Taste Testing the $100k Burger

My son brought to my attention as soon as I returned from Europe a woman who won $100k for a recipe for a burger. It took her 8 years to perfect the recipe and he and I were both intrigued over the burger itself..it looked yummy and sounded even yummier.

After scanning the recipe to see the list of ingredients and steps involved what else was there to do but make the burger and try it ourselves. I do warn you that this is a labor intensive recipe and I applaud the women for such dedication to finding the perfect recipe and even more that she would share it with us.

Here is our version

And here is the link to the article if you'd like to try it for yourself what-does-a--100-000-burger-taste-like

The end result was tasty but we felt like it was lacking a bit of a sauce. I don't know if it was that we didn't add enough aioli to our buns or if a nice drizzle over the entire burger would have been better option. The bottom line since we are mere home chefs is if this burger was served in a restaurant we would definitely have a favorite. The fried watercress with shallots is a great addition and of course the Thai themed flavors adds a nice twist to an old favorite.

Banana Macadamia Nut Muffins

Well after a long and much needed vacation and some jet lag recovery I am finally getting back into the swing of things. We decided to put hardwood floors in my crafty room this weekend, it was the last room in the house so it was nice to have that done. The down side is I was out my room for most of the weekend. So I occupied my time with some baking.

Clearing out my cupboards and using up products on hand I baked these yummy treats for the co-workers today.




Recipe is as follows

Preheat Oven to  350 degrees
Bake 20 - 23 minutes
Makes 1 dozen

1/2 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup mashed banana, about 2 medium or 1 1/2 large bananas

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1 cup  Traditional Whole Wheat Flour or White Whole Wheat Flour

3/4 cup butterscotch (or chocolate ) chips

1 cup chopped macadamia (or walnuts, or pecans), pre-toasted in a 350°F oven for 8 minutes, if desired

Lightly grease or use cupcake liners for 12 muffin cups

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar till smooth.

Beat in the mashed banana, then the egg, flavorings, and milk.

Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flours, stirring till smooth; if the mixture has a lot of lumps, beat at a higher speed until they've nearly disappeared.

Stir in the butterscotch chips and nuts

Heap the thick batter into the prepared muffin cups, mounding them quite full; a muffin scoop works well here. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with coarse white sparkling sugar, if desired.

Bake the muffins for 20 to 23 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center of one of the middle muffins in the pan comes out clean.

Remove the muffins from the oven, and let the pan to cool a bit. As soon as you can safely handle them, transfer the muffins to a rack to cool completely

Coming home in a few days

Will be coming home in a few days after a lengthy stay in Paris. Bringing home lots of goodies for my family and friends which I am sure will be welcomed with open arms. Enjoyed my time in both London and Paris but home sounds really good right now. Here are a couple photos from my phone until I can vet the ones from my camera posted.

Live from London

I wanted to take a few moments to share with you some pictures taken while on my trip. Here are a few from London. Enjoy