Twist on the traditional

Hazelnut - Parmesan burger:

mix minced meat (I used a mix of beef and porc) with grated 1 cup Parmesan, 2 eggs, and either 1/2 cup ground hazelnuts or 1 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts. Form into patties and cook until heated through. Serve with toppings of choice.

Blue lamb burger:

Mix minced lamb with a couple handfuls of blue cheese and a tablespoon of bread crumbs. Cook through and add a sunny side up egg and a tablespoon of crumbled blue cheese on top of the burger. Serve with toppings of choice.

Spinach - Feta burger

steam spinach until just cooked. let cool and mix in with raw minced meat and crumbled feta. remember, don't knead too much or the meat will become mush and have trouble staying together while cooking. Adding bread crumbs might help hold it together. shape into patties and cook through. Serve with toppings of choice.

New Year

Here are a few more pictures from Christmas dinner.

Oven roasted pheasant stuffed with herbs:

I don't really have a recipe for this...It's poultry cooked in the oven, in the same way that a chicken or turkey would be except that it happens to be pheasant. Use your usual recipe for oven roasted birds. It's really the sides that make the meal.

dijon braised Brussels sprouts

This recipe is courtesy of one of my favorite bloggers, Deb from Smitten Kitchen. For once, I followed her recipe to the letter and it came out fantastic.

Browned mushrooms:

Julia child taught me to never crowd the mushrooms or they won't brown. Melt butter in a pan, add sliced mushrooms and let cook. add salt and pepper to taste.

Christmas Feast: Entrée

I know, I know...I never posted the Christmas feast recipes...well...finally, here are some pictures and a few of the recipes.

Entrée: pan seared fois gras on a bed of arugula with caramelized apples and drizzled with a balsamic vinegar reduction

This recipe sounds fancy, but in reality, it was probably the easiest one of the whole meal. The most important part is to buy fresh fois gras from your local butcher. If you can buy it sliced, that probably makes things easier for you, but with a good knife, slice the fois gras into 4 slices no more than 1cm thick.

The only slightly difficult thing about this dish is that your hands have to be everywhere at once...the apples are caramelising at the same time that you are making sure the balsamic vinegar reduction doesn't burn...

For the apples; peel and cut an apple into eighths or twelfths. put a bit of water in a baking dish and lay apples inside. cook at a low temperature for 20 minutes in the oven.

For the balsamic vinegar reduction, the real way would be to let 3 cups balsamic vinegar simmer and reduce on low heat for 2 hours. This is delicious, but be careful to not let it burn in the end. An easier and far faster version is to take a saucepan, mix 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar, 1 Tablespoon of red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons brown sugar (I used agave syrup because I didn't have any sugar and it worked just fine) and 1/3 cup of red wine. simmer and let cook until the mixture thickens. when the consistency is like that of caramel, turn off the heat. it is best to drizzle on fois gras right away, but it's not a problem if you just reheat it slightly right when serving.

The Fois Gras: Now, here comes the tricky part. Take a saucepan which will fit your fois gras slices without crowding them. Heat until very hot. Lay the slices down and cook for 30-45 seconds on each side, until a bit of the fat melts and the fois gras browns slightly. Overcooked fois gras is inedible.

By the time the fois gras is ready to cook, the apples should be caramelised and displayed on a plate. Set a handful of arugula on a plate and arrange apples. Law fois gras on or next to the arugula, and finally drizzle the vinegar reduction over the apples and fois gras.

Serve immediately.