The Cooking Streak: Double Bean Burgers with Spicy Basil Avocado Cream

Since day 4 of the cooking streak involved the mass consumption of cheese (see Spinach Zucchini Lasagna), I needed to return to healthier, more low key ways for evening number 5. After careful consideration, I decided on a compromise between proper football watching eats and healthy hippiedom- the double bean burger.

Double Bean Burgers with Basil Avocado Cream
Adapted from How Sweet It Is
Servings: 4 large patties
Time: 20 minutes

Soon this mush will be transformed into goodness

Burger
15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
15 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
3 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2-1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2-1 tsp onion powder
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Red chili flakes to taste
1 large egg + 1 egg white, beaten
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
Olive oil
Toasted buns

Spicy, creamy perfection

Spicy Basil Avocado Cream
2/3 cup sour cream
1 avocado
10 basil leaves
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Red chili flakes to taste
Sriracha to taste

1. Mash the beans together in a large bowl.
2. Stir in the cilantro, garlic, smoked paprika, onion powder, salt, pepper, and red chili flakes.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the beaten eggs and panko together.
4. Combine the panko egg mix with the beans until well incorporated.
5. Form the bean mixture into patties.
6. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the patties for 3-5 minutes per side until a nice crust forms.
7. While the burgers are going, combine the sour cream, avocado, basil leaves, salt, pepper, red chili flakes, and sriracha together in a food processor or blender until smooth. 
8. Serve the burgers topped with the avocado basil cream on toasted buns.

Success! It looks like an actual patty!

Herbs were the key to this burger's deliciousness. The patty itself may have been primarily beans, but the cilantro really stood out. As for the cream, the powerful basil made its mark in a wonderfully smooth yet sneakily spicy sauce that helped even out the somewhat dry burger. Be careful when making this to get a good crust on the patty and a nice toast to the bun, or you may end up with quite the mushy mess on your hands. In the end, this was one non-traditional burger that really managed to pack in the flavor for a unique and filling meal.

Return of the Blog: Barbacoa Tacos and Pico-mole

I may have forgotten how to stage pictures well during my sabbatical, or maybe I was just super ready to eat...

Following a two and a half month summer break (read: lots of working and traveling combined with the pain and lack of a grill from Kevin moving out of the apartment complex), I decided it was time to revive the blog and repair that hole in all my faithful readers' hearts (sorry, Mom).

After the time off, our telepathic connection proved to still be intact as Kevin and I both found ourselves craving tacos and margaritas Saturday, so we brought the band back together and got better acquainted with his fancy new house's kitchen. The result was a delicious night of Mexican goodness featuring Barbacoa and Bistec Tacos, Ninfa's Green Salsa, and Pico-mole (the glorious love child of pico de gallo and guacamole)

Barbacoa Tacos
Adapted from Food Network
Servings: 4-6
Time: 3+ hours

Veggie metamorphosis

8 dried guajilo chiles, stemmed and seeded
2-3 jalapenos, stemmed, seeded and cut in half lengthwise
2 tomatoes, quartered
1 white onion, quartered, plus extra for garnish
Salt
3 cups chicken broth, divided
2 lbs beef chuck (I used bone in short rib)
1/2-1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup cilantro, plus extra for garnish
1/2-1 tsp fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 shot of tequila
Olive Oil
Tortillas

1. Remember that you have a blog that you haven't written for in about two months.
2. Get a Dutch oven warmed over medium-high heat. Add the dried guajilo and toast for ~ 20 seconds per side, pressing down on them while cooking. Set aside.
3. Add the jalapenos, onion, garlic, and tomatoes and cook for ~ 10 minutes until somewhat stewed and charred.
4. Combine all the cooked ingredients with 1/2 cup of chicken broth and salt in a blender and pulse until smooth.
5. Heat up olive oil in the Dutch oven. Sear the beef on each side, turning occasionally until it's browned with a nice crust.
6. Mix in the chile sauce, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne. Let cook for 1 minute.
7. Puree the cilantro and thyme with the remaining chicken broth and add to the pot.
8. Drop in the bay leaves and tequila shot.
9. Bring to a simmer and cook covered for 2 hours, stirring occasionally until the meat is falling off the bone and capable of being shredded.
10. Pull the meat apart using two forks. Discard any excess fatty pieces.
11. Serve in a warmed tortilla with leftover chile sauce, cilantro and onion.

Perfectly shredded and uncannily juicy and delicious

I was a little worried that my hopes of making barbacoa may have been somewhat overzealous. Could the meat possibly reach maximum shredditude in time for us to actually eat that night? The answer was a resounding "yes". I was pleased to discover that half of the meat had already fallen off the bone when I opened up the Dutch oven for the last time, and the rest quickly followed the lead. This wonderfully succulent beef was beautifully packed with juiciness, flavor and just a hint of spice. While this was a truly stellar taco, I would definitely like to try it with beef cheek like it is traditionally prepared.

