Taco Rice

Serves 4-6.

1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 envelope taco seasoning + water (try using Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix)
Hot cooked rice

Suggested toppings:
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Salsa or hot sauce
Cheese
Nacho cheese sauce
Onions (raw or cooked with meat)
Sour cream
Black beans
Avocados
Anything else you can think of!

Brown ground meat over medium-high heat.  Drain.  Add taco seasoning and water according to package directions.

Top rice with taco meat and desired toppings.  Enjoy!

Hot Chocolate Souffle

From Hershey's Made Simple, page 132.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Photo by Brittany Meng.

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided, plus some for sprinkling
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups milk
6 egg yolks, well beaten
2 Tbs. butter or margarine
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
Sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream

Lightly butter 2 1/2 quart souffle dish; sprinkle with sugar.  For collar, cut a length of heavy-duty aluminum foil to fit around souffle dish; fold in thirds lengthwise.  Lightly butter one side of foil.  Attach, buttered side in, around outside of dish, allowing foil to extend at least 2 inches above dish.  Secure with tape or string.

Stir together cocoa, 1 cup sugar, flour, and salt in a large saucepan;  gradually stir in milk.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with wire whisk, until mixture boils;  remove from heat.  Gradually stir small amount of chocolate mixture into beaten egg yolks; blend well.  Add egg mixture to chocolate mixture in pan, blending well.  Cook and stir for 1 minute.  Add butter and vanilla, stirring until blended.  Set aside and cool for 20 minutes.

Move oven rack to lowest position.  Heat oven to 350 F.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar in large bowl until soft peaks form; gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, beating  until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold about one-third of beaten egg mixture into chocolate mixture.  Lightly fold chocolate mixture, half at a time, into remaining egg white mixture just until blended; do not overfold.

Gently pour mixture into prepared dish; smooth top with spatula.  Gently place dish in larger baking pan; pour hot water into larger pan to depth of 1 inch.

Bake 1 hour and 5 to 10 minutes or until puffed and set.  Remove souffle dish from water.  Carefully remove foil.  Serve immediately with sweetened whipped cream or ice cream.

Notes:
- I used a round Corningware casserole dish.  Just make sure what you use is deep and holds 2 1/2 quarts.
- You'll want to make sure you have enough people to eat this within a day or two; after that, the texture changes and it's just not as good.  Really, it's best to eat it all the first day, especially fresh.

Dallas Burger

From Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries, and Shakes, page 37.

Serves 4.

This is a spicy barbecue burger that Bobby Flay calls a compromise between his wife's love of beef brisket and his "need for speed."  I just call it yummy.

Coleslaw:
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 small white onion, grated
1 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. celery seed
3 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
1 small head of cabbage, cored and finely shredded
1 large carrot, finely shredded
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Whisk together the mayonnaise, onion, sugar, celery seed, and vinegar in a large bowl.  Add the cabbage and carrot, season with salt and pepper, and stir to combine.  Let sit for at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour before serving.

Burgers:
1 Tbs. ancho chile powder
2 tsp. sweet Spanish paprika
1 tsp. dry mustard powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. chile de arbol powder or cayenne pepper
1 1/2 lbs. ground chuck (80/20) or ground turkey (90/10)
1 1/2 Tbs. canola oil
Barbecue Sauce
4 hamburger buns, split; toasted, if desired
Homemade Dill Pickles

Whisk together the ancho power, paprika, dried mustard powder, cumin, coriander, oregano, salt, black pepper, and chile de arbol powder in a small bowl.

Divide meat into 4 equal portions.  Form each portion loosely into a 3/4" thick burger and make a deep depression in the center with your thumb.  Season both sides of each burger with spice mixture.

Cook the burgers (click HERE for Bobby's burger cooking times), using the canola oil and brushing with some of the barbecue sauce after you flip them.

Place the burgers on the bun bottoms and spoon more barbecue sauce on top.  Top each one with some coleslaw and a few pickles.  Cover with bun tops and serve immediately.

Notes:
- The coleslaw recipe makes a LOT.
- I couldn't find sweet Spanish paprika, so I used smoked paprika.
- I'm not sure if ground coriander is sold anywhere, so I ground my own using a coffee grinder that we use for flax seed and whole spices.  If you have a spice rack, there's a good chance that one of the spices it came with was whole coriander.
- Our burgers weren't as thick as his--we used 1 lb. of 90/10 ground beef.

Homemade Dill Pickles

From Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries, and Shakes, page 113.

These are actually pretty good.  I admit that I've eaten several by themselves straight from the container.

Makes about 1 quart.

4 Kirby cucumbers
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup packed coarsely chopped fresh dill
2 Tbs. sugar
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
3/4 tsp. dill seeds
1 tsp. whole mustard seeds
1 tsp. coriander seeds

Slice the cucumbers into 1/4" thick slices.  Put the cucumber slices in a medium bowl that has a fitted lid or in another lidded container that is large enough to hold them.

Combine 1 cup water, the vinegar, chopped dill, sugar, garlic, salt, dill seeds, mustard seeds, and coriander seeds in a small nonreactive saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.  Cook until sugar and salt dissolve, about 2 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Pour the mixture over the cucumbers, cover, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours or up to 1 week, stirring the mixture at least once during that time.  Drain before serving, discard the liquid and aromatics.

