Copycat "BIG MAC", meatless-style

Dev and I are at 'WEEK 3' of our 'meatless' experiment. (Although, we caved 2 nights ago and got a hotdog at the Central. Whoops.) Anyways, we had a craving for a BIG MAC, so we decided to attempt making them using veggie burgers. As it turns out, they turned out pretty tasty! The sauce was pretty spot-on and the texture of the veggie patty was surprisingly comparable to a McDonald's patty - yep... questionable ingredients, no? ;-)

COPYCAT Veggie BIG MAC
4 Morning Star Grilled Patties
1 T dried onions, rehydrated
shredded lettuce
4 slices Kraft American Cheese slices
4 sesame seed buns

CopyCat McDonald's Special Sauce
1/2 C Mayo
2 T Kraft French Dressing
4 tsp sweet pickles
1 T minced onion
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Combine special sauce ingredients and refrigerate for and hour - or overnight. Re-hydrate dried onions (key ingredient!) with warm water for 15 min. Drain.

Heat patties per instructions.

Cut the top half of 2 buns to make the 'middle' bigmac bun. Spread with butter, toast and set aside.


Top bottom bun with 1 T special sauce, rehydrated onion, lettuce, 1 slice of cheese, patty and middle bun.

Repeat...

THERE YOU GO! This was a hefty burger - both Dev and I only could only finish half. Next time, ONE patty will suffice. ;-)

Meatless Lasagna

Dev and I are still going strong with our 'meatless' experiment! A couple weeks ago we tried Morningstar Farms Grillers Crumbles for Sloppy Joes and it was incredibly mushy and disappointing. This time we used Boca Ground Crumbles and I have to tell you, the texture held up very well. Another surprise find was Lightlife Gimme Lean! Sausage Style. Holy! This stuff tastes just like breakfast sausage. Dev loved it.

Preheat oven 425F
Meatless Lasagna
1/2 package Lightlife Gimme Lean Sausage
2/3 package Boca Ground Crumbles
1 carrot
1 celery
1/2 onion
1 14oz can Mur Glen diced tomatoes (w/garlic & basil)
2 T tomato paste
1 C milk
1 C white wine

Filling
2 C cottage cheese
1 egg
1/4 C chopped parsley
1/2 C parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
6 slices mozzarella cheese
Italian Cheese blend
Fresh Mozarella


Boca Crumbles and Gimme Lean.

Finely mince carrot, celery and onion.

Saute minced vegetables in olive oil until softned - about 5 min. Add tomato paste and saute until fragrant and nearly caramelized.

Add milk and simmer until evaporated. Add wine and simmer until evaporated.

In a separate pan, saute Ground Crumbles and Veg sasauge in olive oil until browned. Add to tomato mixture and stir in diced tomatoes.


I chose cottage cheese over ricotta because of a 'test kitchen' review I came across in Cooks Illustrated. Sometimes ricotta can have that gritty texture and it seems cottage cheese manages to retain a smooth texture. YEP. Puree cottage cheese and egg until almost smooth. In a small bowl combine cottage cheese mixture, parsley, parmesan cheese and salt. Layer sauce, noodles and top with cottage cheese mixture. Top with 6 slices moz cheese and shredded cheese.

Repeat layers.

Top with fresh mozzarella, shredded cheeseblend, cover with foil and bake for 30 min. Increase temp to 450F, remove foil and bake an additional 15 min. or until cheese is browned. Cool for 15 min.


I made some garlic toast using roasted garlic cloves, butter and fresh parsley. YUM!

I can't believe it's not BACON

Mushrooms that taste like bacon? Seriously? The first time I heard about this insane concept was from our friend Joe. I didn't believe it until we tried it. It really does - similar to the fatty, crispy, burned portions of bacon. I am amazed. And those of you who know Dev, he LOVES his bacon and doesn't like mushrooms at all. He ate these and said he was 'pleasantly surprised'!

