Cheeseburger Soup, Mother's Day & Fish Wellington

Several really tasty offerings for you this week.  Get busy and cook something wonderful!

Cheeseburger Soup

Holly told me about this dish, which she had in Tulsa a couple weeks ago. I found a lot of recipes, most of which had stuff it it that you or I never put in a cheeseburger. Things like carrots and celery and potatoes. WHAT??!! 

Then I found this recipe, which I've only tweaked a little. I substituted chopped tomato for tomato paste, real garlic and onion for powders, and cut back some of the cream. I've also added toasted hamburger buns, which give the soup some extra body and a topping.

4 Hamburger buns, cut into croutons and toasted/broiled

5 slices Bacon

1 lb Ground Sirloin

1 tsp Liquid Smoke

2 tbsp. Butter

32 oz. Beef Broth, low sodium

2 cloves Garlic

1/4 cup Onion, diced

2 Roma Tomatoes, diced

1/4 cup diced Dill Pickle

2 tsp. Brown Mustard

1 tsp. Kosher Salt

1/2 tsp. Black Pepper

1 tsp. Cumin

1 tsp. Chili Powder

1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese - the sharper the better

1 cup Heavy Cream

Fry up the bacon, and reserve on paper towels. In the bacon grease, fry the ground beef like a giant patty (don't crumble it), getting lots of good hard crispy bits. Both sides.

Once beef is browned on both sides, transfer it and the fat to a pot. Move the beef to the sides of the pot and add 2 tbsp. of butter in the middle. Add the spices and mix them into the butter. Cook for about 30-45 seconds.

Mix in everything else (except croutons, bacon, cheese and cream). Cover and simmer 20 minutes on low heat. Add the cream and stir it in well.

Put a handful of croutons in each bowl, add the soup, and top with more croutons, bacon bits and shredded cheese.

Mother's Day Dinner

Holly flew in from D.C. for the weekend, to surprise her Mom and grandmas. Since she's not a fish eater, I changed the Fish Pie I was going to make, to a Steak & Mushroom Pie, with peas and pearl onions, topped by puff pastry. Sally already planned to make another of her Trifles for dessert.

Grandma Sheila had wanted shrimp in the fish pie I was going to make, so I decided to get some and make a simple appetizer.

Everglades Shrimp

12 nice large locally harvested Shrimp, peeled

1/4 tsp Everglades Seasoning tm

a splash of oil

Barbeque Sauce -- I used Sweet Baby Ray's Original tm

Saute the shrimp in a splash of oil and the seasoning, until they just turn pink. Remove from the heat and plate with a little BBQ sauce spooned over. How easy is that??

Beefy Pita Bites

Here's the simple beef appetizer I made for Holly.   I like the Toufayan tm brand Smart Pockets tm which are square pita pockets that make great sandwiches, DIY pita chips,  and things like this:

1/8 lb Deli Roast Beef, sliced thin

1/4 tsp Xato, a Catalonia version of Romesco sauce

1 Smart Pocket, halved

Heat the pocket 20 seconds in the microwave. Heat the beef similarly, to take the refrigerator chill off. Fold the meat into the pita halves, and add a dollop of the Xato. Plate and serve. Easy, huh?  Serves 1. 

Steak & Mushroom Pie

 Can't call this Cottage Pie -- Cottage Pie invariably has a "crust" of mashed potatoes.  Shepherd's Pie has lamb in it.  This is (not so) plain Steak & Mushroom Pie.

1-1/2 lbs steak diced

1/8 tsp Emeril's Steak Seasoning tm

1 bag Green Peas, frozen

1 box Pearl Onions, frozen

1 small can Beef Gravy (I used Bisto tm gravy crystals which can be hard to find but make better gravy)

1 sheet of Puff pastry

Cut the meat into 1" pieces, dust with the seasoning, and saute until barely browned. Cool. Cut each 1" piece into quarters. You want "bigger than ground beef, smaller than a thumb tip" pieces.

Place the meat in the pie dish. Thaw the peas and pearl onions and add them to the beef. Do not add the veggies while frozen, it will make things too watery. Stir to combine. Add about a quarter cup of gravy and stir again. Top the filling with the pastry. Bake at 400F for 30 minutes until GB&D. Slice and serve.

 

Sally's Trifle

She made this a month or so back with canned fruit. Check out the full description in my April 6th post Anglo-Indian Dishes.  This time I got fresh blackberries and raspberries and chose "Very Berry" and Raspberry -- blue and red -- gelatins.

Start by laying in the Ladyfingers round the edge. Mix up the first gelatin and let it sit in the fridge until it's just starting to firm up -- maybe ten minutes. Add the fruit, and pour carefully into the serving vessel so as not to disturb the Ladyfingers. Allow that layer to set up nice and firm.

Repeat with the second gelatin and fruit. When that's firmed up, make up the custard and pour over the top. Let it set up as well.  Add the whipped cream just before serving.

Mahi Wellington

I have a catering tomorrow night, and the main course the client chose really intrigued Sally. So she asked me to make a 'trial run' for us for dinner tonight.  This would work well with any firm white fish - Mahi mahi, Cod, Grouper, Monkfish, even Catfish.

Here's what I did, with the ingredients boosted to serve four:

1 lb Mahi mahi filets -- one large piece if you can find it, or 4 smaller pieces

1 oz Smoked Salmon -- the soft 'nova' or Scottish or Lox type, not the hard Pacific Northwest style.

Puff Pastry

Everglades Seasoning to taste

1 egg, beaten for egg-wash/glue.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Start thawing the puff pastry. One sheet should do. Pat the fish very dry, in fact, roll it up in paper towels for 15 minutes or so to get rid of as much liquid as you can.

If you have one large slab 'o fish, slice half way through the length and "stuff" the slice with the smoked salmon -- not much, a little goes a long way. If using smaller pieces, place bits of salmon between pairs of filets. Dust the white fish with Everglades Seasoning.

Carefully wrap the fish bundles in the puff pastry, trim around the edges, and seal with a dab of egg-wash. Place on a rack and bake for 30 minutes, until GB&D.

Shown below is dinner for two -- two 1/4 lb filets, 2/3 sheet of puff pastry, a few bits of smoked salmon.