Eating Dinner With My Family

It's like the chicken and the egg question. Am I slacking on the blog because I have been repeating, or am i repeating because I have been slacking either reason, the family is happy.  These haven't. Even made in a while and I was interested to see if they where as good after a year and a half of new food. It so good!  It might even have been better. The combo of the red thai curry and turkey is wonderful! Thai Curry Turkey Burgers 1-1/4 lb. ground turkey (not ground turkey breast) 2 Tbs. red or green Thai curry paste Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Vegetable oil, for the grill 1 medium lime 2/3 cup mayonnaise 3/4 cup thinly sliced seedless cucumber 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves 1 small shallot, thinly sliced 1 Tbs. seasoned rice vinegar 4 sesame seed hamburger buns Sliced tomato, for serving Prepare a medium gas or charcoal grill fire. In a medium bowl, gently mix the turkey, curry paste, and 1/4 t...

I have a problem, I adore sriracha!  I want to put it on everything.  I know I am not alone in this, but it is still something I feel a bit guilty over:).  So, when I saw there was a Sriracha cookbook, I wanted it!  I haven't gotten it yet, but his recipe was available as a preview on amazon.  When I saw this burger, I knew I would have to make it and soon.  Problem.  My husband does not share this love.  He is more of a Crystal man.  Not being a fan of Sriracha, he was less than excited to try this burger.  (oh he doesn't like blue cheese either!)  I, however, kind of forced the issue and chose to make this tonight.  I halved the recipe, but at 5 tbsp, I was worried that it would be a little too spicy for even me.  Was it?  No!  My husband, who wasn't expecting to like this much, ate more than 2 burgers!  He felt ill afterward, but said it was worth it.  I really enjoyed it too.  Not as enthusiast...

Well it has just come to my attention that we have made 42 different burgers.  42, the meaning of life the universe and everything!  That can't be a coincidence since a burger has to be one of the most perfect and yummy meals ever!  (perhaps the meaning of life and our existence it to appreciate the awesomeness of the burger! lol) I decided to compile a top ten list of the burgers we have made.  This isn't easy.  I am tempted to put as number one on the list the most recent of the outstanding burgers, but that could just be a temporal anomaly;).  I am polling the family too because I am finding this to be quite a daunting task!  Also, do I make sure to include one of each kind of burger??  (veggie, turkey, beef etc...)  That might make it easier.  Best of each type and fill in the rest of the ten of the second place ones.  After much discussion we compiled a list of the top 10 (ok 11 but more on that later)  Now for the bigges...

I was totally at a loss about what to make tonight. I had a short list of recipes for this week, but as I prepared to go to the grocery, I went back to the 'to try' file and looked for something easy and fast. I had this burger in there for a while now and I never made it because I thought it would be too plain. I am so happy that I was so very wrong! It was simplicity incarnate! All I needed to so was slice, grate, mix, cook and... ambrosia! The consensus around the table was a 4.5 out of 5. Keep in mind we have become a bit snobby about food in general much less burgers! We were all pretty happily surprised by how tasty this was. This recipe was from Food & Wine magazine and they haven't steered me wrong... well ever is a bit of an exaggeration but 95% of the time their recipes are winners in my family. I followed the recipe pretty much to a tee except for the rice wine vinegar. I like the roasted garlic version of it. (Oh and I mixed up the sriracha and mayo to the s...

I made one deviation from this recipe, I used burger patties made from 1/2 ground chuck and 1/2 ground pork. Why? Well because I had some ground beef & pork leftover from the last time I made meatballs. We mixed those meats and made patties and froze them in vacuum bags. We didn't have enough meat to make patties from one type of meat but we had enough for 3 if we mixed them together. What was I going to do with them? I turned to the burger master, Bobby Flay, and the cookbook I got free on iBooks (Called Bobby Flay's Bold Flavors).  This is like a Cuban sandwich and a burger had a baby and those are two of my favorite sandwiches.  All I have to say is DANG it was good.  We all devoured our burgers.  I think we had patties that were a bit bigger than the 1/4 pound called for and that was my only issue with the burger; I thought the patty was a bit big, but that's my fault:).  We all were really pleased with the whole  meal.  A solid 4.5. Miam...

