Great burger in NYC? Two words. Umami Burger

Tags

BBQ, Burgers, NYC, Umami, Umami Burger

The last time I was in NYC I was on a business trip. After working a tradeshow I hooked up with a colleague (Hi Mike!) to grab a bite to eat. Mike is a New Yorker, he likes to eat, and he knows I love good food. His suggestion – Umami Burger.

Umami Burger is an American restaurant chain that specializes in serving burgers. Their burgers are infused with secret ingredients with umami properties, a flavor that falls outside of the traditionally accepted tastes of salty, sweet, bitter and sour. The restaurant chain was founded by Adam Fleishman. The first location opened in LA in 2009 and since then Umami Burgers have branches in California, Florida and NYC.

Burger stamped with a “U”

What a cool place. When Umami Burger first opened in NYC in July 2013, people were waiting up to 3 hours just to get a seat, now the wait is around 45 minutes and TOTALLY worth it. It is a simple menu made up of, fries, fried pickles, burgers and beers.

I ordered the Truffle Burger –  (truffle glaze, truffle cheese, and a slather of roasted-garlic aioli)…OMG It was DELISH. The meat is freshly ground Wagyu beef formed into loose six-ounce patties, then sandwiched into brioche-like buns branded with the letter “U.” Upon ordering they ask if I would like my burger cooked medium rare. For those of you who know me, I eat my steak blue…but a burger I need it well done. I just cannot eat a blood red burger patty. Cooked well, the burger patty was still juicy.

Sauces, Fries and Pickles

The truffle fries (something I had never seen before) are pretty tasty, as are the fried pickles. They offer up 4 different types of sauces to go with them too. What goes better with a burger? A Beer or two. They offer a large selection of craft beers. The prices are very reasonable at Umami Burger. Burgers range from ($11-$15 dollars). For us, 2 burgers, 3 beers and 2 appetizers came to 76$.

I can’t wait to get back to NYC just to eat at Umami Burger. Awesome burgers.

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I am a girl who loves food. I grew up with a Mom who was an excellent cook. She wrote a cookbook when I was a child, and as they say, the rest is history. Started a catering business in 2005 and haven’t looked back. I am a mom to 2 beautiful girls and I want them to love food as much as I do. In the meantime, I love life and love my job @ http://www.monicaskitchen.com

 

My new favorite olive

Tags

antipasto, Corvo Bianco, eat, food, olives

Have you ever tried Castelvetrano olives? They are giant olives, bright green, with a crunchy bite and a clean, fruity flavor that actually taste like olive oil. They are delicious!

The first I ever tried them was in NYC at Corvo Bianco. These olives are very different from the salty, pungent cured olives that I also love. They are delicate and light in flavor, with a crisp bite. They are harder to find though. I did manage to find them at Farm Boy last week, otherwise you can go to Nicastro’s or your local Italian store.

They aren’t cured in vinegar like other olives. They are just processed in brine, so they are slightly salty, but without that bitterness found in other olives. I used them as part of cheese platter on the weekend. Try them today, they are amazing!

I am a girl who loves food. I grew up with a Mom who was an excellent cook. She wrote a cookbook when I was a child, and as they say, the rest is history. Started a catering business in 2005 and haven’t looked back. I am a mom to 2 beautiful girls and I want them to love food as much as I do. In the meantime, I love life and love my job @ http://www.monicaskitchen.com

Holy Jalapeño

Tags

BBQ, eat, food, grill, jalapeno, relish, summer

It’s the third week of May in Ottawa, and although it is late, I can feel that spring has finally arrived. To mark the end of a 6 month winter, I have started to crave heat. Heat in the form of sun, +20 degree weather and spicy foods.

A spice that I like to use a lot is the jalapeño.  It is not too spicy, it has great flavor and it can get used a lot more than just sprinkling it on top of your nachos.

