Burger with Mushroom and Onions

I've been eating burgers that Nick creates for more then 2 years now.  I can say with extreme confidence....that they are freaking awesome!  We like our burgers and are sad to say that most the gourmet burger joints that have popped up in Toronto in the past year or so have been very disappointing.  The only place that continue to have decent burgers is Webers (I will post review later), and that's nowhere near Toronto, and nor is it gourmet in any sense of the word.  

Nick always gets requests to make these for friends and family.  They are so popular that he get's slightly annoyed when everyone always seems to request burgers and baked potato wedges (recipe here)....but I guess that's just proof of how great his burgers are.  The addition of sauteed sweet white onions and meaty portabello just takes it over the top!  :-)

Burger with Mushroom and Onions

Serves: Makes 4 Large burgers

approx prep time: 20min

approx cook time: 15min

INGREDIENTS (Makes 4 burgers): 

- 2 1/4 lb Lean ground beef

- 6 slices of Thick Sliced Bacon (I prefer PC Old Fashioned Thick Sliced bacon), or 12 slices of the regular thin bacon.

- 1/3 of a large sweet white onion, finely diced

- 2/3 of a large sweet white onion, sliced.

-  1 large portobello mushroom, sliced

- 1/4 cup of diced sweet pickles or gherkins 

- 2 tbsp Montreal Steak Spice

-1.5 cups of shredded Cheddar Cheese (I prefer extra old)

- Toppings of choice (Pickles, Tomato, etc..)

- 4 large kaiser rolls

HOW TO MAKE IT:

- Heat up a non stick frying pan with a little dab of olive oil.

-  Add sliced onions and after a minute, add the sliced portobello mushrooms and sautee till brown, and set aside.

- Fry bacon in a cast iron pan on medium heat till crispy, set on a paper towel to drain and set aside.
- Mix ground beef, diced onion, diced pickles and steak spice thoroughly
- Shape beef mixture into 4 patties, roughly 1" thick.
- Cook patties to desired doneness in a frying pan, on an indoor grill or BBQ.
- Serve patty with bacon, shredded cheese, and topped with sauteed onion and mushrooms on a freshly sliced Kaiser of choice.

Slow Roasted Beef Ribs

We love beef ribs, they are great in stew, but definitely awesome slow roasted.  This is a very simple recipe for nice tender beef ribs.  :-)  Have a happy and safe long weekend everyone!  Cheers!

SLOW ROASTED BEEF RIBS

Serves: 3

approx prep time: 15min

approx cook time: 5 hours

INGREDIENTS: 

- 1 rack of beef ribs
- 1 bottle BBQ sauce of choice

HOW TO MAKE IT:

- Preheat oven to 400F
- Fill the lower portion of the oven broiler pan with about 1/4 inch of water. If you're not using an oven broiler pan, any baking pan, with a wire rack for the ribs to rest on will work.
- Cut rack of ribs into 3 large pieces, evenly spaced between the bones. Each piece should be 3 or 4 bones wide.
- Brush BBQ sauce on all sides and place ribs on broiler pan.
- Using tinfoil, create a tent over the ribs. What you're doing here basically is creating a mini steamer out of the broiler pan. To keep the ribs moist and render, we're partly going to steam them while they cook.
- Bake at 400F for 10-15 minutes.
- Remove from oven, add more sauce and re-cover with tented tinfoil.
- Cook at 200F for 4 hours.
- Remove from oven, add more sauce, and return to oven uncovered.
- Cook at 400F again for 10-15 minutes to crisp up some of the sauce on the outside. Keep an eye on the ribs during this stage to make sure you don't burn them!
- When the sauce on the outside starts to crisp at the edges, remove from oven and serve!

Canadian Burgers

Known as Canadian bacon in the US, in Canada, it is known as peameal bacon or back bacon.  It's delicious when made right, and like salted rubber jerky when made incorrectly.  To the rest of the world, they think back bacon is ham.  IT IS NOT HAM!  Back bacon refers to either smoked or unsmoked bacon cut from the boneless eye of pork loin.  Peameal bacon is back bacon, brined and coated in fine cornmeal.  I especially like my peameal bacon on a bun with a fried egg and cheese....however, paired with Nick's burger, it's adds a whole new dimension.

CANADIAN BURGERS

Serves: 2

approx prep time: 15min

approx cook time: 15min

INGREDIENTS (Makes 2 burgers): 

- 1lbs Lean ground beef

- 2 slices of Peameal Bacon

- 1 small white onion (or 1/2 of a large white onion)

- 1/4 cup Bacon Bits (Simulated, or small pieces of crumbled bacon)

- 3tbsp Montreal Steak Spice

- 2/3 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

- Toppings of choice (Pickles, Tomato, etc..)