Hey all you regular readers of my blog!  (Crickets....) Awkward:).  Well if there is anyone keeping track of my no repeat policy on dinners and this blog, you may see that this is the second bahn mi burger.  The first one, Vietnamese-Style Banh Mi Burgers , were good but these were much better. They had several differences which I say count as different dinners. (the biggest difference is this burger is pork and the other was beef)  I can't even begin to describe how good they are!  Even without the few changes I would make for next time, these are a family favorite.  They were devoured!  The changes I think need to be made: slightly less meat per burger, more of all the veggies and a little less mayonnaise.  Why?  The traditional bahn mi has very little meat on it, and more is less in this instance.  The extra veggies may have only been a result of the extra meat, but why not add more veggies if you can.  They added ...

Close your eyes and imagine all the delicious awesomeness of a burger.  Ok, now imagine all the deliciousness of a breakfast of a runny yolk and bacon.  Make those two awesome meals have a baby!  Now you have an idea of what this burger tastes like!  It was really good.  I think that the pickled onions are brilliant.  The best testament I can give this burger is that my boy didn't ask for any mayonnaise for it.  You may not know it by looking at his long, lean pre-teen self, but that kid had one hell of a mayo love monkey on his back.  I told him he had to try one bite without the mayo, but, after that, he could add it after he tried it as is.  He never asked!  I can't even begin to process that fact:).  I was forced into one deviation, I couldn't find smoked cheddar, so I got smoked Gruyere.  Oh it was just wonderful. I don't think the picture does justice to it's awesomeness;).  Fairly easy to make.  Most ...

Well yet another burger.  My husband has strongly requested we back off the burgers for a while.  I can't promise it.  I get a bit obsessive.  I have found so many amazing variations of the classic burger and I want to explore it's many infinite possibilities until I feel I have attained some mastery.  My husband argues that we have many we have mastered and that is true but by no means equals burger mastery.  And here is the thing, I love variety and we could eat all manner of "burgers" and the only thing that lumps them in to the same category is the  bun. (if that see the Crunchy Kimchi Burgers ) I have just seen that we have had 20 different kinds of burgers this year.  Most of these have been in the last few months.  Ok, honey I will try to back off but I can't promise:).  These burgers were really good.  I did have a little mistake that I made that I think ending up making the burger better.  When I saw chile I read chil...

I know we like burgers and seem to have found many good recipes for them and this one is no exception.  The thing I love about this one is that it seems pretty light, for a burger that is.  The site I got it from said it was like 600 calories. (as always click the recipe title for the link to the source when I know it)  That isn't bad for a burger.  They are plenty of ways to shave calories too. (lighter mayo, smaller burgers, no bun etc...)  I am not a huge fan of turkey, but the curry paste (I used red) makes the turkey really flavorful.  I think this is one we are going to have to repeat and soon;) Thai Curry Turkey Burgers 1    -1/4 lb. ground turkey (not ground turkey breast) 2    Tbs. red or green Thai curry paste Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Vegetable oil,for the grill 1    medium lime 2/3 c  mayonnaise 3/4 c  thinly sliced seedless cucumber 1/4 c  fresh cilant...

Delicious but not photogenic First of all a great big THANK YOU to The Red Apron for a second nomination for the Versatile Blogger award. I am very pleased and excited to be part of the food buzz blogger community.  I am getting to know so many cool individuals in one of the best ways possible, through their food! As for the dinner, I was a little upset when I realized this wasn't a proper burger on a bun.  All that disappointment faded with the first bite.  When I googled the recipe in the grocery store, I saw some other bloggers had tried this and recommended adding to (some even suggested doubling) the amount of kimchi.  I decided to measure a full cup of the kimchi after chopping.  It was perfect.  The panko coating was wonderful substitute for a bun.  The mayo was great; the spinach was out of sight!  My only complaint was I would have made more spinach.  I liked an equal portion of pork and spinach with a little mayo for each...

