Cheeseburger and Ultimate Burger

Hello!
Let's lay back a bit from complicated recipes but enjoy something equally delicious! Today I have another 2 in 1 recipe... well... actually it's just because you can make one out of the other :P Here are Cheeseburger and The Ultimate Burger.
If you make both (which I did, the smaller for me and the bigger for my boyfriend) you will need:
- 2 burger buns + 1 bottom slice
- 3 burgers (I used mixed meats burgers)
- 5 lettuce leaves
- 6 slices of tomato
- 5 slices of cheese
- sauces of your choice - I used mayo, ketchup and burger sauce
- oil, salt and pepper as needed

Start by heating a frying pan on medium heat with a bit of oil. When the pan is hot, reduce to low and put in the burgers. Season with salt and pepper to taste and let them cook a few minutes on each side. How to know they're ready? When you stick a fork or a skewer in the middle of it and the juices coming out are clear, they're done! But this really is a matter of taste ;) anyway, burgers done, lets assemble our meals!
For the Cheeseburger:
Place the bottom of a bun on a plate and then stack it in this order: 2 slices of cheese, one leaf of lettuce, sauce, 2 slices of tomato, sauce, burger, another leaf of lettuce and finish it with another sauce and the "cap" of the bun! Here you have it, your Cheeseburger Neopets style ;)

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Now, for the Ultimate Burger:
You do exactly the same thing as you did for the Cheeseburger but, in the end, you don't end it, you continue :) so instead of placing the "cap" of the bun to finish it, you put the +1 bottom slice of a bun and you repeat the stacking: 2 slices of cheese, one lettuce leaf, sauce, two slices of tomato, sauce, another burger, another lettuce leaf, more sauce and now, yes, you do finish it by topping it with its "cap"! This really makes a huge burger but, it is what they call it, Ultimate Burger.
I wouldn't be surprised if you had to deconstruct it to be able to eat it ;)
But, however you chose to eat it, just enjoy!

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Ravioli with Altadorian Stuffing

Hello!
Today's recipe is a two-in-one. I present you Ravioli with Altadorian Stuffing.
This recipe involved quite some work but it turned out great!
Ok so this is two-in-one why? Because I will give you the recipe for the pasta dough too.
For this recipe you will need the following things:
For the pasta dough (you probably won't use it all):
- a food processor
- 1 and 1/4 cups of flour
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1/2 tbsp of olive oil
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 1/8 cup of water (more or less)

Put all the ingredients in the food processor except for the water and pulse them until they resemble large crumbs. Then, with the motor running, start adding the water, little by little, until it creates a slightly sticky dough. Take it out of the processor onto a surface dusted with flour and knead the dough to bring it all together. If you feel it's too stick, add a bit more flour, if too dry add a bit more water. Always little by little and kneading well between additions. Form a ball with it, place it in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
(You can absolutely make this dough by hand, it will take more time and effort but it is possible. With the leftovers you can make regular pasta, just cut long strips of it and you will have fetuccinne, for example).
Lets work on the stuffing.

For the stuffing (for about 6 or 7 big ravioli - 10 cm in diameter):
- 200 gr. of mascarpone or ricotta cheese at room temperature
- 2 cubes of frozen spinach leaves, thawed
- 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
- 1 small egg
- a handful of walnuts, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them all together to create a beautiful creme. Set aside.

Lets prepare to roll out the dough.
Dust a large tray or surface with some fine cornmeal. You will put your rolled pasta onto this surface.
Cut the dough in four equal pieces, flour your working surface with flour and roll each piece like a long sheet (with about 13cm x 30cm) with about 2 mm of thickness. Apply flour as needed.
Place each sheet of rolled pasta dough on the fine cornmeal as you go.
After all rolled out, lets make our raviolis!

Grab a little bowl with some water and a 10 cm diameter round cookie cutter. Get your stuffing and a teaspoon. Ready, set, go!
In a sheet of pasta dough place about two teaspoons of stuffing, creating little mounds, with some space between each. Wet you finger with a bit of water and circle each mound of stuffing with it, it will act like glue. Take another sheet of pasta dough and put it right on top of the one with the mounds of stuffing. Adjust the sheet tightly around each mound, making sure there is no air inside. Grab your cutter and, keeping the stuffing in the middle, cut the raviolis. Keep doing this process until you run out of pasta or stuffing. Any of the leftovers are usable. You can use the stuffing leftover in an omelette, for example.

Cooking the raviolis is easy. Put a pot of water on heat and bring it to a boil. Place the raviolis in, carefully, and when they start to float give them 3 or 4 more minutes and they are done. Take them out with a slotted spoon onto a plate and lets serve with that luxurious sauce.

For the sauce:
- the juice of one lemon
- 1 tbsp of honey

Just mix these two ingredients together until the honey dissolves completely into the lemon juice, and drizzle some of this sauce onto the cooked raviolis. Enjoy!

