Steamed Hams!

   I saw this post from Gastro Obscura about a regional dish from central Connecticut, the steamed cheeseburger. Being a burger lover I knew I had to give it a try. 

 I didn't document the process because you can find tons of recipes and videos online showing you exactly how to do it. However, here is the result: 

 The flavor was a bit bland despite my slathering the bun with ketchup, mustard and mayo as recommended by one of the videos I watched. Texturally it was a bit dense, but kind of spongy too. I definitely missed the caramelized outside you get when you cook a burger in a skillet or on the grill. The steamed cheese however was awesome, I used a nice aged cheddar and it melted in the steamer a lot better than it would have in the microwave. 

 All in all it was fine, and if someone gave me one I would happily eat it but I don't think I will make them again. 

Birthday waffle fun!

   What's a foodie to do on their birthday? Make awesome food of course! I was watching Youtube this morning and stumbled across a guy using a waffle maker to cook other things like an omelet and a quesadilla. The only actual waffle he made had ham and cheese cooking into it. Having leftover BBQ pork belly and ribeye from Friday's grilling bender, my trusty sous chef whipped up some basic waffle batter so we could give it a try.

 Two year old cheddar, I grated it to make it easier for it to melt. 

 Grilled ribeye and BBQ pork belly. 

 Loading up the waffle maker. I put a little batter on the bottom, then the ingredients, then another sparse layer of batter.

 Ta-da!

I threw together some honey mustard dip for the pork and some garlic aioli for the steak when I realized they might be a bit on the dry side without something to dip them in. 

We enjoyed both, my favorite was the BBQ pork belly. The recipe is definitely a keeper, I look forward to stuffing all kinds of things into waffles now.