An Upside-Down Burgers is Right-Side Up

You'll be happy to know I brought all my equipment with me down to LA, and I'll be spending my entire weekend filming a bunch of new videos recipes – none of which will include my "face for radio."

This little quick and dirty cell phone video shows a burger eating technique I've been wanting to share for a while. I like to leave my burger upside-down on the plate, so instead of the thinner bottom bun getting even soggier, the juices drain into the usually thicker, drier top bun. You're welcome. Enjoy!

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"Can't Boil Water" Starring…Me?

A couple days ago I mentioned that I was down in LA on some semi-secret business. Believe it or not, I was hired on as the Senior Food Producer for a new ABC pilot called "Time Machine Chefs." 

I'll be here for a few weeks helping make sure this is the biggest smash hit cooking show since Top Chef. I wish I could give more details, but for obvious reasons I can't. 

I was brought in by my great friend, Jude Weng, a very talented and accomplished producer who specializes in unscripted television shows (she worked on the very first Survivor!). Speaking of unscripted television shows, the video below is the sizzle reel (which is a sort of quick and dirty mini-pilot) we did together a few years ago for a show idea called, "Can't Boil Water." 

It hasn't been picked up yet, but who knows, maybe now that she's given me permission to post it, a bunch of offers will roll in. I'm joined by my student, Becky Nuse, her fiance Mario, and my good buddy, Sara (aka Average Betty). Enjoy!

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How to Cook Hamburgers So That Someone Like Me Would Like Them

I normally don't care too much about how absolutely accurate the color profiles of my photos are. I'm the video guy, so if the pictures are a little off, or my grammar's ain't perfect, I get a pass.

But here I was concerned that my average-at-best photography skills would give readers a false impression of exactly how cooked this hamburger was. You'll have to take my word for it, but this was a pretty perfect medium. It may have been the bright light, but the photo makes this look a little rarer than it was.

I'm not a big fan of rare burgers, as I've always believed the beef fat therein should be hot and flowing, not cool and flabby. If I want raw meat I'll make a tartar. At the same time, I do want to keep the burger somewhat pink, if possible, so it stays moist and tender.

The technique you're about to watch is fairly straightforward, but like any cooking methods, it takes a little practice. The good news is, once you get a feel for this "cook it just over halfway up" system, you should be a perfectly pink hamburger making machine.

By the way, I won't engage in any inane debates on the wisdom of eating less-than-well-done burgers. The topic's been covered online, ad nauseam (pun intended). Is it potentially dangerous to eat a pink burger? Of course, but so is crossing the street. Enjoy!

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Coming Soon: How to Make Perfectly Pink Hamburgers

I just found out that amazingly delicious cheeseburger you saw in the Pinot-Glazed Mushrooms video can't air until July, 27th. It was a sponsored post, so I have no choice but to wait, however I did film some extra footage during that session on how to get a perfectly pink burger. I'm in Los Angeles on some semi-secret business, but I should have this hopefully helpful how-to up tomorrow evening. Stay tuned!

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A Pickled Peck of Padron Peppers - Twist Your Tongue with Flavor

While I was at the inaugural Atlanta Food & Wine Festival a few weeks ago, I attended a demo by Donald Link, on the topic of working with hot peppers. When Link told the crowd he's used over 150 different varieties of peppers, we knew we were listening to the right dude.

During the presentation Chef Link made a quick and colorful batch of pickled peppers, and while they did look great, it was the vinegar they were brined in that really caught my attention. 

The James Beard Award winning chef said that every station in his kitchens have some of this spicy vinegar in it, and that this magic potion is used liberally in all kinds of things; rice, dressings, and marinades, just to name a few.

So, when Michele came home last week with a bag of oversized Padron peppers, I decided to give this a whirl. I was in one of those 'don't do any research before you start' moods, and just went for it. I decided to use vinegar and sugar, but no salt.

I know salt, and lots of it, is found in virtually all pickling brines, but I wanted to see what would happen if it was omitted. Since I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to use this vinegar on or in, I thought that would give me more flexibility

Of course, the only problem with an experiment like this is I have to wait a few weeks, at least, to taste my creation. I'm not a patient person, but hopefully I'll be rewarded. If you can't find Pardon peppers (see bonus coverage below), then any small fresh pepper will work, especially jalapeno or red Fresno chilies. Enjoy! 

Disclaimer: Like I said in the video, this is an experiment. Try this at your own risk!

Ingredients:

Enough peppers to almost fill a quart jar

3 cups white vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

4 cloves garlic, peeled, halved

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Bonus Padron Pepper Coverage!

Padron peppers are such a fascinating fruit (yes, like tomatoes, they are technically a fruit), and I covered them in way more detail in this post I did last August. I've posted the video below, but I encourage you curious culinarians to go check out the full post here. Enjoy!

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Mahi Mahi with Spicy Thai Chili Mango Sauce and a Lesson Well Learned

Making this mahi mahi with spicy Thai chili mango sauce recipe didn't have me dreaming of tropical beaches, or some exotic outdoor market in southeast Asia. No, it reminded me of getting yelled at in the back of some dingy prep kitchen, a very long time ago.

I was given a recipe to make by an old French chef for a tomato pasta sauce. The first step was sweating a finely minced mirepoix in some olive oil. Since it was a fairly large batch, I decided to use the food processor to mince the carrots, celery and onions. Le chef was not le happy.

After teaching me a few new, colorful French phrases, he explained that while a mechanically minced mirepoix may look similar to a hand minced one, they were very different. He told me when you use a food processor, the vegetables are torn into tiny pieces, as opposed to being cleanly cut.

There is way more damage done to the cellular structure, and depending on the ingredient, that can create a noticeably different taste and texture than using a sharp knife and a little elbow grease, or as I believe it's called in France, elbow butter.

Anyway, this mango sauce is an example of how much I took that lesson to heart. For all I know that culinary theory has been debunked by Alton Brown, or some other food wonk a long time ago, but I don't care. I'll always believe my spicy mango sauce tastes better because I cut it by hand. Thanks chef! Enjoy.

UPDATE: I just listened to this video recipe again, and am proposing a new drinking game where every time I say "beautiful," you have to do a shot. ;-)

Spicy Thai Chili Mango Sauce Ingredients: (note everything in this is "to taste")

3/4 cup finely minced mango

1/2 small Thai chili, minced very fine

1 teaspoon sambal chili sauce, or other similar chili paste

1 large clove garlic, crushed fine

1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar

juice from one lime

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

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Coming Soon: Grilled Mahi Mahi with Spicy Thai Chili Mango Sauce

I will explain all this later. Thank you. Come again. UPDATE: This was edited and posted during my IACP session (which explains the brief and cryptic first sentence), that I blogged about yesterday. It went very well! I'll be back in San Francisco tomorrow, and will upload the full video then. Thanks!

UPDATE to the UPDATE: I'm back in San Francisco, but will not be able to upload the video today...unless you want it without any narration. :-) Stay tuned!

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