Tag Archives: recipe

Quick Eats: Fried Shallot Cheeseburger

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It doesn’t look like it or feel like it- but Summer is here in New England and we’re all trying to get into the spirit of things despite the most recent onslaught of torrential downpours and temperature drops. I’ve broken out my maxi dresses for work, my sandals for the weekend, and have been feverishly searching for the best alcohol-infused Popsicle recipes to make in my kitchen in what little spare time I have these days.

One of the telltale signs of the season is the abundance of cookouts and backyard BBQs on the nicer, sunnier days. Unfortunately, we haven’t had one of those in a while- so I’ve resorted to cooking up burgers, fries, and mixing some milkshakes in the comfort of my kitchen and making the best of things. I’ve been having a lot of fun experimenting with some of the recipes in my recently purchased Shake Shack cookbook- and thought I’d share a slightly modified version of one of my favorite concoctions so far.

I love anything with onions, so this recipe was a must-try the second I spotted it in the book- and the sauce I coated the potato buns with? SO good.

Best of all? These are super easy to make!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

FOR THE SAUCE/”SHAKESAUCE”:

  • 1/2 cup Hellman’s mayonaise
  • 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
  • 3/4 teaspoons of Heinz ketchup
  • 1/4 teaspoon of kosher dill pickling brine
  • A pinch of cayenne pepper.

FOR THE BURGERS:

  • 4 hamburger potato buns
  • 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
  • 4 tablespoons of the mixed sauce (“Shakesauce”)
  • 1 pound of very cold ground beef, divided into 4 pucks
  • 1/2 pound of thin, fried shallots
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper
  • 4 slices of your cheese of choice (for this particular attempt, I stuck with American cheese!)

OKAY, HERE’S WHAT YOU DO:

FOR THE SAUCE/”SHAKESAUCE”:

1. Put all of the ingredients (listed above) in a small mixing bowl and stir until well combined.

2. Chill the sauce for about 15-20 minutes prior to use. Any extra sauce will keep, if covered and properly refrigerated, for up to one week.

FOR THE BURGERS:

1. Heat a cast-iron griddle over medium-low heat until warm. Meanwhile, brush the insides of the hamburger potato buns with the melted butter. Place the buns buttered side down and toast until golden brown (2-3 minutes). Transfer the buns onto a plate and spoon your mixed and chilled “Shakesauce” on the top bun.

2. Increase the heat to medium and heat the griddle until hot (2-3 minutes)

3. Evenly sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper on top of each puck of ground beef.

4. Place the pucks on the griddle, seasoned side down. Using a large, sturdy metal spatula, firmly smash each puck into a 1/3-inch thick round patty. Pressing down the spatula with another stiff spatula helps flatten the burger quickly. Evenly sprinkle more salt and pepper on the patties.

5. Cook the burgers until the edges beneath are brown and crisp, and juices on the surface are bubbling hot (about 2 1/2 minutes). Slide one of the spatulas beneath the burger to release it from the griddle and scrape up the caramelized browned crust. Use the other spatula to steady the burger and keep it from sliding. Flip the burgers.

6. Put the cheese on top and cook the burgers for one minute longer for medium, and longer for a more well-done texture. Transfer the cheeseburgers to the prepared buns- top with your fried shallots- and enjoy!

Crispy, tangy, and with just the right amount of spice- these burgers are pretty great and are definitely something I plan to bust out at my next outdoor get together with my friends- assuming it ever stops raining!

xx

Quick Eats: Mom’s Swedish Meatballs

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My family and I are a pretty tight knit clan. We try to do things together as much as possible and are always in contact via phone/text/social media- although now that my brothers and I are grown up and aren’t all living under the same roof anymore- it sometimes makes it trickier to get together as often as we’d like- especially when we want to spend time with our mom.

Well, my mother concocted the 2-week dinner rule to avoid us becoming a family who only ever sees each other on holidays or at weddings/funerals. Every two weeks, without fail- we pick weeknight to meet at her house after we all get out of our respective jobs and she cooks for us like she did when we were kids (although the menu is a little more advanced than boxed macaroni & cheese or pizza these days.)

At our most recent meet-up- my mom made one of her specialty recipes, passed down to her by my grandmother and my great-grandmother- which I promptly stole to try making on my own.

