Tinfoil Chef

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I’m craving Double Cheeseburgers and that means I’m annoyed with McDonald’s. More specifically I’m talking about the local franchise in this part of rural Arkansas. You see it seems like it’s been almost forever that their double cheeseburger has been a staple item on their famous Dollar Menu and as such they’ve been a favorite of mine for a long time.

That is, until about a bit over a year ago I think it was that the local franchise made a change in the Dollar menu. The removed the double cheeseburger and replaced it with the “Big n Tasty”. As a result the double cheeseburger nicely doubled in price.

The “Big n Tasty” isn’t a bad burger as far as it goes, but it’s not the double cheeseburger that I’m craving and would much rather have. The “Big n Tasty” features tomato, a leaf or three of lettuce, pickles, onions (large ring shaped pieces instead of the fine diced onions used on the other, preferred sandwich) and a hefty layer of mayo.

I’m not anti-mayo, but I don’t like having that much of it on one burger. My wife doesn’t care for the onions because they’re so big and because there is so many of them. When we end up with these things instead of the double cheeseburgers I end up fishing the onions out of the mayo on hers and scraping the mayo off of mine which makes them reasonable.

It’s bugged me enough that I’ve been tempted more than once to try to create a campaign to return the Double Cheeseburger to the Dollar menu… maybe call them and email ‘em frequently and put up a web page or blog entry encouraging others to contact them about it.

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Here’s something that while it’s almost deceptively simple, it’s guaranteed to put that little touch of something extra in Breakfast (or any other meal as well).

Take a package of Bacon and cut it into “bit” size pieces.. I’d just take the bacon out of the package in one piece and cut across all of the strips at once and then scatter this in the skillet. Then take a couple of medium onions and dice them reasonably fine (as long as the pieces aren’t too big, it’s mostly a personal preference) and add them.

If your bacon is really lean then you’ll want to add a bit of Olive Oil to keep it from sticking.

Add a pinch of salt and pepper and cook over a medium heat. You’ll probably want to stir quite a bit at first to prevent sticking until the bacon grease starts to cook out.

When it’s done the onions will be soft and either transparent or caramelized and the bacon will be done.

The only limit to the ways you can use this is your own imagination and taste. It’s a great addition to any omelet. Add it to hash browns to wake them up a bit or use them pretty much anywhere you’d use bacon.

I think they’d make a fine addition to a Spinach and Egg Sandwich.

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Ok, it was entertaining but not exactly a blast… no, wait. it WAS a blast. Specifically it was a “Holiday Mint Blast”. It’s that time of year and once again Sonic trots out the special minty ice cream treat just like clockwork. So reliable you could set your calendar by it.

Now we don’t generally go to Sonic because honestly, they’re on the expensive side. They didn’t used to be… once upon a time you could get a dozen chili cheese coneys, a couple orders of fries and some drinks for less than a ten dollar bill. Now, if you’re not careful you can blow the better part of forty bucks on dinner for four without even thinking about it.

Anywho.. on to the treat. They may be expensive, but they’re good. The mint flavor is strong enough to make it a powerful taste. I know better than to have something like this very often so I’m willing to wait until December rolls around every year to have ‘em but I’m also making it a point to steer clear of the rest of the menu

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Ever think something like “This sandwich is good and it’s been a favorite of mine forever but it’s not *quite* what I want right now.” ?

I’ve done it time and again. Most recently it involved the Spinach and Egg Sandwich that we like so much around here. I think it’s a great sandwich, and I could happily have ‘em every morning for weeks on end… In fact, I’ve done so more than once.

Recently though I started looking for ways to “kick it up a notch” to borrow a phrase from Emeril Lagasse. I tried adding various combinations of spices and herbs to it, both before cooking and after. Most of the variations were good but not quite what I was looking for until I finally hit the right thing… Horseradish sauce.

Specifically we had some left over “Horsey Sauce” packets from Arby’s which is basically a horseradish sauce. I added that as a topper to the sandwich and that clicked right away. It was just the thing I’d been looking for.

I’ve had the same thing happen with ketchup, mustard (a bunch of varieties) and all sorts of other things. The thing is that when you get a “close but not quite” feeling from something, don’t be afraid to change it up a bit and see what different touches you can give it. Who knows? you might just discover a new favorite.

