Mini Beef Sliders

Feeling Blue...
Most days living abroad is great, filled with new places, new food, and new people. I have lived here for almost three full years now. I have seen places, tried food and seen many people come and go. Lately, despite all the loveliness that my experience in Korea has given me, more often than not, living abroad has been tough for me. I think I'm ready to move on from Korea and go back to the amazing support system of friends and family I have at home. However, since I'm still here until March, cooking up yummy favourites from home and writing this blog have helped me feel a tad bit better. 

With that, I'd like to share a delicious recipe for some yummy beef sliders that the Simmering Seoulmate whipped up last week. 

After you mix all of the ingredients together form them into uniformly shaped and sized mini patties.

What they look like all crisped up! Yum!

Delightful cheese!

Ready to eat!

I ate these bad boys with a delightful caesar salad.

Ingredients
400 g ground beef
1 egg
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Toppings used:
sliced cheddar cheese red onion
tomato
ketchup
mustard
lettuce

Directions
Put everything into a large bowl and mix well with hands. Form into 8 small patties and place on a plate or tray lined with wax paper. Put the patties into the freezer for about 30 minutes to firm up. Heat a pan over medium low, place four burgers in the pan and make sure they are cooked through, turning once. They won’t take too long because they are thin and small. After they have been cooked add a slice of cheddar to each burger and place on a cookie sheet. Put them under the broiler in an oven for about 2 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Serve on top of mini buns or dinner rolls with all of your favourite toppings. 

Salt and Vinegar Chips

A week ago, our school took the kindergartners to a farm to pick potatoes. They had panted some back in March, and the time had come to got pick some up. It’s mostly just a photo op that involved two men from work digging up the potatoes and the students picking one up and posing for an individual shot. The kids seemed to enjoy themselves anyway and I got to take home some fresh from the garden potatoes. 

I’d had a craving for salt and vinegar favored chips, which are hard to come by and only available in foreigner stores here for a high price. So, I decided to make some using some of the potatoes I got from the farm. A few years back, I attempted to make vinegar infused french fries and they didn't turn out tasting very good. This time I thought I would try to make chips instead, hoping the thin cut of the chips would let them soak up more vinegar flavour. These chips turned out great when served right away and got better when left out for a day to dry up a bit more, when I had them as a snack. 

Salt and Vinegar Chips

Ingredients
6-8 medium potatoes
2 cups of white vinegar
pinch of salt
3-4 cups canola oil for frying

Directions
For this recipe you do not need to peel the potatoes, so make sure you wash them well and cut out any eyes. Next, slice the potatoes as thinly as possible. If you have a mandolin, use that. If not, use a sharp knife and be careful when cutting. Soak the potatoes slices in water for about 20 minutes in a bowl in the refrigerator. After that, put the potatoes into a large pot and pour the vinegar over top. Pour enough boiling water over top to cover the potatoes. Let the potatoes sit in the pot for about 45 minutes to an hour. Fill a large pan with the oil. (I use a wok to fry food, because it’s the biggest pan I've got.) Heat oil over medium to medium low heat on your stove top. Working in small batches, fry the potatoes until they are a light golden brown colour. This takes about 10 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the oil using a slotted spoon or long handled mesh strainer and toss with salt. To keep your potatoes hot while cooking the other batches, put finished chips on a metal sheet pan and throw into a low temperature oven.

The vinegar taste is actually quite subtle, but definitely noticeable. If you like even more of a vinegar taste, drizzle with malt vinegar.

Enjoy!

4 Easy Vodka Cocktails

Summer is now in full swing, and with that comes hot weather and outdoor events. What better way to keep cool than to have a fancy cocktail? I whipped up four vodka based drinks for you to try at your next brunch, BBQ, or party. Don’t worry, all of these drinks are super easy and quick to make.

Sparkling water is so nice sometimes. It’s refreshing and makes you feel like you are drinking something fancier than just plain old water. Perrier is my go to sparkling water at home in Canada and although it is available in Korea, there is a Korean alternative called Trevi. It’s much cheaper and comes in lemon or lime flavours, and the original unflavoured version. I like to use sparkling water in many of my cocktails as an alternative to sugary juices or pops. For the first drink which is perfect for any brunch, I made this classic morning punch. All you need is some leftover wine (I know, I know, who am I kidding, who has leftover wine?), orange juice, some sparking water, and a glass! This is an easy way to elevate any weekend brunch and goes perfectly with all your breakfast food essentials.

Orange Spritzer
1 part white wine (I used Chardonnay)
1 part orange juice
splash of sparkling water
* The size of the glass you are using will depend on your exact measurements.*

Fill just under half of a glass with orange juice and then add the same amount of wine. Fill the remaining space of your glass with a splash of sparkling water. Feel free to add more or less of any of the three ingredients, and enjoy!

Grapefruits are readily available here in Seoul and I’m loving it! I've kept my fridge stocked with them for the past couple of weeks. Recently, I have been infusing my daily water with grapefruits and was surprised at how much better it tastes than your classic lemon water. This inspired me to make a nice refreshing cocktail. If you enjoy citrus drinks that aren't too sweet, than this one is for you. This is a guilt free (almost) drink for your next cocktail party or summer BBQ!

Grapefruit Fizz
1/2 large grapefruit
sparkling water (I used lime flavoured Trevi)
1 shot of vodka
ice cubes

Fill a glass with ice. Pour in 1 shot of vodka. Squeeze the juice from half of a grapefruit into the glass. Top with sparkling water and give it a stir. Sip and enjoy!

 One of my favourite fruits is peaches. Unfortunately, the Asian variety of peaches that can be found here in Korea, aren’t quite the same as the juicy, fall-off-the-pit, ones back home in Canada. Luckily, they do have nectarines, which are a close second to peaches. I decided to make a blended drink, because who doesn't like a slushy on a hot day? This drink had the right amount of sweetness from the nectarine and when blended with ice it was a real treat!  

Naughty Nectarine
1 nectarine
1/2 shot triple sec
1 shot vodka
1/2 cup of ice

Cut your nectarine into about 6-8 wedges and peel the skin off. Add your ice, vodka, and triple sec to the bender. Add your cut and peeled nectarines and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass and dream of paradise!

Lemon blueberry is a delightful flavour combination. The muffins I made turned out great, so why not add that combination to a drink!? This drink is quite tart and because I’m not really a fan of sweet drinks, it was one of my favourites. However, if you are someone who enjoys sweeter drinks then I’m sure you could add some simple syrup or lemonade instead of sparkling water.

Blueberry Lemonade
1 shot vodka
1/4 cup ice cubes
1/2 shot lemon juice
1/4 cup lemon flavoured sparkling water
1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Add ice cubes, lemon juice, vodka, and blueberries to your blender and then blend until smooth. Pour into a glass and top with the sparkling water. Give it a stir and pucker up!

For any cocktail recipe, remember to add something fun for presentation purposes. A straw, mini umbrella or a slice of fruit will do the trick. Good luck in your cocktail endeavours and cheers!

*All recipes make a single serving*