are the rolls undergoing mitosis?"

We had them with some broccoli cheese soup, and all was well, but I doubt I'll be making these again.

Cooking Challenge Week 28 (Late!) - Citrus - Jalapeno Sorbet

Best. Sorbet. Ever.

I'm no stranger to heat in my food, and my husband revels in it.  So when I found a chilli sorbet recipe in The Ice Cream Book, I knew I would try it someday.  Lemon-lime sorbet studded with bits of red chilli?  Sign me up!

Of course, the week I wanted to, there were none of the specified red chillis to be found at my grocery.  So I came home with a jalapeno instead.  Not that I minded.

Lots and lots of the flavor of the jalapeno came through, but basically none of the heat--not surprising, since I deseeded it.  Who wants seeds in their sorbet?  But that makes me curious to try this again with a habanero, which has a lovely fruity flavor but more heat than I can really deal with in most other forms.  (My husband's favorite commercial salsa is Mrs. Renfro's Habanero Salsa, which I think smells lovely, but tastes like I licked brimstone.)

Jalapeno Sorbet

• 1 jalapeno, deseeded and chopped fine
• finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
• finely grated zest and juice of 2 limes
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 cups water

Combine the jalapeno, lemon and lime zest, sugar, and water in a small saucepan.  Heat gently and stir while the sugar dissolves.  Bring to a boil, then simmer 2 minutes without stirring.  Allow to cool.

Stir in the lemon and lime juices.

If using an ice cream maker:  Refrigerate the mixture for one to two hours before freezing, following the general directions given for your model.  (I churned mine for about 25 minutes to soft-serve consistency before transferring it to the freezer, but of course your mileage may vary.)

To make by hand:  Pour the mixture into the large shallow pan and freeze until partially frozen, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  Beat with a hand mixer to break up chunks and work in some air.  Return to freezer for another hour.  Beat again, freeze another hour, then beat one final time.  Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm.

In both cases, soften in the refrigerator 20 minutes or so before serving.

Baking Challenge Week 27 (Late!) - Tarts - Blueberry Galette

My parents are having us over to dinner this week--they're providing the steaks and the beer, and I'm responsible for the potato salad.  Because I needed to cross the W27 challenge off my list, I'm bringing a dessert too!

I even managed to take pictures during the process so I could do a pictorial recipe.  Haven't seen one of those here in a while, have you?  (/pats self on back)

Blueberry Galette

• 1 pie crust (use your favorite recipe or buy one!)
• 6 lemon creme sandwich cookies
• 1 pint blueberries
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 egg

 First thing's first--wash your blueberries and allow them to dry on paper towels while getting everything else ready.  Not pictured:  Preheat your oven to 375 F; line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper; roll out your pie crust to at least 11" in diameter.

These are the cookies I opted to use.  Doing my research for this challenge, some (but certainly not all) galette recipes use frangipane or crushed cookies on the bottom to absorb the juices of the fruit.  Because blueberries are gooey in the extreme, I thought this was a good plan, and I had these around.  Vanilla creme would be good too, I'd expect.

Take your six cookies and chop them roughly...

...then scatter them on your pie crust that you'd already laid out on your baking sheet even though I didn't specifically tell you to!  It's hard to see in the photo, but I lightly pressed the rim of my 9" pie tin into the dough as a guide--strictly optional for a neater tart.

Combine the blueberries, sugar, and cornstarch in a small bowl and toss to coat the berries.

Spread that over the cookie bits.  You can see there's a bit of loose sugar, and that's okay, the juices from the blueberries as they cook down will take care of it nicely.

Fold up the edges to cover the filling.  You can be as neat-and-fancy or as rough-and-rustic as you like here.  I went super-basic.

Beat the egg in a small bowl and brush over the top of the crust.  Bake 30-40 minutes, until the filling is nice and juicy, and the crust is golden brown.

I'm so pleased that I only had one tiny leak!

Cooking Challenge Week 27 (Late!) - BBQ - Slow-Cooker Pulled Chicken

Not going to set the culinary world on fire with this one, am I.  But something that's both tasty and easy has its place!

All I did was throw four chicken thighs in my slow cooker with about 3/4 cup bottled bbq sauce--in this case, Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory & Brown Sugar.  Cook all day, de-bone and shred, serve on buns from your favorite local bakery (I love mine so much!) and add a little tater salad to your plate, and that's it, the lazy woman's barbeque.