Guy Fieri from Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives loves a good burger, and so do we! His favorite burger is the Pastrami Burger from a place called Hodad’s in San Diego. Mike Hardin , who ran the place until he recently passed away, had a tatoo of Guy on his thigh. I’m not going to do that. But I’m still a fan, and we will go there one day, have this burger and meet his son who’s now running the place. In the meantime, it’s a good day when pastrami cheeseburgers are happening in my house.
One of the keys to recipes is the amount of mustard you put on the bottom bun of each burger. It’s a lot! But when I was serving these up to my son Ryan and his friends, his friend Dusty said, “Mike. I now know what you’re superpower is. It’s mustard. Nobody else knows the right amount of mustard like you do.” So I got that going for me. Which is nice.
Ingredients
¼ lb hamburger per person. 85/15 is the leanest you should go.I usually make 1/3 pound burgers, but there's so much pastrami, a thin patty works out great.
¼ lb Beef Pastrami, per person. Thinly sliced from your favorite deli. Get more than this, and make some great sandwiches this week.
1 Slice cheese per person, swiss is nice here, but choose your own.
½ Onion, sliced, per person
1 Soft Hamburger Bun, per person. Brioche buns are hot right now, but find a good one.
Mustard, Yellow, Dijon, Spice – the one you like the most with pastrami or a burger.
Ketchup
Soy Sauce
Montreal Steak Seasoning
Directions
Season burgers like you season steaks. Soy sauce and Montreal Steak Seasoning.
Slice onion thinly and saute in olive oil until nice and browned. Take them out and set aside.
Grill the burger to your satisfaction. I’m a medium well to well done burger guy. Please don’t judge. I like the outdoor bbq grill more, but you can use a griddle or cast iron skillet indoors. That’s how Hodad’s does it.
Just before the burger is done, heat the thinly sliced pastrami. I do this in the cast iron skillet with a tiny bit of oil.
Add cheese to the burger, close the lid, and let it melt for no more than 1 minute.
Assembling the burger
Start with the bottom half of the bun. Put twice as much mustard as you usually put on a burger. Twice. May be 2 and a half times. Go big.
Put the burger with cheese on the mustard-laden bottom bun. Add enough pastrami to make a decent-sized pastrami sandwich. Not a NY Deli sized pastrami sandwich, but enough to be good by itself.
Add the grilled onions. This is a big burger!
Put a normal sized amount of ketchup on top, place the bun, slice in half if you want, and you are ready to go!
Every year, we go “glamping” (glamour camping) at El Capitan Canyon above Santa Barbara with four other families. Jill’s friend Shari and I love cooking for the group. Shari is an outstanding cook who carries a tackle box of cooking tools on every trip. It’s a good look. I’ve learned a lot from Shari over the years, and I’m happy to share one of her recipes here.
This Korean marinade is so easy, and it’s perfect with any beef, pork, or chicken. And I always reserve one half cup (at least) to spoon over the dishes as I serve them.
Ingredients
1 cup Soy Sauce
4 tsp Sesame Oil
4 tbsp Sugar
2 tsp Crushed Hot Red Peppers
2 tbsp Fresh Ginger, gratedI often don't have fresh ginger, so I'll use 2 tsp of ground ginger instead.
2 Bunch Green Onions, Chopped
Directions
Uh . . . Mix it Together!
When I was in high school, I often came home from school very late during swim season. I would miss the family dinner, but my Mom always had food waiting for me. One oof my favorites was chicken and dumplings. There are many recipes in the same family. A hot and thick stew with chicken and vegetables, with either dumplings, pie crust, or biscuits. Over time, I have fallen more and more in love with biscuits, so why not eat them whenever you can. (Other than the obvious caloric reasons, which we should not even mention here!)
This recipe is a combination of Ina Garten’s chicken stew and Joanna Gaines’ biscuits.
Ingredients
1 Rotisserie Chicken (Hard to beat Costco’s)(That's about 5 or 6 cups of chicken!)
5 cups Chicken Stock
2 cups Onions, chopped
4 Stalks of Celery, washed and chopped
¾ cup Flour
6 Carrots, peeled and chopped
1.50 cups Frozen Small OnionsI love these – you don't need them, but they make the dish look way better!
