CHEESEBURGER PIZZA

My hubby and I are getting bored with Hawaiian Pizza. We are too often making Hawaiian Pizza in the past. Until one morning when my hubby bought cheeseburger from BK drive-thru before we went to church, and I helped him to open the burger's wrapper *yea, he is driving and eating to save time ;)* suddenly this crazy idea came across my mind....CHEESEBURGER PIZZA!

At that time, I was thinking why can't I transform a cheeseburger into a pizza? It must be taste good, especially cheeseburger is a common food in America and 99% people in this world like cheeseburger. I just can't wait to implement this idea into a real pizza *oh uh...don't worry I still pay lots of attention and concentration on the preaching ;)*

First of all, I listed down what is the ingredients are needed in a cheeseburger. Of course there will be beef patty, sweet pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, mayonnaise and mustard. Then, to make it merrier I decided to add olives and pizza sauce as pizza without pizza sauce equivalent incomplete.



Surprisingly, it tasted really good! It just different than other pizza which is using canadian bacon, ham or pepperoni. I used ground beef instead of all those deli's meats.

My hubby's comments? He likes it! He said, "I never heard nor imagine of cheeseburger pizza before. And this is really good sweetie!". And I just simply smiling with satisfaction after I heard his comments and compliments :)



Cheeseburger Pizza

Ingredients:
1 homemade thin crust pizza (or store bought pizza crust)
1 lb ground beef
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp of salt and pepper
Oil for stir frying
4 whole dill sweet pickles, thinly sliced
1 onion, diced
1/4 cup sliced olives
2 heaps tbsps mayonnaise
1 heaps tbsp mustard

Cheese Mixture:
1 cup Monterey Jack Cheese
2 cups Mozarella Cheese

Pizza Sauce:
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tbsp dill sweet pickles' juice
2 tbsps pizza seasoning
1 tbsp oregano
3 tbsps Splenda Sweetener (or 1 tbsp granulated sugar)

Fresh Toppings:
1 roma tomatoes, seeded and small diced
1 leave romaine lettuce, small shredded

Preparation:
For The Beef Topping:
Saute garlic with olive oil until fragrant. Saute in ground beef until brown. Add in salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.

For The Pizza Sauce:
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and boil it over medium high heat. Let it cool before use.

Finishing:
Preheat the oven at 500F. Grease a pizza pan 14". Lay the pizza dough on the pan. Prick it with fork. Spread the mayonnaise and mustard on the pizza dough evenly. Spread the pizza sauce evenly. Sprinkle it with 1/2 of cheese mixture. Add onion, olives, cooked beef, and the remaining cheese. Top it with dill sweet pickles.
Bake it for 12 minutes. Remove it from the oven. Sprinkle it with tomatoes and lettuce before you cut the pizza.

TELOR PINDANG (BRAISED EGG)

This style of braised eggs are common in this universe. Of course, every country cook it differently. In Indonesia, we braise it with a bunch of shallot's skin and guava leaves. But in China, they will braise the egg with black tea and other chinese herbs.

The uniqueness of this braised egg is after the eggs are completely boiled into hard boiled eggs, we should crack the eggshell. Then, reboil it again so when we peel off the eggshell we can see the brown trails where the crack is. But some people wouldn't crack the eggshell, they just peel off the eggshell and reboiled the egg so the whole eggs will be brown instead of white color.

In Indonesia, this braised egg included in our traditional food. We can eat it as a snack, or as toppings for some traditional Indonesian foods such as Timlo Solo (Meat and Vegie Soup), Gudeg Jogja (Green Jackfruit Sweet Stew), etc. But, in China, they treat this egg as a snack. And it is pretty easy to find them, because they are sold as street foods. I remember when I was studied in China, at night along the way from my apartment to my campus were transformed into night market, so there were lots of people who are selling fruits, foods, clothes, toys, etc. And surely this chinese braised eggs is one of them who sold at the night market.

