Napa Farmhouse 1885™

I "retired" from the corporate world a couple of years ago because I wanted to experience a real life after years of 80 hour work weeks and constant travel. A year later I realized that I was having a really good time, was always busy (how did i ever fit in a job??) and needed a creative outlet to share my experiences. Now I split my time between California and New Mexico but, wherever I am, I write about delicious, fresh, local, organic/sustainably grown food.

Showing posts with label sandwiches. Show all posts

Monday, June 20, 2016

Six Hamburger Recipes To Get You Through Summer (Two Are Vegetarian!)

Today is the first day of summer, and it just happens to be the hottest day of the year. Here in Taos, New Mexico, we are at 7000 feet and the temperature rarely even gets into the 90s. But after sitting in the sun for hours, my car's thermometer read 122 degrees. By the time I arrived home it had dropped to 100 degrees. The last thing I wanted to do was turn on the oven. The solution? Grilling hamburgers.

My husband loves BLTs; he also loves hamburgers. So...maybe we could combine the two and make BLHTs? (bacon, lettuce, hamburger & tomatoes). These four ingredients with mayo (or mustard if you are a rebel) on sliced French bread. Perfect! This idea plus five additional "burger" recipes helps welcome in summer 2016!

BLHTs
makes 1

2 slices cooked bacon
1 1/3 lb hamburger patty cooked medium rare
2 slices tomato
handful lettuce
mayonnaise or mustard
sea salt
black pepper
2 slices French bread, thickly cut (toasted or not)

Spread mayo (or mustard) on both slices of bread. Pile the lettuce on top of the mayo on one slice of bread. Top with the hamburger patty, bacon, and tomato. Season with salt & pepper. Top with remaining slice of bread and serve.

Spicy Chickpea Burgers With Cabbage Slaw
makes 6-8 burgers

1 cup garbanzo flour
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp minced garlic
pinch dried red pepper flakes
large pinch sea salt
pinch freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 cups water
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
extra virgin olive oil
whole wheat buns

Chipotle mayo add 1-2 tsp (depending on your heat tolerance) minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce to 1/2 cup mayonnaise. I use a vegan substitute, Veganaise

Cabbage Slaw recipe (use any color cabbage, add 1 cup grated carrot and skip the nuts)

Combine garbanzo flour and next 6 ingredients in medium saucepan. Add water and stir to remove lumps. Set heat to medium and cook, frequently stirring, for 10-12 minutes or until mixture is very thick. Stir in fresh parsley. Turn off heat and cool in pot 5 minutes.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, create patties using 2 spoonfuls (or scoops) for each patty. Press down lightly to form each patty. Depending on the size of scoop you should get 6-8 patties. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in large skillet. Fry patties until each side is golden brown (2-3 minutes per side).

Drizzle olive oil over inside of each whole wheat bun. Heat oven to broil setting. Place buns under the broiler until golden. Remove from oven.

To assemble burgers: place one chickpea patty of the bottom of the bun. Top with cabbage salad or, in season, a slice of heirloom tomato and lettuce. Add a small dollop of chipotle mayo and top of the bun. Serve.

Four additional recipes you may enjoy:

elk burgers
buffalo sliders with bacon & cheese
eggplant fritter burgers with sriracha chili mayo
buffalo chicken sliders with bacon & celery

It is "Hamburger" week at Food Network's Summer Soiree roundup. Do you have a favorite hamburger recipe to share? Please list (or link) in the comments below. And be sure to check out the other delicious sounding recipes from my blogger friends and Food Network:

