Bick’s Burgers

This summer, Bick's is motivating us to create our own signature burger creations by providing some refreshing pickles. Over here in our tiny kitchen, we probably whip up burgers at least once every other week because it's such an easy meal to prepare.

First, we season the ground beef with simple salt and pepper.

Then, we form the ground beef into loose balls. You don't want to apply too much pressure and pack it too tightly. That'll give off a meatloaf consistency!

We grease our cast iron skillet and set the temperature on medium high. When it's really hot, we drop the beef balls and press down to form the patties.

You let it sizzle and cook, then flip it.

Add some delicious mozzarella cheese and let it melt. The burger should be ready by the time the cheese starts to ooze.

Time it so that the burger buns are toasting when the burger is being cooked. So when everything is ready, you can start dressing the burger. We prefer a layer of iceberg lettuce over the burger, then two slices of Bick’s Sandwich Savers Tangy Dill Pickles.

Lots of Bick’s Hot Banana Pepper Chunks cut into slices please!

Looking delicious and colourful, but just a few more staples for our burgers . . .

. . . ketchup and mustard!

Voila! An easy weekend burger at our home is ready in under half an hour. We pair it with a side salad from the excess iceberg lettuce.

The pickles and banana peppers give the burger a nice and snappy tang, and add a subtle punch of heat (don't worry, they're not spicy to the point where your eyes water).

As a bonus, Bick's is running their Name a Burger Success Story promotion. Just by naming a burger, you can enter for a chance to win 1 of 4 cottage vacations (awarded as a cheque) where you’ll be able to create your own burger success stories! Please visit Bicks.ca for the Official Rules and complete details.

If you don't want to make burgers all the time, Bick's has recipe suggestions and other meal ideas on their website as well. But we think pickles and banana peppers pair so well with burgers, I currently have my eye on the Muskoka breakfast burger for another weekend. Sunny side up egg and bacon? Yes, please!

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Bick's and I received compensation for it. There was no requirement to produce a positive review of this product. All opinions are our own.

Cook the Cover: Canadian Living July 2014

You don't even know how excited I was to see this cover recipe!

Grilled peach? It's one of our favourite summertime desserts, made popular last year when we repeatedly had grilled pound cake with grilled peaches and vanilla ice cream. There's something wonderful in seeing grilled marks on fruits and vegetables, something different from the usual meat selection.

This sundae is pretty easy to make and the raspberry sauce can be made ahead of time so that when you're ready to eat, all you have to do is grill the peaches and scoop the ice cream. Almond slivers can be optional, but they provide a nice crunchy texture if you have the time to give them a quick toss in the oven.

Grilled Peach Melba Sundae
Shopping List: unsalted butter, brown sugar, peaches, vanilla ice cream, raspberries, sliced almonds, granulated sugar, lemons, and cornstarch.

I love summer for the abundance of fruits!

Here's me showing you that a scale is the best thing you can invest in when you're following recipes. It works so much better. For the sauce, I have a cup of raspberries there and showing you what 250 ml of raspberries look like. There's a huge difference!

The raspberry sundae sauce is super easy, just throw in the raspberries, sugar, lemon juice, and 1 tbsp water in a blender. Strain the sauce through a sieve into a saucepan (discard seeds). Cook the sauce over medium heat, stirring, for about 2 minutes until it is warmed through.

Whisk the cornstarch with 1 tbsp water and then stir it into raspberry mixture. Bring the sauce to a boil, keep stirring until it thickens, about 1 minute. Transfer to bowl (or jar in my case) and cover and refrigerate to cool completely, about 40 minutes. You can even make this sauce a week in advance and leave it in the fridge until you need it.

Remove the skin from the peaches and cut them into wedges. Mix softened butter with brown sugar.

Heat the grill pan over medium heat (or if you have a barbecue, use that) and place wedges on to get the charred markings. Turn over to do the same. Near the end, brush the butter and brown sugar mixture on and flip once. You have to watch carefully as it caramelizes very quickly. Remove from the grill and let it cool.

Serve with ice cream, raspberry sauce, raspberries, and toasted almond slivers.

Yes?

Yes to grilled peaches.

Yes to raspberries.

If you've never grilled fruits before.
Do it.

If you've never grilled peaches before.
I highly recommend that you do it.

There's just a wonderful mix of flavour and aroma when a peach is getting its grill marks on. Come on, there's no excuse, this is an easy sundae to make and a sure crowd-pleaser. I don't know how else I should convince you!

