burger

Southern Charmer Sliders

May 31, 2017

Behold! The best slider ever!

I know that is a bold statement but I’m pretty sure that you would agree.

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The Mega Goat Cheese and Slow Roasted Tomato Topped Burger

May 25, 2016

I can’t believe that Memorial Day is coming up this weekend!!!

I am so looking forward to hanging out with my family. The 3 day weekend is going to be really enjoyed. Of course, it makes the preceding and following weeks crazy, but so worth the extra hustle to enjoy 3 days off in a row.

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Bacon Jalapeno Popper Cheeseburger

August 20, 2015

Vacation is so close that I can almost taste it. And it tastes like burgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, cake, wine, and s’mores.

Dear lord, that’s a lot of food. ha!

We leave Saturday morning to head to The Cape to have a big family vacation to celebrate my dad’s 75 birthday. woohoo!

I have some big cooking plans for the week, as there will be so many of us there. Man, I love cooking for a crowd! I am prepping by making big batches of macaroni salad and potato salad and a birthday cake with Oreo buttercream frosting on Friday night. Man, the car is gonna be packed on Saturday. ha!

I’m hoping to make these Bacon Jalapeno Popper Cheeseburgers again while I am down there. The kids will prob skip the jalapenos but I have a feeling the adults will dig in. Like, really dig in!

The flame grilled burger gets topped off with a big hunking dollop of a tangy cheese mixture, which is then topped off with slices of grilled jalapenos.

I love jalapeno poppers! I love ordering them at sports bars. They are delightfully naughty! Spicy peppers that are filled with tangy cream cheese. The poppers are always served so hot that the cheese is burning lava hot. And I never wait enough time so I always burn my mouth. Always. I will never learn.

So if you love poppers as much as me, this burger if for you. Plus, it has bacon. Yes!

I hope that you will enjoy this Bacon Jalapeno Popper Cheeseburger this weekend. You totally need to fire up your grill for this bad boy. It’s the perfect mash-up of one of the best spicy appetizers and a juicy burger. noms!!

Bacon Jalapeno Popper Cheeseburger

Makes 4 Burgers

Ingredients

8 slices of bacon
1 1/4 pound of ground beef
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 Cup Sour cream
1 1/2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 green onions, snipped into small pieces
2-3 jalapenos
tomato, lettuce
4 Kaiser Rolls

Process

Cook the bacon over medium heat in a skillet. Place on paper towels when done.
Season the ground beef with the salt and pepper. Create 4 equal sized burgers.
Combine the cream cheese, sour cream, cheddar cheese, and green onions in a bowl.
Fire up your grill!!
Place jalapenos on your grill over medium heat. Rotate to evenly cook. When all sides have been blackened and the pepper is soft, remove and let cool. Once cool, cut the stem off the peppers, slice into long pieces.
Grill your burger over medium heat. After 2-3 minutes, flip your burger. Add a quarter of the cheese topping to the burger. At this point, add your buns to your grill in an area when the heat is low. Close your grill.
Serve your burger by placing a burger on the bottom portion of bun, add some grilled jalapeno pepper slices, top the burger off with some lettuce and tomato slices. Enjoy!

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Be sure to ENTER this giveaway!!!

It’s filled with AWESOME prizes. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

A huge thanks to all of the creative bloggers who were just as inspired by a month of burgers as I was and the awesome companies that have donated prizes to #BURGERMONTH:

Char-Broil | Cabot Cheese

Le Creuset | Dreamfarm

Spiceologist | Woodbridge Wines

Cali Turkey Burger Quesadillas

March 22, 2013

It’s officially spring but mother nature has not yet received that memo. She is being a pain in my butt with the cold and the SNOW that we have been having. I have a love/hate relationship with living in New England as I hate the long drawn out cold weather that mess with us long into March and April. And yet, I just love the spring and fall seasons. Can’t win them all I guess. But at this point I wouldn’t pass up at trip to California to escape this cold weather right now.

