AWESOME JUICY LUCY CHEESE STUFFED BURGER

One of the best burgers ever...The Juicy Lucy is awesome, I did lots of research and that I spend a lot of time in the states helped with this most awesome recipe.  There is a real science to creating the best burger, something over here in the UK that is rather neglected...

I had all my mates over for a Oscar's Speak Easy Build Your Own Burger Party which was fabulous, so I started with the meat for the burger...

20% fat to 80% meat ratio is the key to the most flavoursome burger.  Don't use high grade meat this will achieve a melting texture but not flavour, the best cuts for your burger are, chuck, flank, sirloin and skirt.  For me I used chuck, the shoulder of beef and I asked my butcher to grind it for me medium fine and seasoned the mince with lots of sea salt and black pepper.

Prep Time 10 minutes / Cooking Time 10 minutes

 

Ingredients

(makes 4)

The Burger

1 kg minced chuck steak

1 tsp coconut oil

1 onion finely chopped

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

4 burger buns

The Juicy Lucy Stuffing's

12 slices Monterrey jack cheese

1 iceberg lettuce torn

2 tomatoes sliced

Optional 

4 tbsp pickled jalapenos

First heat a frying pan or skillet to a medium heat add the coconut oil and then the onion and soften for around five minutes, take off the heat and add to a large bowl.  Add the chuck mince, sea salt and pepper and mix well.

I used a burger press to make my burgers, if you don' have one just use a plate.  Divide the mince in to 8 equal pattie balls, place a burger ball on some baking paper, cover with another piece of baking paper and using a plate or burger press, press down and flatten the mince to around the thickness of a pound coin.  Repeat with the rest of the patties.

Line up four burgers and place your juicy Lucy stuffing's in the centre of the burger, then place the other burgers on top and then pinch the edges together to form a flying saucer shape sealed burger.  It is important that you create a good seal.

Heat your griddle and toast your buns, then place the burgers on a medium hot heat and cook for around 4 minutes on each side, if you want a well done burger just cook a little longer.

Place a slice of Monterrey jack cheese on top of your burger and allow to melt then place the burger on the bottom bun, top with iceberg lettuce, fresh sliced seasoned tomatoes, that's it enjoy.

Warning...The Cheese in the Centre Can Be Extremely Hot...

 

ALL BUTTER SHORTBREAD

HOW COOL IS THIS...

How awesome is this!  I've got a cookie rolling pin that prints "Made by Chef Oscar" all over the biscuit / cookie dough, I just love this and can't stop baking cookies for all my friends and family, this is so AWESOME...

                                   

Ingredients

(makes approx 30)

250g plain flour

150g cold butter grated

1 tiny pinch of salt

125g sugar

I have a little extra butter in my recipe than others and this is a family tradition, when my mum was my age and taking cooking classes at school, when she told her dad my grandad that she would be making shortbread that day he told her to add extra butter to the recipe, so that is exactly what I am doing so that grandad will love them too.

This is super easy to make and best done by hand. Place the flour and butter in a large bowl and rub the butter in to the flour until you have breadcrumbs, keep going and bring the ingredients together until you have a ball of dough.

FUN FACT

This is called shortbread because it is short !  Short meaning tight in USA and translating to lack of fluid in a recipe, this does make the dough a little harder to work with but is well worth the extra effort because a short shortbread will give you the lightest most crumblest melt in your mouth buttery biscuit ever!  If your are struggling you can add a egg yolk to help you bind, but this will make the end biscuit a little more bouncy rather than a snap.

                                  

Roll out your biscuit (cookie) dough to around the thickness of a pound coin and then using what ever cookie cutter you like cut out your cookies.

Pre heat your oven to 160 degrees C / 320 F.  Place the shortbreads on a baking tray lined with baking paper and pop in the oven to cook for around 8 minutes, the trick with shortbread is that it should not brown, there should be no colour, otherwise they are over baked.

That is it, place on a cooling rack to cool and then enjoy. 

AWESOME THAI LEMONGRASS AND CHILLI SWEET POTATO CRAB CAKES

These are brilliant, I changed the recipe half way through and what a Winner Dinner, I was making a lemon and dill sweet potato crab cake, but mum was in the kitchen making dad some red Thai curry paste, Mum needs dads muscles for the 15 minutes of pounding the spices together!!!