The jalapeno chile pepper is arguably the most famous chili pepper on the face of the planet. Mexican Spanish pronunciation: [halaˈpeɲo] is a medium to large size chile which is prized for its warm, burning sensation when eaten. It is almost always sold while still green. As the growing season comes to an end, the jalapeños start to turn red. Growers often either discard the red jalapeños into the ground or use them for production of chipotle peppers. (I LOVE using chipotle peppers!) Jalapeño Chile Peppers generally range from 3,500 to 8,000 on the Scoville heat scale. What does that mean? It means it is mild with a bit of heat. To give you a point of reference, a bell pepper is a 0 on the Scoville heat scale and a habanero pepper is a 350,000 ad a ghost pepper is over 1 million.

Scoville Heat Chart

Ok okay… enough background.

So as I was saying, I have been craving spice. I went to the grocery store and saw fresh jalapenos and I got an idea. Let me introduce you to my favorite condiment – Jalapeño relish!

Use this to on tacos, chili, nachos, eggs, anything! It is awesome and it lasts in your fridge for about a week.

Jalapeño relish

WARNING: Handle hot peppers with care because when you cut them up you can get hurt. Use rubber gloves and do not rub your eyes, nose, mouth or any other mucous membrane (that I do not want to hear about) after handling them.  Most of the heat is in the seeds.  Use or do not use the seeds accordingly to turn up (or down) the heat in your finished product. A jalapeño is not that hot, but trust me if I was working with habaneros I would apply all of the rules above. You have now been warned. Moving on…

Ingredients:

• 5 jalapeños (sliced open and seeds removed)
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/8 red onion
• ¼ cup of cilantro leaves
• Pinch of salt, sugar
• ½ lime squeezed

Put everything into a mix food processor, I used a mini one and blitz for 30 secs or so until you have a relish like consistency.

Viola!

Once it has the right consistency, taste a little bit to see if you require more salt, acid, sweetness etc and adjust accordingly. Store in the fridge in a jar with a lid or a Tupperware container. It will last approx. 5 days. Enjoy it with grilled steak, veggies, chicken, nachos, tacos, quinoa etc. It goes with everything!

Make a batch of relish today and enjoy!

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I am a girl who loves food. I grew up with a Mom who was an excellent cook. She wrote a cookbook when I was a child, and as they say, the rest is history. Started a catering business in 2005 and haven’t looked back. I am a mom to 2 beautiful girls and I want them to love food as much as I do. In the meantime, I love life and love my job @ www.monicaskitchen.com

The world’s best butter tart bars

Tags

baking, butter, butter tart, dessert, eating, food

It’s hard to beat a good butter tart, but these bars have all the gooey goodness and the rich buttery taste without having to fiddle with a pastry. Just pat the shortbread crust in a 9 by 13 deep pan and spoon the filling over top. What could be easier? The hardest part about this recipe is waiting to eat them!

Once you make these bars they will become your new favorite treat. These are the world’s best butter tart bars.

Ingredients: Base:

• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (I use vanilla sugar)
• 1 cup of butter

Topping:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups golden raisins
• 1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 by 13 inch deep pan with parchment paper.

To make the base, combine flour and sugar in a large bowl. Using two knives or a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture is the texture of a coarse meal. Press firmly into the baking pan, going slightly up the sides of the pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes until just slightly golden. Remove from oven.

To make the topping, in a large bowl, stir together melted and cooled butter and eggs. Add sugar, flour, corn syrup, baking powder, vanilla and salt; stir until combined. Fold in raisins and pecans. Pour over base and bake for an additional ~25 minutes, or until the top doesn’t jiggle and or it springs back when touched.

Let cool on a rack. When cool, cover and refrigerate overnight before cutting into squares. This is the hardest part.. the waiting… but it is very important, as you need these bars to fully set before you cut them and eat them. They will keep for a few weeks in the fridge in a sealed container, but they wont last that long.

This recipe can be easily doubled – to do so you will need to use a 12 by 16 in baking sheet. You will have a little filling leftover but that is OK as it doesn’t not affect the outcome at all.

Enjoy!