- 2 large kaiser rolls

HOW TO MAKE IT:

- Pan fry peameal bacon and set aside.
- Finely dice onion
- Mix ground beef, diced onion, bacon bits, and steak spice thoroughly
- Shape beef mixture into 2 patties, roughly 1" thick.
- Cook patties to desired doneness in a frying pan, on an indoor grill or BBQ.
- Serve patty with bacon, shredded cheese and desired toppings on fresh Kaiser roll.

Chicken Parmesan

CHICKEN PARMESAN

Serves: 2

approx prep time: 15min

approx cook time: 15min

INGREDIENTS: 

- 2 Whole Chicken Breasts
- 2 cups Pasta
- 1/2 bottle Pasta Sauce
- Breadcrumbs
- Seasoned Salt
- Cajun Seasoning
- Canola Oil
- 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

HOW TO MAKE IT:

- Bring water for the pasta to a boil while preparing other items.
- Butterfly the chicken breasts, so that you have one large piece of chicken, of roughly even thickness.
- Lightly wet chicken with water.
- Place chicken on a large plate.
- Sprinkle chicken with bread crumbs, seasoned salt, and Cajun seasoning, flip over and cover the other side.
- Pour oil into a large pan (Cast Iron is preferable, but stainless works as well, I recommend against using non-stick for this), until the oil is about 1/8th to 1/4 of an inch deep. Bring this up to temperature over medium heat.
- Cook the pasta as per the directions on the package, and warm 1/2 of the bottle of sauce in the microwave, or via stovetop.
- Cook the chicken in the now hot oil, for about 2-3 minutes on one side, flip, sprinkle with some of the leftover breadcrumbs. Cook 2-3 minutes on the other side, flip, and sprinkle with leftover breadcrumbs. Cook 2-3 minutes, and flip one last time.
- Remove chicken from pan and let sit on a paper towel for 30 seconds to one minute before serving.
- Serve pasta, top with sauce, place chicken cutlet on top and sprinkle with cheese.

Mini Burgers

MINI BURGERS

Serves: 6-8

approx prep time: 15min

approx cook time: 15min

INGREDIENTS (Makes 12 mini burgers): 

- 1.5lbs Lean ground beef

- 6 strips of Bacon

- 1 small white onion (or 1/2 of a large white onion)

- 5 sweet gherkin pickles

- 3tbsp Montreal Steak Spice

- 3tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

- 2/3 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

- Toppings of choice (Pickles, Tomato, etc..)

- 12 Mini buns, or, alternately, sliced Baguette

HOW TO MAKE IT:

- Cook the bacon in half strips until crispy and set aside.

- Very finely dice onion and gherkin pickles.

- Combine ground beef, diced onion, diced gherkins, Montreal steak spice, and Parmesan cheese, mixing thoroughly.

- Form mix into patties, roughly 1.75 to 2" in diameter and 0.75" thick.

- Cook in a grill pan to desired doneness. For medium well, this should be about 4-5 minutes per side. You'll want to rotate the burgers around the pan, as the heat in different portions of the pan may be uneven.

- Once cooked, put the burgers on the bun, with all the fixings, and serve hot!

Turkey Vegetable Soup

Soup.  I love soups in the wintertime, and nothing is better or easier then making soup from Christmas dinner leftovers.  This makes a very large pot of soup.

Turkey Vegetable Soup

Makes about 12 cups of soup (a large pot)

approx prep time: 20min

approx cook time: 2.5 hours

INGREDIENTS: 

- 1 turkey carcass

- 2 cups of carrots

- 3 stalks of celery

- 3 medium onions

- 1 large potato (optional)

- 1 tomato (optional)

- other root vegetables (optional)

- bundle of herbs (ie. Rosemary and Thyme is optional)

- Salt and pepper to taste

HOW TO MAKE IT:

1) Chop all the vegetables into bite sized pieces

2) Throw all of the ingredients (except salt and pepper) into a large soup pot and fill the pot up with water.

3) Bring soup to a boil, then reduce to medium and let simmer for 2.5 hours. 

4) Once finished, take out and discard bones, skin and skim the fat, add salt and pepper to taste.

