Breakfast Burgers

Tomorrow is the big day.  My puttanesca salad is going to be prepared by my wonderful friend, Chef Joseph, for a new public television program called Indiana Cooks.  Kim Galeaz, the host of the show, just called to say she'd made the recipe for dinner and LOVED it.  Whew! 

Originally I was told I'd get to cook on camera.  I was totally psyched.  I teach a lot of classes related to my real job - financial planning.  And, every week I've got a 10 minute spot on a radio show dealing with the same.  So, cooking on air would be fun.  Then, I found out I'm just interviewed from the audience.  Bummer.  The good news is that Chef Joseph is one of our dear friends.  He's got a fabulous restaurant downtown Indy.  HE's doing the cooking.  That's almost as good as me getting to cook.  Here's a shot of Joseph practicing the recipe at our home a couple of weeks ago.

Tonight, we tried something we keep reading about - breakfast burgers.  Hamburgers topped with gruyere, bacon and fried eggs.  And, to add a teeny, tiny bit of healthiness - a big handful of arugula.  Let me start by saying my burgers almost always have Andria's steak sauce in them.  It is SO much better than any other steak sauce I've ever had.  They'll ship and it's worth it.  Believe me.  Worth it - totally.  In spite of the howling winds (can you believe Hurricane Sandy made herself felt all the way out here in Indy????) I grilled the burgers.  Then, I cracked open a new jar of Dijon from the Mustard Museum.  You've never heard of them?  They ship too.  And, they sell this great mystery box.  This is the tail end of last Christmas' present for Connie.  Just in time too since he wants the same gift this year! 

What did we think?  These were a five.  We loved them.  My friend, Matt, had told me that he got hooked on eggs on his burgers when they lived in Texas.  Now, I know why.  Yum, yum, yum.  Here are some photos along the way:

Nacho Normal Hamburgers

Friday evening was burger evening.  We were making cat food and found that the package of hamburger from Sam's has been changed from six pounds to five pounds.  That meant I had to buy another package.  Some of the excess got frozen and a pound of it got turned into burgers.  I hunted through my burger recipes to try and nothing sounded good.  There were some avocados that were perfect so I wanted something that'd go with guacamole.  You see, there was yet another recipe in Entertaining with Booze that I wanted to try:  Ole Mole Guacamole.  Finally, I decided nacho burgers were the way to go.  I was going to have half a can of diced tomatoes from the guacamole anyway.  Into the burgers they went.  Along with about a cup of grated cheddar.  And, a good dash of Worcestershire and Tabasco.  Then, I set about building my nachos.  And, grilling the burgers.


What did we think?  We loved these burgers.  They were nicely charred on the exterior which gave a totally different flavor to the nachos.  They were very flavorful and juicy.  And, the overall dish worked perfectly together.  Why haven't I ever thought of this before???  The tequila was a great touch with the guacamole.  I did kick it up just a bit with some ground chipotle powder. 

Now before I get into the recipe, I've got to show you one of the reasons we love having Annie (aka Hoover) around.  I managed to spill the strainer with the rest of the black beans...  Here's the before and the after:

Nacho Normal Hamburgers
makes three burgers


Ingredients:
for the burgers:
1 pound hamburger
1 can diced tomatoes, divided
1 c grated cheddar cheese
Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco

for the guacamole:
3 avocados
2 T gold tequila
1/2 c finely diced red onion
1/4 c chopped cilantro
1/4 c sour cream (their recipe didn't call for this)
chipotle chile powder
1 clove garlic
3 T lime juice


to assemble:
sliced cheddar cheese
black beans
baked Tostitos scoops
picante or salsa
sauteed red onion


Directions:

For the guacamole, peel, seed and dice the avocados.  Set one aside.  Mash two of them with the sour cream, lime juice and tequila.  Add the diced red onion, half of the tomatoes, cilantro, a dash of Tabasco, chipotle chile powder and garlic.  Mix well.  Gently mix in the third diced avocado.  Set the guacamole aside. 

For the burgers combine the ground beef, the other half of the tomatoes, the cup of grated cheddar cheese, Worcestershire sauce and a good dash of Tabasco.  Heat your grill to very hot and grill the burgers til they're nice and charred on the outside and your preferred temp on the inside.  We like ours medium rare.