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Spicy Chicken Burrito

Hello!
Today's recipe is great for a simple but nutritious meal: Spicy Chicken Burrito.
For two burritos you will need the following ingredients:
- 2 regular flour tortillas (about 18 or 20 cm in diameter)
- 1 chicken breast cut into small bite size pieces
- about 200 grs. of already cooked red kidney beans
- 4 slices of cheese
- salt, peper to taste
- a pinch of chilli powder/flakes
- 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp of tomato paste
- 1/2 tsp of sugar
- 1 tsp of oil to cook the meat + 1 tsp of oil to use with the beans
- water as needed

Start by putting the oil in a frying pan and put the chicken breast pieces in it. Season with salt and the chilli powder/flakes and cook it on low heat. You don't want the chicken to brown, just cooked. The meat will probably release some juices so, after it's cooked, turn off the heat and use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the pan to a plate and set it aside. Now lets use those juices.
Put 2 or 3 tbsp of the beans in the pan with the juices and mash them with a fork. Add in the remaining oil, some salt and pepper, the balsamic vinegar, the sugar, the tomato paste and the rest of the beans and coarsely mash them with the fork. You don't want a complete puree, just enough so you can have a mixture that holds the beans together when rolling the burrito. If the juices are not enough to make it a relatively smooth mixture, add in some water, a tbsp at a time until you get the consistency right. If the juices are too much, take the mixture to high heat so some of the juices evaporate. Keep an eye on it, stirring constantly, it may happen quite fast and burn the beans!
Give the beans mixture a good stir to bring all the ingredients and seasons together and lets roll those burritos! (If you want your beans heated, just heat them a bit on the stove).
On a plate put the tortilla and some chicken on it, then some beans on top and finish it off with two slices of cheese. Roll the tortilla into a burrito and repeat with the other tortilla! Enjoy!

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Potato and Sweetcorn Soup

Hello!
Today's recipe will be for a very heartwarming food: Potato and Sweetcorn Soup.
For this recipe, which will give you about 3 portions, you will need:
- a pot
- a hand blender
- 1 onion
- 3 large potatoes
- a small can of sweetcorn, drained
- a small clove of garlic
- salt to taste
- drizzle of olive oil

1- Peel and wash the onion, potatoes and garlic. Cut/dice them in small pieces and put them in the pot, season with a pinch of salt (start with a pinch, you can add more later if needed) and drizzle a bit of olive oil. Fill with water until all the vegetables are submerged and bring it to a boil on high heat. After that, reduce the heat to minimum and let it cook, partially covered (so it doesn't spill) for about half an hour.
2- After half an hour, turn off the heat and let it cool for a bit. In the meanwhile, put the sweetcorn in a tall jar and blend it all with the hand blender. The result will not be very smooth but that's ok.
3- After letting the soup cool a little, use the hand blender to reduce the vegetables to a thick creme. Taste for salt and add more if needed.
4- Mix about 2/3 of the pureed corn in the potato creme and use the remaining as garnish on each portion, after serving, giving it a little swirl around. Enjoy!

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Butterscotch Milkshake

Hello!
Today's recipe is really simple: Butterscotch Milkshake.
For one milkshake you will need:
- 2 tbsp of butterscotch sauce (recipe below if you need it)
- 200 ml. of cold milk

Put the milk in a glass, add the butterscotch sauce and mix it in very well until the sauce is completely dissolved in the milk. Enjoy!

Recipe for butterscotch sauce. You will need:
- a sauce pan
- a heat proof spatula
- a whisk
- 1 cup of sugar
- 6 tbsp of butter
- 1/2 cup of cream
- pinch of salt

In a sauce pan put the sugar and take it to the stove on medium heat and, with the spatula, keep stirring it until the sugar is completely dissolved and turns to a lovely amber color. Be careful not to let it burn so, if necessary, reduce the heat. Switch the spatula to the whisk. Whisk in the butter, a tbsp at a time, until it melts completely. Be careful 'cause it may splash a bit.

After the butter is melted, add in the cream, very slowly and carefully because this will bubble fiercely and it may splash again and burn you!

Keep whisking it for another minute, turn of the heat, add in the salt, whisk it in to melt and let it cool completely before transferring it to a jar (with a lid) or before using. It will thicken up a bit after cooled. Store in the fridge.

