Buffalo Burgers

We decided to do the classic burger and fries with a few minor twists - namely buffalo meat instead of beef or turkey. Of course with no outdoor grill, the bulk of the cooking unfortunately had to be done on a grill pan. Also because we decided to do sweet potato fries, the apartment really heated up as they were roasting in the oven.

Anyway, I microwaved two sweet potatoes for about 4 minutes to get the cooking process started. Then I thinly sliced the potatoes and coated them in olive oil before placing on the sheet pan. I roasted them for about 25 minutes at 350 (flipping them when they are crisp on one side). Next time, I would slice the potatoes a little thicker (about 1/2 inch). Also microwaving them before didn't help as much as I thought it would. I would likely not do that step again or would do it for a bit longer. While the fries were roasting, I blanched the trimmed green beans in boiling salted water.

After the potatoes were in the oven about 15 minutes, I threw the buffalo burgers on the grill pan. I seasoned them generously with salt and pepper. I also put some olive oil on the burgers because they are so lean and can dry out. Once the burgers were done I simply dry grilled the green beans - no oil or butter.

Lettuce, tomato, onion and cheddar cheese on the buffalo burger. Salt and pepper on the fries and the green beans. While everything was good, I think the green beans were my favorite. Very simple and light.

Impromtu Islander

I'm beginning to think I'm the only person cooking these days...where is everyone? This meal was supposed to be prepared by N, but work intervened, so I had to throw something together at the last minute. We had mahi mahi, and I love citrus and seafood, so I marinated the fillets in olive oil, lime juice and lime zest. Then I sprinkled it with some Old Bay and cooked it on the panini pan. I've always wanted to grill fish, but having never lived in a place with an outdoor area, much less a grill, the panini pan was as close as I could get. I thought I was thawing some frozen hericot vert in a pan with a little bit of water, but I ended up cooking them way too much. Oops? But to continue the citrus theme, I tossed the beans in some olive oil, butter, lemon juice and salads. Not as good as my mother makes, but not too bad either. Finally, I roasted some potatos and onions, which took waaay too long. Next time I will cut them smaller or maybe just cook them on the stove. The potatoes were not remarkable looking, but the psuedo-grilled fish deserved a picture:

Kerry goes to Greece

As a homage to NP's heritage, I tried to re-create my favorite dish from an awesome lunch takeout place, the greek deli. They only serve the super delicious baked salmon platter on friday, which isn't really helpful when I have a craving for it on a Tuesday night. Right, so, the cooking. I made three dishes - salmon with yogurt and dill, green beans with tomatos, and orzo. I looked at a few recipes online but couldn't really find anything I was looking for, so I decided to just wing it.

First, the salmon. I put the fillet in a baking dish and seasoned it with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then I put a few sprigs of fresh dill on top, and covered the whole thing with plain greek yogurt and more salt/pepper and about a table spoon of fresh lemon juice. I baked it at 350 for about 25 minutes. The idea was for the yogurt to melt and turn into a kind of creamy sauce, like at the GD, but that didn't happen. I had never had greek yogurt before, and it turns out that the tangy flavor wasn't really what I was going for, but it was still pretty good. In the future, I'd use less yogurt since the flavor was a little overwhelming.

The green beans turned out great. I sliced up an onion and sweated it in a pot until it was translucent, and then added three chopped up garlic cloves. After a few minutes, I added fresh green beans and about a cup of chicken stock. I brought it to a boil and covered it for a minute or two, then added about a cup of canned diced tomatoes then turned it heat down and let it simmer till most of the liquid had evaporated. I added a little fresh parsley and that's it! Mmm.

The orzo is pretty obvious, but I used half chicken stock and half water so it was more flavorful. The final product was a success, and NP did the dishes.