Kevin's Tacos Bistec

It is a well established fact that Kevin and I do not know how to make simple meals proportional to the amount of people eating. Ko and newcomers to our culinary adventures Jackie and Anastasia were able to witness our excess firsthand and then feel thoroughly disgusting from eating too much thanks to Tacos Bistek (seen previously here) and the greatest salsa compliments to any Mexican evening- Ninfa's Salsa Verde (also a past favorite) and Pico-mole.

Flour vs. corn tortilla- the ultimate debate

Pico-mole

Onion, diced

Tomato, diced

Avocado, peeled and chopped

Jalapeno, diced

Cilantro, chopped

Salt to taste

Lime juice to taste

Avocado improves everything: Fact

1. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. 
2. Clean the bowl completely with the help of tortilla chips.

Pico-mole has a special place in my heart thanks to the crazy college enchilada adventures I had with Robin. During one of our Tex-Mex quests, we drove an hour to the fantastic Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen, where the delightful Sylvia rewarded us for our journey with free pico-mole. I have long since fantasized about the wonderful hybrid salsa, but I had not had it again until someone brought it to a recent cookout Robin and I had in Charleston. My love for it had been reignited, and I was not going to risk going years without it again. By keeping the avocado in chunks instead of traditional guacamashing, the freshness really comes through and we had the perfect, unique alternative to our creamy salsa verde.

Creamy, perfect Ninfa's style Salsa Verde

I may have still felt disgusting the following day thanks to the ridiculous overeating, but it was totally worth it. Kevin and I managed to both make two distinct, extremely tasty tacos and salsa that were so good they only had to compete with each other for rapidly dwindling belly space. Now, I just have to make sure I find myself horribly bored in hotel rooms more frequently to keep these writing wheels turning.

No Mexican cooking night is complete without margaritas. Kevin's new house really needs fancy margarita glasses, but we managed to make it work somehow.

Hatch Chile Extravaganza: Hatch Pork Chops with Hatch & Avocado Puree

The mind is a most wondrous thing. Unfortunately, mine has been terribly addled by my crippling sugar addiction, making this attempt to write about a meal Kevin, Nancy and I made well over a month ago (we'll just call September a wash blog-wise and blame it on a case of writer's meat block) quite the challenge. Now that I've properly hyped it, here is the conclusion of our Hatch Chile Extravaganza, the only entree strong enough to stand up to the delectableness of Hatch Chile Mac & Cheese- Hatch Pork Chops served on top of a hatch and avocado puree.

Hatch Pork Chops with Hatch & Avocado Puree
Adapted from Central Market
Servings: 4
Time: 60 minutes

We looked at this pic for 5 minutes to try to remember what we put in the marinade.

Pork Chops
4 Pork Chops (we used pork ribeyes)
Roasted hatch chiles
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Red Chili Flakes
Garlic

Puree
5 hatch chiles, roasted, skinned and stemmed
1 small avocado, peeled and pitted
1 tsp honey
Juice of one lime
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and pepper

1. Mix the hatch chiles, olive oil, salt, pepper, red chili flakes and garlic together in a food processor and blend well.
2. Marinade the pork chops in the hatch chile mix for at least half an hour.
3. Grill the pork chops for ~8 minutes per side.
4. Combine the remaining hatch chiles, avocado, honey, lime juice, vegetable oil, salt and pepper in a blender and puree well. 
5. Attempt to make a fancy streak of puree on the plate, then give up after realizing the avocado is prohibiting this.
6. Lay your grilled pork chops on top of the puree.
7. Make sure each bite is complimented by the awesome hatch chile and avocado hybrid.

It looks like guac, so you know it has to be good.

Chiles plus avocado can only lead to glorious things, and this was certainly the case with our main course. The pork chop themselves were hearty Texas-sized chunks of porkulation with a nice hit of flavor from the hatch chiles and a gentle kick from the red chili flakes. What was a good chunk of meat was turned into something memorable as soon as it was perched atop the hatch puree. Our puree essentially acted like a guacamole that was slightly sweetened by the honey that provided extra moisture and flavor to our chops compliments of the fantastic roasted hatch chiles. It worked so well, that I could see it going on plenty of different meat options (or tortilla chips). Together with our mac & cheese, we had a fancy meal worthy of fine dining to liven up our footballless Monday night (yup, it was that long ago that the season hadn't started yet). Fear not loyal readers, there's plenty more to come from my September of adventures including not one, not two, not three but four down home recipes from my episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with my mom and some bacon loaded pizza from California.

The finished meal. Nancy's green beans rounded things out and kept up the color theme.

Good bye, roasted hatch chiles. We'll see you next year (when you can finally use this recipe!).