Andouille and Beef Burgers with Spicy Mayo and Caramelized Onions

Honestly, unless you are a vegetarian there is NO way that you can tell me that this thing does not look down-right delicious. With Spicy mayo, andouille and blue cheese, this sucker packs a serious punch.

Summer is officially here and we're packing up the car and heading up to Napa for a little poolside relaxation and some varsity grilling. I've been doing some menu planning this week and this burger has made the cut for Saturday's festivities. If people are turned off by the pecans in the recipe then just leave them out. Make sure to be patient when you are cooking your onions. Low and slow, friends. Low and slow.

Andouille and Beef Burgers with Spicy Mayo and Caramelized Onions
Saveur

Spicy mayonnaise

• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Cajun or Creole seasoning blend
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Burgers

• 1/2 pound andouille sausage, cut into scant 1/4-inch cubes
• 3/4 cup pecans, toasted, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck or ground beef (20 percent fat)

Caramelized onions

• 1 1/2 pounds onions, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for brushing grill rack
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon golden brown sugar

• 6 large hamburger buns, split
• 8 ounces crumbled blue cheese

• 12 pickled okra pods, halved lengthwise*
• 3 cups watercress tops

For mayonnaise:
Mix all ingredients in small bowl. Cover and chill.

Do ahead: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.

For burgers:
Toss first 4 ingredients in large bowl. Add beef; blend gently. Shape mixture into six 1/2-inch-thick patties. Transfer patties to small baking sheet.

Do ahead: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

For onions:
Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Toss onions and next 3 ingredients in large skillet. Place skillet on grill; cook until onions are golden, stirring often, about 25 minutes. Remove from grill; season with salt and pepper.

Brush grill rack with olive oil. Grill buns, cut side down, until golden, about 2 minutes. Transfer buns to work surface. Grill burgers until brown on bottom, about 3 minutes. Turn over; sprinkle with cheese. Grill until burgers are cooked to desired doneness, about 3 minutes for medium. Place some onions, then burger, on each bun bottom. Top each with okra and watercress. Spread mayonnaise on cut side of bun tops; place on burgers. Serve with remaining mayonnaise.

Andouille and Beef Burgers with Spicy Mayo and Caramelized Onions

Sausage and Peppers

Last night I was tasked with making a quick dinner for four. We ran into the store and my boyfriend suggested recreating one of my favorite dishes from an Italian restaurant in Chicago, sausage and peppers. This is a very easy dinner to make that is packed with flavor. I buy store bought sausages, usually spicy ones. A meat grinder with casings are on my Christmas list this year. You can cut up the sausages or keep them whole. I like to serve mine over flat noodle pasta drenched in marinara sauce. If I had more time, I would make sauce from scratch but in a pinch store bought can do the trick.

Sausage and Peppers

• 6 (4 ounce) links sweet Italian sausage
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 teaspoon fresh basil (I love basil so adding more is always good)
  
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 cup white wine

1. Place the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, and brown on all sides. Remove from skillet, and slice.
2. Melt butter in the skillet. Stir in the yellow onion, red onion, and garlic, and cook 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in red bell pepper and green bell pepper. Season with basil, and oregano. Stir in white wine. Continue to cook and stir until peppers and onions are tender.
3. Return sausage slices to skillet with the vegetables. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes, or until sausage is heated through.

Serve over pasta with marinara

Sausage and Peppers

Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo

Anybody else drink a hurricane last night in celebration of Fat Tuesday?

Festivities are underway in New Orleans and everyone is craving the distinctive blend of flavors in Creole cooking. Mix Spanish with a little French and African American and there you have it. If you are a Top Chef junkie like me (season finale is tonight!) then you have seen gumbo dishes pop up quite a bit. That's because this year's finale is being hosting in the Big Easy by Mr. Emeril himself.

Now, locals of New Orleans are very passionate about their gumbo. God forbid that you serve it over grits. Rice only folks. And your roux must be very dark. No woosie stuff. Lastly, this recipe has a hundred variations. Feel free to add your own personal touch.

Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 small cup onion, minced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 small green bell pepper, minced (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 stalks celery, minced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 quart chicken stock or low-sodium broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1/4 pound andouille sausage, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
• 1/2 pound fresh okra, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups cooked white rice

Accompaniments:

• Hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco
• About 2 teaspoons filé powder

In 4-quart heavy stock pot over moderately high heat, heat oil. Reduce heat to moderately low and whisk in flour. Cook, stirring frequently with wooden spoon or heatproof silicone spatula, until mixture becomes dark brown and has intensely nutty aroma, 10 to 15 minutes.

Stir in onion, pepper, and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables soften, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in stock. Raise heat to moderate and bring to simmer, then reduce heat to moderately low and simmer, uncovered, stirring frequently, until mixture has thickened, 15 to 20 minutes.

Add bay leaves, shrimp, sausage, and okra and simmer, uncovered, until okra is tender, about 15 minutes. Discard bay leaves and stir in salt, cayenne, and black pepper.

Divide rice among 4 large bowls. Ladle gumbo over, and serve with hot sauce and filé powder for sprinkling on top.

Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo

Tapas Night - Part 2

My boyfriend loooooves mussels so I wanted to make sure we recreated this dish on tapas night. I have wanted to cook mussels in a curry sauce so we decided to add curry powder to the homemade marinara that we made (see previous post for recipe). Got rave reviews and very easy and quick to make.

