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The Hammer Burger - recipe.

This is hopefully the first of many guest posts on Lyons Made. Created by Matthew Ryan (@ClaretNBlues on Twitter) is this monstrous 'Hammer' burger. Give it a try and let us know what you thought of it. Cheers Matt!

When Craig asked me to do a guest piece on Lyons Made, the original plan was to submit a recipe for a 'Luther Burger' - a bacon and cheese burger sandwiched between 2 toasted iced doughnuts, drizzled with maple syrup. But I was so desperate to to try my new creation that I decided the 'Luther' could wait.

What I bring you today is something special indeed!. What is it? It's a burger, topped with caramelised onions and a fried egg between two toasted cheese sandwiches. Before you pass judgement, I implore you to try it, you will NOT be sorry you did. (Although your waistline might!)

Ingredients

For the burger (makes around 4)
550 minced beef
25g chopped coriander
1 red onion, chopped
1 tbsp Dijon mustard or half a teaspoon of wasabi.

1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

other ingredients

4 slices of white bread

1 medium onion (sliced)

4 slices of cheese (Kraft or any supermarket brand is fine)

1 free range egg

3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar 

1 teaspoon of white sugar

2 tablespoons of vegetable or sunflower oil

American Mustard (optional)

1. Place all the burger ingredients in a large bowl and stir well to combine. Using your hands, shape into four equal-sized burgers, I sometimes use a circular cutter. Putting these raw burgers in the fridge for half an hour, may help prevent them from breaking when cooked.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium pan and add the sliced onions. After about 4-5 mins add the balsamic vinegar and sugar to the onions and heat on low/medium for around 25 mins or until caramelised, stirring regularly. If the onions begin to go dry, just add a tablespoon or 2 of water. The vinegar will add a new dimension to your onions.

3. While the onions are cooking, grill or fry your burger to your specifications (about 15 minutes under  grill, turned once), (I like mine medium rare) and prepare your sandwiches for toasting by placing 2 slices of cheese between 2 slices of bread. Now you need to make your toasties, I do mine in the George Foreman grill but they can be done on any grill or in a toastie machine.
4. Now you can fry your egg. Again, you can do this to the specifications you like. I like mine with a runny yolk.
5. When the cheese sandwiches are toasted, place the cooked burger on top of one and drizzle with ketchup. Add the cooked onions on top of the burger. Next place the egg on top of the onions and drizzle with American mustard.
6. Place the second toasted cheese sandwich on top on press down firmly. I usually find at this stage that 15 seconds in the microwave helps it all all gel together nicely, but this is optional.
7. Tuck in and enjoy!

photo by Matthew Ryan

Thai infused Pumpkin Soup Recipe

It's fast approaching Halloween and, come to think of it, winter. So that means, the supermarkets are full of pumpkins. Here is a recipe to put this versatile vegetable to good use.
Perfect for them cold days, or to put in a flask for work lunch. this will make at least 4 hefty bowls full. It'll keep in the fridge for a few days, or you could even freeze it if you wish.

Ingredients

1kg of de-seeded, peeled and cubed pumpkin flesh. Or Butternut Squash.

1 Tablespoon Olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon of cumin seeds.

1-2 tablespoons of Thai green curry paste. I used tuk tuk foods brilliant authentic paste.

2 cloves of smoked garlic, crushed. (Substitute with normal garlic if preferred.)

900ml of stock. I used one chicken cube and one vegetable cube.

Juice of one lime

Salt and black pepper

Handful of fresh chopped coriander 

100ml of double cream.

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the chopped onion and cumin seeds, cook gently for 4-5 minutes, until nearly golden. 

2, Add the curry paste and garlic, and cook for a further 2 minutes, then add the pumpkin, stir well and then cook for another 3-4 minutes.

3. Add the stock, and cook gently with the pan covered, until the pumpkin is soft, around 30 minutes.

4. Season well, with the salt and black pepper, add the coriander, and blitz with a hand blender, or push through a sieve with a wooden spoon.

5. Stir in the cream, and then the lime juice, mix well and serve warm, with home made bread or crusty rolls.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken with Edamame, peas and rice recipe.

Jamaican Jerk Sauce is a fiery marinade, that works great with chicken and pork, I'm sure it would be great with Rabbit and prawns too.  Its primary ingredients are Scotch Bonnet Chillies (one of the hottest chilli peppers on the Scoville Scale) and Allspice (Pimento in Jamaica). Originally Jerk Chicken or Pork was smoked over wood charcoal, Now it is usually grilled. 

Scotch Bonnets can now be found in a larger supermarkets (Tesco in the UK recently have started selling them), also in Indian food shops and the plants are readily available in garden centres. You can use Habanero chillies instead, but Scotch bonnets are more fruity. Likewise you can double up on the peas, if you cannot find Edamame for the rice. Edamame are immature soybeans, green like peas, popular in Asia, most health food shops and chinese supermarkets stock frozen ones these days.

