Billy Lefore's Cooking Blog

Since I don't get paid until next week and money is low, I think I am going to stay in this evening and cook something for me and my girl. (Cooking is almost always cheaper than dining out as my mother constantly reminds me.)

I am tired of the same old dishes so I’ve been perusing Food Network to see if I can find something fun and unique to make for dinner.

I still haven’t found anything that seems to sit just right. I’m in the mood for something, but I can’t quite put my finger on what…

I need something to fill that blank space on my plate...

pressure cooker or slow cooker?

My allergies have been bothering me (all this pollen I guess). :/ and that always makes me feel run down and in dire need of some of mom's home cooked comfort food. But alas, mom is on vacation (and I was not invited! the horror!). So I dropped by her house, rummaged through her recipes and cabinets, borrowed her pressure cooker and headed home.

Honestly, I think I might've made the soup almost as good as hers and on the first try too. Or else my head is so stopped up my tastebuds aren't operating correctly. Which the 2nd possibility is most likely in this particular situation.

Now for those of you who are suffering from colds, allergies, etc. and need some good comfort food, grab a pressure cooker and try out my mom's Potato and Cheese Soup:

Mom's Potato and Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

4 large peeled potatoes, cut into 1" cubes 4 small onions, chopped 1 1/2 cups of water 4 cups of milk 2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese 1 tbsp. chopped parsley

Directions:

Put potatoes, onions, salt and water into pressure cooker. Close the cooker. Bring to full pressure on high heat. Reduce your heat and cook for 3 minutes Remove cooker from heat. Allow to cool naturally, till there is no pressure inside cooker Open cooker. Mix the mixture smooth (I use a cake mixer). Return soup to pressure cooker. Add milk and pepper. Place cooker on medium heat and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Add cheese and stir until it melts. Serve immediately and garnish with parsley.

I think since I have two days off of work that are stretched before me in all their beauty and splendid amounts of free time, that I am going to take the time to make a pizza by scratch. And instead of using the Presto Pizza Pizzazz today, even though I really love that thing! I am going to use my Lodge Pro Logic Pizza Pan. It is a cast iron pizza pan, and it gives pizza a little something extra. I couldn't quite tell you what that extra is, but I know my pizzas always taste amazing when baked on this thing. Maybe the secret is my recipe I use for the dough, if it is then I cannot be selfish and keep it to myself now can I? (well I guess I could, but I like to help people out). So here is my favorite pizza dough recipe:

Quick Pizza Dough

Ingredients

3 cups bread flour divided

1 packet (1 1/4 ounce) active dry rapid-rise yeast

1tsp salt

1 ½ teaspoons honey

1 1/4 cups lukewarm water

1 tablespoon olive oil

In large mixing bowl, mix half cup of the flour with the yeast and salt. Dissolve honey in lukewarm water and add to mixture. Add olive oil and in the bowl of a mixer or using a wooden spoon mix for 3 minutes. Mix in the remaining flour( dough should be slightly sticky )knead dough on a floured surface until smooth around 5 minutes.

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap Let rise for 10 minutes in a warm place. Punch down and divide in half. Allow to rise for 10 additional minutes and punch down and spread one of the halves by hand or roller onto your Lodge pizza pan. Add topping of your choice and place in a preheated 450 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Let cool and serve.

My roommate has a few kitchen gadgets that he can claim as his own (and compared to my massive amount of gadgets he can get a little stingy with his), and occasionally if he is out of town, I like to fool around and play with them, seeing what new concoctions I can create while he is unawares. He is always the one in charge of making hamburgers whenever we have get togethers because ONLY he can work the hamburger press. Well, while the cat is away the mouse will play, or in my case the mouse will make some awesome burgers and chow down. So after making some gnarly cheese burgers last night, here is my input on how to use the hamburger press:

Using Weston Single Hamburger Press

Step one: Prepare your meat.

You can use this press on any type of ground meat.  You can season the meat with any type of sauce, marinate, or any dry ingredient.  In this project I left my meat plain.  I like to add my ingredients when I cook.

Step two: Get your supplies ready.

You want your press clean and dried, and you will also need the patty paper, I recommend the Weston Patti Paper.  I also use wax paper on my counter top because it cuts down on some of the clean up time.

  Step three: Time to make the patties.

You need to adjust the press to make whatever thickness that you prefer.  I use it at the ¼ inch thickness in this project.  When you get the thickness remember to screw down the wing nut on the top of the press so that it won’t change itself in the middle of making your patties.

 Place a sheet of the patty paper on the bottom part on the press. *Remember to put the smooth side on the top so that the bottom of the patty will be touching that side.  This makes it easier it get them apart if you are going to freeze your patties*.

 Make up a ball of meat and set it in the center of the press.  It you make it too small, you can add to it and vise-versa if you make it too big.

 Place another piece of the patty paper on the top of the roll of meat and put it with the smooth side down.  Pat it just a little bit so that it doesn’t slide or blow away.

 Now it is time to close the press.

*Note to you: the first time that I did this I had to adjust the meat to center it just a little bit better.  You will know when this happens because the meat will come out the front of the press.

Open the lid and there you have it.  You can keep doing this over and over again.  It took about 3 ½ minutes to do 3lbs of meat.

And the finished product: