July 4th Burger Roundup

A few years ago Serious Eats released this amazing, comprehensive guide called the United States of Burgers, and apparently I was super unhappy with Washington's representative burger. I wrote a post about it when the article was released, and never ended up hitting publish. With the 4th of July just around the corner, there's no better time to resurface a ton of awesome all-American burger inspiration. Aside from Will Smith saving the world from aliens, what's more American than a burger on Independence Day!? USA, USA!

Homemade Everything Burgers

It's almost July 4th, and in my mind, nothing is as all-American as the good ol' grilled hamburger. And, nothing is as delicious (seriously) as an all-American burger with homemade everything! I'm talking home-baked buns, homemade mustard and ketchup, and fresh ground steak burgers. 

I may never be able to go back to bottled ketchup. I definitely won't go back to pre-ground meat. Although, I must admit, it was my first home-grinding, and I was a little squeamish. I just kept picturing Pink Floyd's The Wall music video (not all-American). 

I discovered the recipes for these bad boys in an old issue of Gourmet, and couldn't think of a better way to celebrate Lady Liberty's birthday (Happy Birthday, old gal!). Luckily, Gourmet still has the recipes online too, so after you give Lady Liberty the ol' hip-hoorah and 236 spankings, you can celebrate Independence Day with the best burgers ever. Or with Will Smith. Whatevs. 

Give yourself plenty of time to make these burgers. The mustard seeds need to soak 1-2 days, the buns need to rise twice, and the ketchup is best after cooling a few hours. These homemade everything hamburgers are so worth the wait and effort. 

I would recommend talking to your butcher about the best cuts of beef for the patties. Mine recommended a mix of two cuts (top sirloin and a choice something-or-other), and the combo made incredible burgers. I also ran it through the thick-grind and then the smaller-grind, but you could totally keep these chunky and meaty, and it would be awesome. The recipe calls for just salt in the meat, but I did my standard salt, pepper, and a dash of worcestershire. 

And, the buns are adorable. Yes, Michael Scott... That's what she said. 

Where We Met

On Sunday, Evan and I wandered around the UW campus, where 7 years ago we first met, became friends, flirted, dated, and eventually fell in love. We went to our old favorite late night eatery--Burger & Kabob Hut--where we ate many a meals freshman year. It was exactly the same as we remembered...greasy, messy, and delicious.

We walked past the dorms we lived in, the buildings we learned in, and the little places along the way that evoked happy, fun memories. We finished the day a little sad that those carefree days are behind us, but with a sigh of relief that we made it past those late nights study sessions and keg parties in one piece, together. We also finished off the day with a coconut bubble tea.

Out Like a Lion

Biscuit the Lioness

I don’t know if spring came in like a lamb or a lion this year. In Seattle, the spring weather has been changing drastically by the day! One day it’s a record breaking heat wave with shorts and flip flops, and the next its 48 degrees, grey, and pouring. All I know is that I’m stoked for spring to be here, especially with the abundance of tasty, fresh treats it brings! With spring comes many food-related wonders: ham at Easter, fresh asparagus, flower shaped sugar cookies, colorful eggs, lamb…wait, lamb!?

Yep, that’s right. Apparently lamb is the very definition of spring for some people. Some people just can’t get enough of the stuff. I however, am not one of those people. Until I started dating Evan, I had never tried lamb. Then, the first family event I went to with him, I was horrified. The main course… was lamb. Cute, fuzzy, white, little lamb. I tried the smallest of all small bites. The next time I went, I tried a bigger bite. I eventually got to the point where I tasted his lamb and beef gyro at Aladdin’s Gyro Hut. But alas, that’s about as far as that went. With the strong, unfamiliar, gamey flavor, and pictures of darling little fuzzy wuzzies in my head, I couldn’t get past just a bite or two.

As someone who professes to love food, I think this might be a big no-no. Lamb. I mean… chefs and foodies alike love that shit. Last summer, shortly after I started this little blog, a friend asked if I wanted to have food challenges on my blog… like say, a friendly competition, or people proposing a secret ingredient—Iron Chef style—for me to turn into something awesome. His challenge, however, was lamb. I sat on it. I sat on it for almost a year. Until a few days ago, when Food 52 also challenged me with lamb.

There comes a time in every young woman’s life when she must rise to the occasion, and take the challenge. The lamb challenge. I stood up, put on my armor, drew my sword, and looked my challenger in its’ cute fuzzy little face, and then I kicked it’s fleecy, white-as-snow ass. Presenting: the mythical and glorious Perseus Burger.

Perseus was a mythic hero of Greek mythology famed for defeating various monsters of epic proportions. Up until a few nights ago, lamb was my monster. This Greek-inspired lamb burger is sort of an intro course into cooking and eating lamb... it's simple, and has a lot of amazing flavors that meld together to ease even the wariest of lamb-eaters through their first or second lamb experience. Mixed with ground beef, herbs, and spices, and topped with zingy tzatziki, the lamb actually tastes…good! It’s juicy and not over-powering in flavor, but really does have more depth than a solid beef burger. Evan says he’ll never go back to ‘normal burgers.’ I’ve created a new monster.

