Cookin again

Cheese #1



Cheese #2

The thawed patties, removing them from storage

The patties cooking

the condiments



Cooking with the cheese added: Gruyere up top, onion cheddar below. Notably, the onion cheddar melted beautifully, with some coating the outside of the patty

A few months ago, I experimented with making a small batch of a new sausage recipe using fresh hatch chiles. But I never got a chance to do a true taste test- I had to store the results in the freezer. I used a Shape+Store silicone meat press/storage tray for that. (They’re brilliant!)

Burger Master® 8-in-1 Burger Press and Freezer Container


Tonight, we got to try them out, as burgers, of course.

Mom’s was made with mayo, mustard, some dill relish, and some Dietz & Watson caramelized onion cheddar. Mine was basically the same, but I had smoked gruyere and tomatillo sauce on mine. They were served on lightly toasted, buttered buns.

Both burgers were good, but they were…underwhelming. The sausage meat was not seasoned well enough to really make an impression. It was only slightly more flavorful than a regular burger patty. It definitely needed more hatch chiles, for one. Maybe some cumin? Fresh green onion?

Regardless, it was still good enough to eat and consider actually improving on this first step.

Looks good

Dannyalcatraz said:

Cheese #1



Cheese #2

The thawed patties, removing them from storage

The patties cooking

the condiments



Cooking with the cheese added: Gruyere up top, onion cheddar below. Notably, the onion cheddar melted beautifully, with some coating the outside of the patty

A few months ago, I experimented with making a small batch of a new sausage recipe using fresh hatch chiles. But I never got a chance to do a true taste test- I had to store the results in the freezer. I used a Shape+Store silicone meat press/storage tray for that. (They’re brilliant!)

Burger Master® 8-in-1 Burger Press and Freezer Container


Tonight, we got to try them out, as burgers, of course.

Mom’s was made with mayo, mustard, some dill relish, and some Dietz & Watson caramelized onion cheddar. Mine was basically the same, but I had smoked gruyere and tomatillo sauce on mine. They were served on lightly toasted, buttered buns.

Both burgers were good, but they were…underwhelming. The sausage meat was not seasoned well enough to really make an impression. It was only slightly more flavorful than a regular burger patty. It definitely needed more hatch chiles, for one. Maybe some cumin? Fresh green onion?

Regardless, it was still good enough to eat and consider actually improving on this first step.

Click to expand...

Oh you got the hex patty shaper! I need one for my Battletech homies!

payn said:

Oh you got the hex patty shaper! I need one for my Battletech homies!

Click to expand...

There’s a lot of Chinese knockoffs (surprise!), but this one isn’t one of those. I have a couple, have given some as gifts, and anticipate getting some in other sizes.

Dannyalcatraz said:

Mom & I decided (for reasons) to work on a new bread pudding recipe. We’re substituting the raisins for a mix of golden raisins, dates and cherries.





They’re just coming out of the oven; tiny samples indicate it’s a sweeter dessert bread than our original.

Click to expand...

Finally got to try out a larger sample. The new mix is good, but very sweet. It’s also a little inconsistent.

Some context: when Mom & I decided to standardize our original bread pudding recipe, we found that the deciding factor on the quality of the final product was the amount of raisins. The raisins cut through the pudding’s overall sweetness as a counterpoint, but it’s a balancing act. Too many, and they overpowered the other flavors, like coconut & butter. Too few, and the bread puddings were too bland. We found 2lbs/batch was the right amount. (One batch makes several loaves.)

With this new fruit mix, we’re getting a couple of simultaneous issues. Golden raisins are sweeter and more mildly flavored than their more common dark cousins. Dates are also very sweet, with a mild flavor. But the cherries have a robust sweet-tart punch, which works much like the normal raisins’ flavor does.

Result: in this mix, the parts of the pudding lacking sufficient cherries were super sweet. Meanwhile, the piece I got was almost devoid of raisins & dates, but had lots of cherries. It was almost like 2 different desserts.

So when we try again (months from now), we’re going to use more cherries (subbing out some of the golden raisins & dates), and do a better job of unsticking them from each other so they distribute more evenly. We might also sub regular raisins for some or all of the goldens.

With the bad weather rolling into D/FW, I decided to make a simple dish that could be eaten cold if the Texas power grid plays shenanigans again. We had enough for dinner tonight and leftovers for at least one day.


INGREDIENTS:

1 lb hot sausage
1/4 stick unsalted butter
1 bunch of green onions, diced
A dozen cloves of garlic, half minced, half crushed
1/2 package of baby portobello mushrooms, sliced thin
@12oz sour cream
Parsley flakes
Worcestershire sauce (generous splash)
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Pasta water

Cavatappi pasta


RECIPE:

1) break up & brown the sausage in butter in Dutch oven (or similar) while cooking pasta in another pot
2) add the onions & garlic to the meat, sautéing until softened & fragrant, deglazing as needed
3) add mushrooms to meat & veg
4) add sour cream, Worcestershire & parsley to meat & veg, mixing thoroughly
5) add pasta (and some of the pasta water) and grated Parmesan, folding it in.

Results were very good, but TBH, I needed more sour cream & butter. It wasn’t as “saucy” as I like, and some of the liquid in that sauce will be absorbed by the pasta overnight in the fridge.

Additionally, USUALLY when I make dishes like this, I use beef broth to deglaze my pan instead of water, strengthening the meaty flavors. (I forgot.)

This is different from using the pasta water. The starches in THAT help thicken the sauce and give it a silky sheen, so it’s not as suitable for deglazing.