Category: burgers

Okay. My friend Vicky is in town and tonight is her last night here. I was feeling like I ought to make something good for dinner (I pretty much always feel this way.) Vicky suggested we make something from the burger book. I didn’t even suggest it. (Although I have just been told this particular burger was my idea, and, am therefore held responsible.)
So, knowing I have eaten more blue cheese with Vicky than any other living human and that we happened to have a pound of turkey so we made this riff on a Cobb Salad. It has all the classic accoutrements of a good Cobb. Avocado, beefsteak tomatoes and lightly dressed greens, a couple of strips of bacon and the crowning glory, blue cheese crumbles. Baked fries cap it off.
Apparently I am becoming a better burger maker. It was super juicy and perfectly cooked.
We all had to laugh because the burgers were so tall that they weren’t easy to eat. My turkey squeezed out. Vicky’s toppled like a certain tower in Italy. Brian was actually done first. Vicky and I licked our fingers and Brian licked his plate.

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Well, Bobby Flay (can I call him Bobby?) named this one after the Rodeo at Cheyenne Frontier Days, and he isn’t kidding. It’s the ‘Daddy of ’em all!’ I have spent many happy weekends at the rodeo which encompasses everything from thrill rides, shopping, parades and concerts. The main rodeo takes days and is exciting with bull and bronco riding along with barrel races. Cheyenne Frontier Days takes you back to the real west where men are men and beef is what’s for dinner.
I made the barbeque sauce from scratch and it is just awesome. I made a couple of slight changes to the recipe (Brian can’t have honey and I can’t take smoked paprika) But it is really great. Brian made the onion rings on the stovetop in my stock pot. We used Aged Reserve Dubliner White Cheddar and definitely added the optional bacon. Optional. When is bacon ever really optional?

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The latest installment in the ‘cook the book’ for Burger’s, Fries & Shakes was a bit of a challenge. Not the cooking exactly but the shopping. It’s the very first (alphabetical) offering in the book. The picture wasn’t particularly breathtaking to me but I couldn’t bail out so quickly and ‘skip’ a potential winner. We made this one with beef in honor of the gaucho’s of Argentina. It is topped with the recommended Manchego (of Spain, but whatever) and house made Chimichurri that is buzzed Parsley, Oregano, Garlic, Red Wine Vinegar and Olive Oil, smoked Spanish Pimenton and a thin red onion slice. We added some house made Roasted Garlic Mayo underneath for my ‘hiccup’ factor. The burger looks great on my (early) birthday gift of rectanglular plates from Crate and Barrel. We added some baked fries and Brian made spectacular Black and White (Chocolate Syrup/Vanilla Ice Cream) Shakes. We went to four separate grocery stores for herbs because they looked dead and just terrible everywhere. The burger for me didn’t live up to the hype and time. Too smoky and it just didn’t suit my tastebuds. Brian liked it a lot and ate part of my uneaten half. I don’t know that we will make this burger again but the shake rocked. (My new plates aren’t too shabby either.)

Well, we tried the Cali Burger made with Turkey, Pepper Jack, Chipotle Ketchup and the piece de resistance homemade Avocado Relish made with fresh avocados, jalapeno, lime juice, & red onion. My sister is here for a visit with her kids and all the picky eaters ate it without the avocado relish. I just relished the avocado. (oh and that’s cheery jugwine sangria!)

Have you ever looked at a cookbook and each page causes your mouth to water and food memories to flood your mind? I recently opened a copy of Bobby Flay’s new book Bobby Flay’s Burgers, Fries & Shakes. Every page is more enticing than the last and includes such wonders as a Caesar salad burger, a Oaxacan burger, Shoestring Onions and a Mocha Caramel Milkshake. And in that vein, I am going to follow in the inspired footsteps of those who have gone before cooking through such lofty tomes as Julia Child’s Mastering The Art of French Cooking or Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry cookbook and cook my way from cover to cover. I am sure the scale will be more manageable for me and hey, I think burger’s are the new black. Stay posted. You might even be invited to dinner.