With the Perseus Burger in your line-up you can take down any beast, be it lamb or lion.

Perseus Burgers
Serves 4-6

Burgers:
1 pound ground lamb
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 minced garlic clove
1/2 cup finely diced onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1.5 teaspoons Hyssop*
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon paprika (not sweet)
salt/pepper
4-6 tablespoons crumbled feta
olive oil
4-6 buns (I used ciabatta type rolls)
Tzatziki sauce (recipe below)
sliced tomato, red onion, fresh spinach, and sliced black olives for garnish

Mix together lamb, beef, onion, garlic, parsley, hyssop, oregano, paprika, and s&p until well combined. (*Israeli Hyssop is an herb that is mixed into a powdery blend w/olive oil, sesame seeds, and often other spices. I got this Olia brand hyssop from a friend! )

Separate meat mixture into 4-6 balls, depending on how big you and your guests want the burgers (I made one biggun, 2 medium, and 2 small.) To stuff with feta: flatten into a pretty flat oblong shape, and add about a tablespoon of feta to half. Fold the other half over, squish to seal the edges, and flatten to desired patty flatness. I like mine more patty shaped, less ball shaped. Put patties on plate, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with a pinch more hyssop, paprika, s&p.

Light BBQ and brush grill with olive oil. Grill burgers, turning once, for about 10 minutes total- until desired doneness. Grill buns. On bottom half of bun, make a bed of spinach and olives for burger, add burger, and top with red onion, tomato, and tzatziki! Savor your first delicious bite, because you just showed that lamb who's boss!

Tzatziki:
1/2 seedless cucumber- peeled
2 cloves garlic- minced
1 teaspoon each salt & pepper
1 teaspoon paprika (not sweet)
1/2-3/4 cup crumbled feta
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 tablespoons chopped mint
juice from half a lemon

Grate cucumber and squeeze out then discard excess liquid. Whisk to combine all ingredients. Serve with delicious lamburgers and Greek fries!

Sinfully Delicious

Last weekend I went to LAS VEGAS BABY for my birthday! A group of 15 friends and I headed down to sin city for a crazy weekend of gambling, booze, sun, fun, and of course…good food! While most of what happens in Vegas should stay in Vegas, I’m going to broadcast the juiciest of our sin city indulgences to the world…the deadly sins of the stomach.

Lust
Two words. Bobby. Flay. After a few nearly fatal whispered death-threats and fists-fights between Amanda and Jessica, we finally came to the consensus that we can ALL have a little bit of the lusciously delicious Bobby Flay…at his restaurant Mesa! The group headed to Mesa for brunch to get a little taste of the Iron Chef himself… or at least of his legendary food. We knew we were in for a treat when the bloody marys and the bread baskets arrived! Spicy, cheesy little jalapeño biscuits, Bobby’s famous blue corn muffins, and the best spicy bloody mary I’ve ever ingested. And then the food came…and the inappropriate, lustful moanings of delight that followed each bite… Iron Chef, indeed!

I ordered the Grilled Asparagus Salad with toasted pecans, maytag blue cheese, wild roasted mushrooms, and red chile-mustard vinaigrette. Not only was it beautifully plated, but the flavor combinations were just right.

V ordered the lamb salad. Until I tried Bobby Flay’s lamb, I thought I wasn’t a lamb eater. I’ve been converted. It was tender, juicy, and flavorful-without being overly gamey. Bree and Jessica ordered the tartar plate. The presentation was amazing, and the steak and salmon tartar served on spicy but sweet plantain chips lived up to its looks. Tasha ordered an amazing egg-tostada-plate-of-delight. I don’t even know what was on it, but it looked like Mexico, tasted like molé, and made us all very happy.

I didn’t get a good look at everyone else’s plates once Evan’s meal was served… I was in love. After a few too many Vegas indulgences the previous night, Evan was taking it easy, and ordered only a bowl of soup. The soup that gods eat, I think. Green Pea and Green Chile Soup with crispy serrano ham and mint cumin crema, to be exact. Sinner that I am, I coveted Evan’s soup through the entire meal… stealing glances and spoon licks at every possible moment. Had Evan not been the one with the heavenly soup in his possession, I may have left him then and there for Bobby Flay.