If you do not like your food hot, and I mean hot, I'd give this recipe a miss, but the flavours are intensive and like no other, you can add less Scotch Bonnets, but that kinda defeats the purpose of the recipe. The longer you marinate the meat, the richer the flavour.

Beware Scotch Bonnets are a very potent  100,000 - 350,000 scoville units, for a comparison most jalapeño peppers have a rating of 2,500 - 8,000, so please do wear rubber gloves, and treat them with care, avoid scratching ANY sensitive areas whilst preparing them.

This chicken is great eaten cold the next day too, as is the rice.

Jerk sauce marinade ingredients 
3 Spring Onions, roughly chopped
4 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 small white onion, chopped roughly
2 to 4 fresh Scotch bonnet or habanero chillies, stemmed and seeds removed (wear gloves!!)
Juice from 3-4 limes
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon soft light brown sugar
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon of freshly grated or crushed ginger
3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons freshly ground allspice
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
Chicken
Legs, Drumsticks and wings 3-4 of each 

Edamame, peas and rice ingredients
2 tablespoons of sunflower or peanut oil

2 onions, finely sliced

2 large garlic cloves chopped finely

1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger

1 heaped teaspoon of ground turmeric 

450g of cooked rice ( I used Basmati)

100g of Edamame Beans, removed from their pods

100g of Frozen peas.

Salt & Pepper to season

1. Place all the marinade ingredients into a blender or food processor and blitz until smooth, make sure the lid is secured as any splashed into your eyes will not be a pleasant feeling.

2. Put the required amount of chicken into an appropriate sized sealable freezer bag, add enough marinade to cover each piece, and scrunch the bag a few times to make sure the chicken is well coated.

2. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, over night is best.

3. Cook the chicken for at least 50 minutes at 180°c, the marinade should be black in parts, as pictured, check that chicken is cooked thoroughly. Remove from oven and Rest the chicken for 10 minutes under some lose foil.

4. Heat a work or large frying pan until hot, but not smoking, as this will burn the onion before its cooked, heat the oil and throw in the onions, stir them for 4-5 minutes until just turning brown.

5. Add the garlic, ginger and seasoning to the pan, stir for another minute, then add the turmeric, mix well to combine.

6. Add the pre-cooked rice to the pan and the Edamame and peas, stir fry for another 2-3 minutes until the rice is piping hot and all grains are yellow. Check seasoning and serve, with the chicken placed on top.

Tempura Prawn with Tukata's Mild Green Chilli & Coriander Salsa recipe

I have just been sent a box load of products from Thai food specialists Tuk Tuk Foods for me to review and create recipes from, so today I got to work on trying them out, and wow, yes wow, such intense flavours and mouth-tinglingly great combinations of ingredients. 

Tuk Tuk Foods is the brainchild of Bangkok born Tukata Bird, 11th of twelve children, Tukata was trained by The Thai Royal Household as her Aunt was a chef there.  Tukata was taught the fine art of pounding, chopping, grinding and combining the highest quality Thai herbs and spices. Tuk Tuk's dips and sauces have won many Gold, Silver and Bronze awards from the Guild of Fine Foods Great Taste Awards. Tukata is based in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England where she can often be seen on her food stall giving demonstrations.

The Salsa recipe is one of Tukatas own, and it is simplicity itself, once tried I am sure this will become a household favourite. I have used a tried and tested Tempura batter recipe thats simple and pretty much faultless. It uses Tuk Tuks Mild Green Chilli and Coriander dipping sauce, which would also be great over fish, crispy beef or pork.

All Tuk Tuks products are suitable for Vegans and Vegetarians, contain no preservatives, artificial colourings or flavourings and are gluten free and wheat free. And even better they are all produced in the UK using fresh ingredients. To order some of Tuk Tuk Foods products please visit their website www.tuktukfoods.co.uk which also has some awesome free Thai recipes to download too.

Ingredients

15 raw king prawns, shelled and de-veined

Pure vegetable oil for frying

Tempura batter mix
1/2 egg beaten
50g plain four plus extra for dusting
Pinch of salt
Pinch of white pepper
Pinch of Bicarbonate of soda
125ml of ice cold lager, I used a Thai beer for more authenticity.

Salsa Ingredients

 2 teaspoon of diced cucumber

1 teaspoon diced carrot

1 teaspoon sliced shallots

1 teaspoon coriander leaves, finely chopped

½ teaspoon lime zest

3 Tablespoons of  Tuk Tuk Foods Green chilli & coriander dipping sauce

Method

1. Combine all the salsa ingredients together in a bowl, stir well and place in fridge until ready to use.

2. Pre-heat a deep fat fryer to 170C, or carefully use a heavy bottomed large pan.

3. Make the batter mix, making sure that the lager is ICE cold, I placed the bottle in the freezer for 30 minutes prior. Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and gently whisk, do not over whisk, its fine to have lumps of flour, this adds to the texture of the batter.

