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Yeah, so earlier in the week I had posted about staring at Peter’s (of Kalofagas) delicious Eggs Benedict recipe…Staring at Peter’s recipes is nothing new for me.  His site is a daily read.  He has a wonderful sense of humor, and is a phenomenal cook.  You should SEE some of the delicious things he cooks up!  He is of Greek descent, and, luckily for us, he shares his mouthwatering recipes, and the fun stories of Greece and his heritage that go along with them.  Not too long ago he had posted his recipe for Cheese Stuffed Keftedes (couldn’t you just *die* at how good those sound?)…well, I knew I had to put those on the menu.  I mean, Come ON!  Keftedes?  Stuffed with Cheese?  I may have fainted into my keyboard.  Actually, I’m pretty sure I did, because I had these weird square bruises on my forehead. This week, I could wait no more.  Monday I bought the ingredients to make his hellaciously good recipe. 

I’m not going to post Peter’s recipe, because I actually followed it pretty much to the letter…I had to substitute Gouda cheese (see it trying to escape there? lol) for the Greek cheese, though, since I can’t get the types he recommended for the recipe.

To go along with these delicious morsels of Greek joy, I decided to make a fresh tzatziki (pictured here) and hummus (pictured below).

 

Tzatziki Ingredients:

2 cups plain Greek yogurt, strained overnight
1 large cucumber, peeled and seeded, diced
1 smaller bunch of mint, minced (about 1/4 cup)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients.
Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight.
Drain any excess liquid thay may have formed before serving.

The hummus was an excellent dip for both the keftedes and the pitas.  I tell you, this is perfect summer food, you guys. The next time you plan on grilling plain old burgers? Forget that idea, and make these instead! Seriously, they are amazing.

Hummus Ingredients: 

1 jar garbanzo beans (14 oz, 800 grams), mostly drained
2-3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons tahini
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste

Preparation:

Using a food processor, mince garlic first, then add garbanzos and process until semi-smooth.
Add tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and continue to process until creamy.
*If mixture still seems a bit thick, add a tablespoon or two of water to help it along.

Las Recetas en Español:

Keftedes de Peter (traducido directamente de su página web), Ingredientes:

1 kilo carne molida
2 cebollas, ralladas
4 rebanadas de pan, humedecidas con agua y desmenuzadas
1 cucharadita de ajo en polvo, o ajo fresco majado
2 huevos
1 cucharadita orégano
1 cucharadita perejil picado
1 pizca de comino
sal y pimienta al gusto
queso en lonchas para rellenar (Vlahotyri o Kasseri) (yo utilizé Gouda)

Elaboración:

Mezclar todos los ingredientes en un bol (mejor con las manos).
Formar hamburguesas finas, y reservar en un plato.
Tapar con film transparente y meter en la nevera durante al menos 4 horas.
Antes de asar, dejar que los keftedes vuelvan a temperatura ambiente. Cojer una loncha de queso y
ponerla en el centro de una hamburguesa. Ahora, tapar con otra hamburguesa y presionar por los lados a cerrarla bien.
Procurar cerrar los keftedes muy bien por los lados para evitar que se escape el queso cuando los ases.
Asar a fuego medio unos 5 minutos cada lado.
Servir con mostaza, mayonesa, Boukovo (chilis picantes molidos), ensalada y pan.

Tzatziki, Ingredientes:

2 vasos (de Nocilla) yogur Griego, escurrido durante una noche
1 pepino grande, pelado y con las semillas retiradas, en daditos
1 manojo pequeño de hierba huerto, picadito
2-3 dientes de ajo, majado
sal y pimienta al gusto

Elaboración:

Mezclar todos los ingredientes.
Tapar y dejar en la nevera varias horas o una noche.
Si se haya suelto algo de líquido, escurrirla antes de servir.

Homus, Ingredientes:

1 bote de garbanzos (800 gramos), escurridos
2-3 dientes de ajo
2 cucharadas tahini (crema de sésamo)
zumo de 1 limón
2 cucharadas aceite de oliva virgen
sal al gusto

Elaboración:

Poner todo en el robot de cocina y procesar hasta que esté cremoso.
Si te parece un poco espeso, añadir unas cucharadas de agua para ayudarlo.

 

 

 

So, um, HIIIIII!!!!!  Jeez I’ve missed you guys!  :D  My parents’ short visit is now over, and it’s time to get back to daily life.  We had a great time eating, drinking, swimming and generally playing around for the whole time they were here.  I have a couple of new recipes to share…stuff that I made up especially for Mom and Dad, and I can’t wait to share them with you.  This is one of those recipes. :)  Let’s start with the title: Fiery Buffalo Chicken Burgers….

According to the :

“Fiery:  Adjective:

Consisting of or containing fire.
Burning or glowing.
Using or effected with fire.
Easily ignited; flammable.
Feverishly hot and flushed: fiery cheeks.
Being in an inflamed, usually painful condition: a fiery boil.”