So I took some lemongrass, chilli,  lime zest and fresh coriander and added it to my crab cake mix and this mum says is the Best Ever Crab Cake...

I served the crab cakes with a home made cornichon and dill lemon mayonnaise, on a bed of rocket and coriander salad with cornichons and a belly of lime.

Prep time 10 minutes /  Cooking time 20 minutes including making the mash

Ingredients

(made 4 large crab cakes)

Crab Cakes

1 whole crab or 300g fresh white crab meat

1 egg beaten

1 lrg handful fresh breadcrumbs

2 sweet potatoes, boiled and mashed

1/2 stick lemongrass bashed and finely minced

1 red chilli finely minced

2 glugs olive oil

1 clove garlic finely minced

1 shallot finely minced

1/2 lemon juiced

1/2 lime zested

good pinch sea salt and white pepper

The Mayo

1 egg yolk

300ml olive oil

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 cornichon finely finely minced

2 sprigs of dill chopped

1/2 juice of a lemon

good pinch sea salt and white pepper

First I got mum to heat a glug of olive oil in a pan and soften the onions and garlic, meanwhile I placed all the other crab cake ingredients in a large bowl and mixed together, seasoned with some sea salt and white pepper then added in the softened onions and garlic and mixed some more.

The mixture should be quite moist and just sticking together, form four large patties.  Heat the other glug of oil in a frying pan or skillet and when medium hot add your crab cakes, fry for approx 3 minutes on each side until golden, the mixture is already cooked so you just want to heat them so that the cakes are piping hot in the middle,

To make the mayonnaise this is something I do every week for my family and I am rather good with the whisk, place the egg yolk in a large bowl with the white wine vinegar, start to whisk and slowly drizzle in the oil, very slowly at first, one the egg yolk has started to combine with the oil you can add the oil a little faster until you have a lovely thick mayonnaise, this takes me around 1-2 minutes, then add the mustard, sea salt, white pepper, lemon juice, cornichon and dill and taste, season some more if needed.  Serve drizzled over your crab cakes on a bed of herby salad.

MAPEL SYRUP PANCAKES WITH CARAMELISED PEARS AND CANDID WALNUTS

Simple and easy for a go slow family Sunday breakfast, this is our home grown pears canned in syrup caramelised and served on top of home made buttermilk maple pancakes and for that finishing touch pear syrup candid walnuts.  Drizzle over extra pear or mapel syrup for that extra Sunday specialness. 

Prep Time: 10 minutes / Resting Time: 30 minutes / Cooking Time: 15 minutes 

Ingredients

(Makes 6-8 pancakes)

1 cup self raising flour

1 egg beaten 

300ml buttermilk

(Make your own recipe below)

50ml double cream

50ml maple syrup

1 vanilla pod seeds scraped out

Tiny pinch of sea salt

Oil for cooking

1 tin canned pears in syrup

1 handful chopped walnuts

I help mum preserve some of our home grown pears for use over winter, all we did was peel and poach the pears in half sugar and half water syrup, then in to hot sterilised mason or kilner jars and in to the larder for storing.

Preserved Pears Home Grown and Made

In a large bowl place the flour and salt add the buttermilk and beaten egg and whisk until you have a smooth batter then add the vanilla and leave to rest for half an hour if you can.  

Heat a skillet to a medium high heat and place the pears in the pan along with 50ml of the cans syrup, bubble away and caramel use the pears, remove from the pan and throw in the walnuts and toss in the reduced pear syrup glaze and turn out on to a plate and reserve to one side.

Now to make your pancakes, heat your skillet medium high and brush over a little oil or if your skillet is as seasoned as my mums you won't need to, pour a ladle of your pancake batter in to the center of your pan and leave to cook for a minute or so until you have lots of air bubbles in the batter this is when your pancake is ready to be turned, not before!  

Flip you pancake and cook for another minute or so and turn out on to a warm plate and cover with a tea towel while you cook the rest of the batch. Serve topped with your caramelised pears and candid walnuts and enjoy family style with extra maple and pear syrups. 

