Meat meat meaty meat meat!

If I'm going to spend a whole lotta calories, I'm gonna make sure it's good and worth it. Nothing scratches that foodie itch like a juicy burger cooked on a grill. And it's not all fat and calories, beef does a body good with protein, iron and B vitamins.

First things first, get a hunka beef! I pick a chuck roast that looks like it has a good amount of fat in it. Then it gets cut into chunks like so..




Time to set up the Kitchenaid mixer with the grinder attachment and start to feed the beef cubes through.




The meat goes through the coarse grinding plate once...




It's ground but still has visible pieces of fat that aren't fully incorporated. Gotta squeeze all that fatty love into the burger for juicy wonderfulnness. And so it goes through the coarse grinder a second time...




Now the white flecks are alot less prominent. But this pile of red gooey love is not ready to be burgers yet. They'd turn out grainy. So I slap on the fine grinding plate and get...



It's just so beautiful *sniff* .... give me a moment. I'm verklempt, speak amongst yourselves....*bites knuckle*...

Aaaaannnnd we're back!

Now I gotta make burgers that are all the same size so they  finish to medium rare nomminess at the same time. One of the best tools I have in my kitchen is a $5 burger shaper. Love this thing:



You can see the little black clicker thing is on 1/3 pound which is my preference. The burgers are big enough to hang off the bun even after cooking but don't have the embarrassing shrinkage issues of a 1/4 pounder. The 1/2 pound setting is great for the really big appetites but just too imposing for little ole me.

Burger shaper does its job and there's a small army waiting for a smokey fate on the Big Green Egg:



Of course, there's always the option of making sliders too!

Either option cooks up just fine.

Seriously - the best burger you'll ever eat and you get your official fussy foodie card in the mail shortly thereafter. Excuse me, the burgers are ready...I gotta go!

-DK

Sexy Summer Salad

This sweet and savory little number has it all. Crunchy nuts, softly roasted root veggies, snappy greens, sweet cherries and a salty kiss of feta. Don't blame me if you fall in love after the first bite.

2 T Walnuts, chopped
1 C Hakurei Turnips, peeled, cut into half moons
6 ea Baby Carrots, sliced longways
1 T Walnut Oil, divided
Pinch each kosher salt, onion powder, garlic powder, cracked black pepper
2 C Turnip Greens, washed, chopped
9 ea Cherries, fresh, pitted, quartered
2 T Feta Cheese, crumbled
1 t Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste (I used Pink Himalayan Salt from Trader Joe's)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spread walnuts out in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast util medium brown. They burn quickly - as soon as you can smell them they are usually just about ready. Set aside to cool.

In a medium mixing bowl, toss turnips and carrots with 1/2 tablespoon of walnut oil. Add kosher salt, onion & garlic powders and cracked black pepper. Toss to evenly distribute the seasonings. Spread turnip and carrot mixture in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees until the vegetables start to brown on the edges and are tender. Set aside to cool.

Once the walnuts and vegetables are room temperature put them both in a mixing bowl. Add turnip greens and cherries then toss to evenly combine everything.

Add feta, reserved walnut oil, balsamic and salt/pepper. Carefully and gently mix everything together.

Makes one entree sized portion, two side salad portions or 4 something healthier instead of chips with a sandwich portions.

Nutrition info is for the entree portion, cut numbers in half for the side salads; divide by 4 for the sandwich platter portions:

Calories: 472
Fat: 32g
Sat Fat: 7g
Poly Fat: 17g
Mono Fat: 4g
Trans Fat: 0g
Protein: 17g
Carbs: 43g
Fiber 13g

Easter Cupcakes 2.0

I love cupcakes.  ALOT.  Probably more than what's healthy.

Playing with cake and icing flavor combinations. Planning how to decorate them...daydream material. Putting them on a pretty stand...so girly and fun. 

Who's to know those sweet royal icing flowers were piped while watching Descent 2 on Fearnet while cursing a blue streak at my inability to get the daisies just right. Good times.

These little beauties made quite a hit at last year's Easter get together. So much so that I was requested to make a similar setup as centerpieces for a bridal shower. Niiiice.

Made the royal icing flowers at least a day ahead to give them time to dry. I used the recipe from Pretty Party Cakes by Peggy Porschen. I'm not posting the recipe because I don't believe in sharing recipes unless the author posted them online themselves. Buy the book - it's worth the price just for the pictures. (But honey, I swear I read it for the recipes!)

The cupcake recipe is from the Neelys on Food Network's website. Only I didn't make PB&J cupcakes like in the original but used the base cupcake recipe with my own flavor twist. It's a moist yellow cake with a little something special due to the Creme Bouquet. 

Ingredients
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I decreased vanilla to 1/2 t and added 1.5 t of Creme Bouquet)
Directions

Put an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a standard 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Add the sour cream to the butter and sugar mixture and continue to beat until incorporated. Add the eggs and yolk, 1 at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed into the batter. Add in the vanilla and continue to mix. Slowly add the dry ingredients, in increments, and mix until combined.

Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners to fill 3/4 of the way. Put in the oven and bake until the cupcakes are a pale gold color and a cake tester comes out clean, about for 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let cool in the tins for 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting and filling.

And since every great cupcake needs frosting, I used my very favorite Swiss Meringue recipe from Cake Central's website.If you decide to make it, make your life easy and use pasteurized 100% liquid egg whites. They meringue up beautifully and if you don't have to worry about food borne illness if your thermometer isn't calibrated correctly. People who don't like frosting will like this frosting. It is not "too sweet" and is HIGHLY addictive. But do not, DO NOT!!!!!!!! add the butter in step 4 of the recipe until the meringue is room temperature. I cannot emphasize that enough. If the butter melts, you will have tasty, unsalvageable soup. (Yeah, I messed one up once the night before a delivery and had to run to the store for more ingredients and start ALL over at 9:00PM so I would have the cake ready on time the next day. Hoo!)

Ingredients

12 oz (3 sticks) unsalted butter at room temp5 egg whites
8 oz (1 cup) granulated sugar
2 TBSP real vanilla extract

Instructions
Place the egg whites and the sugar in a bowl or top of a double boiler and place it over a pot of simmering water, whisking until it registers 160 degrees. (Whisking keeps the white from turning into scrambled eggs)

Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer and whip it with the whisk on medium high until it is reaches the stiff peak stage.While the meringue is beating, cut up the butter into tbsp sized pieces.When meringue is ready, switch to the paddle attachment, turn on low, and slowly add the butter. (One tablespoon at a time, waiting until each piece of butter is incorporated before adding the next piece)

Add vanilla.

Turn on medium high and let it rip until you have a lovely silky buttercream. You will hear a slapping sound when it's ready. (It may look curdled before it smooths out. DON"T PANIC! Just let it mix and it'll all work out.)

Frost the cupcakes with a large, plain round tip, place the flowers and sprinkle strategically with pastel dragees for some shine. Serve them at room temp, this type of frosting is not nearly as amazing when it's cold.

-DK

RTB: Apple Pie Amaranth

I love carbs! I can feel the pleasure centers of my brain lighting up just typing about them. Contrary to some so-called experts, carbs are not bad for us. Half of what we eat every day should be carbs. Our bodies, and especially our brains - need them. Check out the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, specifically the chart on page 15.

The problem comes when we eat too many carbs that are devoid of any nutritional value other than calories. Like white flour or white rice, etc. Not that I don't eat these things - had a great sourdough roll today and rice pudding last night - but they account for less than half of my grain intake for the day. The other half (or more) is whole grains. If you're a carb queen like me, you'll soon fall in love with whole grains - they taste AMAZING! And grains cost ALMOST NOTHING! Especially if you get them bulk. Buy as much or as little as you like and pay for what it weighs.

One of my favs is amaranth. Grain to liquid is a 3 to 1 ratio and it makes a creamy, rich hot cereal. Try it in Apple Pie Amaranth:

1/4 cup dry amaranth
2 tsp Splenda brown sugar blend
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 fresh apple, grated
1 tsp grated lemon zest
Pinch of kosher salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 T heavy whipping cream

Combine all ingredients except cream in a small saucepan. Simmer until thickened. Spoon into a bowl and drizzle top with cream.

Calories: 296
Total Fat: 8.6g
Sat Fat: 1.8g
Carbs: 53.3g
Fiber: 10g

-DK

What's In These Brownies, Dude?

 

Yes, they are that good and no, the secret ingredient is not what you think.

It's black beans!

Oh, that is what you thought it was. Well, alright then.

You can see by the pic below, the batter starts out looking meh but hang in there, it'll look like brownie batter by the end.

But in case you're like me and this is new thing for you, this is the recipe from Meal Makeover Moms:

Fudgy Black Bean Brownies

Makes 16 Servings (I cut them into 8 larger brownies)

One 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed very well
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons canola oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract, optional
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil or coat an 8 x 8-inch baking pan or dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

2. Place the black beans in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, oil, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, peppermint extract as desired, baking powder, and salt and process until smooth. Add ¼ cup of the chips and pulse a few times until the chips are incorporated.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top with a rubber spatula, and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup chocolate chips.

4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan before slicing into 2-inch squares.

Nutrition Information per Serving: 120 calories, 5g fat (1.5g saturated, 0.3g omega-3), 95mg sodium)

I doubled the recipe and my food processor couldn't handle the double batch so I just pureed the beans with the eggs, transferred it to my mixer and finished the recipe that way. 

My picky 6 year old, Daughter of Fink, loved them. And she runs screaming at the mention of the word BEAN.  I used my whole family as test subjects at a get together and no one batted an eye.  What a great way to get folks to enjoy the nutritional benefits of a food not everybody is crazy about. I'm not above subterfuge when it comes to my family's health and I'm OK with it.

-DK

Nut Butters

Any nut can be a butter so why do peanuts get top billing? Those little so and so's think they're so great! Well, I'm here to give some love to the underdogs.

Peanuts may have the most protein but have very little omega 3s - walnuts are the leaders of the pack with the most omega 3s of any nut. Almonds win in the monounsaturated fat category. Take that peanuts!

