Inside out Burgers

These are delicious for a BBQ party or even to celebrate the start of the weekend with ;) which is just what I did :)

This is enough for 4 servings:

90% lean ground beef (about 1 pound)

1 large red onion

Worcestershire sauce

1/2-1 Cup Cheddar Cheese

Paprika

Pepper

Canola Oil

Burger Buns

Directions

Preheat grill to medium-high or preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a bowl combine the chedder cheese and the chopped onion.

Gently mix the beef, Worcestershire ( I used 4 tablespoons, but it really depends on your taste), paprika (2 teaspoons) and pepper( 1/2 teaspoon) in a large bowl. Mix with your hands, but don't overwork.

Shape the beef into 8 thin, 4-inch-wide patties. Place 2 tablespoons of the Cheddar cheese/onion mixture on each of 4 patties, leaving a 1/2-inch border, (I added 1 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce as well). Cover each with one of the remaining patties. Crimp the patty to make sure mixture is fully enclosed and seal the edges closed.

To grill: Grill the stuffed patties in a pan over medium-high heat, about 4 minutes per side for medium-well. (Do not press the burgers down as they cook or they'll split and come apart and the cheese will ooze out.)

To broil: Cover a broiler pan with foil and coat with cooking spray. Broil the stuffed patties in the upper third of the oven, about 4 minutes per side for medium-well.

In both these cases, once the burger patty is done, let it stand for 5 minutes before serving.

If you can handle it, you can cheat and buy ready made burger patty's, spoon the filling into the centre of one ready made burger beef patty and place the other one on top, pinch edges to make sure the burgers are firmly together and cook as above. This does result in a bigger burger, not for the faint hearted! If you do this, it would look like the burger below :) .....

White Chocolate Fudge Brownies

" What I love about cooking is that after a hard day, there is something comforting about the fact that you melt butter and add flour, then hot stock, it will get thick! It's a sure thing. It's a sure thing in a world where nothing is sure!" - Nora Ephron

I was NOT planning on cooking/baking anything today! I thought I better just relax and take it easy, but........... I couldn't resist! I got online, checked my email and then somehow started browsing my old recipes! Initially I wanted to bake a cake, but we're all out of eggs, and not enough butter and no more whole milk......I still had the urge to do something, so I kept it simple with these to die for brownies.

These brownies are really delicious! Make sure you use white chocolate that has a profound taste, the better the quality of your chocolate, the better the brownies!

6 tablespoons of butter
8 oz of white chocolate
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
2 handfuls of semi sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees farenheit
2. butter and flour an 8inch baking pan, or line with aluminium foil
3. Melt the butter and the white chocolate on top of double boiler over hot water
4. In a bowl, with an electric mixer beat the eggs and sugar really well
5. Add the chocolate butter mixture to the egg sugar mixture, add the flour and vanilla too and beat all together just until incorporated, thick and smooth
6. Fold in chocolate chips with a spatula (do not beat here)
7. Pour mixture into the baking pan
8. Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes, keep an eye out
9. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick, brownies are ready when the toothpick comes out clean
10. Let it cool and then cut into squares

I am planning on bringing these into work tomorrow. I just hope some remain! (Mona's friends are passing by!) Tina if at 8am you are sipping on coffee at your desk, browsing my blog, come over to my side of the office and claim your piece! ;)

Lemon-Thyme marinated sea bass with slow roasted tomatoes

Slow Roasted Tomaotes......

I bought a lot of tomatoes at the grocery store this week, i've been craving them for some reason, so I thought I would experiment with making slow roasted tomatoes! You can just leave them in the oven in the morning and do your morning chores and then come back to a fragrant house. It smells like i've been working hard in the kitchen! If i'm having guests over, what I like to do is pop them in the oven 30-60 minutes before guests arrive, which gives the aroma plenty of time to diffuse in the house, a great backdrop aroma for a dinner party that'll put your guests in the the right mood for some great food!

You can use as many tomatoes as you like. Since it's just me and my sister, Mona, I used two big tomatoes. The oven temperature was 107 degrees celcius, which gives them enough time to rippen nicely, without burning.

2 tomatoes

Olive oil

Basil

Oregano

Garlic

Salt

Pepper

1. Cut the tomatoes into thick rings (as shown in photo below and place on baking sheet)

2. Place tomatoes on a baking sheet (I would normally line a baking dish with aluminium foil for easy clean up, but I didn't have any so I just put them on a baking sheet).

3. Sprinkle basil, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper on the tomatoes ( I didn't have any fresh basil, but it gives it a nicer flavour, so if you've got some, use them!)

4. Drizzle olive oil on top of the tomatoes.5. Put the tomatoes in the oven and leave them in for a good couple of hours.

This is what they look like after!

Lemon-Thyme Marinated Sea Bass

(Serves 2)

Two sea bass fillets

Lemon juice

Salt

Pepper

Thyme

2 Garlic cloves (chopped)

1. Wash fish ( water, then lemon juice and white pepper, then water), pat dry put in a bowl and marinate in lemon juice, chopped garlic, thyme, salt and pepper.2. Brush olive oil on both sides of fish and palce in a pan. Grill in pan on medium heat until cooked through.

3. Serve with lemon wedges
Serve the slow roasted tomatoes as a side dish. Tonight, this dish will be accompanying Lemon-thyme marinated sea bass. Mona and I are trying to incorporate more fish in our diet because of all the health benefits. So this was the perfect, simple, easy dish.Tomatoes are so great because they go with just about anything! I had a few left over so I chopped them up and put them in a tauperware with lettuce leaves and tuna, which will be my lunch for tomorrow! If you feel like pasta, use as a topping!