If you don’t eat meat and/or don’t like mushrooms- this might not be the recipe for you- but I have a slow cooker and a handwritten note from my mom on how NOT to mess these up- so I was feeling pretty confident I could make her proud!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 1 can cream of mushroom soup (or cream of celery soup- depending on the type of flavor you want!)
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • 3/4 cup of breadcrumbs
  • 1 slightly beaten egg
  • Parsley flakes
  • 1/4 cup of minced onion
  • Salt (to taste)

OKAY, HERE’S WHAT YOU DO:

1. Combine 1/2 cup of water to your can of soup to thin the consistency.

2. Combine the ground beef with 1/4 cup of the cream of mushroom/celery soup.

3. Add the slightly beaten egg, the breadcrumbs, minced onion, parsley flakes and salt to your mixture.

4. Roll the beef into balls.

5. Brown slightly, and add remaining soup.

6. Cover the meatballs and let them simmer for approximately 20-30 minutes.

7. Serve and enjoy!

Listen, my mom might be one of the greatest cooks on the East Coast- but I think I did a pretty good job with these! They looked and tasted just like her version, and didn’t take long at all to prepare and cook up.

I served my version the way my mom usually does, too- with egg noodles and mixed vegetables. Not pictured? The basket of buttered biscuits she usually sets out for all of us to dig into whenever she cooks for us. I’ll remember it next time for sure!

And with all this talk about my mom’s cooking- I think now is as good a time as any to wish all the moms out there a Happy Mother’s Day this weekend! Whether you’re a seasoned veteran like my mom or this is your first Mother’s Day with a new baby- you’re awesome and I hope each and every single one of you have a great day (with lots of sweets!)

xx

Quick Eats: No-Bake Caramel Cheesecake Shooters

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I spent most of this past Saturday, a drizzly and dreary morning and afternoon- with a pretty powerful migraine and jaw ache following a routine cleaning at my dentist’s office. Whether it was the sound of the scraping or the uncomfortable angle I was positioned in on the chair, I’m not sure- but not even Ibuprofen could help me and I dreaded the thought of chewing anything solid for a few hours.

By the time late afternoon rolled around- I was feeling a little better- but my sweet tooth had been triggered. Not wanting to risk hurting my still-sore jaw with anything too crunchy (which meant cookies were out of the question)– I decided to try whipping up something soft and decadent and pulled up a recipe I’d had saved on my phone for a while now.

I love cheesecake- any variation of it- although making it from scratch can be a bit taxing. Thankfully, this 20-minute recipe gives you all of the taste with a fraction of the prep-time and leaves little to no mess at all!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

  • Shooter glasses (I used 3 larger sized ones for this)
  • 4 tablespoons of butter
  • 8 ounces of cream cheese (1 package)
  • 1 can of condensed milk
  • 1 jar caramel sauce
  • 4.5 ounces of graham crackers
  • Whipped cream

OKAY, HERE’S WHAT YOU DO:

1. Crumble your graham crackers. I actually bought mine pre-crumbled (check your local store’s baking goods aisle to see if they have them!) but in case you can’t find any- it’s easy enough to just mash a whole bunch of graham crackers in a bowl.

2. Melt your butter in a separate bowl and then mix it with the crumbled graham crackers. Make sure all of your crumbs are coated with the butter.

3. Spoon a layer of the graham cracker crumb & butter mixture into the bottom of your shooter glasses. Be sure to try and get the top of the layer as flat as possible since you’re going to be adding more layers to this (and you’ll want to have plenty of room!)

4. In a separate bowl, add the cream cheese and 2/3 of the can of condensed milk. Mix together well. Once you’re finished- spoon a layer of this mixture to your shooter glasses on top of your graham cracker layer.

5. Repeat one layer of the graham cracker/butter mixture in your shooter glasses, and then another layer of your cream cheese/condensed milk mixture.

6. Using a small bowl, combine your caramel sauce with the remaining condensed milk and mix well. Pour this mixture into your shooter glasses to top them off.

7. Refrigerate the glasses for 1 hour.

8. Top the shooters with whipped cream (and if you have any graham cracker crumbs remaining- throw those on too!) and serve!

These came out really good. As soon as I dug into one with a spoon, all of the layers just combined perfectly and each bite had a little bit of everything- the caramel, the filling, and the graham cracker crust. So delicious!

I know I’ll be making these again the next time I have company over since they’re easy enough to prepare and would make a great party dessert when there’s a lot of people over. I may even add some chocolate to this recipe just to mix it up a little!

xx