Quinoa Burgers

Original Recipe

Ingredients

2 rounded cups cooked quinoa
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or other variety, if you prefer)
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1 medium carrot, grated
3 eggs
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 green onions, including white parts
1 /2 teaspoon Splenda or sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Olive oil for frying

Directions
In a large bowl combine the 2 rounded cups of cooked quinoa, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, carrot, eggs, flour, green onions, sugar, pepper, cumin, salt, and garlic powder.

Heat a frying pan and a couple teaspoons olive oil over medium-low heat.  (To help them stay in patty form and not fall apart, it’s best to cook the patties on medium-low heat so they have longer to set-up without burning. This makes them easier to flip, too.) The mixture will be slightly sticky, so using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop mixture into pan and lightly flatten to 1/2 inch thick. Fry until golden-brown, about 4-6 minutes each side. When done cooking, place patties on a plate lined with a paper towel to drain off any excess oil and serve warm.

Pretzel Rolls

These pretzel rolls (or pretzel buns) have a definite pretzelish flavor. I assume you could roll them into a snake and cook as a soft pretzel, although I think you could actually make a pretty decent bagel this way as well. I made these as hamburger buns, so I shaped them more flat, but for an actual roll, you'd shape them more spherical. In the blog post, Mel's husband asked if she bought them from a fancy store; Kirsten also asked if I had bought them somewhere. I made half the recipe and ended up with 8 well-sized hamburger buns. Also, I cooked them on our pizza stone with a little cornmeal under each.

Mel's Kitchen Cafe: Pretzel Rolls

INGREDIENTS

Dough:
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
• 2 cups warm milk (about 100-110 degrees F)
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (about 100-110 degrees F)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 6 1/2 - 8 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Water Bath and Extras:
• 3 quarts water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup baking soda
• Coarse salt for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer (or you can do this by hand in a large bowl), stir together the yeast, oil, milk and water. Add the salt and two cups of the flour. Add the rest of the flour gradually until a soft dough is formed and knead for 3-4 minutes. You may not need to use all the flour depending on many different factors - add the flour until a soft dough is formed that clears the sides of the bowl. It is similar in texture to bagel dough and should be slightly more stiff and less sticky than, say, roll dough, but definitely still soft and not overfloured.
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover it with greased plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled in size (1-2 hours).
3. Portion the dough into 16 pieces and roll each piece of dough into a lovely little round ball. Here's a great tutorial on how to do that quickly and efficiently.
4. Lay out the rolls on lightly greased parchment or a lightly floured counter. Make sure the dough balls won't stick! Let them rest for 15-20 minutes.
5. While the dough rests, bring the water, sugar and baking soda to a boil in a large 5-6 quart saucepan.
6. Working with one piece of dough at a time, carefully take it off the parchment or counter, flip it over in your hand and pinch the bottom to form a little pucker and help the dough form a nice, taut ball. Take care not to deflate the dough; you should pinch just the very edge of the dough.
7. Place 3-4 dough balls in the boiling water and boil for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side (the longer you boil, the chewier the baked pretzel roll will be).
8. With a spatula, remove the dough from the boiling water and let the excess water drip off into the pan. Place the boiled dough balls onto lined baking sheets (lined with parchment or a silpat liner).
9. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
10. Using a very sharp knife or razor, slice 2-3 cuts into the top of each unbaked roll about 1/4-inch deep or so. It's important to use a very sharp blade so that it cuts the dough without deflating it. It's ok if the dough looks wrinkly and kind of funny. It will work itself out during baking. Lightly sprinkle each dough ball with coarse salt.
11. Bake for 20-22 minutes until the rolls are deep golden brown. These rolls definitely taste best the same day they are made; however, lightly warmed in the microwave for a few seconds will do wonders for pretzel rolls 1-2 days old.

Dough Boys

Hopefully summer will run late this year based on how long winter and spring seemed to hang on, so there's more time to cook with these.

Wrap a biscuit around a dough boy stick, cook over the fire, and fill with nutella, pudding, pie filling...

...fajitas, Phillies, bacon & eggs...

...in no particular order.

Nutella French Toast

I made these for breakfast on Mother's Day. They were a big hit. Well, except with Eddie. He is going through an anti-sauce phase and refused to touch them on account of the Nutella in the center (he ate a stale mini bagel instead). The original recipe says in makes 2 sandwiches, but the egg mixture went a bit further for me—I'd say there was probably enough for 3-4 sandwiches.

• 4-8 slices quality white bread (Harmon's challah bread worked nicely)
• 1/4 cup Nutella
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tbsp confectioners' sugar, plus more for dusting
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat a panini press or flat griddle. Spread 2 pieces of bread with the Nutella. Top each side with another piece of bread.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla in a shallow bowl. Dip each side of the sandwich in the egg mixture. Transfer to a platter. Let stand for a few seconds.