Feed Me Phoebe: Cauliflower Sweet Potato Burgers with Sriracha Aioli (Vegetarian Paleo)
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Six Hamburger Recipes To Get You Through Summer (Two Are Vegetarian!)
In Jennie's Kitchen: Stuffed Cheeseburgers
Healthy Eats: Our Definitive Healthy-Burger List
Elephants and the Coconut Trees: Beet and Oats Vegan Burger
Creative Culinary: Beef Burger with Homemade Guinness Irish Stout Ketchup
Taste with the Eyes: Open-Faced Swiss Burger with Flower Salad
FN Dish: 7 Surprising Ways to Better Your Burger Game This Summer

best,

diane

napa farmhouse 1885

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California Girl in Taos

MoseyLove

napa farmhouse 1885

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Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Tomato & Mozzarella Sandwich with Basil-Garlic Scape Pesto

It is No-Cook Week at Food Network and my contribution pairs fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes with Buffalo mozzarella and spicy pesto made with basil and garlic scapes. I know we just had Pesto Week a couple of weeks ago, but this version...classic pesto combined with garlic scapes...is so delicious I couldn't wait to share.

garlic scapes

Garlic scapes are a soon-to-flower stalk that grows at the top of the garlic plant from between the leaves. These "flowers" have to be cut off to ensure the bulb receives the necessary energy required to grow the garlic we know and love. This process is sort of like pinching the flowers off herb plants to aid in their growth. I love the clean, organic look of scapes. They curl into very interesting shapes and make lovely casual floral arrangements that I use for a day or two prior to turning into a delicious treat.

Many people discard the garlic scapes when harvesting. If you grow garlic, do not let this happen. They are an amazingly tasty vegetable that can be used wherever you use garlic, green onions or chives. They taste like a milder version of fresh garlic with a bit less bite while still retaining tons of flavor. They can be chopped up and added to stir-fry, frittata, pasta or sautéed and added as a topping for pizza or bruschetta. You will find many ways to use, but today they are being processed into pesto.

For the sandwiches, I spread a very thick layer of the pesto on a slice of really good, artisan bread. Then I pile ripe, garden grown heirloom tomatoes on top of the pesto, top with fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese and add the second piece of bread. When the temperature is soaring, I eat it just like that. When it is a bit cooler, I grill the sandwich or place in the panini press. Either way...delicious!

Tomato & Mozzarella Sandwich with Basil-Garlic Scape Pesto
(make as many sandwiches as you like)

In-Season heirloom tomatoes. sliced
Buffalo mozzarella, sliced 1/2 inch thick
Basil-Garlic Scape Pesto, recipe follows
Artisan bread, any kind, thickly sliced

For each sandwich, spread pesto on one slice of bread. Top with tomatoes, and cheese and second slice of bread. Cut in half and enjoy!

For non "no-cook" weeks, this sandwich is delicious grilled or placed in a panini press.

Basil-Garlic Scape Pesto
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 oz parmigiano-reggiano cheese, cut into 2 pieces
3 garlic scapes
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
5 cups basil leaves (packed)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional to top
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juicesea salt
freshly cracked black pepper

Toast pine nuts in a skillet until just beginning to brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Add cheese to a food processor fitted with the chopping/mixing blade. Process until the cheese is grated. Add cooled pine nuts, garlic scapes and red pepper flakes and process until all ingredients are finely grated. Add half of basil leaves, and 1/4 cup olive oil and process until smooth but with a bit of texture. Add remaining basil, remaining olive oil, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Process until well mixed. Taste and adjust seasonings if desired.

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Summer means easy, breezy dishes made from fresh, just-picked produce and this week at Food Network's Summer Soiree we are celebrating No Cook recipes. Do you have a favorite no-cook recipe? Share in the comments section and/or link to your blog if you have one. And be sure to check out the delicious sounding recipes from my blogger friends and Food Network.