Gluttony
After a weekend of over indulging ourselves, Robb, Amanda, Mat and I headed to the most excessive of Vegas excesses… the buffet. How could we possibly say no when Robb was prancing about giddy like a five year old girl on Christmas morning? For a mere $25, we were led into the jaws of delicious hell… rows upon rows of food, food, and more food! Orange chicken, peppery beef, fried rice, dim sum, sushi, crab legs with drawn butter, prawns with cocktail sauce, crispy bacon and potatoes, prime rib with fresh, raw spicy horseradish, pizza, salad with a thousand toppings, egg flour and miso soup, hot-out-of-the-fryer-donuts, pastries, pulled pork, muscles in a spicy tomato sauce… and the list goes on. Oh, by the way… that’s just the list of the food on my first plate! After three plates (and several sweet, delicious, buttery, FRESH crab legs too many), I retired my fork. Robb, however, went for about 6 plates, 3 bowls, and a pitcher of mimosas. I generally detest buffets, but my final verdict on the gluttonous Vegas buffet… EXCELLENT! The selection was amazing, the food fresh and delicious, and the refills unlimited… if only they let you take in a few to-go containers…

Sloth
As every Vegas visitor and Washington resident knows, In-N-Out is a must visit ‘restaurant’ whilst in the state of Nevada. The night of the Burlesque Hall of Fame show (we attended as patrons, not performers, of course), V, Tasha, and Bree decided to hoof it to In-N-Out, all the way at the other end of the strip, and across a freeway. However…being the sloths that we are, and classing it up Vegas style, the rest of took a limo. That’s right, we took a limo to a fast food joint. The most luxurious and classy way to eat an animal burger with cheese (the messiest burger around), is in a limo. Knowing this, the limo driver made us eat inside while he waited. Oh well, the greasy, saucy, melty animal style burger was well worth the minimal effort and extra cash we put in to getting there.

Envy
I was envious of others’ culinary delights several times through out the trip. In addition to my envious glances at Evan’s soup, across the table at Mesa, I experienced waves of jealousy at two other occasions during the Vegas trip. First: drinks at Rhumbar. I ordered a Pineapple Chipotle Margarita…clearly I’ve been on a chipotle kick. It was spicy and delicious…but compared to Bree’s drink…her drink was heaven. And I was envious. It was something orange, with muddled mandarins, mint leaves, and of course topped off with a tropical flower. My drink was topped off with a dried chipotle pepper that looked like... well, it looked like this:


I also experienced orderers-envy at BLT Burger, where I ordered a plain ol’ cheeseburger, and Amanda ordered THE BEST VEGGIE BURGER I’VE EVER TASTED. No joke. It was a falafel patty so full of spices and flavor that I instantly regretted my ordering decision. Damnit. However, I DID get to eat the deep fried pickles, which were everything I had hoped for… dilly, greasy, and tasting like deep fried…pickles.

While we surly committed the sins of wrath, pride, and most certainly greed during our culinary tour of Vegas, I’ll leave a little to the imagination… some things you have to just experience yourself…Viva Las Vegas!

To Slide or Not to Slide

For quite some time, I've had mixed feelings about sliders. The slider-craze is out of control, with the mini-burgers popping up on menus all over the place, from upscale restaurants, to happy-hour bar menus, even to fast food drive-thrus! What's so special about bite-size burgers, and why are they kicking their king-size big brothers out of the limelight?

After a little investigation, I think I have the answer. Nothing can beat the charred, outdoor grilled, big 'n' juicy BBQ burger (with it's promise of summer, fun, baseball, and beer in every bite)... but there is something delicious, different, and a little bit 'gourmet' about a slider. With approximately 2-bites per burg, one doesn't feel overly full, and the flavor is exciting from start to finish. Also, (some meat-purists out there might disagree) my favorite part of a burger is the charred, grilled, seasoned, sometimes cheesy, sort of crunchy and caramelized outer layer. The slider provides the perfect ratio of flavorful outer layer to juicy inner burger, something that it's plus-size counterpart lacks. The idioms are true when it comes to sliders...'everything is better in moderation,' and 'dynamite comes in small packages.'

How did I arrive at this conjecture? After initial distrust, hesitation, and even trash-talk about the baby-burger revolution, I have officially jumped on the slider bandwagon. It all started last week, at BalMar happy hour, with one little, delicious burst-of-flavor that kept me yearning for more (slider accompanied by fries with truffle aioli) , and was further intensified after I ate one too many full size burgers (on top of one too many full size beers) last weekend. What finally pushed me over the edge, to the slider-side, was the simple act of making (and devouring) my own sliders.

My delectable little beef morsels, sandwiched between toasted baguette slices, were covered in melty, gooey jack cheese, slathered with spicy, smokey chipotle mayo, and piled high with greens, lettuce, avocado, tomato, radishes, and my kick-ass-honey-mustard-caramelized red onions. With so much flavor jammed into such a tiny package, they were 10 times better than the best burger I've ever made. They were fun to make, even more fun to eat, and Evan and I both felt satisfied without being overly full and weighed down.

To make chipotle mayo, simply mix together mayonnaise, chipotle peppers in adobo- add sauce and chopped pepper (more or less depending on how much heat you can handle), and a dash of liquid smoke, which really brings out the smokiness of the chipotles (which are smoked jalapenos). For ooey-gooey, super carameltastic, extra delicious caramelized onions, my secret is to mix in honey and brown mustard right before you take the onions off the heat. It works every time. Now... to REALLY enjoy the mayo and the onions, promptly jump on the slider-train and never look back!