Hawaiian Burgers with Avocado Spread

This is a older recipe of mine I made a while back. But, I love it and would love to make it again. The recipe does require a bit of prepping but turns out delicious. Great to make during the summer time. This recipe will make 4 hamburgers

Ingredients

Delicious! 

• 1 pound of ground beef
• 4 hamburger buns or Hawaiian bread buns
• 3 tbsp of teriyaki sauce
• one small red onion- 1/4 cup chopped and the remainder sliced
• 1/2 cup of bread crumbs
• add salt to taste
• 1 tbsp of garlic powder
• 1 tbsp of soy sauce
• one fresh pineapple- 1/4 cup chopped and four slices for each burger
• 1 small avocado 
• 1/8 cup of sour cream
• 1/8 cup of mayonnaise 
• slices of lettuce
• gruyere cheese

Preparation

First, open up ground beef and put in a bowl. Mix in 1/2 cup of bread crumbs, 1 tsp of salt, 1 tbsp of garlic powder, 1/4 cup of chopped red onion, 1/4 cup of pineapple, 3 tbsps of teriyaki sauce, and 1 tbsp of soy sauce. Mix all the ingredients together. Add more bread crumbs if the mixture is really moist. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for a hour. 

Next, make a avocado spread for the hamburgers by smashing up a small avocado with a 1/8 cup of sour cream and 1/8 cup of mayonnaise . Add salt to taste.  Put in the fridge until ready to serve the hamburgers.  

Heat up a grill pan or outside grill. Form ground beef mixture into four large patties. Grill patties as long as you prefer depending on well you want the meat cooked.  Add slices of gruyere cheese on the top of the patties when nearly cooked to melt the cheese.  Grill the slices of pineapple. In another pan, saute the slices of red onion with a little olive oil. Heat up or toast hamburger buns for a few minutes.

Serve burgers by putting avocado spread on each slice of bread. Place patties on the bread topped with grilled pineapple, red onion, and a piece of lettuce. Serve with your favorite side.  I enjoyed mine with mango pineapple salad and oven fries. Bon Appetit!  

Baked White Fish with Kale

Baked white fish with kale is a super easy recipe. This recipe is healthy, low-calorie, low-carb, and very tasty. The recipe will serve two people.


Ingredients

My lunch! Yummy. 

• 2 large pieces of frozen white fish- swai or tilapia is the best. 
• 3 cups of fresh kale
• 3 tbsps of olive oil
• 1 1/2 tbsps of Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsps of red pepper flakes
• 1 tsps of pepper
• 4 tbsps of red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp of salt

Preparation 

Fresh Kale

First, clean the kale by removing the long stems and keeping only the leaves. Wash all the leaves off with cold water to remove any dirt. Chop the kale into bite size pieces and set to the side. 

Kale in self-made aluminium bowl

Next, make a bowl with aluminium. (As shown in the picture to the left.) Put all the kale into the aluminium made bowl. Cover the kale evenly with with 4 tbsps red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp of italian seasoning, 1 tsp of salt, 2 tsp of black pepper, and 2 tbsps of olive oil.

Seasoned Frozen Swai Fillets

Then, take the the frozen fillets. Rub each with 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and 1/2 tsp of salt. Then, lay the fillets over the kale as shown in the picture. Then, sprinkle the tops of the fillets with 1/2 tsp of red pepper and 1/2 tbsp of Italian season. Add more salt and/or red pepper if desired.

*I do only recommend using frozen fillets because it turns out better from my experience.* 

Fish in the oven ready to cook!

Cover the top with more aluminium foil and make sure there are no holes to allow for the fish and kale to stem in the oven. Put the fish in the oven for 30 minutes to a hour at 375 degrees. The cooking time will depend on the size of each frozen fillet. So, check after 30 minutes. Cook until each fillet is white and flaky. 

Enjoy! The recipe is best served warm with a glass of white wine and piece of your favorite bread. 

My Ox Tail Experience

I was very hesitant about trying this meat. I am not the hugest meat eater. After bring a vegan/vegetarian for several years, I am wanting to try foods that I did not eat before because I think it is important to try everything at least once.

Ox Tail

Well, today I learned I actually like the taste of ox tail. The meat taste similar to roast The main issue I had was not cooking the meat long enough. It is a very fatty and tough. For those trying this for the first time, cook the ox tail in a slow cooker for several hours because it will turn out much better.

I am going to share my recipe. I think the ingredients I used to season the ox tail are great. It provided the ox tail a great flavor.



My Recipe for Ox Tail

My lunch. Ox tail with red beans and rice.