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Lemon Myrtle is native to the tropical and subtropical rain forest near Queensland and New South Wales. The leaves are a dark green and resemble bay leaves. Their flavor and smell is a lemon combination of lemon verbena, wild lime, lemongrass and eucalyptus.

The leaves are used dried or fresh, whole or ground. It holds it’s flavor longer than a lot of other lemon scented herbs.

Used with fish, seafood and vegetables

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Is an interesting blend of tastes that I like to do once in a while. It’s a variation on the sautee’d Spinach greens that we like so much.

This one starts out with a couple stalks of celery. I cut the end off the top because the very end of it often gets dried out if you keep it around more than a day or two and it’s also the first part to start going bad. Then on the root end, I cut most of the tougher white part away. From there it’s a simple cut ‘em in half, then slice lengthwise into three or four strips depending on width. Then just chop those into small chunks. It sounds like a lot to do, but in reality it only takes about a minute and a half to two minutes from start to finish.

Before I chop the celery, I’ll start the skillet or wok heating up on high with some Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Then when I add the celery things are already hot and ready to go.

To this I’ll add a handful of diced bell pepper from the freezer. This is also a good time to toss in a bit of diced onion and / or a teaspoon of minced garlic if you want. Then I’ll chop five or ten black olives and add them.

While thats cooking, I dice a mushroom or two (it varies depending on the size of the mushroom. I’m looking for a half cup or so once it’s chopped) and add it to the celery.

Take a good handful (1 to 2 cups after it’s chopped) of fresh leaf spinach and give it a good rough chop and add it to the pan. Next up is diced tomato. About a half cup or so ought to do it.

Give this whole thing a stir and hit it with some dill weed and curry powder, simmer a minute or so and it’s done.

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A while back I wrote about a recipe that we’d lost and had been trying to find for quite a while. Well, while my wife was surfing around some of her Christmas shopping the other day she found it.

Part of the problem is that what we remembered was the modified version that we had been making which started out as a doubled up build of the original.

Here’s the original that she found on the Lindsay Olive Company page

Tomato Olive Frittata

6 large eggs
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded fontina, cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese
1 can (3.8 ounce) Lindsay® Sliced Ripe Olives, drained
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion
1/2 cup chopped, seeded fresh tomato
1/3 cup thin strips Canadian bacon or lean ham
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian herb seasoning

Preheat oven to 350F. In medium bowl, whisk one egg with flour until blended. Whisk in 5 eggs, pepper and salt. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spread in oiled 8 x1 1/2-inch round cake pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until golden and set. Cut into wedges. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

She modified it by first doubling everything and baking it in a 10.5 x 14 x 2 inch glass pan. Our cheese preference was the Monterrey Jack cheese because we like it and there’s a store in our area where we can get 5lb bags of it for about $7.50.

In place of the Canadian bacon or ham we used pepperoni the first time. Another time we used “Little Smokies”. I’m wondering if perhaps we can try it with Andouille Sausage or perhaps ground turkey browned with some onion , garlic and green peppers.

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Aniseed Myrtle is an Australian native herb. Also known as Australian leaf aniseed. It’s from the sub-tropical rain forest. It’s leaves are used as an alternative to anise seed. It’s flavor is sweeter than anise seed.

It’s also a source of the most concentrated anerthole, which gives the leaves a licorice like flavor and a sweet aftertaste. It’s used in cooking and for herbal tea, pasta, seafood, sauces, stocks ice cream, liqueurs and even cookies.

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Here’s another great site that I’m adding to the “Cooking Blogs” section of the sidebar, Start Cooking Blog is a very thorough site with lots of stuff from recipes to techniques and tips. A nice feature is that there’s videos to go with some of the posts that make it easier to pick up on what they’re talking about.

A recent post called “Can That Go In The Microwave?” is a great example of the tips you can find there. Rather than just being a list of things to avoid putting in the microwave, each one is accompanied with a brief explanation why and some safe alternatives.

Technorati Tags: cooking, blogs, blogroll, tips, technique, recipes, video

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Another recent addition to the “Cooking Blogs” section of the sidebar is Tinka-Bella.com.

Covering a variety of topics from everyday life to dinners, deserts and more it’s a good read. In fact I found a Homemade Chili recipe that looks pretty interesting. I haven’t seen Chili with carrots in it before.

Technorati Tags: cooking, blogs,, blogroll,, chili,, recipes

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