1 cup Fresh or Frozen Peas
½ cup Fresh Parsley
Salt, Pepper
12 tbsp Butter (1 and a half sticks)
Directions
Preparing the Stew
Take the meat off of the Rotisserie Chicken., and put the carcass in just enough water to cover it up. Add some onions, carrots, celery and a bay leaf, boil then simmer for 90 – 120 minutes, and you will have an outstanding broth. 90 Minutes
Begin the stew by making a roux. Melt 1.5 sticks of butter in a stock pot, add 2 chopped onions and chopped celery and sauté for 10 minutes or a little longer. Add the flour and stir for two minutes until it is quite thick.
Gradually add 5 cups hot chicken stock to the roux , stirring all along. Simmer and heat for 3-5 minutes.
Add carrots, peas, chicken, small whole onions and parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste. Start with 1 tsp pepper and 1 tsp salt. For me, it depends on the saltiness of the broth. Feel it from there! Ina’s original recipe called for some half and half to add creaminess , but I really don’t think you need it. Put aside until you are ready to cook. You can refrigerate this at this point.*
Making the Biscuits
Putting It All Together
When you are ready to cook, place the stew in a healthy big casserole dish (a little deeper than a normal 9×13 if you have it) and heat it until it is quite warm. This may take 15-25 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
After the stew is warm, place the biscuits on top and bake for another 30 minutes.
Take out and serve with a nice salad, or, since it has all the food groups in there (biscuits and everything else) just serve it on its own.
We love fish tacos! Our friends, especially my friend Merlin, love fish tacos. When I tell Merlin it’s fish taco night in the Matthews house, he always asks the same question, “Is it all you can eat?” Yes, Merlin, it is.
They are easy to make, healthy, inexpensive, and wildly popular. Any fish will do, but our favorite by far is salmon. Halibut, swordfish, cod, or tilapia are also great. You can gently reheat last night’s fish for some great fish tacos too. Don’t Microwave the fish. Just don’t. Jim Rome, a sports radio host, has the best take on this ever. He has taken time during several of his “sports” shows to try to teach the world never to microwave fish. It’s worth a listen. I join him in his crusade.
Ingredients
Salmon (or other excellent fish) – about 1/3 to 1/2 pound per person.
Cajun seasoning, Salt, and Ground Black Pepper
Cabbage (1 head is plenty for 8 servings)
Roma Tomatoes (1 tomato for every 2 servings)
Ranch Dressing or Sour Cream
Salsa
1 lime, plus 1/2 lime per serving
Avocados (1 avocado – 4 servings)
Corn Tortillas
Directions
Make a cream sauce of 1 cup sour cream, 3 Tbsp Salsa, zest and juice of 1 lime, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Add a little hot sauce (Cholula or other) if you like.
I have a good tartar sauce recipe tartar sauce recipe that I have not yet put on the website. But for me, with the grilled fish tacos, I much prefer straight salsa or this cream sauce.
Mix together cabbage and tomatoes, add a little onion if you want. Dress with some of the cream sauce if you like. Refrigerate both cabbage mix and cream sauce.
Prepare the tortillas by either
(1) Heating them up on a griddle (very healthy),
(2) Lightly frying them in canola oil, then resting on paper towels or hanging them in the oven over the oven rack (very awesome),
(3) Wrapping in a paper towel and microwaving for 30 seconds.
Cut up avocado into small slices.
Lay out prepared fish, cabbage salad, cut up avocados, lime slices, cream sauce, and hot sauce. Let people make their own and go to town!
I used to host Pasta Feeds before doing triathlons. (By “doing” I mean surviving. I didn’t care what place I finished but I did like that I could finish!) It was one of the only good reasons I had for doing triathlons! I usually finished in the top 10% in the swim, top half in the bike, and bottom 0.1% in the run. Oh well – At least I got to make Mom’s spaghetti sauce for my friends the night before.
I remember coming home from swim practice in high school and eating 4 helpings of this. Those were the days! This old fashioned hearty tomato sauce is simple to make. It can simmer all day and make the house smell wonderful. And it’s great with leftovers. Thanks Mom!
Ingredients
1 lb Ground BeefYou can also use Italian Sausage, or some combination of both.
1 Onion, chopped
1 Large Can Crushed Tomatoes (28 oz)
12 oz Tomato Paste
12 oz Water or Red Wine
6 Garlic Cloves, chopped
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper
2 tbsp Dried Parsley
0.50 tsp Fennel Seed (or pinch of ground fennel)*(You don't have to have this, but for me it's a really nice addition. Fennel is a key ingredient in most Italian sausages, and it blends in nicely to this sauce.)
Directions
Brown Ground Beef and onions together, adding garlic in the last two minutes. Drain, or for a little more flavor, just spoon out the excess fat.
Add everything together (Godfather style) and simmer for at least one hour.
