First Burger

Compared to the other blog, I don't update this nearly enough. Apologies to our encouraging (though few) readers! I actually have a decent amount of pics/recipes piled up, but sometimes find no motivation to make these long posts. However, I shall continue to try.

Now, did I mention I like burgers? Well, if you didn't know, I do. A LOT.
At home, my dad makes all the burgers, I just watch and occasionally toast the buns. Earlier this summer, my friend Isaac and I made my first burgers together! It turned out amazingly (relatively, it's, of course, no Dundee).

Ingredients:
Essentials:
- 1 pound package of ground beef
- buns
Toppings:
- 1 tomatoe, sliced
- 1 package of mushrooms
- 1 red onion
- american cheese
- lettuce
- mayo of choice (we used horseradish sauce)
Stuffing
- cheese of choice (american and parmesan for me)
- red onion, diced
- smoke sauce
- spices of choice (chilli powder for me)
- pepper/salt
The amount of stuffing is really up to you and your tastes, I like to just eyeball the amount and change my recipe next time if it doesn't work. Cooking is a process!

For my burger, I packed it with diced red onions and hand-ripped pieces of american cheese (1 slice). After mixing those with the meat, I added the smoke sauce (about 2 teaspoon), chilli powder (three pinches, need more next time, probably 2-3 teaspoons), grated parmesan (I used a lot). Combine all ingredients together, make sure everything is mixed well, I then added just tad of salt and pepper for good measure.

The good thing about burgers is how easy and convenient they are. You can make the burger patties ahead of time, freeze it, and throw it on the grill later (not longer than maybe two days, otherwise, won't taste as good). I actually recommending chilling the stuffed meat for a while (>30 min), it makes it much easier to form patties.

So we shaped them into five patties, so a little smaller than quarter-pounders. Since we don't have a grill (hey, we are in college!), we just pan cooked them. Isaac did the honors, mostly because I have no idea how to tell when burgers are cooked. He actually probably overcooked the first patch, but the second was pretty excellent, especially for a guy with no experience.

For the toppings, I sauteed onions and mushrooms (I prefer shitakes). Isaac thinks sauteed things all look disgusting and brown, but I think sauteed things taste pretty good. Also sliced up fresh red onions and tomatoes. For sauces, we used horseradish and some kind of weird mayo. Obvs, you can add ketchup, mustard, whateves, but we just didn't feel like it.

We tried toasting our buns ghettoly, on the stove top, not a good idea. Burn issues. So we just went to the toaster, which is less exciting but much safer. Though I am now getting rather good at stovetop s'mores, but that's for another post.

Assemble you burger! Which is the fun part. Then eat! Which is the best part.

Featured below: Isaac's lettuce bowl burger (my idea). It prevents all the toppings from falling out; yes, we are some bright college kids.

My next burger creations plans to be much more adventurous. Stay tuned (does that apply to blogs?)!

Found a recipe for snickerdoodle cupcakes!

I am SOOO there.

Refreshing Summer Salad

I was really craving mozzarella the other day. So I went to co-op in search for some fresh ones. Then I saw some tomatoes and was craving that too. So I decided to put together a salad. Now, I REALLY love mozzarella, so if you are making this, you might want to tune down the amount.

Ingredients:
- normal serving of mozzarella balls. Mine came in a tub, about quarter-filled, I'd say around 15-20 balls.
- one tomatoe, diced
- few slices of red onion, sliced
- chopped scallions and chives

Toss with vinaigrette of choice!

For my vinaigrette:
I just made a simple dressing of 1:1 olive oil and rice wine vinegar with the teeniest splash of fish oil and a dime size amount of chili paste. It wasn't bad, suited my needs rather well.

But for those with a more refined vinaigrette tastebuds, I really like the dressing I used to make at home - 1:1 oil and cranberry redwine vinegar, with the oil being half peanut, half olive. Splash of sweet soy sauce and a bit of garlic paste to taste. It's yummm.

Also, keep in mind: this salad (and most foods) is only as good as the ingredients. Make sure you purchase good quality cheese and fresh veggies. And for the dressing, the olive oil I have here is terrible (compared to the expensive EVOO at home, I'm food-spoiled), so the dress was ughh-blahh to taste but when added to the salad, it wasn't bad.

I hope you made it to your own variation. Next time, I may add some cucumber. Enjoy!