Feed Me Phoebe: 5 Farmer's Market Summer Salad Recipes
Healthy Eats: Ovenless Entertaining
Dishin & Dishes: Coral Snake Salsa (Apricot Tomatillo)
The Mom 100: Simple Raspberry Fool
Domesticate Me: Arugula Salad with Shaved Zucchini, Pistachios and Parmesan
Taste with the Eyes: Santa Barbara Sea Urchin à la Jean-Georges
Homemade Delish: Delicious Ceviche
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Tomato & Mozzarella Sandwich with Basil-Garlic Scape Pesto
Red or Green: Gott's Gazpacho
Swing Eats: Green Grapes, Drunken Goat Cheese, and Jalapenos on a Toothpick
Bacon and Souffle: Scallop Ceviche
FN Dish: A Complete Menu of No-Cook Recipes for the Whole Day

best,

diane

napa farmhouse 1885

red or green?

California Girl in Taos

MoseyLove
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I have started sharing my newest blog "California Girl in Taos." Please visit and let me know what you think.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Best Ever Elk Burgers for the 4th of July

My book club (aka salon) is reading Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser this month. If you are familiar with the book you know that it reports an inside look at the history of fast food, the suppliers, the economics of keeping the food inexpensive and the politics of food safety, or lack thereof. I haven't eaten fast food in years...after this book I never will again. Google Books description in part reads:

"Eric Schlosser's myth-shattering survey stretches from the California subdivisions where the business was born to the industrial corridor along the New Jersey Turnpike where many of fast food's flavors are concocted. He hangs out with the teenagers who make the restaurants run and communes with those unlucky enough to hold America's most dangerous job -- meatpacker. He travels to Las Vegas for a giddily surreal franchisers' convention where Mikhail Gorbachev delivers the keynote address. He even ventures to England and Germany to clock the rate at which those countries are becoming fast food nations.
Along the way, Schlosser unearths a trove of fascinating, unsettling truths -- from the unholy alliance between fast food and Hollywood to the seismic changes the industry has wrought in food production, popular culture, and even real estate. He also uncovers the fast food chains' efforts to reel in the youngest, most susceptible consumers even while they hone their institutionalized exploitation of teenagers and minorities. Schlosser then turns a critical eye toward the hot topic of globalization -- a phenomenon launched by fast food.
FAST FOOD NATION is a groundbreaking work of investigation and cultural history that may change the way America thinks about the way it eats."

elk patty

The book supports my belief that eating organic, locally grown food is the best way to promote health, community, safety and economic policy. You won't want to eat low-cost supermarket beef again after reading the book...if you are fortunate enough to be able to purchase grass fed beef...please do so. Since I spend most of my time in Taos, New Mexico these days, I am also able to easily find beef alternatives such as bison and elk. These choices are purported to be leaner than commercially grown beef with less cholesterol and the animals are treated humanely throughout their lives. My family likes the taste better than beef, and I like the fact that, with each purchase, I am supporting small, local ranchers.

Today I am sharing my recipe for elk burgers. Due to the lower fat content, I add a bit of minced white onions to add some moisture. I also cook to medium rare. Please do go any further than "medium" when cooking...they will dry out too much with additional heat. Maybe give elk a try for the 4th of July?

Best Ever Elk Burgers
(makes 4)

1 lb ground elk
1/2 cup minced white onions
sea salt
black pepper
extra virgin olive oil (for grill)
4 whole wheat or sourdough hamburger buns
butter or olive oil
your favorite hamburger toppings i.e.
crisp lettuce leaves
sliced red onion
mayo
ketchup
mustard
cheddar cheese, if desired

Combine elk and minced onions in a small bowl. Form meat into four patties. Using your thumb, make a depression in the center of each patty. (This will help prevent shrinkage) Generously season each patty with salt and pepper. Set aside

Prepare coals if using an outdoor grill or heat grill pan until hot. Grease grate or grill pan with olive oil. Grill burgers 3 1/2 to 4 minutes per side. You want medium rare or medium...cooking any longer will result in dry, tough meat. If using cheese, add during the last minute of cooking to allow melting. Remove from heat and allow to rest for a few minutes.

Butter or olive oil insides of each bun. Grill for one minute being careful to not let burn.

Add elk patties to buns and add your favorite toppings. Serve immediately

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