Chili-Guacamole Burgers

One of the hardest parts of my job is having to thumb through endless recipes in magazines...poor, poor me. I received the America's Test Kitchen 30-minute Suppers winter 2010 edition and the March/February 2010 issue of Cook's Country sometime ago and after review, decided to make these Chili-Guacamole Cheeseburgers from America's Test Kitchen and Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges from Cook's Country.

I've never tested recipes from either of these so you can imagine my delight when Alex and I took a bite of the burger, looked at each other and then took another BIG bite. Yummy! What I loved most was that it was so easy, breezy to put together and the roasted sweet potatoes were done before I got home...man it's good to have a Chef in the house!

These were SPICY but fortunately we both love heat so we didn't mind at all and the guacamole, cheese and onions were the perfect additions. Two things we would have added to the burger, that honestly wouldn't have added much time in prep, are some fresh diced tomatoes and a dollop (ugh I hate that word, don't judge me) to the guacamole to cut through the spice a little bit and add a bit more freshness with the tomatoes.


Overall though we really liked these. Here are both of the recipes for you to try yourself - who loves you?

Chili-Guacamole Burgers
1 1/2 pounds 85 percent lean ground beef, broken into pieces
2 teaspoons of chili powder
2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo
Salt and Pepper
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
4 slices deli pepper Jack Cheese
1 ripe avocado, pitted, skinned, and chopped
2 teaspoons of lime juice
4 hamburger buns
1 small red onion, sliced into thin rings

1. Place beef, chili powder, chipotle, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in bowl and gently mix until combined. Pat meat mixture into four 3/4-inch patties.

2. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add patties and cook until well-browned, 3 to 6 minutes per side. Transfer burgers to plate, top with cheese, and tent with foil.

3. Using fork, mash avocado in small bowl. Stir in lime juice and season with salt and pepper. Arrange burgers on buns. Top with guacamole and onion slices. Serve.

Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges
3 medium sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds), peeled
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Bake Potatoes: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat over to 325 degrees. Cut each potato in half crosswise, then cut each half into 6 to 8 wedges. Arrange wedges on wire rack set inside rimmed baking sheet and bake until just tender, about 30 minutes. Remove potatoes from oven and increase heat to 475 degrees. Wipe off baking sheet and return to oven. Cool potatoes on wire rack 10 minutes.

2. Brown Potatoes: Gently toss potatoes with oil, sugar, salt and pepper in large bowl. Remove baking sheet from oven. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on hot sheet and roast, flipping once, until deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Bonus! We did this and loved it!
Caribbean-Spiced Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges
Prepare Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges adding 3/4 teaspoon ground allspice, 3/4 dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper to potatoes as they are tossed in Step 2.

Let's Be Frank

Normally, I leave Austin restaurant reviews to my buddy Jodi at Tasty Touring but I had to share my experience at Frank last night. The Lex and me wanted a gentle, cost-effective place to eat dinner for Saturday night, and having recently passed by this new Austin "artisanal sausage" establishment, we checked out the menu and after seeing its prices and bacon-licious menu, decided to go.

Ummm yeah, cue 10 minutes after we just ate dinner and Alex is in scrubs, curled up on the couch blissful yet so full she could die. Me? Well, I'm just in awe of the food, menu, service and atmosphere.

First, we had the Corn Cup which is grilled corn served with chili mayonaisse, lime juice, cilantro and cotjia cheese and the Ranch House Potato Salad with buttermilk ranch, hickory smoked bacon, cheddar and green onion. Simple and delicious and eaten in about .5 seconds.

I started my meal with the BOMB beverage called a Red-Headed Stranger which is - get ready - house-made bacon infused Dripping Springs Vodka with Frank bloody mary mix, cheddar cheese and bacon. Ummmm, I was a happy little lamb during this entire drinking experience. Bacon in your drink = happy Emily.

For the main course we had a friend join us and he got the Notorious P.I.G. which is housemade pork, bacon, jalapeno and sage sausage with macaroni and cheese and Texas BBQ sauce. I took one bite of this and for flash of a moment I thought about stashing it in my turtleneck and running out the door to devour outside. He also decided to "Pork It" which is where you can take any daily dog split and stuff it with white American cheese, wrap it in bacon and deep fried.

Alex got the Chili Cheese Dog which is 100% Vienna beef, chili, cheddar and decided to "pork it" too. Now, I got the Nacho Dog which is refried beans, cheese, sour cream, pico, jalapenos which both were awesome!

After eating all of this one would think we would be done but come on y'all it's US! We got the bananas foster and they used rum and banana liquor instead of the traditional brandy which made it sweeter plus the they served with Amy's Mexican Vanilla Ice Cream. We highly approve.

Overall the service was great and although they were out of fries (what?!) and the first dessert we wanted to go with, they were gracious about it and gave us alternatives that they didn't include in our bill. Gentle.

Our next trip to Frank will be for brunch, chicken and waffles anyone?