Sweet lemonade o' mine

Java House. 6.35 pm. One order of Fresh Raspberry Lemonade. I am unbelievably happy.... best lemonade I've had in a while - it's the perfect combination of sweetness, freshly squeezed lemons, raspberry puree and ice. All I need is a porch swing, a good book and somebody to take the MCAT for me and it might actually feel like summer.

Raspberry Lemonade - $3.17

JH: 1575 S 1st Ave, Iowa City

Also, I do NOT have a black eye - can't help that the lighting is spotty here.

Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken

No recipe for this.
The taste wasn't worth duplicating, but it looks good, no?

A Melody turns 20

A good friend of mine, Melody, turned 20 just a while ago. To celebrate no longer being a teen, she decided to have a birthday dinner at Formosa. I was more than ecstatic because in Iowa City, Formosa is one of my favorite restaurants because of their tasty signature rolls and discounted price on Sunday nights (Purchase 2 signature rolls, receive one free). Each signature roll is around $12, so if you go with 2 other people on a Sunday night and everybody orders a single speciality roll, you will find yourself only paying $8 total. Although this is still fairly expensive, I feel it's worth it for a signature roll. Some of my favorite signature rolls at Formosa are the Formosa roll, Tropical Rainforest, Las Vegas Roll and Tiger Shrimp Roll.

Tropical Rainforest:

Smoked salmon, tangy mango, rich cream cheese, sliced yellow onion and chopped green onion rolled and topped with avocado, sun flower seeds. Drizzled with both sweet eel and mango sauces.

Tropical Rainforest was the first uncooked sushi dish I have ever tried and I've been in love with it ever since. The combination of the cream cheese and smoked salmon with the sweet eel sauce is simply divine.

Las Vegas Roll:

Crab meat and rich cream cheese are rolled in rice and seaweed, lightly tempura fried and stacked with spicy tuna, crab meat mix and sliced lotus root crisps. Finished with sweet eel sauce and spinach tempura flakes.

The Las Vegas roll is a piece of art. It is the most requested roll at Formosa and it is easy to understand why - the combination of so many different ingredients and sauces mesh amazingly well together resulting in a full flavor explosion in your mouth.

I will review the Formosa Roll and Tiger Shrimp roll at another time, I don't think this post can handle two more speciality rolls......

You can't have a birthday without a birthday cake. For Melody's 20th, Rajiv had the excellent idea of bringing a Coldstone Strawberry Passion cakes. It's one of my favorite Coldstone signature cakes and it served to be the perfect dessert.

Moist red velvet cake, strawberry ice cream & graham cracker crust with strawberry puree wrapped in a fluffy strawberry frosting. (Price: ~$20 for a cake that serves 8-10 people)

I love Ice Cream cakes. Coldstone's signature collection is impressive and very, very good but I am a big fan of Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cakes. I think I like Dairy Queen more than Coldstone simply because of:

1) Their frosting: to me, it feels like a mixture between whipped cream and traditional frosting and it is just.... PERFECT. My favorite type of frosting, no doubt.

2) Dairy Queen secret chocolate crunch = ahhhhhhhaaamazing. Fudge mixed with chocolate crunch is incredibly good.

3) Perfect combination of everything - vanilla ice cream, crunch, fudge, frosting - it's simply delicious. If you haven't had a Dairy Queen cake yet, I would find an occasion to celebrate and purchase a cake ASAP.

Mmmmmm........

-------------------------------

Formosa Asian Cuisine

221 E College St
Iowa City, IA 52240
(319) 338-8880

Coldstone Creamery

39 S Dubuque St,

Iowa City - (319) 341-6155

Dairy Queen

212 E Market St,

Iowa City - (319) 354-1992

"A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand."

Few things in life are as soothing as homemade cookies: being in love; affectionate puppies; a mother's embrace. As I currently lack access to any of the above, cookies seemed like a good idea.
I initially wanted to make chocolate chip oatmeal ones, but I didn't have any brown sugar =( so I decided to make snickerdoodles, since I found a recipe for them a while back. My biggest problem with snickerdoodles is that they are sometimes too hard and I like my cookies soft and moist. I ended up tweaking the recipe a little and voilà!

SUCCESS!

They turned out better than my highest expectations. I mean, it's pretty bad graces to praise you own stuff, but umm, possibly the best cookies I've ever had! And if not, for sure the best snickerdoodle cookies I've ever tasted. The first bite carried me into a soft cloud of comfort, soft, sweet, delicious.

