Stuffed Burgers (aka Juicy Lucy/Jucy Lucy)
May 24, 2010 by Andrea 
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Filed under Beef, Main Course
About a month ago Michael saw an episode of Food Wars on Travel Channel that featured the Juicy Lucy/Jucy Lucy burger, a Minneapolis creation with a devout following, and he knew instantly that he had to make it. I enjoy seeing him get over the moon about trying something new, and it was fun to watch him apply his engineering talents to building the perfect stuffed burger. He likes the mounded look of the Juicy Lucy/Jucy Lucy burger rather than a flat burger, so he piles the fillings high before sealing the edges. Read more
Greek Burgers and Tzatziki
May 11, 2009 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Beef, Condiments
While I don’t want to sound trite, I must say the first of May caught me off guard. I can’t believe it’s May, the school year is almost over and the kids will be out for almost three months, it’s time to register Top Gun for kindergarten, and summer is almost here. But that also means it’s grilling time around our house, actually more grilling time since we like to grill year round, we just happen to do it more often in the warm months. Really, I like grilled food in January but I don’t like freezing my fingers while making it!
Burgers are one of Builder Guy’s favorite foods, so we grill up a batch every once in a while. Some times I just want a slice of sharp cheddar and good barbecue sauce on top, but other times I like to play with the toppings: guacamole with caramelized onions, chimichurri, chipotle salsa, roasted red peppers with some kind of gooey cheese. The sloppier the better. And I happen to like tzatziki on my burgers, especially with arugula or an arugula pesto. Read more
Steak au Poivre with Sauteed Porta Bella Mushrooms
March 5, 2008 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Beef
Most of our evening meals are simple, often pulling from the freezer any leftovers from my weekend cooking marathons. We spend our energy taking care of the boys, coaxing them to eat their dinner and use good manners, and conversation centers around the day and what the boys did in school or any new milestones. We try to minimize the chaos, but I’ll tell you we’ve heard it all during dinner.
“Daddy, I peed on the potty all by myself!”
“I don’t want to use my fork!”
“I don’t like this. I can’t eat it.”
“Daddy? Mommy? Have some more [fill in the blank]?” (pause) “Oh. May I have some more [fill in the blank], please?”
“Mommy, I love my vegetables!” (Usually said after being told there will be no dessert for little boys who don’t eat all their dinner.)
“Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” [airplane noises]
“Oh, please don’t put that in your hair.” (pause, sigh) “OK, I guess you need a bath tonight.”
“Ghhhh!” (Said while the toddler throws his food or bowl or cup or spoon on the floor. Usually followed by tears because now he doesn’t have the food/bowl/cup/spoon/whatever.)
By the time we get the boys to bed we’re both exhausted and can easily fall asleep wherever we sit, Read more
Italian Beef Sandwiches
February 4, 2008 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Beef, Grow Your Own, Sandwiches
On Super Bowl Sunday I attempted to fulfill one of Michael’s foodie wishes. He has been craving Chicago Italian beef sandwiches, and I decided to do some research and make some for him. He got to relive some good memories, and I learned that making Italian beef is pretty easy and well worth it!
Italian beef is a Chicago institution, and a number of restaurants around town serve up this dripping wet sandwich, which is best eaten over a trough. The meat is roasted to medium rare, sliced thin, then simmered in an au jus made from the meat drippings, stock, lots of oregano, and other seasonings. To eat it, you fill a sub roll full of meat and then dip the whole sandwich into the au jus. No dainty dipping of the ends, you plunge the whole sandwich in! Then you top it with bell peppers and giardineria (pickled vegetables). It is sloppy good! Read more
Italian-Style Meatloaf
December 30, 2007 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Beef, Grow Your Own, Main Course
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t like meatloaf and haven’t fixed it in years. We’re just not a meatloaf family, so when I announced one day last week that we would be having meatloaf for dinner I got a very strange look from Michael.
“Meatloaf?”
“Yes, meatloaf.”
“Why?”
“I found a recipe that I think might be pretty good.”
“Hmmm.” He was not convinced, and truthfully I wasn’t sure that I was either, but I was willing to try.
The recipe comes from Cooking Light and the loaf has sun-dried tomatoes and lots of fresh basil. Read more
Beef and Bell Pepper with Black Bean Sauce
October 30, 2007 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Asian, Beef, Grow Your Own
As I have written in previous posts, I did not grow up with Asian food, and it wasn’t until I moved to Saipan for my first overseas teaching job in 1989 that I had any exposure to the real thing. The island was (and still is) populated with a mix of nationalities and there were a handful of Asian grocery stores around the island. The one closest to my house was in Chalan Piao right on Beach Road, and I remember going shopping there for the first time and feeling utterly bewildered when I looked at the food products. I was looking for a particular kind of Chinese noodles and some Chinese cooking sauces, but I couldn’t seem to figure out what products were Japanese vs Chinese vs Korean, so when I finally stumbled across a shelf that had Lee Kum Kee products with English labels, I was relieved and bought my first jar of Lee Kum Kee Black Bean Sauce.
That experience is how my Asian cooking and condiments love affair got started. I didn’t have a clue about any of the other ingredients in the store, I just knew that I had tasted a delicious beef and black bean sauce with noodles dish at Diamond Chinese Restaurant in Garapan and I wanted to learn how to make it myself. I still enjoy making the dish, and I was able to make it recently with the last of this year’s bell peppers from our garden. Read more