Preheat oven to 350F

Shiitake BACON
1/2 lb Shiitake mushrooms
1/4 C olive oil
1 tsp sea salt




I didn't follow the recipe exactly because I didn't have 1/2 lb of mushrooms. Also, I found a second recipe online that soaked the mushrooms in 1C soy sauce. I decided to mix half of the mushrooms I had with olive oil/salt and the other with olive oil and a couple spoonfuls of soy sauce.

Place mushrooms on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 30min.- 1 hour, depending upon how big you mushrooms are. Check up on them every 10min. (flipping/turning) and take them out once they become dark and caramelized. They will shrink half in size.


Let them cool completely. ENJOY!

Spaghetti Bolognese

Dev and I had this a few nights ago - I'm a little behind in my posts...

Whenever we have spaghetti, our go-to sauce is the store bought, bottled kind. But I keep coming across Spaghetti Bolognese recipes online that look amazing! The bolognese I've made for lasagna was delicious so I figured, why not give this a go! Usually, bolognese is made with beef and sometimes pork, and veal but I made this with ground turkey breast and a bit of Hot Italian sausage. It came out wonderful! I would definitely make this again (that is, when I have the time) ;-)

Spaghetti Bolognese
1 lb ground turkey breast
1/2 lb hot italian sausage
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t salt 

black pepper

3 slices thick-cut applewood smoked bacon
1 small walla walal onion

1 carrot
2 stalks celery

1 C whole milk 

1 C dry white wine

3 C chicken broth (low salt)
1/3 cup + 1 T tomato paste

1 bay leaf
1 T sugar

1 lb spaghetti



Mix together the ground turkey, sausage, garlic and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least and hour.


Roughly chop onion, carrots and celery. I like to grind them in my mini-chopper until finely minced.



Roughly chop bacon. Over medium heat, saute the bacon and vegetable until they start to caramelize - about 20 min. Raise the heat and add meat mixture to pan. Cook until browned.
Add the milk and continue to cook until all the liquid has evaporated. Using a fork or potato masher, break up meat until fine.



Add tomato paste, wine, bay leaf and stock and bring to a boil. I like having these tiny wine bottles on hand in the pantry for cooking - then I won't waste a big bottle (I love red wine, but white wine isn't my thing)
Reduce heat to a low simmer and partially cover pot with lid. Simmer for until thickened - about 2 hours. If the sauce is still too liquid, raise the heat slightly, remove lid and keep simmering. Add sugar and season if necessary with salt and pepper.


Cook pasta to al dente in salted water and toss with the sauce.



Serve with freshly grated parmesan and garlic toast!

Macaroons

Baking for the troops!

I usually bake Chocolate Chip or Salted Oatmeal cookies, but lately I've been baking S'mores Bars and Rum Cake because I know they'll stay moist during the long journey - I've heard it can take anywhere between 2-4 weeks for the troops to receive their packages. GAH.

This time, I wanted try macaroons into the mix.

Preheat Oven to 350F
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
(make sure you do this, or the cookies WILL STICK to the pan)

1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/4 C milk
1/4 C + 2T flour
1 bag Sweetened Shredded Coconut



Stir together Sweetened Condensed Milk and Milk.
Add flour and coconut. Combine well.


Drop by the tablespoon, 1 inch apart


Bake for 16 minutes, or until it turns golden around the edges.
Cool and then transfer to rack.

Of course I had to 'taste test' one, and they came out very good.

Crispy on the edges and moist and chewy on the inside. Success!

Late Night Snack: Mozzarella Sticks

Every once in a while, Dev and I have a craving for mozzarella sticks, but we've never enjoyed the frozen variety from the supermarket or the ones we've ordered for delivery. They've all been typically dried out, mushy and have an unpleasant rubbery fake cheese texture.

So, we decided to make our own!

YaMadzzarella Stix! (Dev came up with the name. HA!)
1/2 block Mozzarella cheese (8 oz)
1/3 C flour
2 T cornstarch
1 tsp Lawry's Season Salt
2 T water
1 Egg
3/4 C Italian Seasoned bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
1/2 C freshly grated parmesan cheese

Peanut Oil



Dish 1: flour, cornstarch and season salt
Dish 2: breadcrumbs, cheese and salt
Dish 3: water and egg, mixed until frothy
Slice up your block of cheese into sticks

Dust cheese sticks with flour mixture.