See what other bloggers thought about the recipe here.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Canadian Living and I received compensation for it. There was no requirement to produce a positive review of this recipe. All opinions are our own.

Canoe Paddle Doughnuts

I am so excited to share this with you! Have you ever tried BeaverTails pastries before? I remember trying my first one during a family ski trip. We were ready for a break after the slopes and went looking for a snack. Right beside the sky lodge was a little cabin selling cinnamon sugar beaver tails. Ever since, I've been on a lookout for these cabins. They're not easily accessible to the because they're usually found in attractions like the zoo, Canada's Wonderland, CNE, or in cottage country. So having one is an extra treat, but now . . . I can make them at home! These Canoe Paddle Doughnuts from Canadian Living are so comparable that I don't think I would be able to tell the difference.

Canoe Paddle Doughnuts
Shopping List: granulated sugar, milk, active dry yeast, all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, salt, eggs, vegetable oil, cinnamon, butter, and lemons.

I poured the milk into a small saucepan and warmed it up on medium heat. When I could start feeling heat radiating off the top, I added the 1 tablespoon of sugar and stirred to dissolve. At this point, turn the stove off. You do not want your milk to start simmer, boil, or burn! Just warm enough to dissolve the sugar and help the yeast activate.

Transfer the milk and sugar mixture to a large bowl.

Add in the active dry yeast. Let it stand for about 10 minutes. It'll start to get frothy and look like pancake batter that's almost ready to flip in your frying pan.

While you're waiting, in another bowl, whisk together 2-1/4 cups of the all-purpose flour, the whole wheat flour, and salt to remove any lumps.

Whisk eggs, oil, and remaining sugar into the yeast mixture.

Using wooden spoon or spatula, stir in the flour mixture until it's combined. Avoid any overly dry dough, it should be sticky all around.

Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm draft-free place until it doubles in bulk, about 2 hours. Look at the rise on this dough! I tagged the progress using hot pink post-it notes.

After this point, you can continue on or store the bowl in the fridge for later use. I made mine over two nights. If you did keep the dough in the fridge, let it sit in room temperature for half an hour before you start working on it.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in remaining 1/4 cup of flour until dough comes together. You'll need to work on the feel of the dough here. It should still be sticky, so you might not need all of the remaining flour.

Divide the dough into 12 pieces and shape them into flat ovals with your hands. Place on a lightly floured surface, cover with tea towel, and let the dough rest for 30 minutes. Gently stretch out the dough to as thin as you can. The recommended thickness is 1/8-inch (3 mm). It's almost like making mini pizza dough!

If you're hesitant about deep frying or haven't done it before, I would recommend that you watch the how-to video. I don't have a lot of deep frying experience, but I went with a deep saucepan instead of a wok or deep fryer (don't own that appliance our of fear that all I would do is deep fry my food) and bought a deep fry thermometer (also a candy thermometer).

Pour enough oil to come about 2 inches (5 cm) up the sides and heat until deep-fryer thermometer registers at 375ºF (190ºC). Deep fry the canoe paddle doughnuts. Use tongs, they're super helpful here. I gently pressed down on the dough to make sure that it was frying evenly. And you'll need the tongs to help you turn the dough. Fry each side for 30 seconds.

When cooked, transfer the doughnuts to a paper towel-lined rimmed baking sheet to soak up the excess oil.

To make the cinnamon sugar topping, just whisk the sugar and cinnamon together on a large shallow dish or plate.

Brush one side of the doughnut with butter and place the buttered side down into the cinnamon sugar mixture. You'll need to turn it over and sprinkle cinnamon sugar to cover completely.

Serve with lemon wedges. Lemons are crucial. Yes, the canoe paddle doughnuts are good without them, but they're even better with a squeeze of lemon. This helps cut the sweetness and ensure that you can eat more than one. Because no one just has one doughnut!

Have some fun with your doughnuts! You're not limited to a cinnamon sugar topping. We spread Nutella and peanut butter on ours and topped them with bananas. You can add chocolate chips and your favourite bite-sized candies. And might we suggest savoury ones? Brie, nuts, honey, apples, and strawberries!

If you happen to have extra dough, store them with parchment paper separating each piece and keep refrigerated. I have a hunch they would freeze well, but I haven't tested it yet!

Share your Canoe Paddle Doughnut pics with @canadianliving on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with the hashtag #CLIMadeIt.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Canadian Living and I received compensation for it. There was no requirement to produce a positive review of this recipe. All opinions are our own.