Notes:
- Kirby cucumbers are a type of pickling cucumber; they're short and bumpy, what you imagine as your typical pickle.  If you can't find them at the store, try the farmer's market.  If you don't have one or don't feel like making the effort, just use whatever cucumbers you can find.  Try to find small ones.  I used two English/hot house cucumbers.
- I used 3/4 cup white vinegar and 2 Tbs. cider vinegar.
- Stir the pickles?  I shook mine.  In fact, I've shaken them several times in less than two days.  It's kind of fun.
- Because we're not eating the pickles all at once, I'm storing them in the liquid in the fridge.  I don't see a reason to get rid of the liquid until you're done with the pickles.

Barbecue Sauce

From Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries, and Shakes, page 107.

Supposedly makes 1 cup (we got at least 1 1/2 cups).

This sauce is used in both the Dallas and Cheyenne burgers, but Bobby recommends using it on chicken, steak, pork chops, and french fries, too.

2 Tbs. canola oil
1 medium Spanish onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 cup ketchup
1 heaping Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 Tbs. red wine vinegar
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 canned chipotle chile in adobo, chopped
2 Tbs. ancho chile powder
1 Tbs. sweet Spanish paprika
2 Tbs. packed dark brown sugar
1 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. molasses
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a heavy-bottomed medium nonreactive saucepan.  Add the onion and cook until soft, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add the ketchup and 1/3 cup water and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire, chipotle chile, ancho chile powder, paprika, brown sugar, honey, and molasses and bring to a simmer.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for an additional 10 minutes, or until thickened.

Transfer the mixture to a food processor and puree until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Pour into a bowl and allow to cool to room temperature.  The sauce will keep for 1 week in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.  Bring to room temperature before using.

Notes:
- Again, we used smoked paprika because we couldn't find sweet Spanish paprika.
- I don't see a reason to bring barbecue sauce to room temperature from the fridge before using it.

"The Chewy" (Chocolate Chip Cookies)

From Alton Brown.

Prep: 15 minutes + chilling / Cook: 10-15 minutes
Yield: about 2 dozen cookies

These cookies are thick, dense, and chewy with lots of chocolate chips.

8 oz. unsalted butter
12 oz. bread flour (~2 1/4 cups)
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 oz. granulated sugar (~1/4 cup)
8 oz. light brown sugar (~1 1/4 cups)
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 Tbs. whole milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
12 oz. chocolate chips (~2 cups)

Melt the butter in a 2-quart saucepan over low heat, then set aside to cool slightly.

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda onto a paper plate.

Pour the butter into your stand mixer's work bowl.  Add the sugars and beat with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the whole egg, egg yolk, milk, and vanilla extract in a measuring cup.  Reduce the mixer speed and slowly add the egg mixture.  Mix until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.

Using the paper plate as a slide, gradually integrate the dry team, stopping a couple times to scrape down the side of the bowl.  Once the flour is worked in, drop the speed to "stir" and add the chocolate chips.  Chill the dough for 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 375 F and place racks in the top third and bottom third of the oven.

Scoop the dough into 1 1/2-ounce portions onto parchment paper-lined half sheet pans, 6 cookies per sheet.  Bake two sheets at a time for 10-15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through.

Remove from the oven, slide the parchment with the cookies onto a cooling rack, and wait at least 5 minutes before devouring.

Notes:
- AB says, "Great bakers weigh their ingredients."  Apparently I'm not a great baker--I looked up his recipe on the Food Network website in addition to reading it out of my Good Eats cookbook and found volumetric measurements.  Those are included in parentheses.  To be honest, I've had better results using the volumetric measurements than when I weigh them.
- I tend to use use semisweet chips and dark brown sugar because I like them better.
- What to do with the unused egg white?  Freeze it in a storage container for use in a recipe that uses more whites than eggs, such as the Hot Chocolate Souffle.
- To tell you the truth, I'm not too particular about using a 2-quart saucepan or sifting onto a paper plate.  I "sift" my ingredients into a bowl by measuring them into a fine mesh strainer and tapping it with my hand.  It gets the job done, though the kosher salt stays behind and just gets dumped in.
- I sort of guess on the size of the cookie scoops.  I've figured out that it's bigger than a cookie scoop and smaller than an ice cream scoop.  (I have the Oneida ones with the hook arm inside.)
- Parchment paper is one of the most wonderful things in the world.  I've always loved it.
- The original recipe says to cook for 15 minutes, but I've found that the cookies get overdone.  Rotate at 5 or 6 minutes (also switching which pan is on the top rack) and keep an eye on them starting at 10 minutes.  Take the cookies out when the edges are just golden.

Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie

From the Bisquick box.

Prep: 10 minutes. / Cook: 25 minutes

Serves: 6

We recently tried this as a last-minute dinner when I didn't feel like eating (or making) any of the other options.  It's super easy.  I liked it--Matt said it's okay in a pinch.  With the addition of ketchup, mustard, and chopped dill pickles, I thought it tasted very similar to a cheeseburger.

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 oz)
1/2 cup Bisquick mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs

Topping suggestions: ketchup, mustard, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes

Cook beef and onion over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until beef is thoroughly cooked; drain.  Stir in salt.  Spread in 9" pie plate sprayed with cooking spray; sprinkle with cheese.

Whisk Bisquick, milk, and eggs in medium bowl until blended.  Pour into pie plate.

Bake 25 minutes at 400 F or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Notes:
- I used 80/20 ground beef and half a large onion, which was a cup (I don't know what their idea of large is, but it must not be very big.)
- I think it could use more cheese.
- Without any toppings, a serving ends up being about 315 calories (not subtracting the fat that was drained off).