Jono's Spicy Mince

Jono (12) brought this recipe home from school. He has cooked it for us a couple of times now.

500g beef mince (ground beef)

olive oil

1 tomato, chopped

1 small onion, diced

2 small cloves garlic, diced

3 tablespoons Moroccan seasoning

1/2 cup beef stock

small handful of pinenuts

handful of parsley

1/8th of an lemon

Here are the directions as Jono told them to me ...

Cook the meat in a little bit of olive oil.  Add the tomato and the onion.  Cook until the meat is browned.  Add the garlic.  Add the Moroccan seasoning.  Stir.  Add the beef stock.  Cook until liquid is gone.  Add pinenuts and parsley.  Serve on top of rice and drizzled with lemon juice. 

He always does something green on the side.  Peas are his favorite.

I don't even need to be in the kitchen when he cooks this!

Ps ... We call this spicy mince but it's not spicy spicy ... Alia eats it and she's got a kitten tongue!

Japanese Mince and Rice ....

This is so yummy and so simple. Last time I made this, I had some ground beef (mince) already cooked and in the freezer. I took that out in the morning to thaw, set the timer on the rice cooker and then only had one step to do when I got home.

Here's what you do.

500g beef mince

cooked rice (i like sushi rice best)

3 Tablespoons Sake

3 Tablespoons Mirin

3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce

All you do is cook the mince in a bit of oil, add the sake, mire and soy and continue to cook until the juice is gone. I did this on a med heat. Then you just stir that through the rice. You can shape it into onigiri (as shown below) or just eat it. Lately, we've opted to just eat it !! 

And  I add a little bit more soy sauce to my bowl ...

Slow Roasted Pasta Sauce with Meat

 

Sometimes, when you throw something together, it just works OUTSTANDINGLY. 
This was one of those times.

It was a tag team effort.

I cooked a package of ground beef (mince).  Just in a fry pan with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Rory roasted a big roasting tray full of tomatoes (halved), garlic cloves, and red onion. 
Again ... with olive oil, salted and peppered. 180C/375F for one hour.

When the tomatoes were done, I threw them in the blender, whizzed them up til they were done.
Oh ... yeah ... we added some fresh herbs to the blender too.
Oregano, parsley, rosemary and thyme.
Maybe a bit of basil too ...

We put that in a small pot with the meat. 
Probably only left it on the heat for 10 or 15 minutes. 

Rory added a bit of water to thin it out.
(We thought about wine but we didn't want to mess with the flavor because we loved it !)

Served on pasta with fresh Parmesan.

Delish !

Eggplant Burgers

Look, I know the photo leaves a little something to be desired but I'm going to make myself a light box ... hopefully on the weekend ... and then I'll be able to take good food photos at night !

But ... don't let the photo deter you from trying this ! I loved this. My kids loved this. My husband loved all but the eggplant.

And it was easy. Easy peasy.

Eggplant, sliced into 1/2 inch slices. Salted and set aside.

Burger Patties

Tomato, sliced

Caramelized Onions

Mushrooms, sauteed with a bit of garlic powder

I started with the caramelized onion.  When that was about done, my husband grilled the eggplant and burger patties.  I sauteed the mushrooms.

To assemble ... eggplant, burger, tomato, mushrooms, onions ... the kids added cheese to theirs.  I had ketchup.  Rory had sweet chili sauce.  Jono has those two and BBQ sauce !

Shepherd's Pie w/Cauli Mash

I didn't use a recipe for this. I'll try and give you measurements where I can but really, they aren't necessary. Also ... I made a huge pan of this because I had a kilo of mince (ground beef) that needed to be used. We are having leftovers of this for dinner tonight !!

1 kg (2.2lb) beef mince (ground beef)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
onion, diced (I had half an onion in the fridge so just used that. You could use more if you wanted ...)
garlic, 3 cloves, finely diced
frozen green beans
cauliflower (I used two heads)
a blob of butter
2 blobs of cream cheese
grated cheese
salt and pepper

Boil the cauliflower.

Run warm water over a few handfuls of green beans in a colander and leave in the sink to 'thaw'.

While that is boiling, brown the meat with the garlic and the onion. Season, not too heavily. When the meat is done, put it in the bottom of your baking dish. Pour in can of soup and mix together.

Top the meat/soup mixture with the green beans.

Drain softened cauliflower and put back into pot. (I just cooked til a fork went into it easily) Throw in the butter and cream cheese, a pinch of salt and a couple pinches of pepper. Zoop Zoop it. (translation ... use your stick blender to blend it.) You could use a potato masher or food processor or regular blender too ...

