Bacon Jam Burger with Garlic Aioli

I've heard of bacon jams almost around the same time I discovered chocolate covered bacon. Bacon is everywhere and I haven't met one person that denies it making all food that much better. Even it's own fat can make a dish delicious. Bacon is also extremely common, now, to be used on not only savory dishes, but sweets. I discovered the existence of "The Bacon Jams" a few weeks ago and was in total dilemma on what to make. But, it wasn't long before I decided to make a Bacon Jam Burger with homemade Garlic Aioli sauce.

I went to the butcher and requested some chuck meat be grounded up for my recipe. I didn't want to use the pre-ground meat packaged and ready to go. I find a weird taste in those. I'm not sure why, but I am always pleased with ground chuck.

This burger was pretty amazing and the bacon jam stuff is so addicting that it made the burger utterly umami. (See below for video or click HERE).

Beef patty
1 pound of ground chuck meat.
Salt and Pepper, olive oil

Grilled onions
1 white onion diced not too small.
Bread: sesame bun

Garlic Aioli:
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
5 cloves of garlic grated
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
3 cracks of black pepper (optional)
Mix and let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

The ground beef is just lightly compacted until the shape is perfectly formed to the side of your liking. I learned the trick to press slightly to create a small well. This will plump back up as it cooks, and normally my indicator to flip the burger. I don't season the meat when mixing, only on top and bottom.

The white onions are cooked in the same pan as the beef. Season lightly with salt and pepper and let it cook until it starts getting caramelized.

The bread is lightly toasted. After this, start building your burger to your liking. Some garlic aioli, bacon jam, burger patty, grilled onions, tomato, avocado and arugula for your own gourmet burger at home!

Thank you,

Daisy

Huevos Rancheros

I made the simplest huevors rancheros over the weekend. The ingredients used are little, but it is packed with flavor. And hey, who wouldn't want to make this after a night full with drinks? Trust me, it was a hard morning to wake up to, but this plate of goodness really kicked me out of the slum.

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Ingredients:

• 1 28oz crushed tomatoes
• 1 15oz black beans
• Blue Corn Tortilla
• Chipotle in Adobe sauce (I used 2)
• Eggs (I used 2)
• Salt and Pepper
• 1/4 cup of honey
• 1.3 cups of water
• 1 clove of garlic
• Cilantro for garnish.

The black beans are rinsed before heating. This step is optional. I didn't want too much starch so I reconstituted fresh water. The beans are heated up with 1 grated garlic, 2 teaspoons of salt, 2 teaspoons of cumin, 2 cracked black pepper, and then 1/3 cup of water was added with the heat turned off.

The ranchero sauce was made with 1 can of crushed tomatoes and 2 chipotle peppers. If it's too spicy, just use one and remove the seeds. I added about a 1/4 cup of honey and 1 cup of water to thin out the sauce as well as mellowing out the spice. 1 tablespoon of cumin was added with 1 tablespoon of salt. Feel free to add more honey and water to your liking (or another pepper if you want it spicier).

The egg was cooked for 2 minutes on medium high with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. I didn't add any salt since it's already on the chips, beans and sauce.

Start layering your plate. My combo was chips, beans, sauce, egg, sauce, and topped with a Louisiana green sauce. Cilantro was plucked and sprinkled as a garnish plus more on the side. If available, I would recommend adding queso fresco and avocado (WHICH I HAD AND FORGOT TO ADD).

Watch the full video here:

Enjoy!

Argentinian Shrimp - Compound butter and lime

I found some beautiful Argentinian Shrimp from the seafood market the other day. I was extremely captivated by their size, the colors of the shell (light pink), and their special price for the weekend. Besides the size, they also had their heads attached which is an extra plus. I've never cooked with this shrimp before, so I wanted to keep it simple so I don't overkill the flavors.

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I coated the shrimps with a little olive oil and kosher salt. I had a hot cast iron preheating before dropping these little Argentinians in.

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I let the first side go for 2 minutes before turning them over. I then drop some leftover compound butter that's mixed with minced garlic, parsley, and salt. I give it a few flips so each side is coated, then drop a good freshly squeezed lime into the pan and continue to deglaze.

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Total cook time was around 6 minutes. I wanted the shell to be blistered and crispy from the heat. That was easily achieved with a hot cast iron.

The lime and garlic butter sauce really did wonders. I ate this with a bowl of rice. All the juices and lime flavors went oh-so-perfectly with my rice. It's so easy, but extremely delicious. I'm not sure how often Argentinian shrimps are available, but I found mines at the 99 Ranch market (Chinese Market).

Let me know your thoughts!

Seafood Sundays

I've decided to have a seafood feast during a Sunday afternoon. There are times that life gets so fast pace, we take for granted all that our home provides. It not just a place for shelter and rest, but it's also a place of gathering together sharing unforgettable memories. I've been wanting to do this for so long. Just buy tons of seafood, cook them up, drink tons of wine, and have cigars by the balcony with a glass of Hibiki 17.

