Blue Cheese Burgers

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef (16-20%)
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese (get Pt. Reyes blue cheese if you can find it)
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp water
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1 Put ground beef, mustard, garlic, onions, blue cheese, water, and egg into a large bowl. Use your hands to gently mix the ingredients together until just incorporated. Do not over-mix. Shape into patties, about 1/2 inch thick and larger than your bun. Chill until you are ready to cook.

2 Prepare charcoal or gas grill for cooking over high direct heat. Using tongs and a folded up paper towel dipped in vegetable oil, oil the grill grates. Make sure grill is hot and well oiled before laying down the patties. Season patties with salt and pepper. Place the patties on the clean, well-oiled grill grate. Grill the burgers for about 5 minutes per side. Do not press down on the burgers while cooking.

If you don't have a grill, you can use a grill pan or a cast iron frying pan for the burgers.

Serve on hamburger buns with lettuce and mayonnaise.

Makes 4 burgers.

Cheddar Cheese Puffs Recipe

Cheddar Cheese Puffs Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter (8 Tbsp or 4 ounces)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup (4 ounces) grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme (or rosemary)
• Freshly ground pepper

Method

1 In a medium sized saucepan, add the water, butter, and salt, and bring to a boil over high heat.

2 Reduce the heat to medium and add the flour all at once. Stir rapidly. The mixture will form a dough ball that will pull away from the sides of the pan. It helps to use a wooden spoon to stir as the dough will be rather thick. Continue to cook for a couple minutes.

3 Remove the pan from the heat and let cool for a couple of minutes. Stir so that the dough cools more evenly. You want the dough to be warm, just not so hot that when you start adding eggs they cook as they hit the dough. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring after each addition until the eggs are incorporated into the dough. (Do this part in a mixer if you want, or by hand with a wooden spoon.) The dough should become rather creamy.

4 Stir in the grated cheese, thyme, and a few grinds of pepper.

5 Preheat oven to 425°F. Spoon out small balls (about a heaping tablespoon) of the dough onto a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet, with at least an inch separating the spoonfuls. Place in oven and cook for 10 minutes at 425°F. Lower heat to 350°F and cook for another 15-20 minutes, until puffed up and lightly golden.

Makes about 2 dozen.

So Easy so Good Peaches & Bananas

Ingredients:

3 large fresh peaches, very ripe if possible

2 medium bananas

4 tablespoons sugar

1 cup miniature marshmallow

Directions:

1. 1 Wash and cut up the peaches into small pieces--feel free to peel the peaches first if they are quite fuzzy on the outside.
2. 2 Peel and cut the bananas in small slices.
3. 3 Combine the fruits with the sugar and stir well. If you choose to use an non-caloric sweetener, consider putting at least one tablespoon of regular sugar to aid in the release the juice from the peaches. Obviously the amounts of the ingredients are not critical, but the sugar is the key player in this recipe so don't forget it.
4. 4 Stir in the miniature marshmallows, cover and refrigerate up to 3 days. Serve in individual bowls or cups so this doesn't make the rest of the foods on a plate all wet. The combination of the juice of the peaches drawn out by the sugar and the dissolving of the marshmallows makes an acidic liquid that keeps the bananas from getting brown and creates a wonderful mellow flavored liqueur so the longer it sets in the fridge, the better it gets--and don't throw the juice away, it's the best part! If you leave it long enough, it will ferment. If your bananas end up on top of the fruit and look a little brown before serving, stir them down into the juice and they will look better almost immediately.

Prep Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 10 mins

Easy Simple Sweet Potatoes or Yams

Ingredients:

4 sweet potatoes

1/2 cup salted butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:

1. 1 Scrub sweet potatoes clean under running water.
2. 2 Poke holes ( all over) in the potatoes with a fork.
3. 3 Bake at 350 degrees f for about 1 hour or until they are soft ( place potatoes directly on rack withour wrapping n foil).
4. 4 Put butter in dish on table.
5. 5 Put brown sugar in dish on table.
6. 6 Score the sweet potatoes down the middle.
7. 7 Serve to everone and have each person put butter and brown sugar ( to liking ) on the potato.
8. 8 Eat.

Prep Time: 5 mins

Total Time: 1 1/4 hr

Simple, Easy Pizza

Ingredients:

3 cups luke-warm water

1 tablespoon yeast

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon salt

8 -10 cups flour

2 tablespoons cornmeal

3 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce

6 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Prep Time: 30 mins

Total Time: 1 1/2 hrs

1. 1 Add water, yeast, sugar, and salt to mixing bowl.
2. 2 Let sit 10 minutes. You should see bubbles of yeast (if not, you may have the wrong water temperature: start over).
3. 3 Mix in flour conservatively - don't add too much. After mixing it in, keep adding until dough is not wet looking and can be kneaded.
4. 4 Knead dough until smooth.
5. 5 Let rise at least 30 minutes (ideally 1 hour) at room temperature.
6. 6 Pre-heat oven to 475 degrees.
7. 7 Split dough into pieces (3-5 depending on size of pizza).
8. 8 Roll dough out each to the size of your pan (toss if desired to help reach appropriate size).
9. 9 Sprinkle corn meal onto each pan.
10. 10 Place dough onto pans, stretching or squeezing if necessary to fit properly.
11. 11 Spread some tomato sauce onto dough, leaving about an inch around the outside without sauce.
12. 12 Spread some cheese on top of the sauce.
13. 13 Add additional toppings as desired.
14. 14 Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until dough is fully cooked. The bottom of the pizza should be at least a little crispy.

