Colorado Peach Burger

I thought of this nifty little entree while wondering what I was going to do with the few peaches I had left towards the end of peach season. After giving it some thought, I hit upon this idea, and it was even better than I thought it would be. I liked the way the sweetness of the sliced peaches offset the savory burger and the sharp cheddar cheese; this is one I made more than once, much to my own pleasure and that of my family.

This goes well with fresh cut french fries seasoned with sea salt, and a good medium-bodied beer. :-)

COLORADO PEACH BURGER

1 lb. ground beef
1-2 fresh (not canned) peaches
cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

• Form the burgers into patties, season with salt and pepper, and place on the grill.
• While the burgers are cooking, peel, pit, and slice the peaches. Be sure to slice the peaches vertically rather than into wedges.
• The last few minutes of grilling, place the peach slices on the burger and cover with the cheese (the cheese keeps the peaches from sliding off), leave on just long enough for the cheese to soften and begin to melt.
• Once the burgers reach desired doneness, remove from grill and let rest for 2-3 minutes.
• Place on roll, add condiments (but do so lightly...remember, you want to enjoy the mix of the peaches and burger!) and enjoy!

Spectacular souffle!

One dish that has always intimidated me was the souffle. In fact, until recently, I didn't even own any souffle dishes; fortunately that has changed.

Not too long ago, my son and his friend and I went to the D Bar Dessert Bar in Denver. My son tried the "Booz-flay," their Grand Marnier souffle (I sampled some...it was quite tasty), then during a recent episode of Master Chef, the home cooks were making souffles for a challenge, and my son asked me if I'd ever made a souffle (I hadn't), and why I hadn't. I really didn't have any good reason other than not owning the dishes, so I decided to remedy the situation.

I picked up the dishes at Peppercorn in Boulder, and pulled the recipes from The Joy of Cooking, my go-to resource when I'm making things I've never made before but for which I need a recipe. I decided to get over my souffle making phobia by making both an entree souffle and a dessert souffle for the same meal; I opted for the Cheese Cockaigne savory souffle and the chocolate souffle for dessert.

The instructions for both were straightforward and easy to follow, which was great. In fact, I realized that making a souffle is actually much easier than I thought it was going to be. My biggest concern was the possible effect that altitude might have on the souffles, but the elevation of Denver proved to have a negligible effect (had to cook them a bit longer is all).

Both souffles turned out light and airy and incredibly rich. I served the cheese souffle with a side of a bowl of organic grape tomatoes to balance out the dish and add some acidity to the meal. The next time I make a cheese souffle, I think I may tinker with the seasonings a bit, since I do feel the cheese souffle as it was written could have benefited from a bit of an "oomph," as it were. It wasn't bad, just a bit...bland (sort of). Some garlic or herbs would have done well.

The chocolate souffle was equally rich, especially when topped with the vanilla sauce as recommended in the book, which added a sweetness to it as well. Next time I make this one, I'll use a darker chocolate (this was almost milk chocolate) and perhaps a touch of cinnamon then top it with a whipped cream or the like.

So...the lesson here: while souffles are definitely temperamental and require careful attention, they aren't quite as difficult as they are made out to be, and they are definitely worth the effort.

Smoked ribs and tomatoes

Sundays are the days I tend to get the most creative when it comes to cooking. There's something about not having to run around like a madman trying to accomplish 100 things in a day that gets my creative cooking juices flowing.

Today's dinner was smoked ribs covered in a wasabi lime marinade from O'Hara's Jams and Jellies in Durango, CO. I boiled up the ribs for a while to tenderize them, then put them in my smoker with chunks of hickory for a while to get them all nice and smoky. Halfway through I covered them in the marinade to let it soak in and glaze itself onto the ribs.

While waiting for the meat, I mixed organic basil with olive oil and brushed the tomatoes with the mixture. I sliced mozzarella cheese, put them on a pizza stone, and popped them in the oven at 250 for about five minutes; just long enough for the cheese to melt but not long enough to actually cook the tomatoes.

The meal wasn't super difficult to make: a few simple ingredients, but I often find that simple meals are often the ones I enjoy the most. There's something to be said for keeping meals simple. I think that could well be one of the reasons most people tend to avoid cooking: "it's too complicated." It doesn't have to be at all. Just a few simple things and you end up with a super tasty meal.

First food post: bacon +chicken = yum!

Not too long ago, I found myself falling into a rut; a bit of my creativity around cooking had faded, and I found myself getting bored with cooking. This happens from time to time, and it's not altogether a bad thing, especially since it often leads to some fun experimentation on my part. Most of the time these little experiments turn out pretty nifty. Tonight was one of them.

I had picked up some pepper bacon, and I almost always have a chicken breast in the freezer; it's one of the most versatile meats out there... you can really do almost anything with it. Today I decided to combine the two to see what would happen. I wrapped the chicken in two slices of bacon and held the bacon in place with a couple of toothpicks. After that, the delicious little package was introduced to my grill.

The side was equally fun and experimental. I cut a red pepper in half, roasted it on the grill, then stuffed it with some steamed cauliflower. Once ready, both the meat and veggies got a little kiss of cheese sauce.

Between the bacon, the cheese, and the cream in the cheese sauce, it's probably pretty close to a heart attack on a plate, but it was all sorts of tasty. The spicy sweetness of the pepper complimented the earthiness of the cauliflower nicely, and the pepper-bacon and chicken made for a nice pairing as well. The creamy sharp cheddar cheese sauce added just the right finish to the whole thing. Definitely one for the books.