Just another burger and a salad

Salad: baby romaine, cucumber, tomato, feta cheese, pecans, and avocado topped with a raspberry walnut vinaigrette.

Burger: BBQ sauce, onion, ketchup, tomato and avocado on a home made beef patty.

A Very Berry Tart

I had never made a tart before, and maybe never even eaten one, but I stumbled across this recipe from the blog Cooking with my Kid, and was inspired to make it for a book club brunch I was hosting.

It was quite easy. I used fresh raspberries and frozen blueberries, and have decided that frozen works perfectly - just use frozen (don't thaw the berries first). I don't keep self-rising flour on hand, but here's a simple recipe to make it.

As I said, I'd never had a tart before, so I'll let you know it tasted like a cross between a cookie and a cake in terms of texture and density. Not overly sweet, with nice tart berry bursts.

Avocado-Tomato Salad and a Burger

A simple salad of diced fresh avocado and tomato (from my garden) with fresh-squeeze lemon juice and a sprinkle of salt.

The burger is topped with BBQ sauce, onion, a cheese blend including asiago, and ketchup on a home made patty.

When I make hamburgers patties, I usually use the following ingredient (but I don't measure - sorry!):

• ground beef (lean)
• Worcestershire sauce
• onion powder or puréed onion
• garlic powder or crushed garlic
• an egg, to bind them

For every pound of beef, I make three burgers, on average.

Roasted Chicken

First crack at roasting a whole chicken, and I wanted crispy crackling skin. I followed this recipe for Perfect Roast Chicken, which was FANTASTIC. I used butter instead of margarine, and my only complaint is that it needed far less butter than it called for, so I will half the quantity next time. It also cooked faster than expected, so make sure to take periodic temperature readings as you baste it.

Janice's Indian-Inspired Soup

5 large potatoes
5 large carrots
6 small stalks of celery
1 medium-large onion
1 cloves of garlic


Chop it all up. 
Boil in about 8 cups of beef broth (I think I used just slightly less). 
When veggies are very soft, stop boiling, blend it all until reasonably smooth. 
Pour back into pot and mix in 2 teaspoons each of cumin and curry, 1 teaspoon of turmeric, and 1 teaspoon of thyme.

Great when you're craving a low-cal version of Indian cuisine.

Serves 6. Each serving:

Calories: 86
Potassium: 415
Fat: 0
Carbs: 14
Fibre:2
Protein: 4

Baked Kale Chips

Three simple ingredients: kale, oil, salt.

I had never tried kale, except maybe mixed into a salad at a bistro, but recently, my colleague brought in some highly addictive tortilla chips purchased at Costco that include kale in the mix of "healthy" ingredients. Since I found them quite tasty, I got up the nerve to try a "crunchy granola" recipe: baked kale chips.

The verdict? Surprisingly edible - that mystery flavour I enjoyed in the tortilla chips has been identified, and am willing to try again some time. Admittedly, my spouse wasn't pleased with the smell of freshly baked kale, and refused to try any.

Kibbee (a Lebanese dish)

From Wikipedia: Kibbeh or kibbe (also kubbeh, kebbah or kubbi) (Arabic: كبة‎) is an Arab dish made of bulghur, minced onions and ground red meat, usually beef, lamb, goat or camel. The best-known variety is a torpedo-shaped fried croquette stuffed with minced beef or lamb. Other types of kibbeh may be shaped into balls or patties, and baked or cooked in broth.

This particular recipe is a pan-fried version of burger-shaped patties that has passed down through the generations. Kibbee is also eaten raw, drizzled with oil (I wouldn't recommend that unless you hand grind your meat, as ground beef is notorious for food safety issues unless fully cooked), and can also be baked in a pan as a single piece and cut into pieces (but I find it less flavourful), or in a muffin tin at 350F for about 20 minutes. I have tried to be thorough in my instructions. If there are any questions, just ask!

Note: the real recipe involves purchasing steak, trimming all the fat, and grinding the meat by hand, but I cheat by using very lean, high quality ground beef.

Ingredients:
This recipe is based on the pounds of meat used. Quantities here are for 1 pound of meat, which should make about 7-8 pieces of kibbee, depending on the size.

• 1 lb extra lean ground beef (I use extra lean sirloin or extra lean from my local butcher - must be at least 90% lean)
• 1 c. dry bulgar
• 1 medium onion (puréed)
• 1-2/3 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. pepper
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp. allspice
• 3/4 tsp. cumin
• Arabic spice/7 spice (if this cannot be found, add extra 1/4 tsp allspice, and about 1/3-1/2 extra tsp of cumin/lb)

Instructions:

1. Measure out bulgar. Pour into a very large bowl, and add water until the bowl is full. Leave it to soak at least 30 minutes. Drain & rinse it well - pour it out trough a sieve, rice with water, and push down on the bulgar to squeeze out excess water.
2. Puree onions.
3. Add beef, bulgar, onions and spices together in a large bowl.
4. Mix by hand until evenly blended.
5. On the stove, place a large pan (cast-iron or non-stick with high sides work best). Add oil until the pan bottom is covered - if making more than one pound, use about 1/2cm/1/4" of oil in the bottom. You can always add more if required. Turn heat onto medium.
6. Form patties - make a think oval-shaped burger, and press an indent into the centre.
7. Put a small amount of butter (about the size of a pea) into the dent. Note: butter should be placed on a side plate and not cut directly from the block so you don't contaminate the rest.
8. Add more of the meat mixture to form a complete patty. Try to pack is so it's smooth - no cracks or the patties may break apart when turning over while cooking.
9. Place patties into hot oil.
10. You'll notice the sides start to change colour. Turn over patties when bottom is well-browned.
11. When both sides are well-browned, remove from pan and place on paper towel to absorb excess oil. Repeat until all patties are cooked.
12. Eat - plain, or in a piece of pita.

Kibbee freezes well, and can be eaten hot or cold.


Photo tutorial (click to enlarge):

Nutrition Information (based on 8 pieces per pound, pan- fried):
Calories: 221
Potassium: 0
Fat: 10
Carbs: 10
Fibre: 2
Protein: 15

Enjoy!