Cheddarburger with Jalapeño-Garlic Remoulade

Prepare your mouth for a flavor explosion.  This is a delicious burger topped with a spicy sauce of jalapenos and garlic.


Cheddarburger with Jalapeño-Garlic Remoulade


8 Jalapeno Peppers, Halved & Seeded
8 Garlic Cloves, Peeled 
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt And Fresh Ground Pepper
1 Pound Ground Beef
4 Kayser Rolls, Split
4 Slices Sharp Cheddar Cheese


Coat the bottom a medium sized skillet with the olive. Add the garlic and jalapeños. Cover and cook over low heat, turning the jalapeños occasionally, until they are blistered all over and the garlic is softened, about 15 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Turn up heat to medium.  Cook until garlic begins to caramelize.

Remove the skillet from heat to allow garlic and peppers to cool.   


Transfer the jalapeños and garlic to a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Scrape the sauce into a bowl and set aside.


Preheat a grill for medium heat (I use a George Foreman Grill).  When hot, lightly oil the grate. 

Divide the ground beef into 4 portions and form into patties.  Grill to desired temperature.





While the burgers are cooking smear a healthy spoonful of spoonful of jalapeño-garlic remoulade onto the bottom bun.  Place a slice of cheddar on top of the sauce and another on the lid.  

When the burgers are done place on the bun, top with the lid and serve.

Roasted Red Peppers with Garlic

These roasted peppers are better than any I've had.  They're super flavorful and mouthwatering good!

Roasted Red Peppers with Garlic

6 Large Red Bell Peppers

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

6 Large Garlic Cloves, Thinly Sliced Crosswise

1/4 Cup Sherry Wine Vinegar

2 Tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 450°F. Toss peppers with 1/4 cup olive oil in bowl. Transfer peppers to large rimmed baking sheet. Roast peppers until partially charred, rotating every 10 minutes, about 30 minutes.

Transfer peppers to reserved bowl; cover tightly with plastic wrap. Cool 15 minutes. 




Peel and seed peppers over bowl. Cut each pepper lengthwise into 6 strips. 

Transfer pepper strips to heavy large skillet. Strain liquid from bowl into skillet. 

Add garlic, vinegar, and 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil to skillet. 

Simmer over medium heat until liquid becomes syrupy, stirring frequently, about 25 minutes.

Keep at room temperature if serving within a few hours.  Otherwise transfer to a container and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Use in a salad, on a sandwich or alone as a side dish.

Baked Garlic Chicken

Baked Garlic Chicken

4 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Dry Breadcrumbs
1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast Halves

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Over low heat warm the olive oil until fragrant.  Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes until slightly translucent.

In a small dish, combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. 

Dip the chicken breasts in the olive oil and garlic mixture, then into the bread crumb mixture. 

Place in a baking pan or cooking sheet.  

 Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

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Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

1 Medium Head Garlic

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

2 Pounds Russet Potatoes

4 Tablespoons Butter, Softened

1/2 Cup Milk

Salt And Pepper To Taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Drizzle garlic with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Wrap in aluminum foil. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.

Peel potatoes and cut into 1 - 2 inch cubes.  Put into a pot of salted water.  Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and transfer to a mixing bowl or back into pot.

 

Remove the garlic from the oven, and cut in half. Squeeze the softened cloves into the potatoes. 

Stir in butter, milk, salt and pepper.

Blend potatoes with an electric mixer or a hand masher until smooth and creamy.

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How my garden grows - Garlic

Last summer I planted garlic in the spring.  I was disappointed when they never emerged.  Later in the summer I found some bulbs that had gotten lost in the fridge and had started to sprout.  As an experiment, I planted in the garden to see what would happen.  Again with the disappointment . . . not much.

But this spring when we went to the garden to get it ready for the planting season I was surprised and pleased to find that the garlic had not only survived the winter but was thriving!  Woot!

 

Overwintering garlic is a great way to keep a crop of garlic going from year to year.  Ideally, plant the garlic bulbs late in the season before the ground freezes.  Plant the cloves flat side down, pointy end up.

Come spring just leave them alone, water them and let them grow.





Besides being pungent and delicious after the harvest, garlic is beneficial to other veggies in your garden.     Garlic discourages aphids, fleas, Japanese beetles, and spider mites.  But attract good insects like ladybugs.

Scapes are the curling part of the plant right before it flowers. Cut them off before they flower to force more energy into the bulbs.  But don’t throw the scapes away . . . use them in recipes to add mild, garlic flavor. 

Later in the season, when the leaves start to brown, you should stop watering them.   When the stems start to wither but are still a little bit green your garlic is ready to harvest.  

Enjoy your home grown garlic, but be sure to save some of the garlic bulbs to replant for overwintering. 

