What's cooking?

that's sacrilegious around here, FOR SURE.

if you're ever in the Philly area, I'll buy you an authentic Philly cheese steak.  

I know it's not old school style, but Pat's will throw some peppers and mushrooms on there! I actually do think it's kinda sacrilegious though. Just give me the Cheese Whiz and let's get it on

people in my area are so crazy about their cheese steaks that they actually have instructions on how to order one...lol:  http://philadelphia.about.com/od/regiona...esteak.htm
http://www.citypass.com/blog/order-philly-cheesesteaks

That's hysterical, Andrew, and now I absolutely have to try a Cheese Steak.  For me, it would have to be with the Provolone, one of my all-time favorite cheeses.  Dang, if I ever make it back to the City of Brotherly Love, you have to give me the Grand Tour.

I know it's not old school style, but Pat's will throw some peppers and mushrooms on there! I actually do think it's kinda sacrilegious though. Just give me the Cheese Whiz and let's get it on

people in my area are so crazy about their cheese steaks that they actually have instructions on how to order one...lol:  http://philadelphia.about.com/od/regiona...esteak.htm
http://www.citypass.com/blog/order-philly-cheesesteaks

That's hysterical, Andrew, and now I absolutely have to try a Cheese Steak.  For me, it would have to be with the Provolone, one of my all-time favorite cheeses.  Dang, if I ever make it back to the City of Brotherly Love, you have to give me the Grand Tour.

I'll eat a cheese steak with either of the 3 cheeses...I'd probably give the nod to American or Provolone though.

Lately I've been making what ATK calls "Oklahoma Burgers" or some such.

A good size yellow onion (3-4inch diameter) is sliced thin and some salt ( a tsp) is sprinkled on it and allowed to sit for 30-60 minutes to draw out the water. Then it's put on a towel and the towel twisted like a tourniquet to press out as much water and salt as possible. ATK used 12 ounces of ground beef (80/20) but I use 16 ounces. Divide it into 4 parts, form balls and divide the onions into 4 piles. Put the meat "balls" on the onions and press them flat into a burger shape, forcing the onions into the meat on one side.

In a skillet melt 2 TBLS of butter over medium heat and when hot put the burgers into the pan, onion side down. Cook for approx' 6 minutes. The onions should be carmelized, but all shouldn't be fully carmelized. Flip and cook on the meat side on high for 2 minutes.

I serve on a toasted bun, with cheese on the bottom (Hoffmans Super sharp- check your deli section). The hot burger is put on the cheese to melt it. I just use ketchup on mine, but use the toppings of your choice.

I would wholeheartedly accept any invitation to enjoy the outcome of your cooking skills, gents, but now that the warm weather is finally reaching us, I feel like sharing with you a couple of entry-level difficulty cold soups recipes, that will make a perfect companion for those grilled meats   .

Gazpacho Andaluz:

- Red tomatoes, 1 kg
- Red or green pepper (I usually use half of each), 1 unit, medium sized.
- Garlic (1 clove)
- Onion, a small one (or half a bigger one)
- Salt (1 teaspoon, flat)
- Extra virgin olive oil (6 table spoons)
- Red wine vinegar (3 table spoons)
- Cucumber (1 unit, medium sized)
- Red apple (half, the other half, you just eat it while cooking   )
- White wine of your choice (2 table spoons)

This recipe is as difficult to make as mixing up all the ingredients in a proper blender is. If you ask a Chef, he'd say that all the vegetables should be peeled prior to entering the blender. All I do, as I want the goodies in the vegetables' peels to be in the soup, is washing them thoroughly, remove all the "hard" parts from the vegetables (both ends of the cucumber, the butt of the pepper and tomatoes and the pepper's seeds) chop them in pieces small enough for the blender to be able to cope with them, and they're good to go. If the blender is powerful enough and you mix them for a few minutes, the soup will be fine. It is up to you and a matter of personal preference. The white wine is not mandatory, in case you want to feed this to your children, but it gives it a nice and fresh touch in case it is to be consumed by adults.


Salmorejo Cordobés:

- Red tomatoes, 1 kg
- Extra virgin olive oil, 200 cc
- Salt, 1 teaspoon, flat
- Garlic, 1 clove
- Wheat bread, 180 grams. Preferable if it's the traditional "loaf" type, without sugar. Baguettes can work too.

Again, just wash the vegetables thoroughly, chop them in pieces small enough for the blender to smash them, add the olive oil and the rest of the ingredients and blend until you have a thick, dense cream.

In both cases, it's good practice to chop the garlic cloves from north to south, and remove the inner germ inside it. That's what's associated with the bad aftertaste of garlic.

Yes, they'd be excellent summer soups. I've saved them to my recipe folder. Thanks!

ShadowsDad, those burgers sound fantastic with the onions cooked into the meat. I'm definitely going to try that. Thanks!

Wyzeone, definitely use yellow onions. This last time that I made them I used Vidalias (that's all that I had) and while we love Vidalias they lacked flavor. They're just too mild for that use.

Had some shrimp that needed to be cooked and owned dinner duty tonight. Saffron rice, Old Bay and a side salad to the rescue.

I will be throwing some burgers on the grill this weekend after these recent posts though!

Wyzeone, definitely use yellow onions. This last time that I made them I used Vidalias (that's all that I had) and while we love Vidalias they lacked flavor. They're just too mild for that use.

Thanks for the tip! I love the flavor of onions so I would definitely want to taste them.

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One of my favorite ways to spend a weekend

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