Contrary to the unfood industry's claim that "Fat Free" is somehow better for us, (gummie candies are billed as a fat free food in my local vending machine) fats are necessary for health. And unsaturated fats specifically have excellent health benefits.

As with anything - watch the portion size. As tasty and good for you as this recipe is, it's about 116 calories a tablespoon.

Nutrition info per tablespoon:
Total fat: 10g
Carbs: 6.2g
Protein: 3.2
Fiber: 1g

Recipe:
1 1/2 cups walnuts (or almonds)
Honey to taste (optional)
Kosher salt to taste (optional)

Roasted Walnut Oil (if you're a fussbudget like 

                                       me, olive oil if you're normal)

Spread the walnuts out on a baking sheet and place in oven preheated to 375. Toast until they are beige and you can smell them. Let them cool and put them in a food processor.

Turn on the processor and let it grind them up until they are very small pieces that stick together.
Then drizzle in the oil slowly with the processor running until it looks like peanut butter. Only better, cause it's walnuts instead.

Sprinkle in a little kosher salt and drizzle in a little honey and process to combine. Taste and add more salt or honey if you like and process again to combine. Keep doing this until it tastes the way you like it. Don't add a lot of seasoning at once - more can always be added but once it's in there's no going back.

Store in the fridge in a plastic container with a tight fitting lid. I reuse the short round containers from the olive bar at the local supermarket. Like all natural nut butters, the oil will slowly separate in the fridge and need to be stirred back in for use.

I like homemade walnut butter paired with Crofter's Superfruit spread for a grown up nut butter and jelly sandwich. But my favorite way to eat it...

on a spoon covered in semi-sweet chips!

-DK

Sweet n Savory Salad

Great at work for lunch - this bright mix of ingredients will give you the energy to dive back into the fray.

1/2 cup fresh, ripe mango, diced small
2 T minced onion
2 T snipped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup cooked beans (I like Anasazi but any work)
3 oz shaved 96% fat free deli ham
1/2 T lemon olive oil (I get mine here)
Fresh cracked pepper and salt to taste

Mix everything but the olive oil and seasoning together gently with a spatula. Add oil and seasoning and gently mix to incorporate flavors. Best made ahead of time so the flavors can really marry. I make mine in the morning to take for dinner when I work late.

Calories: 357
Total fat: 11g
Sat fat: 2.5g
Poly fat: .7g
Mono fat: 5.1g
Trans fat: 0g
Carbs: 43.5g
Protein: 20.6g
Fiber 8.8g

-DK

Accident Soup

Pretty much what it sounds like. I made a bonehead mistake and was too cheap to throw away the ingredients.

My hubby, Monsterfink, gave me the bestest anniversary gift ever - a three compartment crock pot !  Knew what I wanted in the first two sections but decided to wing it on the third. I had never used kasha before but had some in the pantry so I threw it into the third section with chicken broth and a handful of legumes I had laying around.

Then I set the crock pots on low ... and went to bed.

Never having made kasha and not bothering to look it up, I didn't know it was a relatively quick cooking grain. Early the next morning when I pulled the finished product from the pots, the kasha was an overcooked and mushy mess.

If a veggie gets overcooked, I puree it and make soup so I busted out the immersion blender. Added enough almond milk to make it soup, then seasoned it Moroccan (thank you Google!) and it still needed something to offset the heat of the cayenne. Added a few teaspoons of sugar and nom, nom, NOM!

Serves 2

1 1/2 cups overcooked kasha
1 cup cooked lentils
3 cups almond milk, original
Moroccan seasoning to taste
Kosher salt to tast
4 tsp sugar
chopped parsley for garnish

Put the kasha and lentils in a medium saucepan and add half the almond milk. Puree together with an immersion blender until completely smooth. Then whisk in enough of the remaining almond milk until it is the consistency of cream soup. Turn the burner on low and heat the mixture until hot but not boiling. Start whisking in the Moroccan seasoning and salt. Taste, reseason, whisk and taste again until it is to your liking. Then whisk in the sugar. Ladle the soup into 2 bowls and garnish with chopped parsley.

Per serving:

Calories: 354       Total fat: 4.9g       Carbs: 59.8g       Protein: 15.2g       Fiber: 13.3g

-DK

Grains & Greens Soup

This recipe is of the I-gotta-lotta-leftovers to use variety. It went from rummaging through the fridge to bowl on the table in 15 minutes.

1 1/2 quarts hot broth (I used turkey)
4 cups chopped rainbow kale
2 cups chopped dandelion greens
1/2 cup chopped, fresh parsley
1 cup cooked Kashi 7 grain pilaf
1 seasoned, cooked and diced 96% fat free turkey burger


Heat up the broth in a large pot and add the greens including the parsley. Simmer uncovered until greens are tender, about 5 minutes. Add Kashi and turkey burger and simmer until ingredients are heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Makes 2 entree sized servings.

                                       

              Per Serving:

             Calories: 370
             Total Fat: 7.6g
             Sat Fat: .8g
             Carbs: 50.8g
             Protein: 26.5g
             Fiber: 9.9g

-DK