Top the beans with the cauliflower mash. Top with grated cheese. I used a combination of tasty (cheddar) and mozzarella.

Bake 30 minutes on 180 (350) or until cheese is browned.

I know this isn't the prettiest picture but I waited til after the movie
(I saw THE HELP last night) to eat and I was too hungry to take a pretty picture !

Homemade Meatballs

These are our family's favorite meatballs. The recipe makes a lot but since ground beef isn't too expensive, they are still a pretty cheap meal. It's a good one to have in your repertoire if you often entertain large groups of teenagers... as we do. Or if your family will one day contain a large group of teenage boys...

3 lb ground beef

1 (12 oz/350ml) can evaporated milk

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup crumbled crackers

2 eggs

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tsp chili powder

Mix in a large bowl.

Form into meatballs. I use my cookie scooop. I take a heaping scoop and form the meatballs inside the scoop. (Sorry for using the word scoop so many times, I couldn't think of another word to use.)

Put them in a single layer to maintain their shape. If you want to do this step ahead you can put the meatballs on a lined cookie sheet in the fridge until you're ready to finish them.

Then brown the meatballs in a skillet. The longer you brown them in the skillet, the less you have to worry about them being all the way cooked in the oven. Transfer meatballs from the skillet to a glass 13x9 inch pan. Depending on the size of the meatballs, it might not all fit in one pan. I usually end up with a 13x9 and a 8x8 inch pan.

After you've browned the meatballs, make the sauce.

In a sauce pan, bring to a boil:

2 cups ketchup

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp liquid smoke

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup chopped onions.

Pour over the meatballs.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

BBQ Meatballs

* photo taken on my iPhone ...

We used to have these often but haven't had them for years. I got the recipe from an email group called "real food for real people" that I used to be a part of years and years ago. We used to make them as burgers but last night I decided to make them as meatballs. They were really yum ! This recipe makes a heap ! We ate them for dinner, and will eat them again for lunch and still have some left over. Usually I freeze half the batch ...

For the meatballs:
3lb ground beef (just over 1kg beef mince)
3 saltine (salada) crackers, crushed (i actually did about 8 ...)
1/4 cup water to each lb ground beef

Mix ingredients and roll into meatballs (or patties) and quickly brown. Do not cook completely. Put into baking dish and cover with BBQ sauce, bake 350F/180C for one hour.

For the sauce:
1 cup ketchup
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup vinegar
6 tbls Worchestershire sauce
1 large onion, finely diced

Bring all ingredients to boil on top of stove, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour over burgers/meatballs.

**

I served this last night with roast potatoes, peas and corn. As we were eating, I remembered that we used to serve this with mashed potatoes ... mmmmmm ... next time !

Make sure you scoop lots of that yummy sauce on top of them meatballs when you serve !

Meat for Burgers

So ... we have been working for years on our meat patties that
we use to make burgers. Rory has pretty well perfected them
now ! Every time we make burgers and I post about it, I
refer you to the first post I did when we were first
starting out, the photos leave lots to be desired.
I keep thinking, I need to do another post
but I always forget to take a photo of
the patty itself ! As you can see, I
still haven't done that. This is
last nights burger, that
is a combo of the
Bohemian
and
Pioneer

Delicious, I might add !

Here we go ... how we make our meat patties for the Cheese & Burger Society Burgers we have tried ...

500g (1lb) mince (ground beef)
1 small onion, very finely diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbls chopped parsley, oregano, chives, basil ... or whatever herbs you like
1 large egg
1 and 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons seeded mustard
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs (just put a couple of slices of bread ... I use the ends ... into your food processor ... process for a few minutes and voila ... bread crumbs !!)

Combine all ingredients.
Make into patties.
Cook.
We cook ours on the BBQ ...

The Pioneer

I can't believe I haven't posted this yet.

Another from the Cheese and Burger Society site ...

Swiss Cheese
Beef Patty (cheese and burger did two ... we only did one)
Sautéed Mushrooms
Caramelized Onions ... this was not part of the recipe but we decided they would be a good addition !!
Rosemary, fresh
Bacon, cooked
Garlic Aioli - homemade with this recipe and check out my video tutorial to see how easy it is !
Lettuce, I like ice berg
Sesame Seed Bun

Very simply ... make your burgers. We always BBQ ours. Top with cheese (while still on the BBQ) While the burgers are cooking, caramelize your onions, cook your bacon and sautee your mushooms. While those are cooking, get the rest of your stuff ready. Make the Aoili, pull apart the lettuce, grab a few sprigs of rosemary from the garden.

