Bacon Cheeseburger with Avocado

Burgers hold a special place in my heart. They're the first real meal item that I cooked all by myself. This probably happened when I was 12 or something, but my sharp as a crayon memory means I really have no clue. Anyway, my current favorite version is a grass-fed beef patty with organic cheddar cheese, avocado, uncured maple bacon, organic lettuce and onion on a Eli's Bread brioche bun. It is burger heaven, especially paired with bacon fat roasted potatoes. I don't have a picture of those because I ate them before I could take a picture...oh well. Another time.

Chicken "Enchiladas"

Enchiladas is in quotes because I actually have no idea what goes into making real enchiladas. I wanted to make chicken tacos one day, and ended up with this concoction. I mean, it's hard to go wrong with chicken wrapped in corn tortillas, covered in spicy sauce, topped with cheese and baked until melty.

HOW TO:

Season and sear the chicken. I use salt, pepper, onion power, garlic powder, chili powder, cinnamon, curry powder, white pepper, cayenne, and possibly some other spices that I can't remember at the moment. Yes, the half of a chicken pictured is abnormally large. I get it from my CSA and although they say it's pasture raised and yada yada, I'm pretty sure it's a mutant.

Anyway, next remove the chicken and throw in the onions, garlic, carrots, cubanelle and jalapeño peppers. Scrape up the meaty bits and sauté until soft.

I also added a puree of chipotle peppers that I got from the farmers market, but I forgot to take a picture of them. Here they are in the blender.

Add spices, some tomato paste, chicken stock, a bay leaf, and the chicken back to the pot.

Simmer for...ehhhh about 2 hours. Remove the chicken. When it's cool enough to handle, shred the meat. I throw the white meat back into the sauce and keep the dark meat for the enchilada filling.

Roll, cover with sauce, top with cheese, bake, and enjoy. I should work on the chili ratios because this version was particularly spicy. 

Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese and Pistachios

The combination of earthy and sweet beets with tangy goat cheese and crunchy pistachios is fantastic, and they make for a great side dish.

HOW TO:

Wash, dry, and cut off the tops of the beets. Toss with a little salt, pepper, and olive oil, and roast at 375ºF in a foil packet for about 50 minutes or until fork tender. Peel off the skins when cool and cut into cubes. Season, toss with olive oil and a little bit of lemon juice, and set aside. Blend goat cheese with a little milk until whipped together. The beets can be served either topped with goat cheese (above) or mixed together. The mixed version is easier to serve, but it turns slightly unappetizingly highlighter pink. Garnish with pistachios.

Snack Time: Crispy Buttered Jerusalem Artichokes

You may ask, "What the hell are Jerusalem Artichokes???" Good question. I first found them in my CSA share last summer, and after a few weeks they found their way into my garbage because I had no idea what to do with them or even what they were. Turns out Jerusalem artichokes, aka sunchokes, aka those weird brown things are the roots of sunflowers! That's all fine and dandy and interesting, but after I finally figured out what they were I still had to find a way to make them delicious. After a few months of sad experiments and chucking these seemingly unappetizing tubers into the trash (sorry Farmer Zaid!), I decided to bust out the ultimate cooking weapon: butter. I should have thought of this sooner, because almost everything tastes delicious fried in butter. Lo and behold, they were phenomenal. Crispy and salty with a tiny bit of chewy bite to it, they're surprisingly addictive.

Buttered Sunchokes:

Wash and dry. Thinly slice the sunchokes, about 2 cm thick and on a diagonal if they're small. Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a non-stick pan, enough to coat but not drown the sliced sunchokes. Throw those bad boys in, put the heat on medium, add some salt and pepper, and cook until nice and crispy on both sides. It works better if you start removing the slices as they're done, but try not to eat them all as they come out of the pan.

Gnocchi with Homemade Pork Cheek Ragu

HOW TO:

Season and sear the pork cheeks

Add garlic, onion, some carrot, and a little celery to the pot making sure to scrape those stuck meaty bits

Brown ground pork in the mirepoix. Deglaze with some red wine. Add chicken stock, some ripped basil leaves, and a bay leaf.

Three hours later...

Serve with fresh gnocchi (available from Eataly). No, I did not make gnocchi from scratch. I'm not that amazing...yet.