Homemade Burgers!

I love burgers. I could eat them every day. 

Maybe.

Burgers are a pretty close tie with pizza (seriously, any type of pizza, it could even be on a tortilla, but no matter what, I'd still eat it!).

I haven't made burgers at home in YEARS because we've discovered the already-seasoned ready-to-be-grilled burgers at Byerly's. If you have not tried their Pub burgers, or their Asiago Garlic burgers, or their pizza burgers then you are seriously missing out on delicious beef. 

And those are the reasons why I haven't made burgers at home in years. 

But then I decided that I could probably make my own and they may not taste as great but they will definitely be great. And great they were, trust me. 

Super easy to make. Delicious. 

And even easier to freeze for burgers later next week. WOO HOO!!!

I doubled the recipe for myself and froze three patties for the next week. Freeze them flat and then you can stack them for easier storage in the freezer. 

Homemade Burgers

1 lb ground beef (I use organic beef - the highest fat content will give you a better burger but use what you want)

1 tbsp McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 tbsp of minced garlic (I use the preminced garlic, I hate the smell of garlicky hands!)

At least 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, more if you really like it

Mix everything together with your hands in a big bowl. Divide it into 4 chunks. Shape the patties into discs and then press your thumb into the center. This makes for even cooking and the edges won't be burnt to a crisp before the center is done to your liking.

Grill about 5-7 minutes on each side. I grill a little longer for burgers for the Monkey since I like her meat to be a little more well done than my own.

Top with cheese - I like aged cheddar. 

Serve on toasted buns with your favorite toppings.

August Meal Planning

I still have quite a few freezer meals from last time so I don't have too much to plan out - woo hoo!!

BUT I bulk ordered sides - so in the cupboards I have Near East Mediterranean Curry Cous Cous and Near East Roast Garlic and Olive Oil Pasta. Both are delicious and the Monkey eats both so no worries on finding a starch.

Meal planning is so weird. I look at other blogs for meal planning ideas and while recipes LOOK FANTASTIC, I realize that when I put it down on my calendar that A) I don't have time; B) I am missing 2+ ingredients that I probably won't ever buy again; or C) I just don't want to make it because it's too involved.

Another thing about meal planning - there are things that I don't like that I see quite a bit -

• I hate quinoa, 
• I'm not much for elaborate breading of meat (I don't have room for all of that), 
• I don't deep fry things, 
• I don't have time to make a sauce or make a mix and then make dinner

And also there are only certain vegetables that I like and that the Monkey will actually eat:

• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Green beans
• Corn
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Water Chestnuts (I know, weird)
• Broccolini stalk thingys

Please notice what is missing - potatoes, asparagus, carrots, eggplant (which I don't like either), peppers and a few other veggies. I make french fries, tater tots, and homemade french fries but the Monkey refuses to eat plain baked potatoes or roasted potatoes. I don't know why (because she'll eat curried rice, LOL!). 

So in general when looking at other blogger's meal plans I have to switch up sides and make changes to recipes to suit our meal needs (like omitting hot sauce and switching from potatoes for a side to jasmine rice). 

I also have to work within our budget, so if that means that I only buy some lettuce, milk, butter, and eggs at the co-op, then so be it. My grocery budget sometimes has to be eating out of cupboards only (which is fine because they're usually stocked in general because every few weeks/months I buy certain items in bulk).

And the other thing with meal planning - I buy organic. We're up to eating 75-85% organic except for some frozen pizzas, cheese, and some pantry items. Organic can be expensive so I need to choose meals that fit within our budget. There are meats that we can't afford (like $17.99/lb for some meats at Whole Foods, seriously....) so I switch up marinades to cheaper organic beef and chicken cuts. Whole chickens are cheap but boneless, skinless breasts are the easiest for me to work with (Costco has organic chicken and beef for bulk purchases or else I order from my organic meat lady at the farmer's market).

So, as you can tell, I'm a super picky freezer meal planner and regular meal planner.

Onto what I have in stock...

Below I'm going to list my freezer inventory and my cupboard inventory so you can see what we usually have in stock. Then I just pick and choose what's for dinner from both lists. I choose a protein, starch, and veggie (sometimes I do two veggies and no starch).

I think this is the easiest way to meal plan for myself - that way I'm not tied down to a certain menu item because who in the heck knows what we'll actually be hungry for on Friday!!

