Recipes »Hamburgers with Lemon and Soy Sauce

photo-5from Real Simple

It may not look like much, but for the first time in a long time Van gobbled every single bite of a meal Jim and I were having. No last minute peanut butter and jelly, just this Hamburger with Lemon and Soy Sauce. You don’t know what a big deal this is.

I cooked his all the way through and broke up the meat while leaving the medium rare, added caramelized onions and a touch of Sriracha to the adults.

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Posted on July 10, 2013

Recipes »Peperoncini Beef Sandwiches

from A Year of Slow Cooking

I’ve embraced a new level of mom-ness by busting out the crock pot for the first time ever.

These Peperoncini Beef Sandwiches have to be the easiest of the easiest to make – and the most likely to make you doubt they’ll turn out any good.

You just drop some beef in the pot with a jar of peperoncini peppers and cook low eight hours.

The result is quite surprising (in the best way).

Make sure to melt from fresh mozzarella and add the peppers to your sandwich.

I think I might love my crock pot now (so expect more slow cooker recipes to come.)

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Posted on March 18, 2012

Restaurants »God Bless Deli

20120207-125356.jpg818 Manhattan Ave, Greenpoint

How could this be true?, I thought skeptically as I read the Yelp reviews (that most of the reviewers admit to being drunk while eating didn’t make me any less dubious).

Could God Bless Deli, the polite, but seemingly run-of-the-mill deli down the street really hold the best Philly Cheesesteak around? The answer is: possibly.

The first rule is to NOT order with everything as they’ll try to get you to do. “Everything” includes tomatoes, lettuce and mayonnaise – which is just so wrong on a cheese steak. Tell them cheese, peppers and onions only.

After that, you’ll end up with a surprisingly tasty sandwich. Philly natives may not be lining out the door for it, but locally, you couldn’t find better. One of the best greasy bites (that’s really not that greasy at all) in Greenpoint or Williamsburg for that matter and only $5.

Looks like the drunks were right, and I’m glad. Local hardhats have also caught on and can be seen placing big orders on their lunch break.

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Posted on February 7, 2012

Recipes »Shaking Beef with Pea Shoot Salad

from Food and Wine

Shaking beef is something I always jump to order the rare times I find it on a menu so finding a easy tasty recipe was excellent luck.

The pea shoot salad adds much needed green to a meaty dish.

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Posted on January 12, 2012

Recipes »New York Strip and Fall Vegetable Roast with Mustard Cream Sauce

20111225-103334.jpgfrom Bon Appetit

I wanted to make something out of the ordinary for Christmas Eve and happened upon a list of festive roasts from Bon Appetit.

Don’t worry though, even though this New York Strip and Fall Vegetable Roast with Mustard Cream Sauce looks beautiful and as if it took lots of work, I chose the simplest recipe of the bunch and it was pretty much a breeze.

A definite way to impress without working at it. Pair with your favorite roasted vegetables and hold on to the sauce recipe for other things.

I am not sure what it will also go with but it was so super yummy I am sure we can find other uses, right?

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Posted on January 4, 2012

Recipes »Calf’s Liver With Onions

from Serious Eats

As adventurous an eater as I am, I’ve always been a little afraid of liver and never thought to make it myself. But in the Halloween spirit I got freaky with this Calf’s Liver and Onion recipe.

The key is to not over cook the liver, leaving a hint of pink inside and let the onions get nice and deep brown. For an extra spooky touch, the balsamic dressing looks a bit like blood but no worries, it tastes like yum!

One to scare the family with.

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Posted on October 31, 2011

Recipes »Reuben Sandwich

From Simply Recipes

“Man, a Reuben sounds good” I thought to myself the other night and so I made one. A very good one I might add, partially due to the fact that our local Warsaw Bakery makes a killer loaf of rye and partially because this recipe calls for a quick home made dressing rather than the odd tasting stuff from the bottle.

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Posted on March 23, 2011

Recipes »Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

from Martha Stewart

Jim, if you can believe it, is trying to add more fruits and vegetables into our diet – yes, even the green ones.

So, I thought this simple, comforting stir fry of Beef and Broccoli from Martha would both fit the plan and warm our bellies.

It’s a mild recipe but not lacking in flavor. Just make sure to use tender cuts of beef and serve over brown rice.

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Posted on March 11, 2011

Recipes »Uptown Down Home Chili

from Rachael Ray

As difficult as she can be on the ears, Rachael Ray may just know a thing or two about your taste buds. This Uptown Down Home Chili is superb and like all chilis, even better the next day. Shiitakes, portabellas, imported beer, Worcestershire, smoked gouda and chipotle lend the “uptown” flavoring – a sophisticated and unique blend of chili sure to please all fans of big flavor. I messed up my fresh direct order and had no chipotle on hand but made do with some chipotle flavored salsa and a hand full of chili powder spices. This would be perfect for the rainy weather we’re getting.

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Posted on October 4, 2010

Recipes »Bucatini All’Amatriciana with Spicy Smoked Mozzarella Meatballs

from Giada

I quite enjoy having Giada on in the background but this is the first time I’ve made one of her dishes, and this Bucatini All’Amatriciana with Spicy Smoked Mozzarella Meatballs was spectacular! Bucatini is a hollow spaghetti, which I was happy to find was finally available at Fresh Direct, though it can also be purchased at any Italian market. While it may look like there are a lot of steps in this recipe, once they’re prepped, each element has a fifteen minute cooking or simmering time so it’s easy to get everything done at the same time in order to mix it into a sloppy, delicious plate. I didn’t have parchment paper for the meatballs – which have a cube of smoked mozzarella inside them!! – so they crumbled a bit, but with no sacrifice to the flavor. If this is any indication, I’ll be making more from Giada soon!

