RecipeS of the Week ~ BEST Burgers EVER & Yummy Baked Chocolate Pudding

As you may recall from reading this, I promised LeCoeur (yes I talk to my blog... it's not weird... and don't tell me if it is) that I'd post two over the top fabulous, delicious recipes this week to make up for my utter failure to post much of anything last week. 


So, Happy RecipeS Wednesday!


I mentioned today's first recipe way back here. It comes from Bon Appetite and my wonderful MIL (who puts Martha Stewart to shame) made it during one of our summertime Texas visits years ago. Ahh, sitting by the pool sipping a cool cocktail. It's nice visiting the in-laws. but I digress....


DH immediately fell in love and asked that I get the recipe. Unless I'm making turkey burgers (cause seriously sometimes you need to eat healthy) I always make this version for a good juicy deliciously indulgent burger. 

Andouille & Beef Burgers with Caramelized Onions, Blue Cheese & Spicy Mayo
Serves 6


Spicy Mayo: Mix together and let chill about an hour before serving.
1/2 C Mayo (I love Hellman's light)
2 TBS Lime Juice 
1TBS Hot Sauce (Tx Pete rocks!) 
1 tsp Cayenne Chili Powder
1 tsp Cumin
Note: This is actually my own version of the sauce


Burgers: Mix together then form burgers. Season and let rest about 15 mins before grilling
1/2 lbs Andouille Sausage, cut into 1/4 in. cubes
3/4 C pecans, toasted and chopped (best pecans ever can be ordered here)
1 1/2 lbs Ground Beef, chuck (80/20 is recommended but I usually go leaner)
Salt and Pepper


Onions: Heat oil then cook onions over low heat till caramelized (about 30-40 mins)
3 large Vidalia Onions, sliced thin (mandelin does the job well)
2 TBS Olive Oil


about 5 mins before serving toast hamburger buns then construct burger with spicy mayo, onions and don't forget the crumbled blue cheese! You'll need about 1/4 lbs but more if you like (which I do!) 

And I can't remember if I mentioned this in a previous post but DH gave me Ina Garten's latest cookbook for Valentines Day. I'm always a sucker for Ina, but you already knew that. Okay so EVERY recipe looks divine but I had a request from DFIL to make this particular dessert after our birthday dinner celebrating DMIL's birthday. All I can say is kudos to you DFIL, this was rich, decadent, fork and finger licking good. I'll warn you though, it's ridiculously rich. It really must be served with ice cream to help cut through the richness. I went with Vanilla Custard from the Dairy Godmother, natch. 


Oh and the recipe calls for one large baking dish, but next time I might try making it in individual ramkins for a cute alternate like in this photo.


Baked Chocolate Pudding
Serves 6


1/2 lbs Unsalted butter (2 sticks), plus extra to butter dish
4 Extra large eggs (I used large)
2 C Sugar
3/4 C Good cocoa powder (I used Giradelli)
1/2 C All-purpose flour
seeds scraped from 1 Vanilla bean (I used 2 tsp of vanilla extract instead)
1 TBS famboise liqueur (optional: I didn't have framboise-- a raspberry liqueur, so I substituted 2 TBS of Kahlua)
Vanilla ice cream, for serving


Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees and butter a 2 qrt baking dish. 


Melt butter and set aside. In a large bowl beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high for 5-10 minutes and until mixture is very think and a pale yellow. Next, sift the cocoa powder and flour together and set aside.


When egg-sugar mix is ready, lower speed to low and add vanilla, liqueur (if using) and the cocoa-flour mix. Mix until combined, then add the cooled butter, slowly until just combined.


Pour mixture into the prepared dish and place on a larger baking pan (I used my lasagna pan). Add enough very hot water so that it comes half way up the sides of the baking dish. Bake for exactly one hour. The center will appear very under-baked but that's good, it should  be between a brownie and a pudding. 


Allow to cool and serve with vanilla ice cream.


**Chef's note: Ina's recipe calls to make this in your standing mixer. Well mine is in a box out back in our storage shed so instead I made this with my hand mixer and I think it turned out just dandy!


I know these seem like two random recipes but they are two of my favorites (one old and one new) plus they are both over-the-top decadent, so there I found a common theme. Yay me!


Happy Noshing!


Cheers, 
Ousier