What is your secret recipe?
What is your secret recipe?
You know… the thing you cook that everyone who has it says… This is the best _______ I have ever had!!
Mine is my burger and my fried chicken. The burger is below... as for the chicken... you will never know! :)
Thick rough chop:
2 small red onions
2 large packs of mixed wild mushrooms
Put them in a skillet along with a tsp of minced garlic, a half a stick of butter, a few dashes of Worcestershire, and kosher salt and coarse black pepper. Slowly cook them down until almost all of the liquid is gone. Set aside and let it cool. I usually put it into the fridge.
Once cooled, lightly mix with ground beef. You must be gentle with the meat. Make your patties being very careful not to pack them tightly. They will be difficult to keep from falling apart. Put them on a pan and place them in the freezer until they stiffen up a bit… about 20-30 min.
Turn grill on till temp is 500-600 degrees. These should only take a few minutes and you should only flip them once. I usually flip them as soon as I see extra moisture build on the uncooked side Put your favorite cheese on and let it melt. Remove and let rest.
While resting… toast your favorite buns and fry an egg over medium. Place the hamburger on the bun cheese side down. Place the over medium egg on top. Garnish with lettuce, onion and tomato… salt and pepper.
You will not eat a better burger, ever in your life.
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26 Comments:
May be cheating, but I have two... my fish and chips and my guacamole, otherwise known as "Greggo-Mole". Both very simple, but as usual it's all in the wrist.
BigGreggo at 4:23PM on 08/28/09
the rub that i use for meats.
pjracz10 at 4:38PM on 08/28/09
Those burgers sound amazing! Thanks for the recipe, I'm going to try them this weekend!
caramel at 4:40PM on 08/28/09
I've got a few where I've gotten that response. Although I'll freely share them-- I'm not a 'secret-keeper.' Here's an omlette that's been called "the best I ever had" by several people:
Heat a pan over medium high heat (note: I don't use a non-stick pan for eggs, as I don't think they cook right in non-stick. And, if your pan is hot and you've used enough oil, which doesn't need to be that much, eggs won't stick). While the pan is heating, beat two large eggs with some salt, fresh-ground black pepper, and some fresh crushed thyme leaves. Cut some cooked or smoked salmon and some cream cheese into chunks. Add ap. 1 to 1 1/2 T olive oil to the pan. Make sure the bottom of the pan is coated with the oil and add the eggs. As soon as the bottom is set, add the salmon and cream cheese chunks more or less in a line across the eggs. Fold once. Slide onto a warmed plate as soon as it looks almost done. Drizzle some creme fraiche over the omlette and garnish with a couple of sprigs of thyme and some caviar if you have it (although the caviar isn't really necessary-- it's just a show-off-y thing to do).
MarvinDog at 4:48PM on 08/28/09
My chicken salad ROCKS and noone can ever guess the secret ingredient.
caramel at 4:48PM on 08/28/09
caramel, is the secret ingredient chicken?
kristin314 at 5:05PM on 08/28/09
lol @kristin314
happyeats at 5:10PM on 08/28/09
My Guava BBQ sauce (though it's no secret since I blogged about it)
And, it's not my recipe, but I'm the only who can recreate my grandmother's super-secret, magical Cuban black beans now that she's passed...
bitchincamero at 5:11PM on 08/28/09
@caramel:waterchestnuts? i add those for extra crunch to my chicken salad.
i have my mom's secret pie crust recipe with me, but my lips are sealed, suckas!
gastronomeg at 5:40PM on 08/28/09
My Cuban black beans are better than my mom's AND my grandmother's black beans -- even Mami and Abuela think so! I get frequent requests to make my black beans for holiday parties and such, and I have a friend who actually requested payment in black beans when he picked up a purse for me overseas. My secret is lemon juice. That's all I will say.
gbania at 5:41PM on 08/28/09
If I told you, I'd have to kill you.
SqueezeBottle at 5:58PM on 08/28/09
I love the fact that when ever I make a pasta with a cheese sauce only a few can pick out my secret ingredient.
finsbigfan at 6:57PM on 08/28/09
@kristin314 - bahaha no. It's a seasoning.
@gastronomeg - No it's not water chestnuts, but that sounds really good!
caramel at 7:28PM on 08/28/09
my secret ingredient when i make homemade pizza: i usually put a few spoonfulls of sauteed garlic (minced) with the oil on top of the crust and a sprinkling of pecorino romano on the dough before i put the sauce and whatever else i put on the pizzas.
i also put the fresh mozzarella on the pie when the pie is cooked. so it just warms up and melts ever so gently. (i turn the oven off and leave it there for just a few minutes) then i strew my fresh basil leaves....
pooch at 9:02PM on 08/28/09
if i told you it wouldnt be a secret any longer !
onepercent99 at 9:14PM on 08/28/09
My grandmother's India relish (getting ready to make another batch) and sweet/hot mustard sauce.
janaatwg at 9:19PM on 08/28/09
Beef Guinness. It was the first recipe that I put a lot of time and trials into perfecting, and is still one of the most often requested. (Which gives me the courage to keep making other dishes "mine" too.) Dried prunes are one of the secrets, and the only one I'm going to share.