Freezer Inventory

• Greek Chicken (Italian seasoning, olive oil, salt & pepper, sliced lemons), just marinated chicken in a freezer bag
• Plain "Just Bare" chicken breasts
• Sweet Glazed Chicken (ketchup, apricot preserves, worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, olive oil) in a freezer bag
• Margarita Chicken (alcoholic margarita mix, parsley, olive oil) in a freezer bag
• Thin cut beef roast
• Taco Meat
• Pasta sauce - meatless AND beef sauce
• Pesto
• French fries
• Peas
• Chicken sausage
• Ground turkey (which I think the dog might end up eating)
• Pork chops - two different marinades
• Steak (5 steaks)
• Mixed veggies - a few bags of random seasoned and plain veggies

Cupboard Inventory

• Annie's Mac & Cheese (mostly for lunches)
• Near East Garlic & Olive Oil Pasta
• Near East Mediterranean Cous Cous
• Black beans
• Tomato sauce
• Tomato paste
• Jasmine rice
• Honey
• Spices
• Flour & sugar
• Black olives
• Wildtree Organic spices, flatbread mix, cinnamon rolls
• Pasta - spaghetti and rotini

Gah. I know there's more but that's what I know I have off the top of my head. I stopped at the farmer's market and got broccoli, two types of beans, lettuce and a few tomatoes for this week for fresh veggies. 

Oy, meal planning is hard. We'll see what we end up eating this month!

Requisite Winter Pot Roast

 Pot Roast. Winter. Cold Weather. Those three (ok, four) words go together like macaroni and cheese. YUM. For Christmas I received Mastering the Art of French Cooking (unbelievably I did not own these...) and so I set off to find the perfect roast recipe.

Lo and behold on a Wednesday night I don't have 6 hours to cook a pot roast.

I did have 3 hours though.

SO I adjusted what I could and put it in the oven and prayed to the oven gods to keep cooking.

 My little trick: saute and caramelize your onions and carrots BEFORE you brown the meat. And deglaze the pan with a really BIG glass of pinot noir. DELISH.

And unfortunately it all disappeared so this is what I was left to photograph. Sorry:

The Perfect Winter Pot Roast

3 - 3 1/2 pound slab of beef. Pick something that looks good
Carrots, maybe about 5
Onion - 1 large or 2 small
4 - 5 medium potatoes, cut into roughly bite sized pieces
1 very big glass of wine, I prefer pinot noir but you can use what you like to drink
Salt, pepper
Thyme - maybe about 2 tsp
2 bay leaves
Olive oil & 1 tbsp butter
Enough water to cover the roast halfway

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Heat oil and butter in a pan. Saute onions until clear and parts are brown and delicious. Remove from pan. Do the same thing to the carrots. Remove carrots. Season the meat on all sides with salt and pepper. Add in just a teensy bit more oil to the pan and sear the meat on all sides - maybe 2 - 3 minutes per side? Just until nicely seared. Remove the meat.

Deglaze the pan with the wine. Scrape up all the bits. Add the meat back into the pan. Add in water until roast is covered halfway. Add in all the veggies (including potatoes), thyme, bay leaves.

Roast in oven for about 3 hours. Meat will fall apart. Serve with garlic bread and salad.

Pan Seared Oven Finished Steak

Mmmm... STEAK....

I'm also a HUGE fan of cast iron pans - not only are they super easy to clean (wipe, rinse, dry off), but the longer you have them and the more you use them the better your food tastes.

When you pick out steak, make sure it's a cut that you actually want to eat - and that it's nice and thick so you have some room for error when cooking (I tend to walk away or do dishes while cooking and forget how many minutes are left... OOPS). There's also carry over cooking, so if you pull steak off the pan or grill too quickly, tent it with tinfoil and let it rest for a few minutes longer than you normally would let it rest. No worries. I just don't like tough, chewy meat.

When I cook steak, I make it easy.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. (I had baking to do, so it was preheated to 350). 

Season with salt, pepper, olive oil and if you want... seasoning. I decided to try some garlic and herb seasoning.

Heat your pan so it's nice and hot. Get some butter and oil in the pan - wait until that is nice and hot and gently set your steak in the pan.

DO NOT TOUCH IT.

But do open a window.

Let it sear on one side until it no longer sticks to the pan, about 5 minutes.

Flip. Sear for exactly 2 minutes.

Shove into oven.

Let finish for 8 - 12 minutes depending on how well you like it done.

I prefer medium rare - but I cooked this one on the medium well side.

It should be nice, still a little pink in the middle but the edges should be crispy and tender with nice sear marks.

DELISH. Now go make some steak.

A Rack Of Ribs (Live Blogging)

 These are cooking in my kitchen. RIGHT NOW. And it smells so good!

But on the flip side - I have no idea if this is wine or not. I bought it because it was cheaper than $13 at Costco. It tastes awful. But I still put it in the pot to deglaze the pan anyway.