Plus, if I was in Cali I’d sure as hell be attending the Sprint Cup race this weekend in Fontana. A little of shopping in L.A. and a whole lotta fun watching the Auto Club 400 race in Fontana. Of course I would hope for another win for Kasey Kahne because I’m still loving his win from last weekend in Bristol. yay!! But since I can’t cheer him in person I’ll take a mental trip there by making these Cali Turkey Burger Quesadillas for this week’s edition of Sprint Cup Snacks.

There is a restaurant near my office that had a summer special when they first opened that I just loved. They made a burger quesadilla that was sooo good! It was so flavorful like a taco but was a totally a burger in a tortilla. I guess it wasn’t a typical quesadilla as it was wrapped up but it just made it so easy to eat. It’s kinda like a quesadilla wrap or a flat burrito. Whatever, it is just good!

This is super easy to make which is always great when your whipping up a quick weeknight dinner or just distracted watching the race. ha! The burger is so flavorful with all the toppings on top. I picked toppings that reminded me of a California Club with the bacon, tomato, red onion, and avocado. And, of course, a quesadilla has loads of cheese!

Don’t wait another year for another Fontana Race to make this burger but your family. This is great anytime for lunch or dinner.

Cali Turkey Burger Quesadillas

Makes 4 burgers

Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey
1 generous teaspoon adobo seasoning
4 burrito sized flour tortillas
12 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese
4 slices of cooked bacon
1/2 of an avocado, thinly sliced
tomato, thinly sliced
red onion, thinly sliced

Process

Combine the ground turkey and the adobo seasoning. Form 4 equally sized patties. Make the patties very, very thin and about 4″ across.
Grill the burgers until they are about 2 minutes from being cooked through.
While the burgers are cooking microwave the burrito tortillas for about 30 seconds to make them vary soft and playable.
Place some of cheese in the center of the tortilla. Then add the burger, bacon, tomato, onion, avocado, and cheese onto the burger. Fold opposite sides into center and then repeat with the remaining sides.
Place the burger with the fold sides down back on the grill with a weight on top of the burger to seal it closed. Flip over to other side to warm though to melt the cheese and add grill marks.
Cut in half prior to serving.

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{Sprint Cup Snacks Track Facts}

The Auto Club Speedway is a fairly new track in the Sprint Cup Series. Construction started in 1995 and the first Sprint Cup race was in 1997 with Jeff Gordon winning the inaugural race. Originally the race was 500 miles but since then has been shorted to 400 miles. It is the only Sprint Cup race in Southern California, which is just 50 miles from downtown LA.

Track: 2 miles

Shape: D-Shaped Oval

Banking: 11 degrees in the front-stretch, 3 degrees in the back-stretch, 14 degrees in turns

Surface: Asphalt

Capacity: 91200

Race: 200-lap for 400-miles

2012 winner: Tony Stewart

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‘Shroomy Philly Cheesesteak Burgers

February 27, 2013

I love cheese steak sandwiches. I think it’s because they are loaded up with so many delicious things- meat, sautéed onions and peppers, and cheese. And I might buck tradition and piss some traditionalists off but I add a ton of steak sauce. I can’t pass steak sauce off since it packs to much flavor. I could put steak sauce on bread and be happy…

You know umami? Umami is one of the 5 basic tastes that we identify in foods. Basically, umani equates to savory flavors which is often related to foods that contain high levels of L-glutamate, IMP and GMP. Foods associated with umami are fish, shellfish, cured meats, vegetables, like mushrooms and ripe tomatoes, green tea, and fermented and aged products, such as cheeses, shrimp pastes, soy sauce, and – what for it – steak sauce.

To put a twist on the traditional steak sandwich I transformed a burger into a ‘Shroomy Philly Cheese Steak Burger by piling it high with sautéed onions and mushrooms and tons of melty cheese. And what about my favorite steak sauce? Well that is there too! As well, I seasoned the burger itself so it would be so juicy and flavorful.