To assemble the dish:  Pour about a cup of Scoops into each bowl.  (Use large, wide bowls - like pasta bowls.) 

Sprinkle them liberally with black beans. 

 Top with a burger,

then drizzle liberally with picante sauce or salsa. 

Top the burger with the sauteed onions,

then the guacamole and serve.

guacamole adapted from Entertaining With Booze

Turkey Burgers with Brie, Bacon and Cranberry Relish

I'm blessed and privileged to work with some of the most incredible people in the world.  This past weekend we went up to Chicago so I could attend a meeting with my colleagues.  Friday evening we gathered for cocktails before dinner.  Connie and I were thrilled to find an Erath Pinot Noir on the wine list in the bar.  It's one of our favorites.  Then, I found a Chappellet Cuvee on the wine list at dinner.  Score.  Another lovely wine.  Connie had steak Diane and I had crispy chicken with fingerling potatoes.  As per usual, we traded halves so we could both enjoy two dishes. 

Saturday evening after a VERY long day of meetings a bunch of us hiked down the street a ways to Carmines.  There, Connie and I split an order of lasgana and one of brasato.  Both were just incredible.  We all laughed and talked and talked and talked.  There's something to be said for my having worked with these folks for about a dozen years.  We've gotten to be good friends with my colleagues and their spouses.  Actually, these folks are more like family.  Here are a couple of snapshots from the two evenings:

Toni - keeps us all in line!

Tom and Joyce

Brad and Carmen brought the midgets.  We figure about 10 kids had to give up their cute because these two are do darned cute!  (And, they're great kids too!)

Melissa, Tony and Kelly.  Tony's one of our newer members and what a wonderful addition he is!

Ken.  We missed seeing his wife, Georgia.  She's got one wicked sense of humor, doesn't she, Kenny Seven?

Charlie.  Rumor has it that Ellen was in Florida attending an embroidery conferene.  She was sorely missed!

Josh and Tracy and one of their sons.  This one has a GREAT handshake for a young man.

Me with our fearless leader, Joe

And, last but certainly not least, me with my sweetie, Connie

Ok, so that's how I spent my weekend.  Eating, drinking and working.  No complaints here.  But I wasn't interested in a complicated or heavy meal Sunday evening.  We'd gotten home just in time to start a really bad year for our Colts and by the time that debacle was over, I was ready for a nice relaxing meal.  I know Monday is going to be a very late day since my last appointment in my Columbus office doesn't even start until 5:00.  Then, I've got an hour drive home.  That meant it'd be a very smart thing to have dinner ready for Connie to pop in the oven when I'm on my way home.  I had a package of ground turkey in the refrigerator with a sell by date of 9/12/11.  I'd read a recipe for turkey meatloaf with feta and sundried tomatoes.  That'd be perfect to make ahead for Monday.  And, that left a pound of ground turkey for this evening.  Great excuse to dig into Burgers by Paul Gayler.  This is a cookbook that's got every kind of meat imaginable in burger form.  Including some great turkey burgers.  We settled on the turkey burgers with brie, bacon and a cranberry relish. 

What did we think?  Totally delicious.  I left the bread out of the equation and am very glad I did.  It would've been superfluous.  I added a bit of oil and vinegar dressing to the lettuce under the burger.  That was a great addition.  The burger was moist and flavorful.  The brie and bacon married perfectly.  And, the cranberry relish was great.  This is one we'll make again!

Turkey Burgers with Brie, Bacon and Cranberry Relish

Ingredients:

for the Cranberry Relish:

1 1/2 c fresh cranberries (I freeze bags of them when they're in season)

1/3 c sugar

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated (Gaia was all I had so that's what I used)

1/2 c orange juice

1 t green peppercorns

1 T white wine vinegar

for the burgers:

1 lb ground turkey

1 T dijon mustard

2 T chopped flat leaf parsley

1 T olive oil

1 shallot, finely minced

1 garlic clove, finely minced

2 t fresh thyme leaves

2 slices bacon (I used our home-smoked bacon)

6 thin slices brie cheese

2 big handfuls of fresh greens, dressed with oil and vinegar if you like

Directions:

for the Cranberry Relish:

Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan. 