Behind it - my special BBQ sauce. Sort of - tomato sauce, worcestershire sauce, honey, hot sauce, pepper and soy sauce. Just mix it together and throw it in the pot.

Bleu Cheese Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I love mushrooms on burgers and Bimmer Man was at work most of this week. Which was too bad because he missed out on some good food (sorry, honey, but you don't like mushrooms, maybe I'll make you a different burger next week). So I sauted some mushrooms for my burger topping before I started on the burgers.

For stuffing the cheese into the burgers, I used crumbled bleu cheese. I made the burger pattie like normal but then flattened it out a little more than normal, put the bleu cheese in the middle and then wrapped the meat around the cheese (if that makes any sense, however, I've decided that I'm not like Pioneer Woman and I don't need to show steps of everything because that's like a sensory overload when you just want the recipe).

And then I added the mushrooms, spinach, ketchup and mustard to my burger because I can't live without ketchup and mustard on my burger.

Recipe for burgers (these are my normal burgers):

1 lb ground beef or turkey
4 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 egg
2 tbsp McCormick's Grill Seasoning
2 tbsp olive oil

Mix all together in a large bowl with your fingers. Score into 4 sections. Take each section and form into a burger pattie. Cook on the grill for approximately 4 - 7 minutes per side. With fresh beef, cook however you like because I like my burgers medium-rare.

Tis the season of grilling (or using your grill pan) when it's raining outside or management doesn't let you have a grill.

Happy grilling! I hope y'all share some of your burger recipes with me!

Steak

That's what's for dinner. Yum.
Oh, it smelled so good... I don't eat red meat very often but when I do... it looks like this!

So, get two good steaks. And your cast iron skillet, butter, olive oil, salt and pepper ready.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Season both sides of steaks with salt and pepper.

Heat the pan on medium-high or high, however much smoke you want, go for it. Add butter and olive oil, then the steaks.

They only need to be heated about 5 minutes on each side, then finish off in the oven depending on how you like it. I did about 8 minutes to make the steaks medium-rare.

And this was my lunch today. Yum... leftovers....

Spaghetti With Turkey Meat Sauce

I love spaghetti and pasta and sauce and garlic bread and salad. And so does Bimmer Man. He used to not like spaghetti. At all. Now, if I give him a choice of spaghetti or penne, he'll take the spaghetti hands down (but if gnocchi is thrown into the mix, he'll take gnocchi).

And so, I've memorized an easy way to get rid of your leftovers and single cans of tomato sauce, diced tomatoes or whatever else you have. Seriously. Mostly I just throw stuff in the pan and hope that it turns out. I think that's what a lot of people do, so you'll notice that most what I cook for pasta sauce is similar but I like to change up the seasoning. This is my throwback meal when I need to clean out the pantry and take stock of what I need to buy at the grocery store.

So here it is:

1/2 to 1 lb ground turkey (or pork or beef or chicken, whatever)
1 - 2 cans tomato sauce
1 - 2 cans diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes or whatever
1 onion, chopped
1 - 2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
2 cloves garlic, mashed through a garlic press or chopped (do you really want to smell like Rachael Ray tomorrow???)
Couple dashes of hot sauce OR cayenne pepper OR red pepper flakes

And optional:
1 medium eggplant cut into 1 inch pieces
1 summer squash, spaghetti squash or any squash, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 bell pepper, diced fairly finely
Any other vegetable that would hold up to simmer for 15 - 20 minutes without being too mushy

And then spaghetti, cooked 2 minutes AFTER al dente so it swirls around your fork correctly but it still has a bite.

Now:

Brown the meat, add the onions and garlic. Then the spices and the hot sauce or whatever you're using to give it a kick. And then the veggies if you're adding those, let brown a bit, maybe 3 minutes or so. Add all the cans of tomatoes.

Simmer 15 minutes or until the flavors have melted together and it tastes like spaghetti sauce.

And then eat over a plate full of spaghetti noodles.

AND then loosen the top button of your pants and sigh with relief that you'll have leftovers for the next few days so you don't have to cook if you don't want to.

UPCOMING RECIPE:

Challah Bread & something with pumpkin, I haven't decided yet.

Chili. With Black Beans.

Here's ANOTHER recipe for chili.

Currently it's just that time of year where chili becomes the number 1 staple in the freezer. I make chili in GINORMOUS batches so there's always a go to meal in the house, especially on a cold Minnesota day.

So, here it is:

1lb ground turkey (or ground beef)
2 cans black beans
1 can red beans
1 tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tbsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
Just a little cayenne pepper
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 onion, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
Salt & pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed in a garlic press or finely chopped

Add the onions to a large pan over medium with a tablespoon or two of olive oil, wait about two minutes, and then add the meat to brown.