This is a massive, juicy burger!! The steak sauce and Worcestershire sauce in the burger mixture makes the burger really flavorful and juicy. Of course if I am going to make a cheeseburger, I am going to cheesy!! The onions and mushrooms piled high make is a great Philly cheesesteak burger. It all comes together in a huge bite and then the theme song of The Fresh Prince pops into your head, right?

Enjoy your burger with some fries and a cold beer!

‘Shroomy Philly Cheesesteak Burgers

Makes 6 big burgers

Ingredients

2 large yellow onions
12 oz white button mushrooms
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 pounds of ground sirloin
1/2 cup of steak sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
18 slices of Provolone Cheese
6 bulkie rolls

Process

Slice the onions and put into a skillet with 1 tablespoon oil and cook over medium- low heat until translucent and caramelized. Add salt and pepper when done.
Slice the mushrooms and put into a skillet with 1 tablespoon oil and cook over medium-low heat until browned and reduced in size. Add salt and pepper when done.
While cooking the onions and mushrooms, in a large bowl, mix together the ground sirloin, steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and pepper. Divide the mixture into 6 equal sized burgers
Grill the burgers until just under desired doneness. Place 3 slices of cheese on each burger and cook until melted and burger is done.
Place a cooked burger on the bottom portion of the bulkie roll, smother the burger with the onions and mushrooms. Top with steak sauce and top of roll. Enjoy!

Crab Cake Eggs Benedict @ Christie’s, Newport RI

August 17, 2012

When Price and I were wandering around Newport we spotted a pretty nonchalant sign for brunch but there was something that caught my attention on it. Their Bacon Bloody Mary. Yuu had me at bacon. So we hop, skipped, and jumped into Christie’s for brunch. Obviously I got Eggs Benedict! I can’t pass up an opportunity to enjoy it! And enjoy it I did, just like the rest of our meal!

Bacon Bloody Mary – so completely bacony. I love bloody mary’s so I love trying different kinds. Our awesome waitress told us that they make their own bacon infused vodka. I like their dedication to making the best- like making a bacon salt mixture to use on the rim on the glass. As a bloody mary lover I really liked this because it was a great balance of tomato, vodka, and seasonings. However, I don’t like smokey bacon and this was made with a smokey bacon so I didn’t love it. ($10)

Tomato Bruchetta – Such a great starter. Simple, fresh, flavorful. The tomato bruchetta was fresh and lightly dressed so the tomatoes were really on show instead of being overpowered with garlic, oil, and S&P. The mozzarella was milky and very soft. The greens on top was a nice change from the typical basil. ($4)

Christie’s Burger- Price had the burger and really enjoyed it. It stood tall on a cutting board with a burger, lettuce, tomato, and a tempura onion ring. It was cooked to a perfect medium rare. The fries that accompanied the burger reminded me of fries that I used to get at the beach growing up. The reminded me of summer. ($12)

Crab Cakes and Poached Eggs– This is such a great version of Eggs Benedict with it’s large crab cakes, poached eggs, and a tomato hollandaise sauce. The crab cake base was very good with tender, moist crab cakes that were not stuffed with filled. The crab cake was full of crab and tender vegetables like red pepper. The crab cake was seasoned well that it was good alone. I would have preferred for a bit more larger pieces of crab- maybe this was just mixed too much? The eggs were oozey and delightful. The tomato hollandaise sauce was like a typical hollandaise sauce but with a punch of extra flavor. The slight tint from the tomato made the sauce more orange than yellow, which went to well with the green from the herbs in the sauce. The biggest disappointment was the hash-browns. They were so crispy but under-salted so very bland. ($12)

The service here was fantastic from the moment we walked in. Our waitress was kind, informative, and attentive. The place was pretty quiet which is disappointing since we had great food, drink, and service so I hope that people take a step off the street to get into Christie’s. Enjoy the deck and have fun!