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Posted on August 1, 2010

Restaurants »Pat’s King of Steaks

1237 East Passyunk Avenue, Philadelphia, PA

In all my trips to Philadelphia, it seemed lazy that I’d never bothered to stand in line for one of the city’s first and most famous cheese steaks, Pat’s King of Steaks. Situated catty corner to the big rival, Geno’s, I picked Pat’s because they chop their meat, which I assumed would be a consistency I’d prefer over strips. Plus, I wanted to get out for the day while the weather held (because, otherwise, while pregnant I tend to sink into lethargy and naps if I don’t get myself up and at them in the morning) and how fun and low brow decadent is it to hop in the car for a Philly cheese steak in Philly?

The line was as long as I expected, winding through already seated diners and around the small building (it only got longer as the day progressed) but it moved surprisingly quickly. The speed of the food from grill, to bun, to hand has a lot to do with the efficiency. The sandwich is great, with onion and cheez whiz, exactly as it should be. Next time I’d maybe go for double cheese and my only complaint was a couple small bits of fattiness. Still, a classic for sure, and one worth the lines and crowds to sample yourself. Lemonade and fries are also good but not as noteworthy.

Click here for the rest of Pat’s King of Steaks

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Posted on April 25, 2010

Recipes »Good Eats Meatloaf

from Alton Brown

As grating as I find TV personality Alton Brown, I have to give him credit for quite a tasty meatloaf recipe.

We brought this by to my sister and her husband the night after she gave birth; they were psyched.

I added a little hot sauce to the top for some added zing.

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Posted on March 21, 2010

Recipes »Batali Bolognese

batali bolognesefrom Molto Italiano

Mario Batali doesn’t mess around when it comes to his Ragu Bolognese. Veal, pork, and pancetta? No wonder this hearty meal filled us up so thoroughly. Mike, who was nice enough to prepare this dish for us, substituted parsnips for carrots.

The recipe comes from the Molto Italiano cookbook.

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Posted on December 13, 2009

Recipes »Homemade White Castles

white castles homemadeWhen I came across this White Castle recipe on A Hamburger Today, I immediately forwarded it to kitchen-experimenter extraordinaire, Mike. Just a few days later he offered to make the teeny sliders for us and you can't imagine how excited I was!
I heart White Castles and, even if it grosses you out, I eat the frozen ones all the time – especially if I've had some booze before bothering about dinner.

This recipe mimics the flavor and consistency of the originals pretty well thanks to the inclusion of some less than common hamburger ingredients. Even the usually die hard, let's-do-it-right dudes of AHT couldn't stomach the idea of adding beef baby food to their burgers (wusses!), but Mike went all out and the results were great.

He used mini potato buns, which worked perfectly size-wise, and fried up some finely chopped onions to complete the clone. As the latter batches of onions browned and caramelized, the home-made burgers tasted even better than the original.

Here's the recipe on AHT

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Posted on August 17, 2009

Recipes »Chicago Dog

With several left over smoked Ham's Bacon hot dogs from our Adirondack weekend (Ham's Bacon is a smoke shop that is actually called Oscar's but I like my name for it better) I began searching for recipes for hot dogs.

Of course I quickly found the Chicago Style Dog, a piled up sandwich that I've seen on Shake Shack menus (but after waiting in line, who can resist always buying a hamburger) but I've never tried one myself.

We got a very detailed how to at Hot Dog Chicago Style, a site devoted to the traditional local dish. Sadly, not every ingredient was readily available in town, so To as to not upset any die hard fans of the site who may scoff at the slightest adaptation, I call our creation Chicago Hot Dog New York Style.

We used pepperocini peppers in place of sport peppers and regular relish instead of “bright green relish”?and sesame seed buns instead of poppy. We did find celery salt, though and if I were you I wouldn't skip this vital ingredient, a dash of it brightens the flavors.

Jim tells me this style hot dog began as hobo food.

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Posted on August 3, 2009

Spend a Couple Minutes »Japan Premium Beef

japan premium waygu beefNews of the wagyu butcher Japan Premium Beef coming to NoHo brought smiles to all the city’s meat loving home-chefs. Thrilled to see the offerings myself, I headed over after work intent on bringing home something special. The space itself is absolutely pristine and the very helpful staff even wears perfectly tailored suits as they walk you through the meat freezers.

I kind of expected to walk out with a much lighter wallet – and believe me, if I’d chosen a tenderloin, I would have – but shockingly, a pound of their juicy marbled ground cost me only five dollars. The butcher recommended I cook the beef with nothing more than salt, pepper, and (his own personal special recipe) a pinch of nutmeg. The resulting burger was fantastic and I will be returning to try other cuts.

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Posted on July 13, 2009

Recipes »Vaca Frita

vaca fritaI'm what you might call lazy when it comes to cooking. I prefer no waiting and quick results, but I came across this recipe for Vaca Frita (translation: fried cow) and decided to change my ways for a day or two. After two hours of cooking and a day of marinating, I have to say: the results are incredible!

It's astounding that so much flavor came from so few ingredients: steak, bay leaf, water, salt, pepper, garlic, lemon and lime. While it may seem like a heavy dish (I did reduce the amount of olive oil a bit), I found that even with all the frying, it's actually a relatively “light” meal – maybe not compared to a salad, but I'd certainly take this meal over most restaurant's fried meats, which tend to leave me stomach achy and upset.

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Posted on July 13, 2009