Ingredients 

• 2 lb of ox tail
• 1 tbsp of fresh thyme
• 2 tsp of kosher salt
• 1 tsp of olive oil
• 4 cloves of fresh garlic
•  2 tsp of truffle oil

Preparation

Crushing my herbs in my mortar and pestle

First, I recommend to marinate the ox tail for an hour. Put the kosher salt, thyme, and olive oil into a mortar and pestle. Grind up the ingredient and rub on the seasonings on the meat. Then, rub on the crushed garlic on to the ox tail. Allow the meat to marinate in the refrigerator for an hour. 

Marinated ox tail

Preheat the oven at 375 degree. Put the ox tail in oven proof dish. Add truffle oil along the top and cover the dish. I cooked the ox tail for an hour in the oven. This is where I went wrong. I recommend cooking the ox tail for two to three hours at 325 degrees. Or, I think another great suggestion is to put the meat into a slow cooker for 4 hours with a cup of beef broth. 

I plan to continue trying to make this again and better next time. A twitter follower recommend for me to make Osso Bucco. I think I will try to take on this challenge. If you are brave and want to try something different, I think you should try making ox tail. 

 

On a side note, my pets enjoyed eating some of the leftover ox tail and bones. Must be good if the animals are fighting to get to try it. :)

Benny obediently awaiting for his share. 

Mr. Pigglesworth is eating his share. 

My Encounter with Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods

Yesterday was a huge day for my blog. In the afternoon, I noticed a lot of people were looking at it. I did not realize to later that night Andrew Zimmern placed a messaged I asked him to retweet on his twitter page. I think this is really awesome. http://twitter.com/#!/andrewzimmern It is still showing up for now!

If you are not familiar with his show,  Bizarre foods, you should watch it on the Travel Channel. He visits different countries throughout the world and eats a "bizarre" food most Americans would not consume. I watch it because I love to see how food is cultural important to different places in the world. Though, I must admit, you need a strong stomach at times when seeing him eat some of the foods he tries. Check out his site for more information. http://www.andrewzimmern.com/

Thanks again, Andrew Zimmern. I am really excited about all the attention my blog is getting due to you posting my tweet.

I hope everyone will continue to follow my blog. I plan to add a new recipe today.

Wildjenno is me on twitter. This is a copy of his twitter page to show my tweet. :)

My Benny and Our Love For Apples

Food always has been my love and passion. I love to cook for other people and share my recipes . In my opinion, food is just a cultural accepted symbol for socializing and making people feel better. People are always happiest with a full belly. :)

Benny, my puppy, and I bonded over eating apples together. Sharing apples is turned into our special time. As soon as he hears the crunch of an apple, he is sitting at my feet or beside me waiting for his share. Food really has been the one way to connect to my puppy. I love this little guy.







Any time, I am cooking in the kitchen, he patiently waits on the floor. He hopes for a piece of food will drop that he can eat. This sneaky guy always seems to convince me to share what I am making with him.


This my story of food and my puppy. Some of my loves in the world. :)

Benny is my dog

Apple lover to the core

We share together

Shut up and Listen! The Farmer's Market Rules

Today, My mom and I went to the farmer's market in Coppell, TX. The place is not a large location but, there are tons of fresh, home grown vegetables, herbs, and fruits to choose from. Here is a link: http://www.coppellfarmersmarket.org/

One of the places that caught my eye was a stand selling grass fed meat. The sellers had several kinds of meats to choose. from. If you have never had grass fed meat, you are missing out. Meat typically massed produce is fed alfalfa or corn. Animals who are allowed to freely roam land would not eat these kinds of foods. Grass, on the other hand, is a natural food the animals will eat. The quality of meat is much better and surprisingly not so much more in price that it is cost prohibited to buy.  If you are carnivore, eat it NOW.

Also, I found a stand with a women selling basil. The plants are hydroponically grown. Pretty cool... You can take the plant home and put in a jar to have fresh basil all week. Of course, I bought some! The aroma from the basil filled the car on the entire drive home. I plan to use this tonight to make bruschetta bread. My favorite!

I really think the farmer's market is the best place to buy produce if you do not have garden. For one, additives are not added to the food.  As a biologist, I can tell you genetically modified foods are not bad for you as people seem to think. You will not die if you have diet of only this kind of produce. Promise. Personally, I can tell a difference or think I can. lol in the taste.  For example, ethylene is removed from tomatoes to help fruit to not ripen as quickly. It is way for stores to maintain a longer shelf life for the fruit. Naturally grown tomatoes will not last for weeks at home. I would hands down prefer home grown vegetables and fruits any day.

Anyways, as I said before, if you have not been to a farmer's market, you should be slapped because you must not appreciate quality food. Now, stop whatever you are doing, head to the farmer's market, and get that delicious produce!

Some of the fresh fruit and veggies I bought. Those little white things are eggplant. So cute!