Umami Hamburgers

Welcome back, my loves.  Let me start off by saying this one is really special.  There's a lot of love in this one.  I want you to do a favor for me.   I want you to sit there and conjure up the most delicious steak you've ever eaten.  The juicy savory taste as those flavors flood your mouth.  That savoriness is called Umami.  Its an effect between ribonucleotides and glutamate.  When foods rich in these two components are combined the resulting taste is more intense.  I love this because it's a chemical reaction in your mouth.  I even love the word.  Umami.  You can find umami in several foods you probably already love.  Tomatoes, mushrooms, parmesan cheese, some red wines, and steaks are all umami rich foods.  Knowing this gave me the courage to try this next recipe.  Umami Hamburgers.  Even my most pickiest eaters loved these.  They are not aware of the special ingrediant: Fish Sauce.  Yep, that's right.  I said FISH SAUCE.  I bought a bottle of Thai Kitchen's Premium Fish Sauce for less than $3.00 at my local HEB.  My mother has even gone so far as to add 2 Tablespoons of Fish Sauce to her meatloaf recipe.  Pure Heaven!

Ingrediants:

• 2 Lbs Ground Beef
• 2 Tablespoons of Fish Sauce
• 2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
• ½ Tsp Sugar
• 1½  Tsp Worchestershire Pepper

Don't forget the Hamburger Buns, veggies, and condiments of your choice.

In bowl combine all ingrediants together. 
Gently form meat into balls, then flatten into patties.
Cook on skillet or grill.

We used a George Foreman grill set at 380°
Cooked patties for 4 minutes, flipped, then cooked for another 4 minutes.

Cooking technique, thickness of meat and heat temperature will affect cooking time.

I found this recipe at
http://www.whiteonricecouple.com/

And found out more about Umami at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami

And:
The Umami Information Center
http://www.umamiinfo.com/

Spinach and Mushroom Quiche

Before I made this I had never tried Quiche much less thought about making it.  My boyfriend on the other hand had tried Quiche and loved it.  After hearing him describe it and seeing how his eyes lit up when talking about it, I decided to give it a try.  I'm glad I did.  Great as a breakfast, lunch or dinner there is no bad time to make or eat Quiche.  Since there were so many variations on the recipe I decided to try one with spinach and mushrooms but without the ham or prosciutto (which I don't like).  In my search I found this little gem.

• 3 Tbsp Butter
• 3 Cloves of Garlic, minced
• 1 small onion
• 1 10oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 6oz tub of herb and garlic feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 8oz package of shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 4.5oz Jar of Giorgio Sliced Mushrooms
• 4 Eggs Beaten
• 1 Cup of Milk
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375°
In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. 
Saute garlic and onions in butter, until lightly browned (about 7 minutes).
Stir in spinach, mushrooms, feta, and ½ cup of cheddar cheese. 
Season with salt and pepper.
Cook for about 5 minutes.
Pour into pie dish and allow to cool, (you don't want your eggs to start cooking).

In a medium bowl, whisk eggs and milk together.
Season with salt and pepper and stir again.
Pour into pie dish allowing the egg mixture to thoroughly combine with the spinach mixture.

Bake in oven for 15 minutes.
Take it out and sprinkle the remaining cheddar cheese on top. This creates a delicious crust.
Put it back into the oven and bake for an additional 35-40 minutes or until it's set in the center.

Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving.  Enjoy, my dears!

A little side note:
I had trouble finding the Feta Cheese at my local HEB.  But after searching the store I found it where they keep their gourmet cheese which is seperated from the other cheese.   The tub I found didn't match the measurement for this recipe so I put the whole tub of feta in the quiche.  No remorse, it came out perfect.

Taco Seasoning

Everybody loves tacos, right?  There may be some night you want to make tacos but *gasp* no taco seasoning packet!  What do you do!?  No worries.  I found the best Taco Seasoning recipe that tastes just like the store bought kind.  As long as you have this recipe you will never again have to buy another taco seasoning packet ever again.  Now, Go!  Enjoy your newfound freedom from the tyranny of premade taco seasoning.

• 1  Tbsp Chili Powder
• ¼  Tsp Garlic Powder
• ¼  Tsp Onion Powder
• ¼  Tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• ¼  Tsp Dried Oregano
• ½  Tsp Paprika
• 1½ Tsp Ground Cumin (aka Comino)
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tsp Black Pepper

Jumbo Blueberry Muffins with Streusel

Tomorrow's Friday my dears which means Pay Day!!  So, if any of you want to make a nice dessert for your loved ones here it is.  Blueberry Muffins with Streusel on top.  I've long since lost this recipe and have spent hours trying to recover it but to no avail.  I'm just glad I wrote it down.  This was inspired by my late night craving of Wild Maine Blueberry Muffins, the kind they sell at the Barnes and Noble cafe.  The picture of those beautiful muffins drew me to this recipe and I must say they came out perfect.  And just a little reminder: Store your Baking Powder in a dry cool place (not the fridge like I did).

Mix:

• ½ Cup Butter (1 stick)
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 Cup of Milk
• ½ Teaspoon Vanilla
• 4 Teaspoons Baking Powder
• ¹/8  Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 3 Cups Unbleached White Flour
• 2.5-3 Cups of Blueberries (Fresh or Frozen)

Streusel

• ¹/3 Cup Brown Sugar
• ¹/3 Cup Flour
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• ½ Teaspoon Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°
Use Muffin Cups or spray down pan with vegetable spray
Melt butter in microwaveable bowl and set aside.
Whisk the eggs, milk, vanilla, baking powder, salt and sugar.
Add the butter now and mix until well blended.
Fold flour into mixture with a spatula just until moistened.
Gently fold in blueberries being careful not to overmix the batter.
Using an ice cream scoop fill muffin cups ¾ full.
Sprinkle Streusel on top until muffin cup is mostly full.
Bake at 350° for about 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.
Wait 5 minutes, then let muffins cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy!

28 Days Later

It's been 28 days since I've bought my NOOKcolor so I thought the title would be appropriate (plus I have a slight obsession with zombies).  My full color 7 inch screen has become a doorway to a plethora of savory experimentations in my kitchen.  And there's still thousands of tasty puzzles yet to be unlocked.  At an average of one new recipe per week (and a ratio of 4 for 4 so far) I have to admit I'm a bit braver than I was before.   Forgotten are the days of staring at my pantry in a dumbfounded fear.  "Let's eat out," is a sentence wiped from our repertoire of nightly statements.  I have gained confidence in myself and in my humble kitchen thanks to my now priceless NOOKcolor.  Achieving exquisite concoctions that leave me smiling and unable to stop staring at my delectable creations.
I think Grrr said it best in his always exuberant voice, "I MADE IT MYSELF!!!" 

Next in my culinary expedition:
Spinach and Mushroom Quiche

Note to readers:
I will be posting all the recipes I've tried so far later in the week.