Calling All Cooks

Jstas

One more that someone at work gave to me and I thought some one here might enjoy

Hamburgers

1 ¼ lbs. Lean ground beef
¼ lb. Andouille sausage 
1 large shallot, minced
1 tsp fennel 

Mix together and form patties.   Grill over medium high heat,
approximately 6 minutes per side, or until done to your liking. 
4 oil packed sun dried tomatoes 
¼ c. mayonnaise 
1 tsp. Whole grain Dijon mustard 

Drain tomatoes and place in processor.  Add mayo and mustard
and puree into a spread.  Refrigerate.  This can be made the day
before. 

Large red onion, sliced into 1/3” slices
Olive oil 

Brush slices with oil and place on grill for a few minutes each
side.  

Sesame seed buns, split and toasted on the grill.  

Roasted red peppers, 4 oz. Jar, drained. 

4 oz. Asiago cheese, coarsely grated (I shredded and it worked
fine) 

Now – the creation – Spread the toasted bun (both sides) with
the sun dried tomato spread.  Place burger on bun, top with
cheese, onion, red pepper and top of bun.  Enjoy! 

danger boy

next time you want ground beef for burgers or any other dish.. look for ground sirloin. it's less fatty and tastes better on the grill than regular hamburger. you know when you go to the fair and smell the burgers they are grilling.. and wonder why they smell so good? they use ground sirloin.. it's expensive.. $4.00+ per lb. but worth it.

Jstas

Originally posted by danger boy
next time you want ground beef for burgers or any other dish.. look for ground sirloin. it's less fatty and tastes better on the grill than regular hamburger. you know when you go to the fair and smell the burgers they are grilling.. and wonder why they smell so good? they use ground sirloin.. it's expensive.. $4.00+ per lb. but worth it.

Most people buy ground chuck which not only is very fatty but it's a very poor cut of meat, often stringy, tough and bruised. It's ok for ground beef or making stews and soups but for anything else it sucks.

Ground sirloin is the only way to go and in everything I have ever made that called for ground beef, I use ground sirloin. Also, when cooking ground beef, ground sirloin is less likely to clump together and cook much more evenly than ground chuck because it is so much more tender and lean.

RuSsMaN

You guys up north are missing out, I use nothing but ground, free range Longhorn - NINETY EIGHT percent lean. Runs between $5 and $6/ pound, but oh so good AND good for you.

Agreed on the Sirloin though, I wouldn't TOUCH anything *fatter*. When you are done forming patties, your hands shouldn't look like they are covered in Crisco.

Oh, John, on the brine, where is the heat? The few times I have brined, the mixture ALWAYS gets heated just to a boil - then cooled BEFORE getting the meat involved. Just curious if they left that step out intentionally.

Cheers,
Russ

Jstas

Originally posted by RuSsMaN
Oh, John, on the brine, where is the heat? The few times I have brined, the mixture ALWAYS gets heated just to a boil - then cooled BEFORE getting the meat involved. Just curious if they left that step out intentionally.

Cheers,
Russ

That is the way the recipe was given to me. I don't think it is supposed to be heated. It's worked that way before. I'll email the person who gave it to me and see if there is a step missing. I don't think so though.

danger boy

If I can't find Andouille sausage around here.. any good substitute for it?

I'm planning on making Jambalaya this weekend.

Jstas

I don't know if there is a subsititute because Andouille is available here so I haven't had these burgers any other way.

I posted a reciepe for Andouille sausage from Chef Folse below. Making it is difficult only because of the smoking involved but given the ingredients, you can get an idea of what other local available proccessed meat products will substitute well for texture and flavor.

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Andouille (pronounced "ahn-DOO-wee") is the Cajun smoked sausage so famous nationally today. Made with pork butt, shank and a small amount of pork fat, this sausage is seasoned with salt, cracked black pepper and garlic. The andouille is then slowly smoked over pecan wood and sugar cane. True andouille is stuffed into the beef middle casing which makes the sausage approximately one and a half inches in diameter. When smoked, it becomes very dark to almost black in color. It is not uncommon for the Cajuns to smoke andouille for seven to eight hours at approximately 175 degrees.

Traditionally, the andouilles from France were made from the large intestines and stomach of the pig, seasoned heavily and smoked. In parts of Germany, where some say andouille originated, the sausage was made with all remaining intestines and casings pulled through a larger casing, seasoned and smoked. It was served thinly sliced as an hors d'oeuvre.

It is interesting to note that the finest andouille in France comes from the Brittany and Normandy areas. It is believed that over half of the Acadian exiles who came to Louisiana in 1755 were originally from these coastal regions.


5 pounds pork butt
1/2 pound pork fat
1/2 cup chopped garlic
1/4 cup cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dry thyme
4 tablespoons salt
6 feet beef middle casing (see butcher or specialty shop)

Cube pork butt into one and a half inch cubes. Using a meat grinder with four one quarter inch holes in the grinding plate, grind pork and pork fat. If you do not have a grinding plate this size, I suggest hand cutting pork butt into one quarter inch square pieces.
Place ground pork in large mixing bowl and blend in all remaining ingredients. Once well blended, stuff meat into casings in one foot links, using the sausage attachment on your meat grinder. Tie both ends of the sausage securely using a heavy gauge twine.

In your homestyle smoker, smoke andouille at 175-200°F for approximately four to five hours using pecan or hickory wood. The andouille may then be frozen and used for seasoning gumbos, white or red beans, pastas or grilling as an hors d'oeuvre.