To make Buttermilk

Add two tablespoons of lemon juice or white wine vinegar to 500ml of milk and leave to one side for quarter of an hour, Ta-daaaaa quick and easy buttermilk, you can make this with a culture too over night.

AWESOME MINTY DOG BISCUITS

I love making my two dogs some treats every week, that's because every afternoon they want a snack around about an hour before their dinner time and they often come up and place toys on my lap or as lottie the Great Dane does she just places her chin on my shoulder as she knows that will get her a treat !!!  😃... 

These are really quick and easy to make and the recipe has been created with the dogs approval !!! That really means I have learnt from the disaster batches that they would not eat, like the peppermint breath biscuit, a definite  no go!  

Prep Time 5 minutes / Cooking Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

(Makes approx 40)

1 cup peanut butter

2 cups  oat bran

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup potato flour

1cup water

2 eggs beaten

1/4 cup fresh chopped mint

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and bring to a firm dough ball, you can add more water or oat bran if you need to stiffen or loosen the mix.

Roll out the dough to around half an inch thick and cut out your cookies, bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degreesC / 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes, remove and leave to cool, then treat your pets with your fabulous home made cookies. 

CHICKEN LIVER PAFAIT FRENCH

Awesome this rich chicken liver pate is my mums French recipe and is super easy and quick to make and tastes awesome! 

Prep time 15 minutes / Cooking time 15 minutes

Ingredients 

(Serves 4)

500g organic chicken livers

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic finely chopped

2 sprigs fresh thyme

100ml brandy

200ml double cream

Himalayan sea salt 

Fresh black pepper

Bring a large skillet to a medium heat, add the olive oil and onions, gently soften for 5 minutes, add the garlic and chicken livers and cook for around 7 minutes until the centre of the chicken livers are still just a little pink, remove the chicken livers and leave to one side, now add the brandy to the pan and de glaze the pan on a high heat for one minute reducing the brandy slightly.

In a food processor place the rested chicken livers along with their resting juices and using a spatula all the de glazed pan brandy sauce.  Blitz until smooth, then pour in half the double cream a generous pinch of salt and pepper, blitz to combine and taste, adjust the seasoning and creaminess to your taste, you want the consistency to be soft like whipped cream as the pate will firm up once stored in the fridge.

Want to go to the next level, melt some butter and place the pate in your serving dishes leaving a one inch head space from the top, place a pretty sprig of thyme or a sage leaf on top and pour over the butter completely covering the pate.

This is two fold, first it seals the pate from air exposure and discolouration and even better the pate comes complete with its own butter for the Melba toast! 

BEST EVER VINDALOO CURRY SPICE POWDER

I love to cook and in our family home Sunday's are very special, they are a totally family day where we all go down the farm and feed the animals and then get back home, change in to our Sunday best Pyjamas and get Sunday Lunch under way.  At the moment Sunday Lunches are Indian themed where  we are eating our way around India.

Vindaloo Curry Spice

It is always best to grind your own dry spices when cooking Indian food it really does make a difference  and it really is very easy and quick to do.

Ingredients

This is my families tiffin spice tin, we have two that hold all the spices we use regularly and that makes it much easier to make your curry spice as everything is to hand.

1 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp cumin seeds 

1 clove

1 inch piece cinnamon stick

1.5 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp turmeric

15 cardamom pods seeds only

2 tbsp Kashmiri powder

Place all the ingredients in a old coffee grinder or pestle and mortar and grind, these are now ready to use, I like to marinate my ingredients for at least 12 hours, the next stage is below.

To Marinate your main ingredients, vegetables, lamb, beef or chicken this is the next stage.

1 onion 

6 cloves garlic

1 inch whole fresh ginger

2 tbsp tamarind pulp

5 tbsp white wine vinegar

Place all in ingredients in to a food processor and blitz, add the above ground curry spices and blitz again until all incorporated, mix and coat your main meal ingredients and leave in the fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours but 12-24 is brilliant if you can.

To cook your curry pan fry some chopped onion in ghee, add your marinated curry ingredients along with 200ml water, a couple of tomatoes and a fresh green chilli and gently simmer until cooked, serve with rice and breads.