Big Ass 1/2 lb Burger

I read the Pioneer Woman makes 1 lb burgers. I'm not quite there yet. These 1/2 pounders were pretty hefty and left me full and happy. It's nice to be able to eat a big ass juicy burger sometimes.
Here's my composition for 2 burgers.
1 lb ground beef (I used lean, but I'll use 15/75 next time)
Seasoned and then formed into 2 patties with:
salt/pepper
1 tbsp EVOO
1 Tbsp basalmic vinegar
5 squirts Louisiana hot sauce (or Tapatio or Tabasco)
Topped with:
2 shallots, sliced and caramelized in butter with 1 tsp sugar
St Marcellin cheese (or any "fancy" cheese.. use goat or blue)
1 tomato
Batavia leaves
all this on toasted buns smeared with spicy mayo
Next time, I will put this on kaiser rolls. Way better than traditional hamburger buns!

With a side of home fries

Struggling to get your mouth around it = Heaven!

Banana-Nutella Muffins

Muffins! Yum! We're going hiking in the snow tomorrow, so I wanted to make some snacks in case we get avalanched and have to wait in the snow until rescued. These are really easy, especially considering I have no baking skills whatsoever. What a wonderful combination bananas make with nutella. I think you can make anything be delicious with nutella.
Makes 9-10 muffins
Ingredients:
150g flour (5.3 oz)
110g butter (4 oz)
110g sugar (4 oz)
2 bananas, mashed
3 eggs
1/2 tsp yeast
1Tbsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp or more dried coconut
3 pinches salt
9 or 10 tsp Nutella
Directions:
1. Whisk together the butter, eggs, sugar, yeast, flour, salt, coconut, and vanilla extract.
2. When the batter is smooth, mix in the mashed bananas.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C or 350°F
4. Butter and flour your muffin holders (what is up with my vocab.. I can't find the words). Fill them with 1/2 batter, 1 tsp Nutella, and another half batter. Sprinkle some extra coconut on top.
5. Pop in the oven for 20 minutes.

Be happy, you just made easy delicious muffins with a lovely blob of nutty chocolate as the surprise center!

Deluxe Mac n Cheese

I've been in the mood for all things cheesy lately. Since the holidays are now over, I've been waiting to finish the leftovers and get over the "fries night" so I can make something involving a melted cheddar cheese sauce. Along with the little cheddar I had left, I improvised a ton of stuff in the sauce to make it extra special. The hub loved it.
Ingredients:
1 lb cooked elbow pasta
handful of frozen broccoli florets
1 shallot, minced
1 pack bacon, sliced crosswise
1/2 jar roasted bell peppers, chopped coarsley
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup shredded cheddar
1/4 cup shredded blue cheese
1/4 cup shredded swiss + some for garnish
parmesan for garnish
1 handful chopped celery leaves
1 handful chopped parsley
a drizzle of beer
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp thyme
2 egg yolks
fresh ground pepper/salt
1/2 cup reserved pasta water
Directions:
1. In a large pot, cook the pasta in salted water.
2. In a sauce pan, cook the bacon with some pepper and thyme and drain a bit. Add the shallots and broccoli and stir until tender.
3. Lower the heat and add the beer and milk and heat through. Add the cheeses, celery leaves, pepper flakes. The mixture should not be too thick, but nice and creamy. At this point, I wanted some color, so I added the roasted bells.. nice choice.
4. When the pasta is done, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, drain and add back into the pot off heat.
5. Mix the heavy cream and egg yolks with the pasta until nicely coated. Then add the cheesy sauce and fresh parsely and stir until evenly coated.

Serve with shredded swiss and parmesan and be blown away!