Tonight another test burger in anticipation of the upcoming progressive dinner.  This one is a close tie to the sausage burger.  OMG!  It was so good.  I did use the 2 pounds of meat, but I made 5 burgers.  I think they were still a little heavy on meat, but oh so freakin good.  My husband, who had already declared the sausage burger the one we were making, now couldn't decide between the two.  I think we may still make the sausage one, but only because there will most likely be lots of beef burgers  I used the teaspoon of hot sauce (chipotle Tabasco kind).  So here I am, sitting full and super happy with my meal and totally content when the discussion of tonight's meal begins.  We do this for thoughts for the blog, future uses of the recipe, and changes we might want to make etc...  The real star of the burger is the garlicky mayo.  It was super!  And then my husband ruin's my night by calling it baconaise.  Ewwww!...

I am totally not a fan of sausage.  In small bits its workable for me.  I can enjoy it on pizza or in sausage gravy but I never get it as a breakfast side or eat it as the main component as the meal.  I was making this one for the boys who love sausage. (that and my quest for an excellent burger for our next progressive dinner;) Imagine my surprise when I found myself totally digging the burger! I loved the spinach; it was awesome. I did use the anchovy paste and used only mild Italian sausage.  Next time I would like to try 1/2 mild and 1/2 hot. Italian-Sausage Burgers With Garlicky Spinach 10    ounces baby spinach 2 T  extra-virgin olive oil,plus more for brushing 2    garlic cloves,minced 1 t  anchovy paste (optional) Salt 1 lb sweet or hot Italian sausages (or a combination of both) casings removed 4 sl of provolone cheese 1/4 c  sun-dried-tomato pesto 4    round ciabatta rolls,split an...

Another try at a new take on a burger.  They are always popular and ever so tasty.  This was surprisingly good.  I am a loaded burger kind of gal.  (everything but mustard) I need mayo, tomatoes, pickles and onions(I just do.), and am happy to add everything else. (just not mustard lol)  I am finding that there is life beyond those toppings.  This burger is very flavorful.  I was even happy with just the relish as a condiment.  It needs a lot of the relish to help keep it moist, but YUM! Everyone wolfed theirs down.  I did make 2 small deviations: 1) they were cooked in a skillet inside not on a grill. 2) I did not grind my own coriander seeds. The salad was a bit of a miss for me.  I improvised a dressing using the rest of the yogurt I had with some lemon, Dijon, salt and chives.  The burger is a keeper! Middle Eastern Lamb Burgers 1 lb ground lamb 1/4 c  minced white onion 1    medium garlic clo...

Well. I was going to make these Asian meatballs wrapped in lettuce leaves, but the recipe called for ground beef, pork and veal (which I don't eat so it won't be in the recipe), but I only had the beef.  I figured I could have made it with all beef, but seeing as there aren't many seasonings, I think the mixed meats are pretty important.  A quick search of Food and Wine website found me this recipe by the same people who made the Stilton burgers with the port wine reduction.  I still had umami dust left from that one and all the ingredients on hand, so hey, it's what's for dinner.  I think this technique of cooking the burgers with the onions is awesome.  It makes for some tasty, juicy burgers and awesome onions.  I did not use the bread and butter pickles.  I would have tried it if I were buying ingredients for this meal, but our family is not a fan of the sweet pickles and they wouldn't have been in the house. Cheddar-And-Onion Smashed Burgers...

This is a whole new way to imagine ground beef.  We have all seen hamburger steak in restaurants, but they are burgers sans a bun.  Not this!  As I sit here with my arteries clogging, (only saved from certain coronary by the red wine:), I still wish I could eat more.  The sauce was unbelievable. The token salad I served it with in no way made this dinner healthy; however, this is a worthy occasional indulgence.  It is from Julia Child's iconic cookbook, (click post title for a link to the book) and being French there is no lack of butter and cream.  For a starch, I made a half box of shells I had in the pantry and, since a stick of butter in the entree didn't seem like enough, (ahem) I made a compound butter.  I was flipping through my tome of sauces by James Peterson,  and Colbert Butter jumped off the page at me. (Yes, I am a fan of his!)  It made sense to make it too because it is maitre d' butter with the addition of a be...