The Recipes:
It claims to make three dozen... but those would probably be some small cookies. I only was able to make around twenty.

Ingredients:
* not whole measurements because I had to adjust for different serving amount than the recipe.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
In another bowl/electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Add to dry mixture and beat till smooth dough forms.
Preheat over to 390 degrees.
Shape dough into round balls and place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper/aluminum foil.

For coating:
Roll the balls in a cinnamon and sugar mix (I did about 2/10 cup of sugar for every teaspoon of cinnamon). Flatten each cookie into about 1/2 inch thick.

Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown.

Let cool. Enjoy!

The Best Eats in IC: According to A

This shall be an on going series, in which I post about my favorite foods and eateries.

First up: #4 at SHORTS BURGER AND SHINE

For those who do not know me - I LOVE Burgers. Any burger. Any time. Any day. But burgers do not usually leave a lasting impression and I rarely crave burgers over other "finer" foods. At least that was the way it used to be, until one fateful sunday second semester (2009), when I walked into Shorts for the time with Justine around 3 in the afternoon, and my life was forever divided into BC (Burger Casual) and AD (After Dundee).Yes, it was THAT epic. Simply put, the #4 (Dundee) is simply the best burger I've ever had (and I've had some good burgers).

What is it:
(See also- heaven on a bun. orgasm on a plate. meat of the gods. the answer. perfection.)

A burger unlike any other. It comprises layers of mouth-watering goodness. Not sure exactly everything that is in it, as I don't have a menu in front of me. But the memorable ingredients are (in order):
- Garlic flavored mayo that makes my knees weak
- Overeasy egg that oozes out over the entire burger, enveloping it in melty, dreamy perfection
- Slice of American cheese
- A tinge of salty in the form of a slice of Canadian bacon.
- Thick, fresh, grain-fed, local (Iowan) beef
- Fresh veggies

What makes it the best?

What makes the dundee truly great is not all the great stuff in it. It is the COMBINATION of everything in it and the amazing balance of flavors and aromas that never overwhelm but always compliment each other, thus creating a paradisiac mélange that makes your taste buds dance in ecstasy.

What you should know:

- Due to the sheer size of this burger, many/most people do not finish (ridiculous).
- Also, I can never seem to finish with my hands. It always become soo messy that I just end up using forks.
- For vegetarians/non-beefers, Shorts also makes blackbean burgers. Doubt it's equally delicious (wouldn't be possible), but I hear it's quite good.

Criticisms:

They occasionally overtoast the buns.

Last thoughts:

While the other burgers at Shorts are no doubt delicious, whenever I get something else, no matter how good it tastes, I'm always disappointed I didn't get the # 4, nothing can live up to it's glory. It's like this: The dundee is the best. While the others are great, they are not the best, in comparison, they can only be called good. Why would you order good when you can have the best. It just doesn't make sense. And apparently a lot of people agree with me, because the number 4 is the most popular burger there (according to one of the waitress).

I always tip well at shorts. I can't help it. I'm just soo happy. (Supposedly, eating burgers release the same endorphins that is released during sex and some illicit feel good drugs.)

I've recommended this to 11 people, 8 of whom have enthusiastically agreed with me on the amazingness of this burger. If you doubt my taste (why would you?), the stats do not lie.

Their fries are also very satisfying. Some think it's not crispy enough though. I happen to love both the taste and texture. It taste even better if the egg from the dundee leaks onto the fries.
Soo sooo sooooo good.

Al Dente

Alyssa just told me the noodles were 2 minute away from being "Al dente."

Note: She does not have a timer.
Is this normal?

Cooking Adventures

In our first week of living in our new summer apartment, Alyssa and I have been experimenting with cooking on a gas stove and trying out different ingredients. We've had some victories and casualties.

Casualty #1: Alyssa burned her

finger... ouch.

Here are some things that we cooked that turned out pretty well.....

Victory #1: Potato fries w/ Cherry Lemonade

Victory #2: Coffee Cake

(this picture does not do this cake justice... it was soooo delicious!)

Victory #3: Sauteed Snow Peas

Victory #4: Chicken (mmm)

Victory #5: Grilled Corn!

And that's all! For now, anyway. Pics of living room and recipes will be coming soon if anyone is interested :)