Once everything is cooked, you just need to assemble, serve and figure out how to fit that big ole burger into your mouth ! You'll be glad you did though ... this is ONE TASTY BURGER !!

The Bohemian

This burger is deliciousness at it's best.
You will find it at Cheese and Burger.com
Have you visited that site yet ? No ? What ?!
Come on ... go there ! You will like it ... it's fun !!

What you need to make this beast ...

Beef Patty ... have you tried our beef patty's yet ? Rory is convinced they are the best on the planet. So, maybe you should.

Gouda Cheese
Fried Prosciutto
Sliced Turkey
Pesto Mayonnaise
Spinach
Oat Bread - we buttered ours and pressed it in the panini maker ...

So ... I made the pesto mayonnaise. It was easy and so delicious ... Just whip up some mayo using your stick blender. And then make some pesto ... like this ...

2 cups fresh basil leaves ~ I used greek basil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup nice olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
garlic cloves, minced ~ to taste, I used a couple of cloves
Salt and Pepper

Mix basil, pine nuts and garlic in food processor. Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Add the grated cheese and keep going til blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Makes 1 cup.

To make the pesto mayonnaise, just add some of this pesto to the mayo ...

DELICIOUS !!
TRY THIS BURGER !!

The Roadhouse

We've got quite a list going of Cheese and Burger Society Burgers that we've tried now. There's The Boss, The Camelot, The Farmer John, The Firehouse (that we don't have a photo of), The Havana, The Aunt Millie, and of course, The Lumberjack. We've enjoyed all of them. Loved a couple of them and now ... with the Roadhouse, we've found our new favorite !

Man, this is good ! Just looking at the photos makes me want to go make one ! (and it is only 7am! )

Here's what's on the burger ... (and the links to those recipes )

Beef Patty
Gruyere Cheese
Caramelized Onions
Bacon
Onion rings
Garlic Mayo
Toasted Onion Roll ... we couldn't find those, so we used Soft Whole Wheat Bread Rolls.

The Lumberjack

Cheese and Buger Society ~ #10 ~ The Lumberjack

This burger is HUMONGOUS ... but so worth eating. I couldn't finish mine but I loved every bite I got in !!

Here's what's on it ...
Three pieces of white bread ... buttered and pressed in sandwich press
Iceberg lettuce
2 beef patties
1 piece swiss (we used jarlsburg) cheese
1 piece cheddar cheese
dill pickle slices
ketchup, mustard and mayo
diced onion

Just watch out ... you have to hold onto it with two hands ... otherwise this happens ...

The Havana and The Aunt Millie

Last night was Jono's turn to help cook. He wanted to do another Cheese and Burger Society burger. He chose #28 ~ The Havana and we also tried #8 ~ The Aunt Millie. Both were good but would have been much better had we had the right bread. Unfortunately, the bread I was trying to make, turned into a big fat fail ...

Here it is in it's new home ~ the garbage !!

But not to worry, Rory stopped at the store and grabbed a french loaf on his way home. Only problem, it was a bit hard. We pressed it in the sandwich press which made it a bit flatter but it was still too hard for a burger !!

You ready for the pictures ? Here's Alia's ...

And Jono's ...



And Rory's ...



And mine ...



I had one of each ... and I did mine as open face sandwiches ...

But couldn't eat more than half of each of them ...

Can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch ... but will skip the bread this time !!

We served these with homemade onion rings ... I'll post THAT recipe tomorrow !



As for the way we made these burgers ... we didn't do them EXACTLY like the C&BS ... you can check out their website if you want the EXACT recipe ... but we did ours like this ...

The Havana

Beef Patty
Swiss Cheese
Ham
Bacon
Dill Pickles
Yellow Mustard
Pressed French Bread

The Aunt Millie
Beef Patty
Rocket (Arugula)
Tomato
Red Onion
Kalamata Olives
Feta
Pressed French Bread

Did I mention I can't wait to eat the leftovers for lunch ??

Cheese and Burger ~ The Camelot

You may remember a couple of weeks ago, we tried our first Cheese and Burger Society Burger ~ The Boss. That burger was the best burger I've ever eaten ! The other night we tried another one ~ The Camelot. It was not as good as the boss but still tasty. And I made it totally unprocessed which I was pretty pleased with !!

Here's the components ...

I used my basic beef patty recipe again. It's such a good one. Topped with camembert cheese.

