So Long, my Fair Avocado!

Avocados are more difficult to find here that in North America, and they are often unripe in the store. They need to wait on the counter until that perfect moment arises - but sometimes, I'm too late. That was the case with this green trooper.

I realized that it's finally time to send off the avocado on my counter, but I wanted to do it right. I think I bought this avocado to take with me to work - it was supposed to be my out from cafeteria food. I had high expectations of it and I let it down. It needed to make it up to the avocado. I wanted to give it a Mexican avocado in-tummy-ment. The best way to do this, I thought, was Mexican burgers, with homemade salsa & guacamole.



Mexican Burgers
250 g ground beef
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chopped garlic
1/4 tsp chilli pepper
1/4 tsp paprika

Mix all ingredients together. Allow to sit for 30 minutes. Shape into patties & grill.

Salsa
150g red & yellow tomatoes, seeded & chopped
2 tsp chopped fresh coriander
1 small red onion, chopped finely
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp or more chilli pepper, depending on taste

Add all ingredients together, allow to marinate for 30 min.

Guacamole
1 dying avocado (must be very ripe)
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp chilli spices (mix of cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, chilli powder)
2 tsp lime juice
salt & pepper to taste

Mash all ingredients together.

Arrange burgers on a tortilla, cover with guacamole & salsa & try to eat.

It was a fun tribute to a fruit that held so much expectation. It still has a comrade in the fruit bowl. I will take him to the hallowed halls of my office tomorrow. Maybe not. Maybe the dying plants on my desk will scare it too much.

Bul Go Burgers

It's July. This means burger season. If I have to go out in the rain to grill my burgers, so be it. It's summer.

There's a little supermarket not too far from my home. They don't have everything there, but they do have great veggies & the beef is freshly ground. I go in, with the plan of making korean-style beef burgers, I come out & feel as though I will be swept away with the flood rains pouring through the city. No matter, I have everything I need (an umbrella), so I walk home, start cooking & hope that rain will stop.

Bulgogi Burgers with Sweet Potato & Zucchini Fries

330 g ground beef
2 Tbsp red wine
1 Tbsp each minced garlic & ginger
1 green onion, chopped
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp panko (or regular breadcumbs)
1 sweet potato, peeled & sliced thinly
2 zucchinis, sliced thinly
1 medium onion, sliced
Kimchi

Mix beef, wine, garlic, ginger, green onion, soy & panko together, shape into patties & allow to sit (covered, in the fridge) for 30 minutes.
Make zucchini & sweet potato chips: add slices to hot oil & drain.
Sautee onions unitl translucent.
Grill burgers.
Serve burgers with Kimchi (store bought) and cooked onion rings.

Hopefully these rains will stop for more than a few hours. There was a day of sun this week, maybe there'll be another one soon.

Burger Bonanza

In other parts of the world, it is the beginning of summer. In Germany, it is not. This week, my colleague told me with an earnest face that she honestly believed it would snow (and "why on earth are you wearing that summer dress?"). Maybe I'm in denial, maybe it's because I grill year round, but the last couple of weeks, I've been doing burgers.

Sometime a while back, I found good avocadoes & had to make some guacamole. Underneath, beef patties that had a little bit of red miso mixed in.


Recently, I went out to dinner at the Bootshaus in Heidelberg. I ordered the turkey burger from the menu. What surprised me was the turkey. It wasn't ground, it was 2 (or 3?) slices of marinated turkey in a bun with toppings. Juicy, tasty, a fun new idea.

Later, I found ground turkey in the supermarket. Quite the score here in Germany. I was thinking of grinding my own turkey, that's how seldom the stuff is in the stores. I took 300g of ground turkey, 3 tbsp mango chutney (a friend made it last year & gave me 3 jars), 1/2 a sauteed onion, zest of 1 lemon, a handful of chopped parsley, Old Bay spice, tobasco & chili powder. Topped off with 1/2 a grilled fig. Unfortunately my grill ran out of gas half-way through, but these are a definate remake, if I ever find the ground turkey again.


Cathy, at Accountants can cook? made some meatballs recently which seemed like the good start of a burger (the irony being that she herself grew tired of burgers). I adapted them & made patties:
300g ground beef
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 Tbsp Oyster sauce
3 Tbsp chopped green onion
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced ginger
1 egg
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
soy sauce
coconut milk (they looked like they needed liquid)
chili powder

To satisfy carb-o-phobic tendencies (I should actually be going for a run right now), I made a Baji-like pancake
2/3 c chickpea flour
1/3 c regular flour
1 chopped chili
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1 Tbsp oil
salt to taste
water to mix.

I made a pancake like batter out of everything, then I made pancakes. Then I topped my pancakes with my burger, then with bean sprouts, then with Kecup Manis (my new Indonesian score) & then I ate it. Pretty simple stuff. I have a funny feeling this would go best with pork, though.There you go, burgers. Now all I need is some good weather to go along with them...

Dining In/Out - Horn of Africa Take Out

I have a project deadline coming up, normally it shouldn't be anything major, normally it should be routine. What makes every project individual is the unanticipated problems. This time, the unanticipated problems are killing me. Oh well, it's a job, it pays the bills & it enables me to eat good food.

I wasn't able to cook good food because I knew that I would have to work, so I paid someone to cook for me. I went to the only African restaurant in the area, which happens to be just by my house. I really like it there - they are really friendly, the food is good & I strongly believe in supporting your neighbours. Unless they are driving down the property value... that isn't the case with these people, in fact, I feel they enrich the area.

In an effort to maximize time, I scanned the menu from The Horn of Africa online, & selected the Tibs.They're strips of beef, sauteed with onions & served in a sauce & my choice of sides. I chose the West African Maffee (peanut) sauce, and Mataha (mashed potatoes with corn & peas).

My fellow work-aholic went for one of the daily specials. They had whole grilled seabream, ostrich steaks & Argentinian beef. He opted for the 250g of Argentinian beef with coconut sauce on the side and fries. I love the fact that they know us & they know that I need extra hot sauce (beware, it is actually hot).

We sat at the bar, talked about how to make things better & drank a glass of wine while we waited. We got our food, I stole fries & then we got back to work. I don't remember actually working, but when I checked my mails the next morning, it became apparent that I actually got the stuff done that I planned on doing. A relatively painless night, all things considered. Maybe it was the Tibs.