[Recipe] [Blue Apron] Pretzel Burgers with Hoppy Cheddar Sauce and Roasted Sweet Potato Rounds

Bar food.  It doesn't have to be boring or predictable-- nor do you have to go to a bar to get it.  (And thank goodness-- sometimes, I just don't want to shout over top 40 hits to have a conversation or hear myself think.)

Today's Blue Apron recipe is a trifecta of un-boring bar food: pretzel buns, sweet potato fries, and beer cheese.  I've made beer cheese before with actual beer (I confess it was better than this quick cheat version, but it took much, much longer)-- this relies on using hops flowers themselves (refresher: hops, to the extent used, give beer a slightly bitter flavor).  Cheers!

Pretzel Burgers with Hoppy Cheddar Sauce and Roasted Sweet Potato Rounds
A recipe by Blue Apron

Ingredients
10 ounces ground beef
2 pretzel buns
3/4 cup milk
1 pound sweet potatoes
1 red onion
1 bunch thyme
2 ounces cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon fresh hops flowers
1 tablespoon whole grain dijon mustard
olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions
1.  Prepare the ingredients.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Wash and dry the fresh produce.  Thinly slice the sweet potatoes into rounds.  Pick the thyme leaves off the stems; discard the stems and roughly chop the leaves.  Grate the cheese.  Roughly chop the hops flowers.  Halve the buns.  Peel the onion and thinly slice into rings.  Take about half the onion rings and further small dice them.

2.  Roast the sweet potatoes.  Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil for easy cleaning.  Place the sweet potatoes on the sheet pan.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper; toss to thoroughly coat.  Arrange in a single, even layer, and roast, flipping halfway through, 20-25 minutes, or until browned and slightly crispy.  Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the thyme.

3.  Make the cheddar sauce.  While the sweet potatoes roast, in a small pot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium-high until hot.  Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, 1 to 2 minutes, or until golden.  Gradually whisk in half the milk.  Simmer, whisking frequently, 1 to 2 minutes, or until thickened; season with salt and pepper.  Reduce the heat to low.  Gradually add the cheese and cook, whisking constantly, 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until smooth.  (If the sauce seems too thick, gradually add the remaining milk to achieve your desired consistency.)  Remove from heat and stir in the hops flowers; season with salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside in a warm place.

4.  Form and cook the burgers.  While the sweet potatoes continue to roast, place the ground beef in a bowl.  Season with salt and pepper; gently mix with the small diced red onions to incorporate.  Using your hands, form the mixture into two 1/2-inch-thick burgers.  In a large pan (non-stick, if you have one), heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil on medium until hot.  Add the burgers and cook 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium, or until browned and cooked to your desired degree of doneness.  Transfer to a plate and set aside in a warm place, leaving any drippings in the pan.

5.  Toast the buns and plate your dish.  Heat the pan of reserved drippings on medium-high until hot.  Add the buns, cut sides down, and toast 2 to 3 minutes, or until lightly browned and warmed through.  Divide between two plates.  Spread the mustard onto the toasted bun bottoms.  Top with the cooked burgers, cheddar sauce (if the sauce seems too thick, reheat on low), and as much of the onion as you'd like.  Complete the burgers with the bun tops.  Serve with the roasted sweet potatoes on the side.

[Recipe] "Good Mornin'" Avocado Egg in a Hole Toast

Mornings are hard.  I get it.  You might oversleep, or maybe you had to work late (or maybe you partied late), and the last thing you want to do when you get up is cook.  But what if I told you I have a 5-10 minute recipe for a breakfast as good as any you might get in the depths of Brooklyn or in sunny California?
Disclaimer:  Here I am assuming you like avocado.  Because duh.

Soundtrack - Good Mornin'
Good mornin'
Good mornin'
It's great to stay up late
(Sunbeams will soon shine through)
Good mornin'
Good mornin' to you

Side Note:  How amazing is Singin' in the Rain?  As a little girl, I crushed on Gene Kelly and Gregory Peck while my friends swooned over Jonathan Taylor Thomas.