For the chorizo, I actually went to Cafe Iberico's market and bought it. I would check specialty markets or ask your butcher where you can get your hands on some. It is so good and has a perfect amount of kick. Just sauté them on the stove top for about 8 minutes.

Steamed Mussels in Curry Marinara Sauce
1 pound of mussels
1 teaspoon of curry
1/2 fish stock (I used chicken cause that's all I had and it worked fine)

Add marinara to dutch oven over medium high heat. Stir in curry and stock. Add mussels. Genteelly stir and cook until mussels open up, about 4 minutes. Serve immediately with fresh parsley.

Tapas Night - Part 2

Chicken Sausage Burgers with Balsamic Onion Barbeque Sauce

Well, I have finally found something blog-worthy as my first post...

I found this recipe in Rachel Ray's "Just in Time." It says it is a 30 minute meal but I would disagree with that. It's easy and fun to make but it takes about an hour (but then again, I'm cooking in a kitchen at school that hasn't been updated since the Reagan administration.) Anyway, here is the recipe:

Chicken Sausage Burgers with Balsamic Onion Barbecue Sauce

4 tablespoons EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil), plus more for liberal drizzling
1/4 pound pancetta, chopped
2 red onions, chopped, and 1/2 small red onion very thinly sliced
Salt and black pepper
1 fresh or dried bay leaf (I didn't use this, though, and it still was delicious)
2 pounds ground chicken
1 1/2 tablespoons of fennel seed, lightly toasted
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more if you want it extra spicy
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
Zest and juice of 1 orange
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary, from 4 to 5 sprigs
4 garlic cloves, finely grated
A couple of generous handfuls of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano cheese (I used Parm)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (eyeball it)
1/2 cup aged balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons honey or dark brown sugar (I used honey)
2 ripe tomatoes sliced
8 to 10 fresh basil leaves, torn
1/2 Belgian endive, chopped
1 cup arugula leaves, shredded
1/2 head of radicchio, chopped
4 crusty rolls, split, toasted, and drizzled with EVOO (the recipe says it serves 4, but the burgers were HUGE... I would say maybe 5 to 6)

Preheat a grill pan or outdoor grill to medium-high.

Place 2 tablespoons of the EVOO in a pot over medium-high heat. If you're cooking outside, you can put the pot right on the grill. Add the pancetta to the pot and cook and stir to crisp it up, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chopped onions to the pot and season them with salt and pepper; go heavy on that pepper, because it will really balance out the sweetness of your sauce later on. Add the bay leaf.

While the onions cook, place the ground chicken in a bowl and add the fennel seed, red pepper flakes, allspice, orange zest, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper, and cheese. Mix the meat with the seasonings and use the side of your hand to score the mixture into 4 equal portions. Form each portion into a large patty. Make a shallow dent into the center of each patty to prevent the burger from bulging as it cooks. Drizzle the patties liberally with EVOO and grill for 6 to 7 minutes on each side.

When the onions are very soft and begin to caramelize, remove the bay leaf and add the Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, honey or brown sugar, and the orange juice. Let the sauce continue cooking to thicken and sweeten up for 6 to 7 minutes, or until the liquids are syrupy. Add more black pepper to taste.

While the onions cook, arrange the tomato slices on a plate. Sprinkle with the red onion slices and basil leaves and drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of EVOO. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix the chopped endive, shredded arugula, and chopped radicchio together. Pile some of the chopped lettuces on the bun bottoms, then top with the burgers and lots of onion barbeque sauce. Set the bun tops in place and serve with the tomato salad.

ENJOY! (For dessert, I recommend mints for your breath...)

Chicken Sausage Burgers with Balsamic Onion Barbeque Sauce

Recipe of the Week: Andouille Sausage and Shrimp with Creole Mustard Sauce

I am making this dish tonight for my boyfriend. I'll serve this over fettuchini pasta.
*next day note... this was awesome. Yumm. We loved it. I added some red pepper flakes for a little more heat. Dish comes together really quickly. Highly recommend it.

Andouille sausage and shrimp with creole mustard sauce
Bon Appétit February 2007


Prep: 35 minutesTotal: 35 minutes
Servings: Makes 4 to 6 servings.
subscribe to Bon Appétit

Ingredients

1 pound uncooked peeled deveined large shrimp

1 tablespoon Creole or Cajun seasoning*

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

1 pound andouille sausage, cut crosswise on diagonal into 3/4-inch-thick pieces

1 large onion, halved, thinly sliced

1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/3-inch-wide strips

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1 cup low-salt chicken broth

5 tablespoons Creole mustard (such as Zatarain's)2 teaspoons red wine vinegar*Available in the spice section of most supermarkets.

Preparation

Toss shrimp with Creole seasoning in medium bowl to coat. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add sausage pieces, cut side down. Cook until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. Transfer sausage to bowl. Add shrimp to skillet; cook until browned and just opaque in center, about 3 minutes. Transfer to bowl with sausage. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, onion, bell pepper, and thyme to skillet. Sauté until vegetables are beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add broth, mustard, and vinegar. Stir until sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Return sausage and shrimp to skillet. Simmer until heated through, stirring occasionally, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.

Recipe of the Week: Andouille Sausage and Shrimp with Creole Mustard Sauce