Mini Turkey Pot Pies



After a Christmas dinner, there's always the inevitable leftovers.  Whether the leftovers are dreaded or a delight, is really up to us.  Nick loves pies in all shapes and forms.  From fruit pies, crumble pies, pumpkin, to meat pies, all pies are viewed and eaten equally and finished quickly.   So when we found out William Sonoma was selling the Breville Mini Pie Maker during the Christmas season, we quickly picked one up before they sold out.  It was handy for making leftovers a delight. The pie maker can make 4 pies but we chose to make 3 pies as that's exactly 1 sheet of Pillbury pie crust.  They do make perfect pies in 10 minutes.  We're looking forward to using this with beef stews, cooked fruits, chunky sauces.  This machine will probably be used very regularly to put leftovers to go use.  If you want to see the other uses of the Breville Mini Pie Maker...take a look at our recipe for Beef Stew Mini Pies here.

Mini Turkey Pot Pies

Makes 3 Mini Pies (machine has the ability to make 4 pies)

approx prep time: 10min

approx cook time: 10min

INGREDIENTS: 

- 1/2 pack of Pillsbury Pie crust (at room temperature)

- 2 cups of cooked turkey leftovers (we used Turkey, peas, carrots, stuffing, butternut squash)

- 3 tablespoons of Campbell's cream of chicken soup

HOW TO MAKE IT:

1) Preheat the Breville Mini Pie Maker (Red light means it's heating, Green light means it's ready)
2) Chop leftovers into little pieces, mix with 2-3 tablespoons of Cream of Chicken soup.
3) Roll out the Pillsbury pie crust, stamp 2 bottom crusts and 2 top crusts. 
4) Recombine the remaining pie crust, roll it out thinly, and stamp the last bottom and pie crust (you should have 3 tops and 3 bottoms)
5) Place bottom crust into the machine, use the black push wedge from the pie maker to set it into the pan, fill each pie up to the top and a bit more, making a mound on the top
6) Top pies with the top crust.
7) Lock machine, bake for 10 minutes.
8) Serve immediately.

3 Meat, 3 Cheese Pasta

3 Meat, 3 Cheese Pasta

Serves: 4

approx prep time: 10min

approx cook time: 20min

INGREDIENTS: 

- 1/2lbs Lean ground beef

- 5 strips of Bacon

- 2 Italian Sausages

- 1 Red Pepper

- 1 medium size Onion

- 1 handful green beans

- 1 Jar of your favourite Pasta Sauce

- 1tbsp Olive Oil

- 1tbsp Italian Seasoning

- 1tbsp Fresh Diced Parsley

- 1 cup shredded cheddar Cheese

- 1 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese

- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese

- Pasta of your choice (approx. 1 cup per person)

HOW TO MAKE IT:

- Dice the Red Pepper and Green beans and set aside.

- Dice the Onion and set aside.

- Slice the uncooked sausage and bacon into small chunks. Break apart ground beef into similar size chunks.

- Warm a frying pan over medium heat.

- Begin boiling a pot of water for the pasta.

- Add oil and Onions, stirring occasionally until the onion is starting to get soft.

- Add meat, and cook covered, stirring occasionally, add Italian Seasoning when partly cooked.

- Add vegetables, cover and cook for 3-4min.

- Start boiling the pasta, per the directions on the package.

- Add pasta sauce to meat/vegetable mix, reduce heat and let it simmer.

- Add parsley to the sauce just before serving, mix in thoroughly.

- Serve pasta, cover with sauce, and top with cheese.

Steak and Grilled Veggies

This: 

Came from this:

 

We usually buy our steak from St. Lawrence market or when AAA prime rib is on sale in a grocery store then slice the steak ourselves (so we get steaks of proper thickness, which is about 1.5" thick).  So simple to make we almost have steak weekly.  That's simply awesome.

STEAK and GRILLED VEGGIES

Serves: 2

approx prep time: 10min

approx cook time: 25min

INGREDIENTS: 

- 2 Steaks (we used prime rib steak, with the bone removed). A proper steak should be roughly 1.25-1.5 inches thick, and cut to even thickness, without thick/thin spots.
- Montreal Steak Spice
- 2tbsp butter, softened but not melted
- Vegetables of your choice (in this case 1 each of: White Onion, Red Pepper and Zucchini)

HOW TO MAKE IT:

- Chop vegetables into large chunks and set aside. If using Onions, set those aside separately.
- Heat a frying pan to HIGH heat (do NOT use a non-stick Pan. If you have it use a Grill pan or Cast Iron pan)
- When the pan is hot, butter one side of the steaks, then sprinkle with steak spice.
- Place steaks, buttered/seasoned side down in the pan.
- Butter and season the other side of the steak (while It's in the pan).
- Cook for 6min per side for Medium-Rare to Medium, Less for a more Rare steak, and more for a more well done steak.
- Place the steaks on a place to rest, covering tightly with tin foil, and leave them covered until ready to serve.
- Using the same pan the steaks were in, add onions, cook for approx 2min, stirring often.
- Add other vegetables, stirring occasionally, and cook until they reach your desired tenderness. Approx 3-4min.
- Serve and Enjoy!