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

You want to know the one word that describes our meal tonight? You guessed it….mmmmmmmmmmmm. I don’t think I’ve ever heard two people gush over a home-cooked meal like we did with this Indian Lamb Chops with Curried Cauliflower recipe from Bon Appétit. I was telling Alex some of my favorite recipes are the most simple and straight-forward, so this dish with its short and simple ingredient list and quick preparation, knocked our socks-off.

One simple addition, and if you are going to make this dish we HIGHLY recommend serving with sweet mashed potatoes which we peeled, boiled and mashed with heavy cream, unsalted butter, salt, pepper, cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg. The mashed potatoes with the lamb, cauliflower and fresh green onion was well…mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

This bad boy is going into our favorites and next time we are going to double the sauce used for the cauliflower to drizzle over the lamb too. Make this immediately!

Ladies' Night

My friend and fellow blogger Ivette from Here’s to Looking at Life has been dying for me to watch the movie Amélie for quite some time, not just because it’s my name en français but because she thought I would love it so much. Being that we are total food dorks, the idea came about to have a French-themed food night to go along with our little movie…best laid plans is all I have to say.

Joining the intimate party was my niece Alex, Ivette of course and Lindsay from Apron Adventures. We started cooking pretty late, well because there was good French wine – we loved Le Coq Rouge for $11 at Whole Foods Market – and cheese, crackers, grapes and apples to munch on while we gossiped about everything under the sun. For our main course, we chose this delicious Dijon Croque Monsieur recipe with Haricots Verts Salad from Cooking Light and for dessert Alex made these awesome Café Au Laits from Gourmet.

The Dijon Croque Monsieurs were very easy to assemble and I liked the fat-free milk/egg substitute wash for the sandwiches that gave them a nice crisp texture. This was a simple, cheesy, ham-a-licious sandwich that we all enjoyed and the haricots verts salad (we used bagged green beans and they worked just fine!) had a delicious and easy vinaigrette and we added in some toasted almonds for crunch; recipe below. Click here to see our finished dish from last night at Here's To Looking at Life.

I didn’t make the Café Au Laits but watched Alex make them and it came together really, really, really easily and by the end of the night we inhaled them although we said we were just going to have a bite. ;)

Why best laid plans? We didn’t even watch the movie! Leave it to a group of besties to get around each other with great food, good wine, the best company and not need anything else to entertain us - I wouldn’t have it any other way. C’est si bon!

Haricots Verts Salad
Cook ¾ pound trimmed haricot verts in boiling water 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and plunge beans into ice water, drain. Place beans in a medium bowl; add ½ cup of slivered red bell pepper. Combine 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh chives, 2 tablespoons minced shallots, 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle vinaigrette over bean mixture; toss to coat (add almonds if you desire).

Bow Down, Alex is in Town

You might have noticed that Cooking Inside the Lines has been a little quieter than normal and although there are a few good reasons for this, the main one is that the lambiest of the lambs, aka my niece Alex, just joined me in my humble abode here in Austin. Alex is getting settled in our fair city and searching for a cooking or pastry job (ahem, ahem). She just graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Dallas and is a passionate chef especially with a love for pastry.

I’m so excited to have her here and although she is now a trained chef she will be here with me testing and tasting recipes so you don’t have to. Welcome to Austin Alex and we will be testing recipes this week so stay tuned!

Butterscotch Sticky Buns

Well, I have to say I felt like such the baker yesterday as I was making these Butterscotch Sticky Buns from Food and Wine. Good thing it's a fool-proof recipe since I totally suck at baking. The dough came together very easily and rolling it up to cut the little buns was a breeze.

The recipe comes from pastry chef Catherine Schimenti, let's see what she thinks about her delicious creation, "Over-the-top, sticky, gooey goodness—or, as I like to call it, 'love.' "

Awesome gooey goodness friends. I really liked how these turned out. Two notes, I didn't have Scotch and replaced the crème fraîche with sour cream and the sauce was still awesome. Straight out of the oven these were excellent and yes gooey, the next day, eh they dried out a little so I would recommend making them and eating them immediately - I don't think you will have a problem with that one bit.

Now, for the winner of the recipe cover smackdown, well friends it has to be the Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe from Bon Appétit. That dish was AWESOME. I can't wait to see what I will select for next month. Cheers!

Beef and Pinto Bean Chili

The next recipe I tested for the cover recipe smackdown was Cooking Light's Beef and Pinto Bean Chili. I literally just ate this for lunch and since there is an empty bowl sitting beside me I can confirm that it’s quite good. It has layers of great flavor and I loved the toppings of radishes, avocado, cilantro and sour cream. I removed the seeds from the jalapeños and now I wish I didn’t since I’m such a lover of heat. Regardless, this was a nice, slow-cooking dish for a holiday Monday and very easy to put together.

Now, does this beat the Spaghetti and Meatballs dish from Bon Appétit? I have to say the meatballs are still in the number one spot! To be fair, it does have bacon paste in it. Yum, bacon paste. Stay tuned though as I’ve got my dough rising for the sticky buns from Food and Wine which is the final cover recipe to test!