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I got these lovely Pacific oysters from the Asian market at 89 cents each. I wanted to get these, because they bake extremely well which is what I wanted to do with them. I just give them a quick scrub to remove any dirt and lay them to drain in a basket. I covered the counter with butcher block before shucking these bad boys to make clean up hassle free (totally recommended).

For my seafood feast, I made some compound butter the night before. Just 2 sticks of butter (8oz) set at room temperature so it can soften. I minced up a whole bunch of garlic and parsley to mix into the butter followed with salt to taste. I rolled this back up in saran wrap and left it in the fridge overnight for the flavors to marry. I used this to bake with my oysters and to cook into my black mussels.

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Sliced baguette with olive oil for mussels.

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Shrimp seasoned with salt and pepper

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These were the black mussels. In the same pan where the shrimp was cooking, I added a big pad of my compound butter to deglaze the pan. Mussels are added along with a lot more compound butter (trust me, it's good). When everything is started to get all bubbly and beautiful, I poured in about 1/2-3/4 cup of white wine. Season the broth to taste as you go. The crostini will be used to dip into this sauce.

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The beautiful seafood platter. Oysters had a heaping teaspoon of compound butter. Lay a foil on top of the tray and bake on the top rack at 400 for about 20 minutes.

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My brother and his fiance prepped some Geoduck Sashimi

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Mussels topped with parsley.

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The 2 wines paired for the seafood. Stag's Leap has a more complex, dry, flavor - a bit herbaceous with hits of apple/pear. The Groth was sweeter and smoother with stronger notes of apple/pear. These 2 were great pairings, and I honestly recommend you trying both of these Sauvignon Blancs to figure out which one you liked the most. I say, it really depends on your mood.

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There were a total of 6 of us. Everything went to plan and ended with some comforting flavors such as coconut pineapple with berries.

Our night day didn't end there. We decided to head over to Costco to pick up some steaks for dinner. Cooked that up with some asparagus and guzzled on some red wine... and the boys went out to get more cigars.. OH and we had a coffee cake for dinner.

That's all we did I promise. So.. on that note, I recommend all of you to visit your butcher and the man at the seafood market. Grab fun ingredients. Doesn't have to be fancy. Keep it simple, but get an abundance of seafood because the satisfaction it comes with it is unforgettable.

Spice Mode - Chicken Tikka Masala

I've had Indian food only a few times during my life. If I am roughly counting, I probably had it less than 15? It's never been something on my list or to cook at home. I think a big part of that is how intimidating the spices are. It's not like the usual spices we are used to that we can gauge with our eyes. That's when I discovered Spice Mode.

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Spice Mode focuses on Indian spices by developing different mixtures for you to feel confident about making any Indian dish at home. What's also great about Spice Mode is how natural their products are. They locally source from midwestern farms, freshly chop the ingredients in-house where they eventually perfect the small-batch sauces without any preservatives added.

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With the spices I've received, I will be making Chicken Tikka Masala. The items came with recipes, but of course I made a few edits because I made this in bulk.

Recipe makes 10 portions

• 10 chicken thighs were used.
• 1 - 15oz can of garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1 - 28oz can of Crushed Tomatoes
• 1 - 15oz can of Coconut milk
• 1 Jar of Spice Mode Masala Sauce
• 1 Package of Spice Mode Tikka Seasoning
• Salt and Pepper to taste.

I preheated the oven to 450 degrees because I want the chickens to get browned before creating the sauce. It was a hot day and I really didn't want to beat myself over the stove. I was in a 'set it and forget it' mood.

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I rubbed the seasonings (including salt and pepper) all over the thighs to coat. I'm looking for a beautiful tan on these babies after they come out of the oven. I know you see 8 thighs when recipe calls for 10. There's enough sauce and room to make 10.

After the chicken is browned, give it a quick wiggle then drop the beans, pour the crushed tomatoes and the 1 can of coconut milk. I topped the sauce with the remainder of the Tikka seasoning and added extra salt to season. I wrapped the dish with foil and stuck it back in the oven to bake for 40 minutes on 400. I took the foil off at 25 minutes and let it finish for another 10-15 minutes until it starts to brown and get bubble on top.

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The chicken is topped with cilantro, served with jasmine white rice, some naan bread, and sugar snap peas. Everything was perfect with this dish. It's super easy and pretty much effortless (if you make it so). I could've easily busted out some pans, got some chicken breast instead, and basically cut the cook time in half. I just didn't feel like cooking at a fast pace, and cooking it in the oven still worked out great so why the heck not. My stove is clean and I am a happy girl.

Most common store that I know carries this is Whole Foods. Learn more about Spice Mode here > http://www.spicemode.co/

Happy Cooking.