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Cloud Usul Iced Buns

Today I will be sharing with you my recipe for Cloud Usul Iced Buns.
For this recipe you will need the following material and ingredients:
For the buns (this recipe makes about 7 buns):
- A steaming utensil to fit in a pan/pot;
- 7 pieces of parchment paper cut into about 5cm x 5cm
- 3.5 gr. of instant dry yeast
- 1 tbsp of sugar
- 1/2 tbsp of vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup of lukewarm water
- 1 and 1/2 cups of flour
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp of baking powder

In a bowl put the lukewarm water, the sugar, the yeast and the oil and let it activate for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes add in the flour, the baking powder and the salt and mix it well. If the dough is too dry add more water, if too wet add more flour. Little by little. Keep kneading it for 8 to 10 minutes until you get a very smooth and only very lightly tacky dough. Shape it into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl. Also oil the surface of the dough ball (so it doesn't form a dry crust) cover the bowl with a kitchen cloth or plastic wrap and let it rise for 2 hours.
After two hours put the dough in a floured working surface, and shape it into a roll. Cut the roll in 7 equal pieces, shape them into small balls and place them in a floured tray or surface. Cover them with plastic wrap or cloth and let them rest again for 10 minutes.
In the meanwhile fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and prepare the dough balls for steaming. Place as many parchment paper pieces in the steaming utensil as dough balls can fit (keep in mind that they will puff up a bit while cooking) and place each ball on each paper piece. Place the steaming utensil on the pot with the steaming water and put on a lid. Let them cook for about 7 minutes. After cooking, take them off the heat, substitute the lid for a kitchen cloth and let them rest a minute, covered with the cloth, before taking them out of the steaming utensil. Let the buns cool completely before icing.

For the blue-ish icing:
- a wire rack
- 2 cups of powdered/icing/confectioner sugar
- a bit of pasteurized egg whites
- blue, purple and pink food coloring

In a bowl put in the sugar and add the pasteurized egg whites, little by little, mixing all the way, until you get a very thick consistency (spreadable like Nutella). Now, with the help of a toothpick, add the coloring (use a different toothpick for each color), also little by little (because you can always add more but you can not take back what's already in) and mix it all in until you get the desired color (in this case, a very light almost indigo like color). - Now it can get a bit messy ;)
After the buns have cooled completely, and with the help of a knife, peel off the shiny crusty layer of each bun and use a butter knife or a spatula to ice each one with the blue-ish icing mixture. Then place them on a wire rack with some parchment paper underneath so in case it drips you can always scoop it out and use it again. You don't need to ice the top of the buns since they will be topped with the white icing. Let the blue-ish icing set.

For the white icing:
- 2 tbsp of powdered/icing/confectioner sugar
- 2 very fresh egg whites
- an electric mixer
- a piping bag

In a bowl put the egg whites and start beating them with the electric mixer until it becomes frothy. Start adding the sugar, slowly, and keep beating until you get very stiff and glossy peaks. Put this icing in the piping bag (and you don't need to use a piping tip for this) and pipe a large and reasonably wide swirl of icing on top of each bun. Also apply a bit of this icing on the sides of each bun and, with the help of a butter knife or spatula, shape it into cloud like shapes.

For the "cherry" on top:
- either real cherries, or pink/red hard candy, or what I used, white fondant paste colored with a very tiny bit of red food coloring molded into small balls and with a very small cut on a side.

Place a topper of your choice: cherry or hard candy. But if you use molding fondant like I did, don't forget to brush a bit of clear jam or water on the small ball, just for the sake of the gloss ;)
Enjoy!

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Scrambled Egg Pie

This is the first Neopian recipe I'll be sharing with you, Neopets lovers!
This is the recipe for Scrambled Egg Pie.
You will need the following materials and ingredients for 1 person (or two if you like to share):
- An individual size pie dish (or any type of individual heat proof dish) and some weights (like dried beans);
- 1 ready made shortcrust pastry;
- 2 medium (or 3 small) eggs;
- 3 tablespoons (tbsp) of milk;
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon (tsp) of chopped chives
- 2 or 3 basil leaves (one for garnish, the rest chopped)
- 1 tsp of oil

1 - Pre-heat your oven to 175º C., and start off by preparing the crust.
Butter or oil the pie dish. Cut the pastry in order to fit in the pie dish leaving a small edge (make sure you have enough crust for the base and to cover the pie) and pierce the bottom with a fork. Line it with aluminum foil, carefully to not pierce the dough any more, and place the weights on it. Take it to the oven for about 10 minutes.
2 - In the meanwhile crack the eggs into a bowl, add the milk, season with salt and give it a little whisk with a fork. Heat the oil in a frying pan and scramble the eggs to taste. After cooking the eggs, turn off the heat and set them aside.
3- After 10 minutes, take the crust out of the oven, take off the weights from it, and put it in the oven again to bake for 5 to 7 more minutes.
4 - After baking, take the crust out of the oven, put the eggs in the crust (save a little bit for garnishing), sprinkle with the chopped chives and basil and cover with a circle of the remaining pastry, making sure to tuck it in between the baked crust and the eggs (be careful not to burn yourself!). Brush it with a bit of milk, sprinkle with some Chinese Five Spice and, with a knife, cut a little X shape in the middle of the pastry (for the steam to come out). Place it in the oven again to cook the top of the pie (if you have a grill option in your oven, that would be the one to use, if not, reduce the heat to 150º C. and place the pie on the top shelf of the oven.
5 - The pie will be done when the top crust is golden brown.
6 - Garnish with the piece of scrambled egg and the basil leaf and enjoy!

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.