The Grown Man Burger

Last week the boys helped me make burgers, fries, and a little zucchini for supper. Let me tell you, there is nothing better than a burger with all the fixin's. What fixin's you ask? Well personally I go crazy for an egg, lots of cheese, jalapenos, bacon, lettuce and some sauces. But you can put virtually anything on a burger, so go crazy! Here's how we did ours: 

What you'll need for 4 people. 

• 4 Kaiser Rolls (so much better than regular buns)
• 1lb Ground Beef
• Your Choice of Cheese (I used sliced cheddar and provolone)
• 4 Eggs
• Lettuce
• 8 Slices of Bacon
• Japalenos in a Jar

Everyone has made burgers before right? They can be made on the stovetop, in the oven or on the grill. I prefer the grill, mainly cause I can get the boyfriend to do the work for me :)

First of all let's cook the bacon. My sous chef and I always cook bacon the same way, in the oven. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil, then lay the slices on top and cook it in the oven on 375 until done! This way it doesn't make the whole house smell like bacon for hours, and there is easy clean up. Put the bacon on a paper towel covered plate, and drain the grease into a mason jar and keep it in the fridge (always save bacon grease- there are so many uses for it!) Throw away the aluminum foil and your baking sheet is untouched so you don't even have to wash it.

So next you'll form your patties, and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Throw them on the grill, stovetop, or in the oven. Fry the eggs in a frying pan while the burgers are cooking, and set aside. Put the buns on the grill for a couple minutes to warm them up as well.  Don't forget to put the cheese on the patties while they're still on the grill to get them nice and melty. We ate our burgers with grilled zucchini and homemade fries, and it was delicious!  Enjoy!

Pasta Carbonara

Hey Everybody! I haven't had time to cook hardly anything the past couple of weeks, so I haven't been blogging. I finally had time to cook one of my favorite meals a few nights ago; Pasta Carbonara. I remember the first time I made this comfort food for my friends, they thought I was crazy when I told them I was making pasta with eggs and bacon. But you know what...why not?! It's a super easy and filling food, so give it a try one night!

Here's what you'll need:  (serves 6.... or 4 with leftovers)

• 1 cup heavy cream (not half& half. not milk. Heavy. Cream. It'll be worth it I promise)
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 10 slices bacon 
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 lb. spaghetti

First, Boil some salted water for the pasta. Add a few squirts of olive oil; it'll help keep the pasta from sticking together.

Chop the 1/2 onion and set aside. Then cut the bacon into pieces about 1/2 inch wide. Cook the bacon in a saute pan until more than halfway done, then add the onion. Cook until bacon is crispy and the onion is cooked. Put it on a plate with a few paper towels to absorb some grease.

Cook the pasta according to directions.

Cooked Bacon & Onion

While all that is cooking, crack 4 eggs put them in a bowl and mix them. Then measure your 1 cup of cream, and put it in the microwave for about a minute until it's hot to the touch. Now we're going to temper the eggs. If we put the eggs into the hot pasta, they'll just scramble and that's not what we want. So we will take a few tablespoons of the eggs and put them in the cream, stirring the entire time. SLOWLY mix the cream into the rest of the eggs, stirring with a fork or whisk the entire time. Once you have a warm, creamy sauce, add the parmesan cheese and set aside.

Pasta after sauce added

Drain the pasta and put it back into the pot. Immediately stir the creamy sauce into the pasta and stir it until even. Add the bacon and onion, and ENJOY!

Banana Nut Bread

My dear friend and coworker, John did me a huge favor last week and worked my shift so I could go to a wedding! So I made him some yummy banana nut bread to thank him, and because I knew he loved it.

                                                                Here it is!

- 1.5 cups of flour
- 1 stick of unsalted butter, at room temp. (remember my oven trick)
- 3.5  ripe bananas
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs (I prefer brown eggs)
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (I bought them chopped, then chopped them a little more)


Set your oven to 350 degrees, and butter your loaf pan. Then mash the 3 1/2 bananas in a bowl until creamy, but some chunks are left. Set aside.

Butter & Sugar mix

Whisk together flour, baking soda and powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar with a hand mixer until creamy (picutred). Add eggs one at a time, and beat more. Now from this point on you just want to stir with a spoon, not mix anymore. Stir in the bananas, vanilla, sour cream until mixed. Then stir in dry ingredients and then the walnuts!

Pour into your buttered loaf pan, put on a baking sheet on the middle oven rack and cook for about an hour, until you can put a knife in and it's clean when you take it out.

Some people like to eat theirs plain, others with a little butter. However you like yours, I hope you love this bread! ENJOY :)

Before baking

After Baking, Cooling, and taking it out

Prosciutto & Mozzarella Sandwich

Ok guys, this is my FAVORITE sandwich in the world. It's simple, yet so delicious. It's a little piece of Napoli every time I eat it. Now I know everyone gets tired of ham and cheese on white... so try something new!

The key to this sandwich is fresh mozzarella, the place I've been able to find the freshest is at Whole Foods or Fresh Market. They're just big balls of cheese kept in water for freshness. You can get the prosciutto from the deli section (don't buy it in a package please, I'm begging you). And lastly, get some fresh french or italian bread. That's it. Simple as that. ENJOY.

Italian Sausage & Penne Pasta

Good Morning everyone! So the other night I made the first family dinner for my boyfriend and his roommates in their new house! This is a very yummy, filling, comfort food recipe.

