• Use 80/20 ground beef – ideally grind your own sirloin or chuck
• Form patties, handling as little as possible
• Put a dimple in the center to help keep them flat
  • Put 1/2 tsp butter in the dimple
• Grill thinly sliced red onion on an oiled griddle
• Grill burger over high heat
• Set patty aside, and brown your bun on the hot griddle

Cheese Sauce

• 1/4 C half and half
• 1 TBL sour cream
• 1 TBL grainy mustard
• 1 C Monterey Jack
• 1/4 C grated Parmesan
• 1 splash Tabasco and  Worchestershire

Assembly

• Shred iceburg lettuce and put on the bottom layer
• Next add the patty, then the sauteed onion
• Drizzle on some cheese
• Optionally, add sliced Jalapeño

Before we begin…

• When you grate potatoes for hashed browns, or cut them up for potato salad, don’t lose those wonderful potato skins.
• Cut off nice thick pieces for potato skins.
• Store them for up to a week in salt water
• These won’t be the “boats” you typically expect

1. Cook up three strips of bacon (keep the grease)
2. Chop into pieces
3. Chop up chives
4. Dry your potato skins with a paper towel
5. Brush your potato skins with the bacon fat
6. Bake at 425º for 20 minutes
7. Put skins onto your heat-proof serving platter
8. After the bacon has cooled a bit, mix your chopped bacon with
   • black olives
   • chopped chives
   • shredded cheddar cheese
   • jalapeños
   • nacho cheese
9. Put into hot oven for only 5 minutes
10. Top with sour cream and cilantro

Adapted from Food Networks  “The Kitchen”

• 2 pound roast – sirloin tip or chuck
• Cut into 2 inch chunks
• Put into heavy bottom pan and put on stove on lowest heat (alt use Slow Cooker)
• 1/2 bottle Ranch Dressing (about 4 ounces)
• 1 pkg gravy mix
• 1/2 C chicken broth
• 1/2 stick butter
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cover and cook 2-3 hours – agitating every hour
• Let meat rest 5 minutes before cutting or shredding
• Cut in thin sheets and top with fresh Pepperoncini peppers and grated Parmesan cheese
• Serve with a baked potato

Adapted from ‘The Kitchen’ from Food Network

• Marinade
  • 1 C Sour Cream
  • 1 TBL lime juice
  • Cumin
  • Salt and Pepper
• Pour 1/2 marinade onto thin strips of raw skirt steak in a bowl
• Toss and refrigerate 2-6 hours
• Preheat hot sheet tray @ 425º
• Pour oil onto hot pan
  • Add meat
  • Corn
  • Diced red bell pepper
• Return to hot oven to cook about 15 minutes
• Heat tortillas on hot skillet or gas burner – char is OK
• Add to the tortilla
  • A dollop of your marinade
  • Meat mixture
  • Red Onion – sliced thinly
  • Jalapeno – sliced thinly
  • Cilantro – rough chopped
  • Sauce on top – more marinade
  • Top with Queso cotijo or queso fresca

1. Spray sheet of aluminum foil with Pam
2. Cut thin medallions of potato and lay on foil in a circle, overlapping each medallion
3. Bake 10 minutes, then flip and bake another 10 minutes
4. Add a fried SUNNY SIDE UP egg on top – Don’t cook egg both sides . . . YET
5. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and put under broiler for 2-3 minutes
6. Add garnish of your choice, then serve

1. 1. One can peaches – three fresh is even better – chop small
      • You can alternately use plums or nectarines
   2. 1/2 C blueberries, raspberries, blackberries or blackberries
   3. Add to heavily buttered casserole
   4. Prepare the gratin
      • 1 C milk
      • 4 eggs
      • 1 TBL CinnaSugar
      • 1 TBL white sugar
      • 1 TBL corn starch
      • 2 TBL light brown sugar
      • 1 C AP flour
      • 4 TBL melted butter
      • vanilla
      • salt
   5. Bake 425º for 20 minutes
   6. Add granola and almonds on top to taste
   7. Put back in oven for 5 minutes
   8. Serve with a side of yogurt or ice cream

Ingredients

▢ 1 pounds very good ripe tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped
▢ 1/2 cup light brown sugar
▢ 1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
▢ 1/2 tablespoon fresh grated or minced ginger
▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
▢ 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
▢ scant teaspoon ground cloves
▢ scant teaspoon cayenne

Instructions

1. Add tomatoes and vinegar to a heavy bottom saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil stirring frequently to prevent the bottom from burning.
2. Add all other ingredients
3. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has thickened to the consistency of jam.
4. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
5. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

This is for a LifeLong Learners Class at Beatitudes Campus.  It is six one-hour classes.