I made whole wheat brioche rolls ... they were too thick for this burger but I'll change that for next time !!

I caramelized onions for the first time. It was super easy, time consuming, but easy and so stinkin' delicious. I used three red onions, sliced thin. A couple tablespoons of olive oil. Heat in big fry pan. Add onions. Stir occassionally but just let 'em cook for half hour or so ... 'til they are all brown and caramelly and did I mention stinkin' delicious ??

I used homemade mayo and dijon mustard. Sliced tomatoes. A few sliced mushrooms ... sauteed.

The original recipe had a peppered bacon as well. I'm sure that would have been yummy but we haven't found a bacon that fits our unprocessed specifications ...

Cheese and Burger ~ The Boss

This is the best burger I've ever eaten in my life ...

We got the 'recipe' from The Cheese and Burger Society.

It's #15 ... The Boss.

We had to make a few modifications ...

First ... we couldn't get asiago cheese so we used romano.

BEAUTIFUL substitute !

Second ... no rosemary ciabatta rolls ... we used turkish buns.

The recipe just calls for 'beef patty' ... we made ours using this recipe ... doubled it

and made HUGE burgers. Also ... added rosemary, thyme, and basil to the burger meat mix ...

So ... all you do is cook your burger ... we did ours on the Weber ... add the cheese

for the last couple of minutes so it melts ...

Then assemble ...

I started on the bottom bun and worked my way up like this ...

black olive tapenade

arugula (rocket) leaves

sliced tomato

sliced red onion

prosciutto
(make sure it's thinly sliced ... ours wasn't but it will be next time !)

burger with cheese

top bun

I'll probably make the burgers a bit thinner next time ...

I couldn't finish mine ... lucky I have a growing boy to do that ...

Rory finished his but wishes he hadn't ...

The Disaster Meal

Tonight I made a disaster meal. Originally, it was hamburgers with fried potatoes.

Step 1: Form ground beef into patties and place on a rack sitting in a foil lined cookie sheet

Step 2: Swear in 3 different languages as stupid patties keep falling apart and falling through the rack. Stick in broiler.

Step 3: Look in cupboard for the potato (the using up of which was the reason this was even on the menu plan) and realize you have already used it in something else.

Step 4: Get out a bag of chips.

Step 5: Set your hot pad on fire while flipping the crumbling burgers over. Make sure to lose about 1/4 of your meat.

Step 6: Get out rolls and discover that even though you bought them YESTERDAY, they are harder than rocks.

Step 7: Weep.

Step 8: Cut up some jalapeno slices, spread over one side of a tortilla, add a handful of shredded cheddar cheese. Microwave for 30-60 seconds or until cheese is mostly melted.

Step 9: Carefully lay hamburger patties onto melted cheese, being careful to drop as many pieces of meat on the floor as possible. Squirt on some ranch dressing. Fold the tortilla.

Step 10: Serve.

New Burger Photos

So ...we had burgers again on Saturday night.
I don't like the photo I took last time we had them.
I can't decide which one I like best.
Help me out ya'll.
Which one is better ...

The Great Aussie Burger

I got this recipe from a Coles (grocery store) junk mail flyer years ago. In my quest for the perfect burger ... this is the best I've found. My only qualifications are:
1. It tastes good.
2. It doesn't fall apart !!!

Ingredients:
500g (1lb) mince (ground beef)
1 small onion, very finely diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbls chopped parsley or choice of fresh herbs
1 large egg
1 and 1/2 tsp Worchestershire sauce
2 teaspoons seeded mustard
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs (just put a couple of slices of bread ... I use the ends ... into your food processor ... process for a few minutes and voila ... bread crumbs !!)

Combine all ingredients and season.

Shape into burgers. The recipe says it makes 4 burgers but I got four big burgers and 4 little burgers out of it.

If you are like me and hate getting raw meat on your hands ... make sure you put your latex gloves on. You know, like at the doctors office ? I keep a box of those under my sink !!!

I made these in the afternoon while I had the mince out for my big cookup. I covered and put them into the fridge til we were ready to eat. Doing them ahead of time always makes them that little bit better ! When you are ready ... BBQ burgers. Serve. EASY !! And they are sooo yum. We haven't had burgers in ages ~ man were they a taste sensation !!

The photo above has my burger topped with ketchup, mustard, mayo, cheese, onions sauteed on BBQ, tomato and dill pickles. Usually we have lettuce and avocado as well but I forgot to buy them ! DUH !! And if you want to go really Aussie ... sliced beetrooot (beets) from a can !! AND Rory put a fried egg on his as well.