Here's what you'll  need:

- Pasta sauce (you can buy it pre-made like Prego, but I like it homemade) if homemade, buy...
- 2 large cans of tomato sauce
- 1 small can tomato pasta
- Oregano, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Red Pepper Flakes, Basil, S&P
-One package (5 links) of MILD Italian sausage
-1 lb of penne pasta (If you don't have that, rigatoni or ziti will work too)

First we're going to get a large pot of water with a pinch or two of salt and boil it.

Then we'll get a saute pan, put the sausage in it and fill it about halfway up the sausage with water, then cook it on Medium to Medium-High until it is light in color. Flip it around once or twice to make sure both sides are cooking properly. This cooks some fat out (it will look pretty yucky). I also like to poke some holes in it with my fork to get some grease out as well. This is what it should look like when it's about halfway done. When it's done, put the sausage on a cutting board and rinse out the pan. Cut the sausage up until half-inch pieces and put them back in the pan on Medium-Low heat with a little EVOO. stir these around until they are cooked through, then set aside. (the ones in the picture aren't cooked through yet)

The pasta should be boiling now, so put in the whole box, and cook until tender. Then drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, pour your pasta sauce into a saucepan to heat up, or make it! Put both tomato sauce cans in a saucepan, along with about half the can of tomato paste to a whole can. It depends on how thick you want yours. Add Salt and Pepper, Oregano, Basil, Onion and Garlic Powder, and Red Pepper Flakes to your taste. Personally, I like mine a bit spicy.  Bring all of that to a boil, then simmer for a few minutes until everything else is ready.

Once everything is cooked, you can mix it all together and dig in! Another option would be to put it in a baking dish, sprinkle it with some mozzarella cheese and bake it for about 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and everything is hot. Serve with Parmesan cheese, bread and a salad and enjoy!

Wine & Design

Last week my girlfriends and I got together and went to a little thing called Wine & Design here in Raleigh.  You choose when you want to go based on what will be painted that night, grab a bottle of vino and your closest friends and learn how to paint like DaVinci! We painted a peacock at my class, and it turned out suprisingly good! There's always one or two teachers to help you out (thank God). They also do private parties. I'm definitely going back as soon as I can, and you should check it out too!   Wine & Design Website

Baked Chicken with Sweet Onion Sauce and Buttered Mashed Potatoes

My mom's birthday was a few weeks ago, and I told her I'd cook her whatever she wanted for dinner. So, my sous chef, Judah and I headed to Fayetteville for the night to cook her a delicious meal. She requested chicken with onion sauce and buttered mashed potatoes. It wasn't difficult, but it was time consuming recipe, so save this one for a special date night.


Baked Chicken with Sweet Onion Sauce


First of all here's what you're going to need:

• 4 chicken breast halves, with the skin. (Or just regular boneless skinless, your choice)
• Fresh Rosemary (I actually used some from my garden, it was pretty much the only plant still alive...)
• 2 Large Sweet Onions
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• 3/4 cup chicken stock (Broth is fine too)
• And the staples; EVOO, Kosher Salt and Pepper

Preheat that oven to 425 degrees and oil a roasting pan that will fit all your chicken and onions. Then season your chicken with some EVOO, S&P. Put the chicken in the pan, skin side up. Mince the rosemary very fine, and sprinkle all over chicken, but make sure to leave some for decoration! Now, cut the onions into fourths, then season them with EVOO, S&P as well. I also threw in about half a teaspoon of minced garlic as well. Throw them in the pan around the chicken. Cook this for about 35ish minutes until the chicken is golden brown. Stir the onions occasionally so they don't burn.

When the chicken is cooked through, take it out of the pan and cover it with aluminum foil and throw it in your warming oven or just put it in your microwave. Leave the onions in the oven for 5-10 minutes more at 475 degrees until very tender.

So here's where I thought I'd use a food processor but we found that using a blender on pulse was just as good! So take those yummy onions and all the juices in the pan and put them in the blender until it's creamy. Meanwhile, ask your little helper to put the roasting pan on medium heat, add the sherry and stock as needed and bring to a boil. We want to scrape the brown bits off to make a kind of gravy. Let it boil for about 2-3 minutes, until the liquid reduces. Then add the sherry sauce to the onion sauce as needed, and blend it to make it a pourable sauce.

Salt and Pepper to your taste, pour the onion sauce over the chicken, garnish with rosemary and serve!

Buttered Mashed Potatoes

There are dozens of different ways to make classic mashed potatoes, and this one is one of my favorites. Classic, creamy, fluffy BUTTERY potatoes. And the recipe is so simple you can make these any night of the week!

Here's what you'll need:

• 3 lbs. baking potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks. (I like Yukon Gold)
• 1 1/2 sticks salted butter, at room temp. (TIP: if you forget to take your butter out, put it on the stove for a minute or two while the oven is on, it'll soften it right up)
• 1/2 cup warmed whole milk
• Minced Chives (optional, but gives the potatoes some color and texture)

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, and add the potato chunks. Let them cook for about 20 minutes, or until you can easily stick a fork into them. Get a large bowl, and stick the potatoes through a ricer into the bowl. (If you don't have a ricer, beat the potatoes with a mixer on high speed until mashed) Then whisk (or beat) milk and butter in until you get the taste and consistency you want. So not over beat them though, because then they will loose the fluffiness. Add S&P and chives to taste, grab a fork and dig in!

For this particular recipe I knew I would eat the potatoes with the onion sauce from the chicken, so I didn't add a lot of seasoning. But you can add garlic or garlic powder, Parmesan cheese, oregano, pretty much anything you want!

Every balanced meal needs some veggies, we had corn (not pictured), but any vegetable would go great with this meal.