"Good Mornin'" Avocado Egg in a Hole Toast
an original recipe by tammiest (The Passionfruit Fashionista)

Ingredients
1 slice whole-grain bread
1 avocado
1 large egg
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Hot sauce (optional)

Directions
1.  Mash the avocado in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add a dash of hot sauce for kick—also to taste.
2.  Using a small round cookie cutter or other mold, cut a small circle (or heart or whatever other shape you desire) from the middle of your slice of toast.  Heat a small non-stick skillet with a small amount of oil in it over low heat.  Place the slice of bread in the skillet and heat for about 30 seconds, then flip.
3.  Crack an egg into the hole in the center of your toast.  Season with salt and pepper.  Wait until the egg whites begin to firm up and turn opaque, then flip the entire piece of toast with the egg in the center.  Cook for another 30 seconds to 1 minute, then either remove from heat or turn off the heat, keeping the skillet over the burner.
4.  Spread the avocado mixture on the toast around the egg.

5.  If you don't want to cut a hole in your toast, of course you don't need to.  The avocado spread will work on toast alone, or you can separately cook your eggs however you want (sunny side-up, scrambled, etc.) and top.  Note also that one avocado will definitely be enough for two or three of these, so if you refrigerate the rest, breakfast the next day will be even easier!

[Recipe] "Shape of My Heart" Valentine's Day Black and Pink (White) Cookies

My holiday calendar is essentially one of food.  The Christmas season is full of roasts (vegetables, beef, and whole chickens, oh my!), Chinese New Year is for dumplings (more on my upcoming Chinese New Year dinner party in a future post), and Valentine's Day is for baking (and maybe heart-shaped pizzas, the most romantic couple food ever).

This Valentine's Day, I thought it would be cute to make that classic New York dessert, black and white cookies, from scratch-- but with red and pink food coloring and, obviously, with cookies shaped like hearts.

Soundtrack - Backstreet Boys - Shape of My Heart
I'm here with my confession
Got nothing to hide no more
I don't know where to start
But to show you the shape of my heart

I'm lookin' back on the things I've done
I never wanna play the same old part
Or keep you in the dark
Now let me show you the shape of my heart

"Shape of My Heart" Valentine's Day Black and Pink (White) Cookies
a recipe inspired by Smitten Kitchen
Makes 24 very large cookies or 4-5 dozen smaller ones

Cookie Base - Ingredients
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
2-1/2 cups cake flour
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Icing - Ingredients
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup water
3 ounces very bitter or unsweetened chocolate
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1 to 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

Instructions
1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray 2 baking sheets with nonstick spray, or line with parchment paper.
2.  In large mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter.  Mix by machine or hand until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, then milk and vanilla and lemon extracts, and mix until smooth.  Scrape down bowl.

3.  In a medium bowl, combine cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.  Stir until mixed.  Add dry mixture to the wet mixture in batches, stirring well after each addition.

4.  Using a soup spoon, place heaping spoonfuls of the dough 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.  Bake until edges begin to brown, 18 to 20 minutes.  Cool completely.
5.  Boil a cup or so of water in a small pot.  Place confectioners' sugar in large, heat-safe mixing bowl.  Gradually stir in enough boiling water to the sugar to make a thick, spreadable mixture.  Err on the side of caution because a too-thin frosting is hard to undo.  Leave remaining boiling water on the stove.

6.  Split the frosting into two bowls, approximately 1/3 to 2/3.  In the bowl with more frosting, add red or pink food coloring and mix to your desired shade.  Spread frosting on half of the flat side of each cookie.

7.  Once all cookie halves have been frosted, place the bowl of the remaining frosting (remember, you set some aside earlier) over the hot water and bring it back to a simmer (creating a double boiler).  Stir in the bitter of unsweetened chocolate until melted, as well as the light corn syrup.  At this point, depending on the chocolate you used and your preferences, you might find the chocolate color to be a little lighter than the "black" of a black-and-white cookie.  If so, mix in a tablespoon or more of cocoa.

8.  Ice the remaining half of the cookies with the chocolate frosting.  If the frosting dries out, feel free to whisk in a small splash of water from time to time to smooth it back into a shiny frosting.

9.  Let the frosting set.  Store in an airtight container.  These cookies keep for a few days, although, because the bases are cakelike, they can get stale quickly.  Pro Tip:  You can also store your cookies with a slice of bread (white is preferable-- no other flavors transferred to the cookies) to keep them moist.