Bacon Jam Burger with Garlic Aioli

I've heard of bacon jams almost around the same time I discovered chocolate covered bacon. Bacon is everywhere and I haven't met one person that denies it making all food that much better. Even it's own fat can make a dish delicious. Bacon is also extremely common, now, to be used on not only savory dishes, but sweets. I discovered the existence of "The Bacon Jams" a few weeks ago and was in total dilemma on what to make. But, it wasn't long before I decided to make a Bacon Jam Burger with homemade Garlic Aioli sauce.

I went to the butcher and requested some chuck meat be grounded up for my recipe. I didn't want to use the pre-ground meat packaged and ready to go. I find a weird taste in those. I'm not sure why, but I am always pleased with ground chuck.

This burger was pretty amazing and the bacon jam stuff is so addicting that it made the burger utterly umami. (See below for video or click HERE).

Beef patty
1 pound of ground chuck meat.
Salt and Pepper, olive oil

Grilled onions
1 white onion diced not too small.
Bread: sesame bun

Garlic Aioli:
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
5 cloves of garlic grated
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
3 cracks of black pepper (optional)
Mix and let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

The ground beef is just lightly compacted until the shape is perfectly formed to the side of your liking. I learned the trick to press slightly to create a small well. This will plump back up as it cooks, and normally my indicator to flip the burger. I don't season the meat when mixing, only on top and bottom.

The white onions are cooked in the same pan as the beef. Season lightly with salt and pepper and let it cook until it starts getting caramelized.

The bread is lightly toasted. After this, start building your burger to your liking. Some garlic aioli, bacon jam, burger patty, grilled onions, tomato, avocado and arugula for your own gourmet burger at home!

Thank you,

Daisy

Huevos Rancheros

I made the simplest huevors rancheros over the weekend. The ingredients used are little, but it is packed with flavor. And hey, who wouldn't want to make this after a night full with drinks? Trust me, it was a hard morning to wake up to, but this plate of goodness really kicked me out of the slum.

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Ingredients:

• 1 28oz crushed tomatoes
• 1 15oz black beans
• Blue Corn Tortilla
• Chipotle in Adobe sauce (I used 2)
• Eggs (I used 2)
• Salt and Pepper
• 1/4 cup of honey
• 1.3 cups of water
• 1 clove of garlic
• Cilantro for garnish.

The black beans are rinsed before heating. This step is optional. I didn't want too much starch so I reconstituted fresh water. The beans are heated up with 1 grated garlic, 2 teaspoons of salt, 2 teaspoons of cumin, 2 cracked black pepper, and then 1/3 cup of water was added with the heat turned off.

The ranchero sauce was made with 1 can of crushed tomatoes and 2 chipotle peppers. If it's too spicy, just use one and remove the seeds. I added about a 1/4 cup of honey and 1 cup of water to thin out the sauce as well as mellowing out the spice. 1 tablespoon of cumin was added with 1 tablespoon of salt. Feel free to add more honey and water to your liking (or another pepper if you want it spicier).

The egg was cooked for 2 minutes on medium high with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. I didn't add any salt since it's already on the chips, beans and sauce.

Start layering your plate. My combo was chips, beans, sauce, egg, sauce, and topped with a Louisiana green sauce. Cilantro was plucked and sprinkled as a garnish plus more on the side. If available, I would recommend adding queso fresco and avocado (WHICH I HAD AND FORGOT TO ADD).

Watch the full video here:

Enjoy!