Burgers!

BURGERS

Serves: 2

approx prep time: 15min

approx cook time: 15min

INGREDIENTS: 

- 1lbs Lean ground beef

- 4 strips of Bacon

- 1 small onion (finely diced)

- 3-4 sweet gherkin pickles (finely diced)

- 2tbsp Montreal Steak Spice

- 2tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

- 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

- Toppings of choice (Pickles, Tomato, etc..)

- Buns of choice (Kaiser rolls recommended)

HOW TO MAKE IT:

- Cook the bacon in half strips until crispy and set aside.

- Combine ground beef, diced onion, diced gherkins, Montreal steak spice, and parmesan cheese, mixing throughly.

- Form mix into patties, roughly 3 to 3.5" in diameter and 1" thick.

- Cook to desired doneness. I use either a grill pan, or a mini george foreman grill. If cooking in a frying pan or grill pan, you'll want to cook for about 5-6min per side for Medium.
- When cooked, put the burgers on the bun, with all the fixings, and serve hot!

Herb and Cheese Crusted Lamb

HERB AND CHEESE CRUSTED LAMB

Serves: 3-4

approx prep time: 20min

approx cook time: 20min

INGREDIENTS: 

1 Rack of lamb (thawed and Frenched and at room temperature)

2 slices of bread

1/4 cup finely chopped Parsley

1 tbsp finely chopped Rosemary

2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped

4 tbsp Grainy Dijon Mustard

1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, finely grated

2 tbsp Butter, melted

salt

pepper

HOW TO MAKE IT:

- Pre heat the oven to 425 F

- Toast the slices of bread, then chop into small pieces (small cubes, but not quite crumbs).

- Mix bread crumbs, chopped parsley, rosemary, garlic and grated Parmesan cheese together in a large enough bowl to fit the rack of lamb.

- In a separate, small bowl or glass, mix melted butter and mustard.

- Heat a cooling pan of your choice over medium-high heat.

- Season the rack of lamb on all sides generously with salt and pepper.

- Sear each side of the rack in the pan (add a small amount of oil if the pan is not non-stick.) for approx 4 min per side.

- Brush all sides of the lamb with the butter/mustard mix.

- Roll lamb in the breadcrumb/herb/cheese mix. You may need to pat it on top to get it to stick if you're breadcrumbs are too large.

- Bake for 12-15 minutes (for a medium-rare to medium doneness.  See comments for meat temperatures). If you prefer your lamb more well done, cover the rack with foil after 10min to prevent the breadcrumbs from burning.

- Cover with foil and let rest for 3-5min before slicing and serving.

COMMENTS: Allow internal temperature to be 5 to 10 degrees less than you like because the meat will continue to cook while it sits. Bloody rare: 115 to 125 degrees F Rare: 125 to 130 degrees F Medium rare: 130 to 140 degrees F Medium: 140 to 150 degrees F

Slow cooked Roast Beef

SLOW COOKED ROAST BEEF

Serves: 6

approx prep time: 10min

approx cook time: 7 hours

Super simple, fall apart, roast beef done in the slow cooker. Great for hot sandwiches, or served with rice or potatoes.

INGREDIENTS:

- Roast of your choice (We used a Sirloin roast for this one) approx. 4lbs

- Schwartz's Steak & Beef spice (from Schwartz's Deli in Montreal, which can also be ordered online at http://www.schwartzsdeli.com/. Or for an easier to get solution, you can use Montreal Steak Spice)

HOW TO MAKE IT:

- Rub all sides of the roast generously in seasoning.

- Place the roast in the slow cooker, along with approx 2tbsp of water.

- Cook on low for 7-8 hours (7 hours for a roast 4lbs or less, and 8 hours for a 4-6lbs roast).

- Do not open the lid of the slow cooker while cooking, or until ready to serve.

- Slice and serve immediately.

Slow cooked BBQ Ribs

SLOW COOKED BBQ RIBS

serves: 5

approx prep time: 5min

approx cook time: 7hours

A super simple BBQ ribs recipe, that makes delicious fall off the bone ribs! You'll need a slow cooker/crock pot for this one.

INGREDIENTS: 
- 3 racks of pork side ribs.
- 1 bottle of your favourite BBQ sauce. We use Diana Original BBQ sauce.

