Comfort Foods and Indulgences

I keep seeing all these different versions of burgers in the summer issues of magazines. I want to try them all! This particular recipe stood out because I love the idea of the ingredients together…hoisin and Sriracha. I love them both but had never incorporated them into the same meal.

The original recipe had things a little differently, and I changed them for a couple of different reasons.  First of all, I believe the cucumbers were added to this burger to give it a textural change while eating, soft burger-crunchy cucumber. However, when I thought about it, I knew that placing a hot burger on top of cucumbers would equal a mushy-cucumber result. The recipe also called for grilled scallions in 4″ slices as a topping.  

What I did instead was make a relish with the Sriracha mayo, cucumber and grilled scallions.  I knew this would give a more crunchy result, and I still added more thinly sliced cucumbers to the ensemble, just for fun and looks.  One of the key flavor ingredients was using sesame oil to brush onto the scallions while grilling. This flavor really carried over nicely to the mayo-relish combo, so don’t leave this out.

I love Dr. Pepper. I love brisket. I love brie and I love tacos. So, this seems like a pretty logical meal choice...for me! I even add a little chile-lime flavor to the meat and it goes surprisingly well with the brie, which is just a great melting cheese anyway.

I do like to cook my meat in the slow-cooker in Dr. Pepper. The soda concentrates down with a wee bit of complexity and offers a very slight background sweetness to the meat. It tenderizes...it flavors...I'm using the Pepper.

When the meat is done cooking, I remove the fat and pull the meat apart. I place the pulled meat back in the slow-cooker with a slight bit of liquid from the original cooking process and season it with a chile-lime salt called, tajin clasico seasoning. The seasoning, I see it everywhere from Walmart to the regular grocery store. If you do not have it, the same result can be achieved with fresh lime juice, some salt and chile powder stirred into the meat. Just keep tasting and adding until you get the flavor result you are happy with. It's so delicious especially since beef and lime are so classic together.

I have been craving my favorite spicy hot chocolate, but instead I turned on the oven and made these.

I have been on a late night baking kick. It seems like the perfect time to get into the kitchen and make some magic. Oh who am I kidding, I have no other time to do it. But I still like it!!

And these muffins. I love them. I mean really love them. I wanted spicy and chocolate-like, not to mention I was slightly motivated by the very ripe bananas sitting on my counter. They needed to be made into something or into the freezer they would go.

Now, let's get back to the spicy. Have you had chile and chocolate? You're missing out if you haven't. I used chile powder and cayenne to create the heat and flavor I wanted. The spicy taste lingers and heats up. It's perfect...PERFECT. You could even add a cream cheese frosting if you wanted to be fancy, but it doesn't really need it.   

Have you ever tried to make something once, (twice, three times, with three different recipes from three different cookbooks) and it never quite came out the way it was supposed to. And your husband, who’s a better cook than you are (or at least better at actually following the recipe) tries the same from yet another cookbook and then another (at least we’re persistent) and it never works, never quite tastes the same tender, delicious way it does in practically any Italian restaurant on any corner in any city in the world.

So, you put it in the category of “Don’t try this at home.” Osso Bucco. It’s never quite tender, never quite fall off the bones delicious, Italian, melt in your mouth restaurant perfect!