CLASS ONE

• Lock, Stock and Barrell:  We take a basic unflavored stock, and steep one of the stocks with bay leaves, one with onion and garlic, and one plain – – then taste the difference.
• Old Spice:  We taste old and fresh spices:  Cinnamon, nutmeg, ground red pepper, salt, pepper
• Enhancements:  We take some French Onion Soup from the Bistro, and add slow cooked onion, a slice of French bread, and top it with some shredded gruyere.

CLASS TWO

• Fluffy:  We make one batch of crepe batter, then split the batter in two and add baking powder and baking soda to one of the mixes to see what the effect of leaveners does to the product.
• Chemistry 101:  We talk about the millard reaction, why you acidulate water when poaching eggs, how corn starch works, beating egg whites, and similar obscure reactions.

CLASS THREE

• Pudding:  We compare box pudding mix, to scratch pudding.
• Custard:  We compare Birds Custard Powder to custard from scratch
• Lemon curd:  It’s not all that hard
• Poached:  We take a look at two, two and a half, three, and three and a half poached eggs
• Hard Boiled:  We will talk about the best ways to hard boil eggs
• The Devil make me do it:  We’ll take the hard boiled eggs and create deviled eggs.

CLASS FOUR

• Hashed Browns:  Low heat vs high heat, raw vs semi-cooked
• Hot or Not:  We’ll talk about when you use high heat or low heat in cooking steaks, French Toast, eggs, etc
• The Shape of Things:  Why are certain cut into squares, triangles or circles.  Using height on your food presentation,

CLASS FIVE

• The Five Mother Sauces:  Bechemel, Hollandaise, Roux, Velouté, Bernaise, Tomato, Pan Sauce, and other child sauces of the Mother Sauces.
• Starches as thickeners:  Not to add, and how not to add.

CLASS SIX

• Smoothies: Tips and Tricks
• Egg Nog:  A simple holiday drink any time of the year
• Sangria:  Several regional types
• Peanut Brittle:  Microwave process

• 4 cups AP flour.
• 1 tablespoon. Sugar
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast.
• 1 teaspoon salt

Add to one cup warm water

• 2/3 cup whole milk Greek yogurt
• Knead for 12 to 15 minutes.
• Form into ball, and let ball rise 12 hours

1. Dust counter with cornmeal
2. Roll into a white rectangle
3. Spread with strawberry and blueberry jam.
4. Blueberries is another good option.
5. Start at the bottom and make it a tight roll
6. Cut into 12 uniform rules
7. Place in baking pan, let rise one hour
8. Make it 350 for 12 minutes or until browned.
9. Meanwhile, mixed together 1/2 cup confectioner sugar, 1/4 cup yogurt , and 1 tablespoon lemon juice for topping.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 Garlic clove, peeled and split in half

• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1  1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 4 medium Potatoes   (2 pounds)

• 2 1/2 cups finely grated Gruyère cheese (1/2 pound)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Lightly butter a 10-cup gratin dish.
• Rub the dish with both halves of the cut Garlic clove.
• Combine the cream, nutmeg, salt, pepper and cayenne in a bowl.
• Peel the Potatoes and slice them paper-thin on a mandolin.
• As you work, place the Potato slices in the bowl with the cream and seasonings.
• Add the Gruyère and combine thoroughly.
• Pour the Potato-cheese mix into the prepared gratin dish, making sure the Potato slices are flat and level.
• Place the gratin dish inside a roasting pan and fill the pan to three quarters full with hot water, creating a bain-marie.
• Carefully place the bain-marie in the center of the oven and bake for 2 hours, or until completely set and golden on top.
• Serves 4 to 6.

Dutch Oven Biscuit Donuts (aka Bonuts)

• 1 qts canola oil
• Two biscuit cutters
  (2 1/2 and 1 1/4 rings)
• Spider strainer
• Chopsticks (for putting into oil)

Bonut Glaze

• 1/4 C whole milk (very warm)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 225 gm (8 oz) confectioner sugar

Step by Step

1. Bring canola oil up to 350º
2. Prepare dough as shown HERE or HERE
3. Cut biscuits with larger cutter
4. Cut center with a smaller ring
   reserve the little biscuits
5. Put on a parchment-lined pan and put into your 350º oil
   – four at a time
6. Cook 3 minutes, flip, 1-2 minute
7. Put onto a rack
8. While still warm dip into glaze, then let cool.  Toss the holes in remaining glaze