Dip sticks into egg, then breading...

... then egg then breading one more time. (Double Dip!)
Lay sticks on a cookie sheet and put into the freezer for 1 hour.


Heat oil (350-375).

Fry sticks until gold brown. This will only take a few min.
Cool on paper towels. The freezing and double breading helps keep the cheese in tact.


These came out really tasty. Make sure to add the Season Salt to the flour - otherwise, it will be a little bland. I also suggest serving these with a little marinara or your favorite spaghetti sauce. Enjoy!

Late Night Pizza Snack

Dev and I don't always feel like cooking and eating a big meal when its late, so we decided to make 3 small pizza's with half of the pizza dough I made a couple days before. (These were about 3 in wide, 9 in long?)


BBQ Chicken.

YUM! A new favorite of mine! ...Dev on the other hand, wouldn't touch it.

I used pre-cooked, diced chicken breast mixed with bbq and tomato sauce, diced onion, fresh mozzarella slices and topped with freshly chopped cilantro once I took it out of the oven. This pizza was only half bbq, and the other half was ham. Darn. Next time, it's ALL BBQ.

Dev's favorite, pepperoni!

Topped with a 3-cheese blend and topped with fresh mozzarella slices.

Dev's other favorite, Cheese!

Fresh Mozzarella, Gruyere and Parmesan cheeses.

Mexican Corn and Bean Salad

I came across this recipe in Fine Cooking Magazine about a month ago. Thankfully, we've managed to squeeze in a few late summer BBQs and I've been able to make this salad a few times. I think this salad looks so beautifully colorful and vibrant on a plate and I love how fresh it tastes. This past time, I decided to add a jalapeno pepper to the dressing for a little kick.

Preheat oven to 425F

Chopped Mexican Salad (Fine Cooking Mag)
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
3 ears of corn
4-5 Vine-Ripe tomatoes
2 avocados
1 can black beans
cilantro

Dressing
1 shallot, minced
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
3 T orange juice
3 T lime juice
1 T honey
3/4 t cumin
1 jalapeno (optional)
salt and pepper


Cut peppers in half and place on baking sheet cut side down.
Coat corn ears and peppers with a couple tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Roast for about 20 min., rotating corn after 10 min. The peppers should have dark spots.



When cool enough to handle, peel the skins from the peppers. They should slide right off. Chop peppers into small pieces.



Cut corn from the cobs and seed and dice the tomatoes.
Start layering the corn, peppers and tomatoes on a platter.



Rinse and drain beans. Add to platter.

Dressing



Grate the garlic, mince the shallots and jalapeno and add to the juice. Add honey and whisk together. Slowly add olive oil until combined well.


Peel and chop avocado and roughly chop cilantro. Add avocado to platter and season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. When ready to serve, drizzle the dressing over the platter and sprinkle with fresh cilantro.


I wish my photo wasn't so blurry! But, it is delicious. Give it a try!

General Tso's Chicken

Marinade & Sauce
1/2 C hoisin sauce
1 T tomato paste
1/4 C white vinegar
3 T soy sauce
3 T sugar
2 T cornstarch
1 1/2 C water
4 chicken breasts, cut into 1 in chunks

(I used just 2)

Whisk together marinade. Reserve 3T of marinade for the coating.


Take out 6T of marinade, place in ziplock with chicken and marinate for 30 min.

Sauce
1 T oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 T ginger, grated
1 t red pepper flakes
2 C marinade (take out 3 T for coating)

Heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger and pepper flakes until fragrant for 1 min.
Add almost 2C marinade, whisking until dark and thickened.
2 min. Cover and keep warm.

Coating
2 large egg whites
3/4 C cornstarch
1/4 C flour
1/4 t baking soda
3 T of remaining marinade
oil
Remove chicken from marinade and pat dry.