HOW TO MAKE IT: 
- Cut ribs into chunks of roughly 3 to 5 bones each.
- Layer ribs in slow cooker, adding a bit of BBQ sauce between each layer.
- Pour a bit of extra BBQ sauce on top of the last ribs.
- Cook in the slow cooker on low for 7 hours.
- When serving, drizzle a little bit of BBQ sauce on the ribs as soon as they come out of the slow cooker.


NOTE: If cooking the ribs from frozen, thaw them for 12 hours in the fridge first, and adjust the cooking time to be 2 hours on High, followed by 5 hours on low.

Roasted Rack of Lamb

We've had a frozen New Zealand rack of lamb sitting in the freezer for quite sometime, and every week we SAY we are having lamb, but then we forget. Finally we got to it.

We've had a frozen New Zealand rack of lamb sitting in the freezer for quite sometime, and every week we SAY we are having lamb, but then we forget. Finally we got to it.

I found this recipe on Allrecipes with a 5 star rating, and I've made some modifications. Since it's the 2nd time I've ever cooked rack of lamb (the first time did not turn out that well), I was a little worried. However, this recipe is super simple. I used 1lb rack of lamb and it took 12 mins in the oven, 2 racks would be about 14 minutes. They turned out perfectly, I took them out of the oven when the internal temperature was 135 degrees F and let them sit for 5 mins so it could continue cooking internally before I sliced them up. I'm a big fan of lamb, so I'd definitely make this again. I served it with blanched asparagus and rice.

Roasted Rack of Lamb

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Ready In: 40 Minutes

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

1/3 cup fresh bread crumbs 2 tablespoons minced garlic 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 (1lb 8 bone) rack of lamb, trimmed and frenched 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon black pepper 2 tablespoons olive oil 2-3 tablespoons grainy tarragon mustard

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Move oven rack to the center position.
2.	In a large bowl, combine bread crumbs, garlic, rosemary, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Toss in 2 tablespoons olive oil to moisten mixture. Set aside.
3.	Season the rack all over with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy oven proof skillet over high heat. Sear rack of lamb for 1 to 2 minutes on all sides. Set aside for a few minutes. Rub rack of lamb with the mustard. Roll in the bread crumb mixture until evenly coated. Cover the ends of the bones with foil to prevent charring.
4.	Arrange the rack bone side down in the skillet. Roast the lamb in preheated oven for 12 to 18 minutes, depending on the degree of doneness you want. With a meat thermometer, take a reading in the center of the meat after 10 to 12 minutes and remove the meat, or let it cook longer, to your taste. Let it rest for 5 to 7 minutes, loosely covered, before carving between the ribs.

Comments: Allow internal temperature to be 5 to 10 degrees less than you like because the meat will continue to cook while it sits. Bloody rare: 115 to 125 degrees F Rare: 125 to 130 degrees F Medium rare: 130 to 140 degrees F Medium: 140 to 150 degrees F


Note: Cindy cooked this time, not Nick. :-D This is a rare occurrence that should be observed no more then 4 times a year, so it's super special every time. :-)

If I didn't say I did it, then Nick cooked, I ate.

Chicken Vegetable Stir Fry

Yummy and simple! There are 8 vegetables in this chicken stir fry.

Ingredients:

chicken breast
carrots
zucchini
sweet white onions
yellow bell pepper
celery
string beans
sugar snap peas
bean sprouts
Montreal chicken spice
Club house vegetable seasoning

Beef and Red pepper pasta.

BEEF AND RED PEPPER PASTA

Serves: 2
approx prep time: 5min
approx cook time: 10min

INGREDIENTS: 
1 lbs ground beef
4 slices genoa salami
2 green onions
1 red pepper
1.5 cups shell pasta (or other pasta of your choice)
1 tspb olive oil
1/2 cup old cheddar cheese, shredded
Club House Vegetable seasoning (approx. 1tbsp)
Seasoned salt (2-3 shakes)

REQUIRED KITCHEN GIZMOS:
small pot
frying pan with lid
stirring spoon
cutting board
chopping knife

HOW TO MAKE IT:
- Start water boiling for the pasta.
- Chop pepper, onions, salami, and grate cheese.
- Heat frying pan on medium heat, adding olive oil when warm. Add pasta to boiling water.
- Brown onion and beef in pan, along with vegetable seasoning and seasoned salt.
- Add chopped red pepper, salami when beef is browned.
- Drain pasta and add to frying pan with meat and veggies when ready. Stir together.
- Sprinkle with shredded cheese, stir together, serve.