Buffalo wings are one of our favorite party foods.  Hot and spicy, perfect with a beer.  Everybody loves Buffalo wings, right?  So I got to thinking…We love chicken burgers, why not try to make a Buffalo version?  Wonderfully delicious, tangy and spicy, with a little blue cheese and celery to cool it down just a touch…This particular recipe might burn the roof off of your mouth if you’re not that into nuclear holocaust hot, so keep that in mind if you do decide to try these. lol  The heat can easily be scaled back by using Frank’s rather than Tabasco, and leaving out the extra cayennes.  But why on Earth would you want to do that? ;)

 

Ingredients:

2 pounds (1 kilo) ground chicken breast
1 egg
1/3 cup bread crumbs
3-5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, minced
salt and pepper to taste
a generous splash of Tabasco sauce
1/2 cup flour (about)

1 cup mayo
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon ranch dressing powder
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
pepper to taste

2 tablespoons butter
3-5 cloves garlic, minced
4 fresh cayennes, sliced
2 bottles Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
pepper to taste

8 buns, lightly toasted
celery to garnish

Preparation:

Prepare the burgers first…mix chicken, bread crumbs, egg, garlic, seasonings and Tabasco until thoroughly combined.
Carefully form 8 patties and dredge in flour.
Reserve on a plate.
Prepare the dipping sauce/dressing.
Combine mayo, vinegar, milk, ranch powder, blue cheese and pepper.
Cover and reserve in the refrigerator.
Now prepare the sauce.
Melt butter over medium heat, then add garlic and saute until golden.
Add cayennes and toss around a bit.
Remove from heat and add vinegar and Tabasco and stir to combine.
Reserve.
Heat a bit of olive oil or butter over medium heat and pan grill the patties. Depending on the size and thickness of your burgers, this should take about 5-6 minutes per side.
When burgers are cooked through and golden, add sauce to coat the patties. (You may want to add a little water so that the sauce coats the burgers well–not to cover the burgers, just so that the sauce is evenly distributed, then cook it down a little)
Serve burgers on toasted buns with blue cheese sauce and celery.
Be sure to have plenty of napkins on hand and lots of cool beverages! lol

It’s so weird how certain foods seem to appear all at once around the blogosphere…I have been craving onion rings for weeks, and finally decided to make them this week…well, while making the rounds I saw that Kevin at Closet Cooking had also made onion rings recently! LOL  Great minds think alike, that’s all I can say. ;) Are you guys familiar with the Bloomin’ Onion appetizer at the Outback?  Yeah, right?  I love the seasonings they use, but that thing is such a Pain (capital P) to make at home…plus, it never turns out the way I imagine it…usually it breaks apart and winds up being some sort of onion mess rather than looking like the pretty flower it’s supposed to.  Onion rings are much easier to do, and if you have a deep fryer, well, then all the easier yet. So, I thought why not make a batter with similar flavors to that of the ”Bloomer,” (hehehehe I had to, folks.  I just had to) but in ring form?  Perfect.  Seriously.  They went fabulously well with my bacon and Gouda burger, a bit of alioli (I should post the recipe for that, it’s so easy) and the requisite ketchup and mustard. 

Ingredients:

For Burgers:
1 1/2 pounds (3/4 kilo) ground beef
dried onion to taste
garlic powder to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
1/2 pound (200 grams) bacon
6 slices Gouda cheese
6 buns

For Un-Blooming Onion Rings:
2 large yellow onions, sliced into rings
1 1/2 cups flour (about)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1/2 bottle of pilsner beer (drink the other half while you’re cooking! lol) or sparkling water
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
a bit of paprika
Sunflower oil for frying

Preparation:

For Burgers:
Combine all burger ingredients (except bacon, cheese and buns) and form 6 patties.
Brown bacon and drain on paper towels (leave the drippings in the pan).
Fry patties over medium high heat until cooked to desired doneness.
Serve with Gouda slices and crispy bacon.

For Un-Blooming Onion Rings:
Whisk together all ingredients except onion slices in a medium sized bowl.
Heat oil to just below smoking point.
Gently toss onions in beer batter.
Carefully! Add onions to hot oil, and turn over as they brown (the timing will depend on the size of your rings).
Drain on paper towels.

Ohhhh yeah…..this is a good one, folks.  It’s kind of funny how the recipe came about.  My dear hubs had requested pesto chicken and pasta for lunch, and I took the package of chicken out of the freezer, thawed it, and made the pesto.  When I opened the package, however, it was ground chicken.  Not chicken pieces as I had thought.  Now what?  I wasn’t about to make a whole other lunch after having gone through all that trouble already (all that trouble…hahahahahahaha), so I thought, “Self?  What should we do?” And I replied, “Mix ‘em both together and make a burger out of it.”  “Ha!  Great idea!”  “I know!”  So that’s what I did.  The whole talking to myself thing and everything. LMAO

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds ground chicken breast meat
1 recipe for pesto
6 buns, spread with butter, garlic and a bit of salt, toasted.

Preparation:

Combine chicken breast and pesto and form into patties.
While buns are toasting, grill or pan grill the burgers about 4-6 minutes on each side, depending on thickness.
Serve on prepared buns.

Ahhhhh burgers.  There are probably a million and one ways to prepare them, but lately, this is our favorite.  I’d like to say that it’s a lighter, healthier version than it’s beef counterpart, but, sadly…I’d be lying. LOL  The patty itself is made with boneless, skinless chicken breast, but the toppings betray it’s healthful beginnings.  But, then again, what the heck?  It’s a great way to have a burger, and I’m sticking with it.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds (750 grams) ground chicken breast (turkey works too)
1 egg
salt, pepper, garlic powder and dehydrated onions to taste
1/2 pound (200 grams)bacon
1 avocado
6 slices gouda
6 burger buns or hard rolls
burger toppings of choice (I like lettuce, tomato and red onion, and a bit of barbecue sauce)

Preparation:

Preheat broiler.
Fry the bacon in a larger skillet or grill pan.
Drain on paper towels, reserving drippings.
Combine chicken with egg and seasonings and form 6 patties (the mixture is a bit flimsy, I find it’s best to make the patties and then place them directly onto the grill pan or skillet, lightly drizzled with bacon drippings).
Fry burgers over medium heat approximately 6 minutes per side…or more until juices run clear.
Meanwhile, toast the buns under the broiler, taking care not to forget about them and burn them to a crisp. (shuddup! I have done this more than once. LMAO)
Place cooked patty on buns and top with gouda, avocado slices, bacon, and any other toppings of your fancy.