Monthly Archives: March 2011

English Muffin Burgers

March 25, 2011 | by Ben 3

My latest projects have involved trying to pull off the best possible renditions of simple dishes. I already tried pizza and bean burritos (using homemade refried beans and tortillas), so I thought I’d try burgers:

The patties were chuck roast from Millgate Farms, course ground twice (Michael Symon’s technique, which makes for really juicy burgers) and coated with Montréal Steak Seasoning and pepper. The Swiss was grassfed Meadow Maid (all of these were from North Union Market). The fries are leftover from Melt, reheated in the oven.

The English Muffins were loosely based on Alton Brown’s recipe, but with a number of simplifications. These were the best English Muffins we’ve ever had, based on a simple yeast dough that does not require kneading and has a very short rise time. They were great with breakfast and would likely made good pizza crusts as well.

English Muffins

(makes about 8 muffins)

1 1/2 cups whole milk 1 tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 envelope yeast, … continue reading

Blackened Trout w/Red Beans & Rice

March 21, 2011 | by Ben 0

Bought some trout from Whole Foods and blackened it as specified here. I didn’t heat the cast iron skillet up quite hot enough to create a good crust, though, for fear of smoking up the house (which has happened before).

One the side was red beans and rice from this recipe, using homemade smoked andouille sausage (using New Creations pork) from Charcuterie, a recipe which last time around made the best andouille I’d ever had. This time my spices (especially the cayenne) were unfortunately a bit past their prime, but the smoking worked really well as my brother-in-law gave me this smoker for my last birthday. The advantage of this is that Jonathan, who loves smoke and mild spice, can’t get enough of the sausages, and we’re almost out from the 2 lbs. I made (I can never seem to make enough andouille).

The salsa was really simple, chopped up champagne mango, pineapple chunks, and … continue reading

Nespresso

March 10, 2011 | by Sarah 3

For Valentine’s Day this year Ben bought a Nespresso machine for me. We had the opportunity to sample the espresso from this machine on our trip to NYC earlier this year and were impressed by the quality. I am generally not a fan of unitaskers, especially in our already small and cramped kitchen — but this is an exception.

It is super simple to operate and takes less than a minute to brew. But most importantly the espresso it produces is awesome. I haven’t always been a fan of espresso, having tried Starbucks burnt so strong it almost burns in your mouth espresso. But having espresso from Pheonix this summer changed my mind.

The espresso the Nespresso produces is full of flavor, has a nice crema and is exactly the right temperature to drink. The variety of flavors they offer is really good, from the bold intensity of Arpeggio to a full-bodied Roma to the earthy, spicy Indriya. The Decaffeinato is by far … continue reading

Thin Crust Pizza

March 1, 2011 | by Ben 4

I am a huge fan of thin, chewy pizza crust. Pan pizza has its place, but I’ll almost always choose Bar Cento style pizza with a crispy outer layer, yeasty flavor and toothsome bite.

Making this at home has generally been a challenge. Pizza stones and peels are great for medium thick crusts, but a thin crust will usually fall apart in transfer. The solution we’ve found is a pizza screen along with a crust that clearly passes the windowpane test so it can be stretched without breaking.

I used Alton Brown’s grilled pizza dough recipe (with half whole wheat flour and a little extra water), which took about 20 minutes of kneading on the stand mixer to pass the windowpane test.

Here’s the rest of the recipe, which is enough for 3 pizzas:

(1) Make dough (see above) and let rest for at least one hour (it can be stored in the fridge for about a week).

(2) Make sauce: sautee a few … continue reading