As for me, since I can't find guava leaves so I combine this 2 countries way of braising the eggs *that is the beauty of cooking by yourself, you can be creative as much as you want as long as the taste doesn't go too far from the original taste if you care the authentication :)*. For sure, I still put more "Indonesian herbs" in my recipe so it still legit to call it "Indonesian Braised Egg" :). I guess this recipe is helping you guys who lived in the country which doesn't have/hard to find guava leaves ;).The taste is similar than the one use guava leaves.



Telor Pindang (Braised Egg)

Ingredients:
6 large eggs
Shallot's skin from 8 cloves of shallot
4 cloves of shallot, finely sliced
1 cloves of garlic, chopped
5 bags of dark tea (any brand will do but should be dark)
1 liter boiling water
3 pieces bay leaves
3 tbsps Indonesian sweet soy sauce
2 tsps salt
1/2 tsp white pepper

Preparation:
In a saucepan, combine water and dark tea. Let the tea bags sitting in the boiling water for 5 minutes until the water become dark brown. Discard the tea bag. Add in shallot's skin, shallot sliced, garlic, bay leaves, Indonesian sweet soy sauce, salt and pepper. Boil it over high heat. Add in eggs. And boil it for 7 minutes or so and make sure the eggs are covered by the tea mixture so it will boiled evenly. Remove the eggs and crack the eggshell (Just crack it! Don't peel it!). Dump it back into the tea mixture. Reboil it for another 7 minutes over low heat.
Soak the eggs in the cold water for an easy peeling and smooth egg. Ready to serve.

PERI PERI CHICKEN

Wow...wow...wow...what a cute name for a dish! Yep, a cute name with a good taste!
Peri Peri Chicken is the most famous menu from Nando's Restaurant. Nando's is originally from South Africa (thanks to my dearest blog friend, Anjuli who gave me the info, because all these times I always think Nando's is originally from Malaysia!!). They have several franchise all around the world. Well, I can't say all around the world, but few countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and USA has it.

The first time I tried Peri Peri Chicken was when I lived in Indonesia. And, since that day I just simply love it. Especially I love spicy :). But don't worry, if you dislike spicy, you can choose the mild one, so it will not spicy at all! *oups...don't trust my judgement because I love SUPER EXTREME SPICY :)*.

Now, it's been ages I didn't eat Peri Peri Chicken because I can't find Nando's Restaurant at the area where I lived. Sadly, I almost forget about it!! Until, I saw a photo of my friend who ate at Nando's Restaurant and there were a photo of a full set Peri Peri Chicken. Suddenly, my mouth is watering and my jaw is almost drop looking at the chicken! And believe me, tho it just a photo but it looks good and really tempting.

So, I rushed to ask Mr. Google and there were loads of "Nando's" Peri Peri Chicken recipes. All the recipes are very similar one to another. So I decided to make my own Peri Peri Chicken recipe.

While the chicken was baked in the oven, I crossed my fingers hoping it will taste good. And.....voila.....it tasted good! My hubby liked it and I am happy cos I can eat Nando's Peri Peri Chicken anytime :).

PS: My Peri Peri Chicken is spicy tho I put "Mild" sticker on it :). So, you should reduce the chilli if you dislike spicy.



Peri Peri Chicken

Ingredients:
6 piece chicken drumstick

Marinade Sauce:
1/2 cup olive oil
1 red bell pepper, small diced
2-3 tsps salt
70 ml apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 red chilli pepper
5 green thai bird's chilli, sliced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
Lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
2 tbsps oregano

Preparation:
1. Saute garlic and red bellpepper until fragrant over medium high heat. Pour in vinegar and lemon juice. Reduce the heat. Let it simmer for 10 minutes. Add in the remaining ingredients. Stir it for about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the stove.

2. Pour the chilli-vinegar mixture into a food processor or blender. Process it until fine and smooth. Keep it in the refrigerator and let it cool.

3. Place the chicken in the plastic bag (food saver bag). Pour 2/3 the cold chilli-vinegar mixture. And reserve the rest for additional condiment after the chicken is baked.

4. Marinate the chicken for 2 hours. Bake the chicken over 350F until both sides are brown. Once in a while bash the chicken with the marinade sauce. Don't forget to turn the chicken so it can baked evenly.

5. Serve it with rice and salad. Also, you can pour the reserved sauce over the chicken on the serving plate. Enjoy