Stuffed Burgers... Heaven in a Bun!

Okay, so I had to give a title that would catch the eye. :)

What can I say, I honestly love how this simple recipe came out.

So I made a batch of my favorite Avocado Salsa, though I had to improvise as I didn't have the green onions or fresh cilantro. I had 6, slightly smaller avocados, and used them all. I had a large red and yellow bell pepper which I used. To substitute the cilantro I used dried and I just used chives instead of onions. A milder flavor is always my favorite. So this batch came out creamier more like guacamole in texture. This prompted my idea to use it stuffed in a burger.

So here is the recipe for the ultimate stuffed burger.

I took fresh ground beef, 88% lean. I added 2 TBSP of Ketchup, (I use a brand free of high fructose corn syrup.)

I mixed the meat with the ketchup to give it a bit more moisture.

I pressed out a thin burger and topped with some sheep milk feta (Found this at Costco in the Cheese and Lunch Meat section) and a heaping spoon of the Avocado Salsa.

I topped with a second patty (both about 1/4 lb) and pressed the edges together to seal in the cheese and avocado mixture.

Sprinkle the outside with a pinch of sea salt and tuscan herbs.

I cooked this on medium heat in a fry pan, no oil. The avocado will exude it's own oil and I have a ceramic coated fry pan. Cover to hold the heat in and keep the burger moist. I turn the burger at least 3 times to get well browned and cooked through.

The feta will melt inside and add to the gooey goodness.

Remove from the heat. I prepped the bread or bun by toasting lightly. I put a couple slices of manchego cheese on along with some fresh mixed greens and topped with the burger. This is such a juicy burger you will definitely need a napkin handy. Enjoy!

(Here are the promised pictures.)

Christmas Celebrations, Ruminations and New Years Hopes & Dreams!

I spent Christmas on Christmas Eve at my brother’s house! It was so nice to have family time and visiting with my Brother, his wife, and their son Roger and his wife and kids. Their children are so much fun and very artistically talented. Amber loves to draw and has a very good eye for perspective already. Anthony is more the 3 dimensional artist and likes to build things. I hope to teach him how to make the clay dragons like I do. Though I bet his will be even better than mine in no time.

My sister-in-law and I love to cook, so it’s always fun to talk cooking, cookbooks and such with her. I wish we had more time to just get together and cook and have fun.

Later in the day the rest of the friends that they invited arrived for the dinner. Since many of these people have joined us for the holidays for many years it feels like extended family when they arrive. The conversation was full of the joy that makes the Holiday all that much more fun. It was a wonderful day!

The only damper for me was that lost feeling I can’t shake. I feel like that square peg trying to cram into a round hole. It’s trying to be happy without Mom there. She was so much a part of my life that I feel out of place without her. I have done all I could this year to get that feeling of cheer, but I feel like I fall just short of the goal. I know it’s more than just losing Mom, it’s everything else that has happened. I am still very knocked off kilter. As you can see in this picture, just 2 years ago it was a big family gathering at Christmas, my other brother came to visit with his family, Mom was still doing pretty well and well, I hadn't known the deep betrayal that would hit me from my husband. This year, there is no Mom, so Joe and family didn't come up to visit. And it's just Uno and I here with Husband in Jail and a divorce in the future. I hope 2013 is better. I will hopefully be divorced and I am looking for a way to solve my money problems. I hope to get time to write more. I would like to finally put my cookbook together and maybe e-publish it. I want to build up my cooking blog and try and post at least every other day. And one way or another I will get back to Florida for a visit at the very least.  That would really help to fill the hole for me.

So I wish all of my friends and family here, in Florida and spread out across the country and world a very Merry Christmas! I hope your day is filled with family, cheer and blessings! And may we all have a Bright and Happy New Year full of possibilities!

Merry Christmas everyone!

German Stӧllen Bread

This is Mom’s recipe for German Stӧllen Bread!

There were many revisions over the years. She also divides the recipe for making half a batch or 6 loaves instead of 12. I am going to type out the most recent revision then copy the 4 pages of her hand written recipe to post along with it. She has a note to read the whole recipe and revisions each year before she would start making the loaves for that year.

I remember Mom and I having a production line of making loaves of bread each year. We would make somewhere between 18 and 24 loaves. She would take some as gifts for her Minister at Church, friends from Church Circle; Dad would take to boss, or special clients. And of course we would have some for ourselves. She would freeze at least 3 so we would have this delightful fruit bread for at least several weeks for breakfast or a special after school treat.

1994 Revised Stӧllen Bread Recipe

For 6 Loaves       For 12 Loaves                     Mix Together:

¾ cup                    1 ½ cup                                 Lukewarm Milk

½ cup                    1 cup                                     Sugar

¾ tsp                     1 ½ tsp                                  Salt

2 pkg                     3 packages                          Dissolve fresh dry yeast in:

¼ cup                    ½ cup                                    Water, lukewarm, & stir well. Add to:

2                              4`                                            Eggs

½ cup                    1 cup                                     Shortening (mom used Crisco)

2 cup                     4 cup                                     Flour

                                                                                Put all this in mixer bowl with dough hook attached. Add:

2 cup                     4 cup                                     flour and mix very well at slow speed. Add:

1 cup                     2 cup                                     more flour when mixed until dough leaves side of bowl.

Put out on the Table (Mom had a formica topped kitchen table, she would sprinkle the top with flour and do this step) and knead for about 5 minutes with a little more flour until it “Feels right”. (It’s springy and has a tight consistency.)

Put in large, greased bowl covered with greased aluminum pie pan & place in slightly warm oven. Be sure to put a cookie sheet underneath in case it runs over and drips down when it rises. (She would prewarm the oven and turn it off, so it was warmer than room temp. This creates a warm, dry atmosphere and reduces the chance of humidity changing how well it rises.)

Punch down in 2 ½ to 3 hours and let rise- turn over to bring greased side to the top.

Second rising is 1 to 1 ½ hours.

Meanwhile – prepare the fruit & nuts by putting each of the following into 2 equal piles.

This much in each pile

For 6 Loaves       For 12 Loaves                     Ingredients

½ cup                    1 cup                                     Old English Fruit & Peel Mix

½ cup                    1 cup                                     Raisins

½ cup                    1 cup                                     Currants

¼ cup                    ½ cup                                    Citron

¼ cup                    ½ cup                                    candied Cherries

¼ cup                    ½ cup                                    mixed orange & lemon peel (candied)

½ cup                    1 cup                                     Broken Pecans

1 Tblsp                  2 Tblsp                                  grated fresh lemon rind

Put ½ the dough and the abovelisted fruit in the mixer with dough hook – on slow speed & let the mixer do the work of mixing in the fruit. When well distributed, turn out on floured board – let rest for 15 minutes to make it easier to handle and shape into 5 loaves (approx. 13 oz each) Let rise one hour while preparing second half of the dough.

Bake only one cookie sheet in each oven at 350° degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Frost with XXXX icing and decorate with candied Cherries & Green Pineapple creating flowers. Be sure to use evaporated milk for icing – skim milk makes a grainy consistency.

* In 2000 not too successful because dough didn’t rise properly & bread was too dense and heavy.

      In the future start the first steps very early so dough can have plenty of time for 3 risings & still be finished the same day.  ( If Cannot finish in one day, do NOT put dough in refrigerator overnight. (It seemed to have killed the yeast.) Just leave it out & punch it down the next morning.

These are the 4 pages of the original recipe from Mom's Cookbook! She had this filed in the book under "Yeast Breads"!