Burger Baby

After a hiatus from posting because someone stole my laptop :(
I'm back!

This recipe is dedicated to Juan... as he has asked for it more than once and I made him wait till i had pictures.

I was inspired by the Father's Office Burger in Santa Monica... truly the most heavenly burger ive ever eaten in my life, and totally worth waiting in line outside for.
I do not make my burgers with USDA Prime ground rib eye, nor did i go and get applewood smoked bacon for my compote...
If you have a meat grinder and the resources, you should sub those in for an even more succulent burger.

Ingredients:

Carmelized Onions:
4 Slices of bacon
2 onions medium, sliced lengthwise

1 tsp sugar
2 tbsps balsamic vinegar

1 tsp ketchup

2 tsps Worcestershire sauce

salt, pepper to taste

Burgers

2 lbs good ground beef

2 tsps salt, pepper

2 tbsps butter

blue cheese
Gruyere cheese

lettuce

tomato

2 eggs (optional)

4 demi-baguettes or portugese rolls or anything thats kinda crusty on the outside and nice and chewy on the inside

DirectionsCaramelized Onions:

Start your pan at medium-high heat and put your slices of bacon - let them render up fat and when they are pretty crispy without being black, remove and drain on a paper towel.

Pour out abotu half of the fat in the pan, and with the remaining fat, throw in your onions and sugar.

Cook the onions on med-high until they are golden brown and fragrant. then crumble your bacon and add it to the pan. let that cook for another 5 minutes or so. Then add the vinegar, ketchup, worchestershire.

Let those sink into your onions and bacon combo for about 2-3 minutes. add pinches of salt and pepper.

Burgers:

I like to season my ground meat before i shape it into patties, but feel free to salt and pepper before or after.

Melt a tbsp of butter in a large skillet, over medium-high heat. Cook the burgers on each side for about 3-4 minutes. When you flip it, you should see a nice browned up side, if its not brown yet, let it cook on that side for longer.

Add the blue cheese and gruyere in a thin-ish layer on top, and cook till that gets melty.

Now to assemble the burger, toast your bread, top one side with lettuce, tomato, onion if you want (and fried egg if you are into that.... I am)

Top the other side with the patty, and some of the carmelized onion and bacon compote.

Korean BBQ Chicken

I grew up eating lots of korean food without really appreciating like every other little Asian baby with pigtails and horrendous bangs.
My mom used to make fantastic chicken when I was growing up. There were honey sesame wings, and roast drumsticks... and then there was this tangy, spicy asian sauce-d up chicken...

I've made a couple little changes, but this is basically how my mom made em.

 

Korean BBQ Chicken with Scallions

Ingredients

4 whole chicken legs

salt

pepper

chili powder

thyme

Sauce

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3 tbsps gochujang (this is a korean red chili paste found in ALL korean grocery stores. I get mine from Hanareum on 32nd street)

2 tbsps of hoisin sauce (found in asian markets and most specialty food stores in the city)

1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

dash of soy sauce

1/2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

Garnish

sesame seeds

red chili flakes

scallions

Directions

take the salt, pepper, chili powder and thyme, mix together and then rub the legs down, both on the outside of the skin and UNDER the skin... this allows the flavor to permeate the meat.. esp if your dinner guest (cough, N.Moss) doesnt eat chicken skin.

Mix together the sauce ingredients in a bowl. Brush a little onto the outside of your legs.

(super easy to make if you can grill... but, you know, NYC in Feb/March is not all that friendly to BBQ-ing)

Cook at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Brush more sauce onto your chicken.

Cook for another 20 minutes, and brush on more sauce.

Let cook another 20 minutes, brush more sauce on.

then switch your oven over to a low broil. top with a healthy coating of sauce and broil until its very brown and bubbly. around 8-10 minutes depending on your oven.

Take your chicken out of the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes.

do a last coating of sauce and then carve up the chicken.

Layer it onto a small plate. top with thinly sliced scallions, sesame seeds and chili flakes.

Fortune-ate to have you, girl...

I had the awesome opportunity to learn how to make chocolate fortune cookies from Stuart Tarff, the pastry chef at Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Spice Market in the Meatpacking District.

Watch the Story on NY1

You can see exactly how Stuart crafts em.
here's the recipe.

Chocolate Fortune Cookies

Ingredients
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup trimoline (an inverted sugar)
3/4 cup & 1 Tbsp all purpose flour
3/4 cup minus 1 Tbsp 10x sugar
3 Tbsp & 1 1/2 tsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup egg whites

Mixing The Batter
Place the softened butter and some trimoline in a bowl, to give some moisture to the fortune cookies. Mix them together to get a cream. Add the dry ingredients – the flour, sugar and cocoa powder. Mix it all together and slowly add the egg white.
Once the batter is ready, form thin discs on a silicone mat and bake them for 8 minutes. Once you pull them out, it’s time to fold the discs into a half-moon shape.

Folding The Cookies

Keep the tray in the oven with the door open while working and work fast. Peel the cookie from the silicone covered tray and place it in the palm of your hand. Lay the paper fortune in the middle of the cookie, and hold it there while folding the cookie in half. Do not crease.Still holding the warm folded cookie in both hands between your thumb and index fingers, bring the ends of the half-circle together, pulling them away from the round side to form a horseshoe shape. You can also drape them while warm on the rim of a glass or bowl to get this shape.
The opened side of the fortune cookie should be facing upward, towards you.