4. Dust the prawns in some seasoned flour, then dip into the bater mix, making sure the whole prawn is coated, then gently fry 4-5 of the prawns at a time in the heated oil, for around 4-5 minutes or until golden and cooked through. ( I always cut one in half, to check they are cooked all the way through). Then drain on some kitchen paper. 

5. Plate the prawns with a small bowl of the salsa for dipping. Enjoy!

Serves two as a starter

Snickerdoodle Cookie recipe.

These delightful cookies are a real favourite with friends and family, they are crunchy, chewy, cinnamony, sugary biscuits from heaven. Easy to make and will not stay in the biscuit barrel for long! When cooked they look quite a bit like a babies rusk, but are so much more naughty!
The vanilla sugar gives an extra hit of flavour that works so well, but caster sugar also works fine. I usually half the dough, keep one half in the fridge or freezer and use as needed. This recipe will make around 20-24 cookies. This recipe is based upon one I found in the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook, a book well worth getting.

Ingredients
60g unsalted butter, softened
160g Vanilla sugar, or caster sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
1 large egg
275g plain flour
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Coating
1 1/2 tablespoons of caster sugar
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon.


1. Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
2. Add the egg, mix well and scrape down bowl, mix again to ensure all ingredients are combined well.
3. Sift the remaining ingredients into the mix, you are looking for a soft dough, that doesn't stick to your hands. Add a little more flour if needed, it will not harm the cooking process . 
4. Place the dough in the fridge to rest and firm up, for around 40 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 170°c or 325°f.
5. Mix the coating ingredients into a small bowl.
6. When the dough is firm, break off walnut size pieces, and make into a ball, roll these balls into the coating, make sure they are completely coated. Place the balls of dough onto a tray lined with baking paper, 2 inches apart, as they will spread during cooking.
7. Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 12 minutes, or until they are a light golden brown. They will crack, this is fine. You can add more of the coating after cooking if you wish. Allow to cool on the tray for a couple of minutes, then remove to a wire rack. 

Rabbit Ragu with Spaghetti Recipe

Rabbit is a very underestimated meat, its very low in fat, tasty, and most of all, relatively cheap to purchase. Most people are put off from eating this delicious gamey meat, by the fact that they think of rabbits as fluffy, hopping, children's pets, not a food to be eaten. Wild rabbit has a very rich game taste to it, and some people prefer the flavour of a farmed rabbit, I like both. It has similar texture and cooking methods to chicken.

This recipe is inspired by a dish that I tried at Jamie's Italian in Covent Garden. I used one whole rabbit, which I de-boned and filleted myself, (see gory image above!) it easily fed two adults, and there was enough left over for a snack the next day. I would love to hear your experiences of eating and cooking with Rabbit, and please don't be scared to try this, it really is one of the best dishes I have ever cooked.
Ingredients
1 Small red onion, finely chopped.
1 Carrot, peeled and chopped.
1 Thin stick of celery, chopped.
1 Sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped. 
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme leaves.
1 bay leaf.
1 clove of garlic, crushed or finely grated.
1 level tablespoon of flour
1 Whole rabbit, boned and cut into 1cm pieces. (ask your butcher to do this, if you prefer)
1 glass of white wine (as good as you can afford).
250ml of chicken stock.
50g of freshly grated parmesan, or similar hard italian cheese.
Small knob of butter.
Zest of one small orange or a lemon.
Extra virgin olive oil.
Handful of fresh flat leaf parsley.
Spaghetti, enough for two people. 
Salt.
Fresh ground black or mixed pepper.

1.Preheat your oven to 180°c/350°F or gas mark 4.
2. Add a nice glug of the olive oil to a casserole pan, (one which can also be used on a hob) place onto your hob to heat, then add the onion, carrot, celery, rosemary, thyme and bay leaf, and finely add the garlic. Cook these ingredients gently for about 10 minutes, until softened slightly.
2. Stir in the rabbit, sprinkle with the flour, then add the white wine. Season well with the salt and pepper. Pour in the chicken stock, which should just just cover the meat, and bring to a slow boil.
3. Put the lid on the pan, and place in the oven, for around 1 hour 15 minutes, the meat should fall apart when checked. If it doesn't, then cook for a further ten minutes.
4. Add the spaghetti to a pan of rapidly boiling salted water, and cook to the packets instructions.
5. Whilst the pasta is cooking, remove the bay leaf from the stew, add the butter, half of the cheese, and half of the orange or lemon zest. Check the seasoning, and alter accordingly. Place the lid back on, to keep warm.
6. Chop the parsley.
7. Drain the pasta, drizzle it with some olive oil, and place onto two plates. Spoon the Ragu over the top, add the remaining cheese, zest and sprinkle over parsley. I also like to add a few fresh thyme leaves to the plate for decoration too.