Simmer it slowly until the cranberries start to pop.  Take a potato masher and smoosh all the cranberries.  Continue to simmer until the relish has reached a jam-like consistency.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

for the burgers:

Saute the shallot, garlic and thyme in the olive oil.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool.  Gently mix the ground turkey, dijon mustard, parsley and shallot mixture.  Form into two burgers. 

You can either grill the burgers (kind of messy when you get to the cheese part) or pan fry them. 

When they've reached an internal temperature of about 160 degrees, put the cooked bacon and slices of brie on top. 

Cover the skillet and steam the burgers so the cheese will melt.  To serve, put a handful of greens on a dinner plate.  Top the greens with a burger then a dollop of the cranberry relish. 

adapted from Burgers by Paul Gayler

Dorie's Hamburgers - Kind of

First off, please accept my apology for the lousy photo above.  I did not do justice to this incredible burger.  We were in a rush to eat and get to a game and I quickly snapped a photo and chowed down...  My bad.

All of my friends who particpate in French Fridays with Dorie did the Cafe Salle Pleyel Burgers.  They looked wonderful.  But, I've been wanting to do a hamburger with bacon in it.   Could I combine the two?  Ah, yes, I could.  So, thanks go to Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake, the New York Times and Dorie Greenspan for the inspiration and basic recipe.  Thanks also go to our local butcher shop - Kincaids - for the baon inspiration.  And, the kalamata olives?  Well, let's just say they're a staple around our house.


I was a bit concerned about the fact that we like our hamburgers medium at most.  That meant the bacon might not be well enough cooked.  So, I sauteed it a bit first to get it up to temp AND to get some of the fat out.  That all worked pretty well except for the fact that the burgers rather fell apart on us.  Next time, I'll grind the bacon in with the meat like Kincaids did.  So, if that's the only gripe I've got, that's pretty minor. 

What did we think?  These tasted amazing.  I particularly loved the onion relish.  It's something that I'll find lots of other uses for.  The herb and vegetable mixture can easily be changed up to suit different tastes.  I can see using pickled jalapenos with some oregano and cumin.  Or switching out the tarragon for oregano and adding in some feta cheese. 

Dorie's Burgers

Ingredients:
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 T unsalted butter
1 t ground coriander
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 c oil packed sun dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
1/4 c drained capers
6 cornichons
1/4 c tarragon leaves
1/2 c flat parsley leaves
6 kalamata olives
1 lb ground sirloin, chuck or mix
1/2 lb bacon (or 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef total)
sliced cheese of your choice
1 large tomato, sliced
4 whole grain ciabatta rolls

Directions:

Start the onion relish first.  To make that, put a cup of water in a small saucepan and add in the onion, coriander and tablespoon of butter. 

It'll take about half an hour for the liquid to all simmer away and for you to be left with a lovely relish.  We'd have loved more onion so I'll double this next time.

 

While the onion is simmering away, it's time to make the burgers.  First, you want to make the paste that you'll mix with the meat.  Into the food processor go the sun-dried tomatoes, capers, cornichons, herbs and olives. 

Process that until you've got a chunky paste. 

See my notes above on the bacon.  Next time, I'll grind it in with the meat.  As small as they were, the diced pieces caused the burgers to fall apart.  But, the flavor was worth it!  Mix the meat(s) with the herb paste. 

Make four burgers.  We grilled them because we prefer the grilled flavor.  After you've flipped the burgers, put the cheese of your choice on top (we used cheddar) and close the grill lid to steam the cheese.  Split and toast your ciabatta rolls.  Don't leave them on the grill too long like I did...  When your burgers have reached the internal temperature you prefer for your meat, remove them from the grill. 

Onto a ciabatta half goes a dollop of dijon mustard or Gulden's mustard, a tomato slice, a burger  then a bit of onion relish.  Top with the other half of the ciabatta roll.

adapted from The New York Times and Dorie Greenspan.  Thanks to Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake for posting the recipe and inspiring me!