I put water chestnuts in one of my chicken salads too, with crystalized ginger and red grapes. It is lovely on rice crackers for Tea.
AliceBlue at 9:46PM on 08/28/09
My chicken marsala KILLS.
sailordave at 1:01AM on 08/29/09
Here's a cake that's been described by several people as "the best I ever had." I didn't develop any of these individually; I just put it all together as one Vanilla Bomb Cake.
Cake
2 c. sifted cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. shortening
1 1/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 lg. egg whites, unbeaten
1/2 c. milk
Sift first 3 ingredients together and set aside. Cream shortening with sugar and vanilla until well blended and fluffy. Beat in egg whites, 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture alternately with milk. Beat batter 1/2 minute-- don't over beat. Turn into 2 well-greased, lightly floured round 9" layer cake pans (I also use parchment on the bottoms of the pans). Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes and turn onto wire racks.
Filling
1 c. milk
5 tbsp. flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix flour with milk and boil until thick, whisking constantly. Cool. Beat until fluffy and add the other ingredients, beating well as you add each one. When adding the shortening and butter, you will have to beat the tar out of this-- I can't ever see making this by hand, or even a hand mixer-- I use my Kitchenaid stand mixer running on 9-10 for several minutes.
Frosting
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
4 c. sifted powdered sugar
2 tbsp. milk
3 tbsp. light corn syrup
Cream butter and shortening together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Gradually add sugar, beating well and scraping down sides of bowl often. Add milk and corn syrup and beat until light and fluffy.
Assembly
Torte the cake halves. Divide the Filling into three parts and assemble the cake as cake-filling-cake-filling-cake-filling-cake. Use some of the frosting (ap. 1/3) to give the cake a crumb coat and place in the fridge to harden the crumb coat. Frost and decorate. Eat.
MarvinDog at 11:41AM on 08/29/09
Here's a drink I developed that's been caled "the best I ever had."
(note: 1 shot = 1 1/2 oz)
Quito Daiquiri
1/2 shot Espiritu del Ecuador (this liqueur is being renamed Love Potion #9 and may be hard to find outside of the New York area)
1 shot white rum
and either--
1/2 shot sweetened lime juice (Rose’s or similar) and juice of ½ lime
-or-
juice of a whole lime and 1/3 shot simple syrup
Fill a martini shaker 2/3 with ice and pour in ingredients. Shake and strain into a martini glass. Pour over a slice of lime floating in the glass.
MarvinDog at 12:19PM on 08/29/09
@MarvinDog -- that cake sounds AMAZING. I just printed it out -- I can't wait to try it! Thanks for sharing it!
gbania at 12:38PM on 08/29/09
people always swoon over my salad dressing. it's so easy it's kind of embarrassing. fresh lime juice, fresh minced garlic, coarse salt, freshly ground black pepper, and whatever extra virgin olive oil that has struck my fancy at the fairway -- this week it's arbequina. put it in the bottom of the bowl, and add a finely minced avocado. stir it a bit so that the avocado starts to disintegrate, then add the lettuce and whatever else you're using. toss well.
cybercita at 1:03PM on 08/29/09
Here's another drink that my wife calls "the best I ever had." It's something that when you read the list of ingredients you think, "that doesn't sound good," but is actually delicious. I adapted it from a drink called a Dutch Breakfast.
Fill a martini shaker halfway with ice and add--
juice of half a lemon
juice of half a lime
1/2 shot simple syrup
1/2 shot Irish cream
1/2 shot Galliano
1/2 shot gin
Shake and strain into a lager glass filled with ice. Garnish with a slice of lemon.
MarvinDog at 2:56PM on 08/29/09
Any dish with citrus adds a wonderful change to meals. Some Recipes with Lemons and Oranges Here
bashewa at 9:46AM on 08/30/09
Mine is almost embarrassingly simple. Heat a pan with lots of butter, and cook chopped apples and raspberries with cinnamon, sugar and a dash of wine. Cook, reduce and then pour over ice cream in meringue shells. Add a few sprigs of mint if you want to be fancy. Whipped cream also doesn't go amiss. Great dinner party food.
NotAmerican at 11:01AM on 08/30/09
People always go nuts when I make gyoza. It has the same effect on people as eggrolls where everybody will eat a million of them. I grew up with the stuff, and it is super tasty, but I have never figured that part out. Maybe people don't feel as bad because it comes in many pieces. The mini muffin effect...
Keebz at 5:57AM on 09/05/09