Put the sandwiches on the press, pull the top down, and cook until they are golden and crisp, about 4 to 6 minutes. If you are using a flat griddle, you would just have to flip them over like regular french toast.

Dust with confectioners' sugar, then do your best not to inhale as you bite.

Chicken Souvlaki Gyros

These make for a tasty (and reasonably healthy) summer meal.

Souvlaki Marinade
• 3/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette dressing
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Fixins
• 4 large pita bread rounds
• Romaine lettuce
• Diced tomato
• Sliced red onion
• Pepperoncini
• Feta cheese crumbles
• Tzatziki Sauce (see below)

In a small bowl, mix the balsamic vinaigrette, lemon juice, oregano and black pepper. Place chicken in a shallow dish or large resealable plastic bag. Pour marinade over the chicken and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat an outdoor grill to medium heat. Remove chicken from marinade and place on prepared grill. Discard remaining marinade. Cook chicken until juices run clear, about 8 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from heat, and allow to sit for a few minutes before slicing into thin strips.

Place pita rounds on the grill, and cook for about 2 minutes, or until hot, turning frequently to avoid burning. Stuff pitas with chicken and toppings to serve.



Tzatziki Sauce
• 1 (8 oz) container plain yogurt
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 tsp dried dill
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste

Squeeze the cucumber with a paper towel to remove any excess water. Place all ingredients in a blender and mix to desired consistency. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Variations on a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Who knows how many grilled cheese sandwiches I have consumed in my lifetime. I'm at the point where they just don't excite me much any more. Over the years I have done various things to try liven them up a bit, such as working in a little parmesan or other seasonings when buttering the bread.

Lately I have been regularly perusing our cookbook American Sandwich for new ideas. I noticed the sandwich for Vermont, the "Cheese Dream," which sounded unusual yet intriguing. Essentially it is grilled cheese combined with french toast, and it is actually pretty good.

Cheese Dream Sandwich

• 2 slices quality sandwich bread
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp milk
• Sharp cheddar cheese, sliced
• 1/2 tbsp butter
• Maple syrup (if you are adventurous)

Lay out slice of bread and cover with cheese; top with remaining slice. Lightly press sandwich together. Whisk the eggs and milk together until frothy and place mixture in a shallow dish.

In a frying pan or griddle, melt butter over medium heat. Dip each sandwich in the egg batter, letting excess drip off, and place it in the frying pan. Fry sandwiches over medium heat until golden brown on each side. Slice sandwiches in half, and serve with maple syrup for dipping (I haven't gotten up the courage to try it with syrup yet).

One disclaimer—the original recipe calls for Grafton cheddar cheese and Vermont maple syrup. Alas, I do not have either of those things. I imagine those local specialty flavors would take the sandwich to another level.

Then just today I was surveying the various ingredients we had in our fridge trying to decide what to have for lunch. When Kristen asked what I was going to have, I declared with some uncertainty "a grilled pizza sandwich." Confused, she asked what that was, but I informed her I was still concocting it in my mind. Here's what I ended up making.

Grilled Pizza Sandwich

• 2 slices quality sandwich bread
• Garlic butter
• Mozzarella cheese, sliced
• Tomato sauce
• Pepperoni

Spread garlic butter over one side of each bread slice and flip over (we have a really good garlic butter recipe, perhaps I'll have to post that another time). Add a thin layer of cheese, a modest scoop of tomato sauce, pepperoni, then another layer of cheese, and top with the remaining slice of bread.

Heat a frying pan or griddle over medium heat. Grill each side until golden brown and the cheese is melted. Slice in half to serve.

I was surprised at how good this little improvisation turned out. I will definitely be making it for myself again (assuming we have the same assortment of ingredients in the fridge). And I'm willing to bet Eddie is going to love this sandwich as well.

Reuben Sandwiches

We had our second annual adventure with corned beef this last Sunday. Since I just recently had my first Reuben at a local deli, I wanted to try out making a homemade version with the leftovers.

After getting a whiff of the sauerkraut, Kristen elected to go without. I can't give her too much grief though—sauerkraut is a strange thing. I certainly wouldn't just eat it plain, but it is does contribute to the distinct taste of the sandwich.

• Rye bread
• Corned beef
• Swiss cheese
• Sauerkraut, drained
• Thousand Island dressing
• Butter or margarine

Spread butter over one side of each bread slice. Spread Thousand Island dressing on the other side. Pile the corned beef, cheese, and sauerkraut on top of the dressing.

Heat a large griddle over medium heat. Grill each side until golden brown and the cheese is melted. Slice in half to serve.