Garlic-Parmesan Crunch Burgers #SaucyMama #WFC #Giveaway

I am happy to announce that I've been chosen to participate in Saucy Mama's 2017 recipe contest! This is a big deal, folks. You may remember that I participated with my Saucy Orange Habanero Burger, a couple of years ago. Life gets in the way, so I skipped last year, but I couldn't pass it up this time...I'd really love a chance to win a Golden Ticket into the World Food Championships. How fun would that be?! Not only that, but the chosen participants received a box of Saucy Mama condiments to experiment with. A good deal any way you look at it!

I chose well, don't you think? Keep reading to see how you can win a box of 3 Saucy Mama condiments for yourself!

My mission, once I received the goods, was to create something delicious with bacon or burgers. It had to be easy to make, delicious, and inventive. Let's take a look at what I came up with....

A burger needs a good bun....

Part of the "crunch" comes from the easy topping I put on the buns. Sure, you can make your own buns...it's not hard...but it's even easier to add a little "everything bagel" seasoning and some Parmesan cheese to a few store bought buns....

And speaking of crunch, who doesn't love some good honey-mustard pretzels? Since I was all out of pretzels, I subbed chow mein noodles baked with a bit of honey and some of Saucy Mama's Smokey Garlic Mustard....a handful on top of the burger is so good! 

Droolworthy.

Garlic-Parmesan Crunch Burgers

Ingredients:

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon Saucy Mama Smokey Garlic Mustard

¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 ½ lbs. 80/20 ground chuck

½ cup Saucy Mama Parmesan Garlic Marinade

4 (1 oz.) slices sharp cheddar cheese

4 Kaiser rolls with Everything Bagel/Parmesan topping /split and toasted*

½ cup Garlic-Parmesan Aioli*

2 cups baby arugula

1 cup Honey and Garlic-Mustard Chow Mein noodles*

Sliced tomatoes and/or pickle slices

Whisk together the egg yolk, garlic mustard, Parmesan cheese, and black pepper. Add the egg mixture to the ground chuck and mix by hand until just combined. Form the meat into 4 patties, slightly larger than the rolls to allow for shrinkage.

Heat a skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium-high heat until very hot. Reduce heat to medium. Fry the burger patties for about 5 minutes before flipping. Brush the flipped burgers generously with the Parmesan Garlic Marinade. Flip the burgers again after about 5 minutes, brush with more marinade and top each one with a slice of cheddar cheese. Continue to cook until cheese has melted. Remove from heat and tent with foil to keep warm.

For each burger, spread the bottom half of a toasted Kaiser roll with 1-2 tablespoons Garlic-Parmesan Aioli (recipe follows). Top with a handful of arugula, the burger patty, sliced tomatoes and/or pickle slices, and about ¼ cup Honey and Garlic- Mustard Chow Mein noodles (recipe follows). Place the top half of the bun over the noodles and serve immediately.

*Topping for Kaiser rolls:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small saucepan, bring ½ cup water to boil. Stir 2 teaspoons cornstarch into ¼ cup warm water. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the boiling water and cook until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Lightly brush the top of each Kaiser roll with the cornstarch mixture. Sprinkle each roll with about a teaspoon of everything bagel seasoning, and about a teaspoon of shredded Parmesan cheese. Bake the rolls for 4 minutes. To make your own seasoning, combine 1 T toasted sesame seeds, 1 T poppy seeds, 1 T minced dried onion, 1 T minced dried garlic, and ½ teaspoon coarse salt. Store in covered container.

*Garlic-Parmesan Aioli

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon Saucy Mama Smokey Garlic Mustard

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients and chill until needed.

*Honey and Garlic Mustard Chow Mein Noodles

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine 2 tablespoons melted butter, 1 tablespoon Saucy Mama Smokey Garlic Mustard, and 2 teaspoons honey. Fold in 1 (5 oz.) can chow mein noodles (about 2 ½ cups). Spread the noodles on a parchment lined sheet pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Noodles will crisp when cooled. Store in an airtight container.

My husband preferred his without the noodles...his loss...

How can you win a package of three tasty Saucy Mama condiments? Simply enter your information into the Rafflecopter! Brownie points for letting me know you are Saucy!*

*Open to US residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cavatappi with Pea Pesto

It all started with a boatload of fresh peas.

It's kind of sad that I've lived in Green Giant Country for over twenty years now and I've never made anything with fresh peas. Not even fresh peas. Well, thanks to my friend, Brenda, I can now cross that off of my bucket, baking, cooking list. She brought me two big bags of fresh peas (ironically from a shipment bound for Green Giant)!

The thing about peas, though, is that they come in their own packaging. This means that I had to put a little work into my finished project. Yup. I shelled peas. Oh, it wasn't hard. I even ended up with a couple of green thumbs. Literally. They were green....and I still can't keep a plant alive... 

Aren't they beautiful?

A few hours and several freezer bags of peas later, I was finished. I had no idea what to do with my peas, however. Boil 'em? Cream 'em? Fry 'em? Really, I hadn't a clue. But modern technology has given us Facebook, and I posed the question to my friends: "What should I make with my peas?"

Hmm...not a huge response. Luckily, my friend Emily from Sugar Plum came up with a few suggestions for me. The one that caught my attention: Pea Pesto! It rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? I had to try it.

I did a little research and found that the kind of peas I had were English Peas. The pods on these are pretty stringy, not suited for stir fry. It was almost a shame to toss all of them...

It turns out that making pea pesto is very similar to making regular pesto. Here, I adapted a recipe I found on epicurious.com. Easy Peasy. <----(sorry--couldn't resist). I changed out the penne pasta for cavatappi and added a few basil leaves, but aside from that, and using fresh peas rather than frozen, the recipe is the same.

Cavatappi with Pea Pesto

Printable Recipe

2 cups fresh peas (or use (1) 10 oz. bag of frozen peas)

2 large garlic cloves

1/2 cup pine nuts

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

several leaves of basil (optional)

1/3 cup olive oil

1 pound cavatappi pasta

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add the peas and cook for 2-3 minutes. Drain well.

With the food processor running, drop in garlic and finely chop. Turn off motor and add peas, nuts and cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, then process until finely chopped. With motor running, add oil, blending until incorporated.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water (4 quarts) to boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 9-10 minutes. Reserve one cup of the pasta water before draining .

Toss the pasta with the pea pesto and thin as desired with the reserved cooking water.

It's like pesto, but it's also like guacamole. I'll bet if I added cilantro and a little lime juice, I could use this with tortilla chips....as it was, my husband and I were testing it out with a couple of spoons. 

I can think of a few things this pesto would be so good with....French bread, pizza, sandwiches....oh, the possibilities...

I probably could have made the picture look more appetizing, but I was running out of light. On the other hand, wouldn't this be a good dish for St. Patrick's day?

And there you have it. Pea Pesto. Pea Pesto Pasta. Say that real fast five times.....