Whisk egg whites until foamy. Combine coating ingredients and remaining hoisin mixture. Toss chicken in egg whites until coated and dredge in cornstarch mixture.

Heat oil to 350F.


Fry until golden brown - about 3min.
Drain on paper towels.

Warm sauce until simmering and mix with chicken.

This came out very good! I wish it had a little more heat/kick, so I think next time I'll try cooking with chili pods.

I fried half of the chicken with beer batter and the other half with this coating recipe for a taste test. Dev and I enjoyed Both! The beer batter was light and crispy and the General's coating was denser, but crispy as well. Neither tasted oily and both coatings held up well with the sauce. I'd definitely make this again.
ENJOY!

Beer Battered Onion Rings

Ok, these are really good. You should try this.
The batter is light and crisp and any leftovers you have (if any, ha) holds up very well to freezing and re-heating in the oven!

1 large Walla Walla sweet onion, sliced
1 carton of buttermilk
flour


Soak rings in buttermilk for at least 1 hour.
Fill a paper bag with about 2 cups of flour.

Drop in onion rings and shake to coat.

Let rings rest on a rack while you make the batter.

Batter
1 1/2 C flour
1 T baking powder
1 tsp seasoned salt (such as Lawry's)
Dash of cayenne pepper
1 bottle of beer

Combine flour, cayenne pepper, seasoned salt and baking powder.


Stir well...



Slowly add 1 bottle of beer - should be thick like pancake batter
Dip rings into batter, shake off excess batter.


Deep fry at 350-375 for about 3 min. or until golden brown.


Enjoy!

**NOTE: if you want to keep them warm in the oven before serving, keep the temp at 200F. I tried it at 270F, and they ended up hard and dried out. ;-(

Scallion Pancakes

I made this a few weeks ago, but I didn't take the time to post...
doing a little catch up tonight. ;-)

Scallion Pancakes
2 C flour
3/4C hot water
1/4 T salt
Sesame oil
Scallions, chopped
Oil


Sift flour and salt in a bowl. Slowly add the hot water and stir with a wooden spoon until dough comes together.



Turn out dough onto a lightly floured board and knead for 5 min. until very smooth and elastic (add flour a little at a time so it is not overly sticky, but don't add too much or it will dry out). Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let rest for 30 min.


Remove dough from plastic wrap, form into a log and cut into 6 pieces.


Ball up and flatten out each piece into a disk. Roll out as thin as you can without tearing. Brush the dough with sesame oil (I used the back of a spoon).


Sprinkle a layer of green onions, a little kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roll up into a log.



Twist up the log (turning in opposite directions) into then roll up into a coil.


Flatten out each coil and rollout to a flattened disc. Heat up oil in a large skillet and FRY 'EM UP until golden brown! (note: if you decide to only use a few tablespoons of oil, the texture will be more like a... tortilla.



Cool and slice into wedges. I made a little dipping sauce of rice vinegar, soy and chili oil. I'd like to try another sauce next time. Maybe a sweet and sour one too?

Stuesel Coffee Cake

Who doesn't like coffee cake?
This one is came out nicely. I didn't have a tube cake pan, but it worked out fine in a bundt pan. Make sure you watch the baking time carefully or it will easily over bake and come out dry. I think next time I make this, I'll double the streusel.

Sour Cream Streusel Coffee Cake (Ina Garten)
Preheat oven to 350F

1 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/2 C sugar
3 X-large eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 1/4 C sour cream
2 1/2 C cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt



Cream butter and sugar until creamy and light in color (4 min)
Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream. Combine well.



Sift dry ingredients and slowly add to batter and mix well.

Streusel
1/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3 T cold unsalted butter



Mix together streusel ingredients and crumble in the butter with your fingers or a pastry blender. Spoon half of the batter in a pan and sprinkle with about 3/4 C streusel. Fill with remaining batter...


Top with the rest of the streusel.
Bake for about 50 min. and cool.



Mix about 1/2C confectioners sugar with 2 T maple syrup.



Drizzle over cake and ENJOY!