Homemade Pizza Recipe

• Prep time: 2 hours
• Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Pizza Dough: Makes enough dough for two 10-12 inch pizzas

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (105°F-115°F)
• 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast (check the expiration date on the package)
• 3 1/2 cups bread flour (can use all-purpose but bread flour will give you a crisper crust)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Pizza Ingredients

• Olive oil
• Cornmeal (to slide the pizza onto the pizza stone)

• Tomato sauce (purée)
• Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese, shredded
• Feta cheese
• Mushrooms, thinly sliced
• Bell peppers, stems and seeds removed, thinly sliced
• Italian sausage, cooked ahead
• Chopped fresh basil
• Pesto
• Pepperoni, thinly sliced
• Onions, thinly sliced
• Sliced ham

Special equipment needed

• A pizza stone, highly recommended if you want your pizza dough to be crusty
• A pizza peel or a flat baking sheet
• A pizza wheel for cutting the pizza, not required, but easier to deal with than a knife

Method

Making the Pizza Dough

1 In the large bowl of a heavy duty electric mixer (such as a Kitchen Aid), add the warm water. Sprinkle on the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved. Stir to dissolve completely if needed at the end of 5 minutes.

2 Attach a mixing paddle to the mixer. Mix in the olive oil, flour, salt and sugar on low speed for about a minute. Remove the mixing paddle and replace with a dough hook. Knead using the mixer and dough hook, on low to medium speed, until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If you don't have a mixer, you can mix and knead by hand. If the dough seems a little too wet, sprinkle on a bit more flour.

3 Place ball of dough in a bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil. Turn the dough around in the bowl so that it gets coated with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place (75-85°F) until it doubles in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours (or several hours longer, a longer rise will improve the flavor). If you don't have a warm spot in the house you can heat the oven to 150 degrees, and then turn off the oven. Let the oven cool till it is just a little warm, then place the bowl of dough in this warmed oven to rise.

At this point, if you want to make ahead, you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Preparing the Pizzas

1 Place a pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of your oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour.

2 Remove the plastic cover from the dough and punch the dough down so it deflates a bit. Divide the dough in half. Form two round balls of dough. Place each in its own bowl, cover with plastic and let sit for 10 minutes.

3 Prepare your desired toppings. Note that you are not going to want to load up each pizza with a lot of toppings as the crust will end up not crisp that way. About a third a cup each of tomato sauce and cheese would be sufficient for one pizza. One to two mushrooms thinly sliced will cover a pizza.

4 Working one ball of dough at a time, take one ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a slightly floured work surface. Starting at the center and working outwards, use your fingertips to press the dough to 1/2-inch thick. Turn and stretch the dough until it will not stretch further. Let the dough relax 5 minutes and then continue to stretch it until it reaches the desired diameter - 10 to 12 inches. Use your palm to flatten the edge of the dough where it is thicker. You can pinch the very edges if you want to form a lip.

5 Brush the top of the dough with olive oil (to prevent it from getting soggy from the toppings). Use your finger tips to press down and make dents along the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Let rest another 5 minutes.

Repeat with the second ball of dough.

6 Lightly sprinkle your pizza peel (or flat baking sheet) with corn meal. Transfer one prepared flattened dough to the pizza peel. If the dough has lost its shape in the transfer, lightly shape it to the desired dimensions.

7 Spoon on the tomato sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and place your desired toppings on the pizza.

8 Sprinkle some cornmeal on the baking stone in the oven (watch your hands, the oven is hot!). Gently shake the peel to see if the dough will easily slide, if not, gently lift up the edges of the pizza and add a bit more cornmeal. Slide the pizza off of the peel and on to the baking stone in the oven. Bake pizza one at a

AJWAIN PARANTHA(flavoured with carom seeds)

Servings : 4

INGREDIENTS Whole wheat flour (atta) for dusting+3 cups Salt to taste Carom seeds (ajwain), crushed 1/2 teaspoon Ghee 4 tablespoons Oil to shallow fry

METHOD Mix together atta, salt and carom seeds. Rub in two tablespoons of ghee. Add sufficient water and knead into a stiff dough. Cover and rest it for fifteen minutes. Divide the dough into eight equal portions. Roll in dry flour and roll into a round chapatti. Spread a little ghee on one side and lightly roll that side in dry flour. Fold the chapatti into half and then again into half to make a triangle Roll into a triangular parantha. It should be a little thick. Heat a tawa. Place the parantha on the tawa and cook for a minute. Flip and apply ghee. Cook for a minute and flip again and apply ghee. Cook till both the sides are golden. Serve hot.