Add all other ingredients and simmer for about 25 - 30 minutes.

Et voila! It's another chili recipe on the internet!

Actually, I like reading all the different spices that people put in chili. My favorite is cinnamon (really! Try it!) because it just makes it all warm and cozy. But generally for me it's chili powder, cumin and coriander.

So next on my list is a chicken chili. Maybe with lime? Eh, not really sure... I'll just have to wait until I need to stock the freezer with chili again!

More Tomato Beef Stew

So I've never tried tomatoes in my beef stew before.

NEVER.

I always thought that beef stew was for beef, celery, potatoes, bay leaves and salt & pepper.

But um, ahem... We tried it.

And I do have to say - I'm not a fan of a lot of tomatoes in my beef stew. So, here's my recipe, try it if you must, but um, don't be surprised if you're surprised that you don't like it. But, um, you know, give it a try if you like tomatoes.

More Tomato Beef Stew

Take my mom's beef stew recipe from here,

And then omit all the cream of... crap and add 2 cans of tomato soup instead.

Ya, that easy! But trust me, it just doesn't taste the same.

So, I dare say, if you have a favorite beef stew recipe, don't mess with it. Just eat it. And keep it to yourself so that you can impress guests when you have them over.

Ok, Happy Tuesday.

More Kebobs (Beef)

So, Bimmer Man likes marinated meat. And that's fine!
Because as long as I have leftovers, that's all that matters!

Easy Beef Marinade for the Grill
1/2 cup Italian Dressing
2 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1/4 cup A1 Steak Sauce
1 - 2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice

Mix all together, marinate meat for 30 minutes.

How Much Meat Do You Like?

11 ounces? 18 ounces? One whole pound? 3 pounds of meat? Oops, I mean cow?

I'm not a red meat eater, but it's really for health reasons - the added bonus of people assuming that I'm all against animal cruelty is kinda fun too. I like the question, "So you're an animal activist, then?"

Um. Sure! I can be!

Last night was awesome though.

:::McTatty is whispering::: I think they killed the cow in the back alley. It was that fresh.

And my body shall be punishing me for the next few days. But it was SO GOOD!!! Living in the Midwest is definitely good for something - the cows.

So I did some research. Where does the beef come from around here? Well, um, duh.. farms. Indiana has a Beef Council (but no real info, just recipes which you can find here) which works together to effectively communicate with ranchers and consumers. Hmm... that's a little too technical for me...

So I found this link here - farms by county. And I absolutely adore Local Harvest. You can find local produce farms as well as meats, cheeses, farmer's markets, etc... So, use these tools to your advantage to find the freshest food around! Your taste buds will be pleasantly surprised!

So, on with the story (and the eventual point of this post!)...

Bimmer Man and I had an anniversary yesterday (for you family members reading this, yes, we did get married in a courthouse BEFORE we "got married" in June... It was easier). We celebrated by going to dinner at a local hole in the wall meat market of sorts (thanks for the tulips, Bimmer!).

Janko's Little Zagreb serves your typical Midwestern meal. Meat and potatoes. Small salad. Rolls. Wine (Ok, beer too but I like wine!).

And it's a kitchy restaurant. No suits or ties necessary. The servers wore T-shirts, jeans, sweatpants. It was awesome. If I had to work in the food industry, I'd work there. No uniform.

And I didn't take pictures. Why? Because they would've looked exactly like the ones on the website. But I do have leftovers.

So, the main point of this post -

WHAT THE HECK DO I DO WITH LEFTOVER STEAK???

Giada's Steak & Black Olive Viniagrette

So, this might be a very long post. I preapologize for any time this takes away from your work.

But, whatever. It's steak. And black olives and Bimmer Man's Birthday.

I let him pick out his absolute favorite meal - steak with mashed potatoes and asparagus with a black olive vinaigrette for the steak.

My pee smelled like an old person's home for 3 days.

But black olives are absolutely lovely. You'll start this meal by making the vinaigrette first - that way you won't get distracted while searing the steak or mashing the potatoes and realizing that you left out one of the most important parts of the meal.

Red wine vinegar, grainy mustard (Excuse me sir, but do you have any Grey Poupon? I miss those commercials!), black pepper, coarse salt, oil (both olive AND vegetable oil).

Go ahead and put all the necessary ingredients in the food processor.

But I thought I read 2 tablespoons of mustard, really it's 2 TEASPOONS of mustard. Oops.

Go figure. So I'm a little disorganized.

Mix together the oils in a large bowl that you'll be able to pour it out of.