Kids will be kids

During a recent visit to New Hampshire we were enjoying breakfast at one of our favorite eateries in North Conway. Peaches is a small restaurant with limited seating, so if people are there with a large party it’s very likely they will be split up into separate tables.  

Such was the case during this visit  . . . seated nearby was a family with six people at one table and three children at another.  The children . . . two little girls and a boy . . . were seated right next to our table.  The adults at the other table were eating their meals and involved in their conversation and not overly paying attention to the kids.  The kids were generally behaving themselves but were goofing around a little.  The girls had each taken a packet of sugar substitute and poured it into a pile next to their plates, where the grown ups wouldn’t see.  They were dipping their fingers in the sugar substitute and licking it off . . . why they weren’t snarfng real sugar, I have no idea.  They kept doing this . . . giggling quietly . . . pulling one over on the 
old folks.  It was kind of cute.

It was especially amusing to me because I remember doing the same thing when I was young and us kids were sequestered at a separate table while the grown up sat off on their own drinking their coffee and conversing about grown up things . . . except it wasn’t sugar packets and it wasn’t quite as innocuous. 

We used to practice our spoon bending prowess.  If we happened to break a spoon we’d have to dispose of the evidence . . . often by slipping the stem of the spoon into the ketchup bottle and the bowl end in the napkin dispenser.  Yeah were wire minor . . . very minor . . . magicians.  Troublesome punks is what we really were.

Sometimes we'd get to wait in the car.  We’d hang out goofing off, gossip and huff matchsticks.  That’s right . . . I said it . . . we inhaled white phosphorous from the igniting match.  Dude!  It was cool!  When the white phosphorus reaches your lungs it absorbs the moisture there and converts it into what looks like smoke when it is exhaled.  
Not exactly healthy for us . . . but totally awesome.  What can I say . . . it doesn’t take much to impress a bunch of 14 year olds.   


The funny thing is,  I don’t ever remember my mom commenting on the smell of burnt matches in the car . . . what’s up with that?

The moral . . . adults are clueless.    Oh wait!  I am one.  :P

44-Clove Garlic Soup With Parmesan Cheese

Sweet mother of the garlic gods this soup is fantasmically delicious!

26 Garlic Cloves (Unpeeled)

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons (1/4 Stick) Butter

2 1/4 Cups Sliced Onions

1 1/2 Teaspoons Chopped Fresh Thyme

18 Garlic Cloves, Peeled

3 1/2 Cups Chicken Stock Or Canned Low-Salt Chicken Broth

1/2 Cup Whipping Cream

1 Cup Finely Grated Parmesan Cheese (About 4 Ounces)

4 Lemon Wedges

Roast the garlic.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Place 26 garlic cloves in small glass baking dish. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake until garlic is golden brown and tender, about 45 minutes. Or use this method for the crockpot.  


Cool. Squeeze garlic between fingertips to release cloves. Transfer cloves to small bowl.

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and thyme and cook until onions are translucent, about 6 minutes. Add roasted garlic and 18 raw garlic cloves and cook 3 minutes. Add chicken stock; cover and simmer until garlic is very tender, about 20 minutes. 

Let soup cool.  Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return soup to saucepan; add cream and bring to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide grated cheese among 4 bowls and ladle soup over. Squeeze juice of 1 lemon wedge into each bowl and serve.

Note: Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

I love kisses cuz they're so delicious

People give kisses to show affection.  As evidenced here fishes give kisses . . . but what is their motivation?  Is it love or something else?



These fishes are not kissing to show how much they care . . . they are challenging each . . . it's a display of aggression.


However, other primates are known to kiss in the same manner and for the same reason as humans . . . these are creatures in the wild who have not been influenced by outside sources and therefore are clearly not imitating the behaviors of others  . . . and sometimes they tongue tangle in addition to swapping spit.








Our kitty gives "kisses".  Whether out of love or otherwise I don't know but it is clearly as a means of greeting and is often followed by snuggles.  Is that love?  I'd like to think so.







There are other animals that press their furry lips or beaks or whatever.  Some do it to say hello, some to subjugate, others as a prelude to mating . . . and some apparently just because the like to . . . kind of like us.  Huh . . . I guess they do kiss for the same reasons we do.


It is interesting to note, that not all human cultures smooch.  In fact, 10% of the people on planet Earth do not press lips for any reason . . . it just not something they do.  They obviously don't know what they're missing but who am I to judge?

Roasted Garlic in the CrockPot

Roasting garlic creates a mellow, somewhat nutty flavor. The softened garlic is also easily squeezed from the bulb.

Bulbs of Garlic

Aluminum Foil

Cut the top of the bulb of garlic off exposing the tops of the cloves but keeping it wrapped in the outer skin layers. 

Wrap each bulb in it's own piece of foil.

Place into crockpot and cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Unwrap the foil, and squeeze the bulb. Use as a spread on crackers or pieces of crusty bread or in any recipe calling for roasted garlic.