Recipe by:
Chef John Folse
Louisiana's Premier Products
2517 South Philippe Avenue
Gonzales, LA 70737
(504) 644-6000

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Hopefully that will help out some. I'd imagine that some German sausages would subsititute well and maybe even some spicy Polish sausages would work too. You can always add the garlic, peppers and thyme as additional ingredients to the hamburger mixture if you have to substitute for andouille sausage.

Jstas

Another recipe I tried that is good for grilling is this one from Alton Brown's Good Eats

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Stuffed Grilled Pork Chops
Recipe courtesy of Alton Brown
Show: Good Eats Episode: Chops

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 12 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 12 minutes Yield: 4 servings

4 double thick bone-in loin end pork chops
1 cup salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon mustard powder
2 cups cider vinegar, heated
1 pound ice cubes
1 1/2 cups cornbread, crumbled
2 tablespoons golden raisins
1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1/4 cup dried cherries, halved
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 teaspoons fresh sage, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

In a plastic container put the salt, sugar, peppercorns, and mustard powder. Add the hot vinegar and swirl to dissolve. Let mixture sit for 5 to 10 minutes to develop flavor. Add ice cubes and shake to melt most of the ice. Add chops and cover with brine. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
Remove chops from container and rinse. Cut horizontal pockets in each pork chop for stuffing. Combine rest of ingredients, and put into piping bag that is not fitted with a tip. Pipe each chop full with cornbread mixture. Grill the chops on medium high heat for 6 minutes on each side. Turn each chop 45 degrees after 3 minutes to mark.

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Follow the directions to the letter and they will come out perfectly! The only thing better than smelling them cook is eating them when they are done!



BTW, Alton Brown is my favorite TV chef. Check out his show Good Eats on the Food Network. Not only does he show dishes that an ordinary person can make but he explains things like why you do certain things, what the history of foods is and what tools are for what and what and so on. It's an education more than a cooking show. Cheesey jokes and stuff too, it's fun to watch.

Good Eats

Good Eats airs Wednesday at 9:00 pm and 1:00 am and Sunday at 6:30 pm. Plus, catch additional episodes Monday through Friday at 11:30 pm and 3:30 am and Saturday at 8:30 am. All times ET/PT.

dorokusai

Pepperoni Rolls are indeed awesome. I have been chowing on those things for about 20 years. There is some old lady in WV, when we visit family, from which we buy about 50 of them at a time.

I encourage that recipe very much, it is fantastic. Thanks for posting the others Jstas, they sound interesting.

Jstas

Oh, I got plenty more! I gotta type in my mom's recipe for German potato salad still!

dorokusai

Danger Boy - Chorizo sausage would also work nicely.

amulford

This is one of my all time favorites:

Chilean sea bass done on the grill -

Take a few nice pieces of chilean sea bass

Make an open foil dish and put the fish in after drizzling w/ extra virgin olive oil (very lightly)

Add to the top - chopped shallots, capers, pine nuts, small amount minced garlic, a half of stick butter cut into pats, a little fresh lemon juice, and a little white wine. Spice w/ a LITTLE salt and white pepper.

Grill in alot of smoke (apple is good for this one) over LOW heat. be sure to leave the foil open. It won't take very long to cook.

be careful serving for the fish will have a tendency to fall aparts. serve with the other ingredients on top.

You have to try this one;)

amulford

Try taking some four to eight ounce lobster tails and split the shell.

put them in an foil dish

Spice with a little adobo spice ( it's a spanish spice) and white pepper

a tiny bit of minced garlic in each one

2 pats of butter in each

top off with a sprinkle of Hungarian paprika

put on the grill w/ alot of smoke before you put on the filets.

YUM YUM!;)

TheMaster

Quick and easy for a mouth watery recipe for your BBQ

Marinated Pork Chops or Chicken

- 2 cups of soy sauce
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup of chopped garlic
- fresh ground pepper
- 2 pinches of salt (BAM! BAM!)
- mix all together with the meat and let it seat for a couple of minutes (I prefer 1 hour of marination) and throw it in a hot grill.


Marinated Beef Chuck Steak

- Give the steak a good massage with oyster sauce for 2 -3 mins.
- fresh ground pepper
- let it seat in the frig for 1/2 hour to 1 hour
- Pre-heat the oven in to a 350 temp for 5 mins. and bake the stake for 30 - 45 mins. (Tip: leave the stake alone in the oven for 30 mins before you before you start to check on it)

take out a couple of beers or a glass of Sauvignon Cabarnet, play some nice songs and just enjoy the rest of your afternoon with your food.

Glenn

danger boy

found the Andouille sausage I was hoping to get for the Jambalaya i'm making tonight.. found it at some out of the way meat market.. I had to give them the super secret passward and enter thru the alley so as to make sure I wasn't being followed by anyone.. then i was strip searched to make sure i wasn't wired.

just kidding. it did take some calling around though. i'll let you know how it turns out.

DB

Jstas

That's great Al! The Andouille sausage really makes the recipe IMO.

danger boy

mmmmm. my jambalaya came out great.. found all the ingredients i needed.

took longer to prepare than I thought it would be. Once it was all in the pot cooking.. it smelled great.

taste was excellent. not much of a bite though... so I added some chili paste to add a little more heat.

wodom1

If you want to spice up your jambalaya and add some great flavor, you need to get some Tony Chachere's. Get the 'More Spice' Seasoning. That is some great stuff that is good on anything! I'm from South LA, from a town called Thibodaux, which is even farther South than New Orleans by 60 miles. I miss my spicy seafood since I moved to Chicago. Nothing like some good saltwater fish--red snapper, flounder, etc...

Josh