Mix it in a large bowl that you'll be able to pour it out of. I obviously didn't do that.

So I put it in a plastic Bacardi cup instead so I could pour it through the small hole in the food processor. Whoops.

And then let 'er rip!

Yum... this is really good over pasta too!

Red meat. I don't really eat too much of it, so the stark redness kinda gives me the shivers.

Olive oil, salt, black pepper and Herbes de Provence. Rub it all over.

Then go ahead, sear the wonderful juices of cow into the meat.

6 - 8 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, boil your potatoes and let them drain.

Notice all the dirty dishes in my sink? Some of the potato water got on the floor.

And the perfectly MEDIUM steak. Crusty on the outside, all nice and juicy on the inside.

After you've taken the steak out of the pan, immediately throw the asparagus on. It needs to cook ONLY 2 - 3 minutes per side. You still want it to have a BITE.

Mmm... all put together on the plate...

Look at that steak juice... And gravy and asparagus...

Oh man...

Rib-Eye Steak with Black Olive Vinaigrette

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

Rib-eye Steak:

• 1 2-inch rib-eye steak, boneless
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Black Olive Vinaigrette:

• 1/2 cup black olives, pitted
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

For the Rib-eye: Preheat your grill pan on medium high heat. Coat the beef with olive oil and sprinkle with the Herbs de Provence, salt, and pepper. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes a side until the meat is medium-rare, remove from heat, and allow to rest.

For the Black Olive Vinaigrette: Combine the olives, red wine vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper in a blender and blend until mixed. In a small pitcher combine the olive oil and vegetable oil. Drizzle the oil into the blender with the machine running. Transfer the vinaigrette to a serving dish. Stir in the parsley and serve with the rib-eye.

Enjoy!

Food Policies and the Election

By now you've probably deduced that I'm very liberal. I'm a tree hugging, cooking, photo-taking, Kiss-My-Face soap using (soon to be Sappo Hill soap using with no packaging), true-to-form Democrat.

And I buy grain fed chicken. And Bio Bags for my Bimmer Dog's poo.

But as an environmentalist, even hearing energy policies, I still want to know more. And so I've done some research.

Here's a summary of McCain's and Obama's proposed policies within this lovely American economy today for food. For human energy. Yep, that's right, something that they haven't discussed within the debates yet. And probably won't be.

Direct link to Obama's "Real Leadership for Rural America"

Direct link to McCain's "Prosperity for Rural America"

BTW - I actually poached chicken for the very first time last night. I popped my poaching chicken cherry and it tasted fantastic! That's to come later this week...

PSH

Perfect Pot Roast

There comes a day and a time when you need to have something of substance. After the leftovers from Hurricane Ike dumped on us yesterday morning, I had to make pot roast.
The main ingredients are simple. I don't even measure anymore. It's like Sunny or whatever her name is, "A little of this.. A little of that.." McCormick's seasoning, 2 bay leaves, pinch of thyme, pinch of marjoram, salt and pepper, then you're ready.
A few pounds of meat. I'm not really a red meat eater, but I do eat it when the occasion calls. Look at that marbling, man, even though I don't eat red meat, I sure know how to pick 'em...
You'll also need about 8 - 10 small red potatoes, halved.
Carrots. I use baby organic, about 15 of 'em.
Then you put approximately one tablespoon of steak seasoning on each side of the roast.
*sprinkle, sprinkle* Haha... foodnetwork, I can be my own spice fairy.
Here's the organic red potatoes. Halved. Toss these in the bottom of the crockpot first, then top with the carrots.
Sear the meat on both sides on VERY HIGH heat for about 5 minutes. Smell the goodness.
See how pretty the heat source is...
And keep browning that meat!
Smash three cloves of garlic. Toss on top of the potatoes and carrots that you've already tossed onto the bottom of the crockpot.
Flip the roast. Use tongs and a spatula, it's pretty heavy.
And the secret ingredient. Lipton onion soup mix. I know, I know... But then you don't have to chop onions.
Mix the onion soup with the spices and one cup of water. Put the roast on top of the veggies, then pour the soup mix over the roast.
Put the top on and cook on low for 7 - 8 hours. Drink a diet mountain dew. Listen to the wind howl.
And knock these fruit thingys from your tree. Bimmer Man was too busy studying to even notice (or take the Bimmer Dog out, but that's another story).
Ew. What are these things? They just kept falling because it was so incredibly windy.
Mmm... dark brown beefy roasty goodness.
It's so thick - this is going to be even better leftover!
Mm... with veggies and a salad - it's the perfect fall day meal. Woo hoo!!! Although right now I'm craving ice cream... dang...

Enjoy!

PSH