Sous chef comments!

Even though I was just the sous chef for the stuffed shells and the burger experiment, I have a few quick notes of my own.

Even though our stuffed shells didn't come out too well, I do think that there is something to be said for blending recipes. I know that my co-author and head chef XY doesn't like that, but some of my best dishes have come from blending recipes. It won't work for baking (baking is all about chemistry and reactions and stuff), cooking is meant to be fun and experimental. Remember the line from Ratatouille - "Anyone can cook!"

Now on to the burgers. I made mine on the stove top and it was really good. I wouldn't recommend mixing the meats and seasonings well myself because if you handle ground meat too much it becomes tough. I would suggest just mixing them together so that it's blended just enough. We also let our patties rest at room temp for about 10-15 minutes before cooking them. Not sure if it's necessary, but my dad always does that and he makes GREAT burgers.

I cooked my burger medium/medium rare even though XY likes his medium/medium well. I think I get a better flavor that way but it really is personal preference. My toppings were fresh grated Asiago cheese and some chopped red onion and it was delicious. Asiago isn't quite as pungent as some other cheeses but the flavor compliments the beef nicely. The red onions added a nice crunch and the flavor cut through the grease well, but I wouldn't slice an onion just for this burger.

Moving on to the cheese crisps...

At a restaurant near my parents' house they top their caesar salad with these parmesan crisps that are really good and add a beautiful crunch to the texture of the dish. I saw Giada de Laurentiis made them on the Food Network once but I sort of forgot about it until last night.

This is a good example of blending recipes successfully. I went to the Food Network website to find her recipe (here it is), but I also liked Alton Brown's version (can't find the link - sorry!) and some others that I saw on ChowHound (a favorite foodie forum of mine). I ended up using Giada's basic formula but I went with Asiago cheese (we had it on hand already) and instead of lining a sheet with parchment paper I just greased it liberally with olive oil (or, as they say on TV, EVOO). I spread the cheese thinly and evenly into 6 circles and popped it in a preheated 350 degree oven for 5-7 minutes (if you try this watch closely - you want the cheese to become golden brown but not burn!). After they were the proper color I removed the crisps from the oven and used a spatula to transfer them from the cookie sheet to paper towels immediately. Be careful when you pull them from the oven - after they cool they get really, really crispy and brittle so you want to do this ASAP.

I know that's a big block with a lot of info, so I'm going to post a clearer, step by step recipe with pictures and variations the next time I make them (possibly tonight!).

-XX

Eat This: Burgers

Overall Rating: 8/10, Fast cook time, messy/greasy, easy to make



I can't say enough about Burgers. I fuckin' love them. Homemade, store bought, or from a restaurant, they are always good. Last night we made some delicious burgers, each one built from scratch and unique. Making burgers is simple and fun. You get to combine whatever you want with the meat, then just cook it.

For this recipe we bought about 1.3 pounds of 80/20 ground beef. The percent of fat doesn't matter so much if you are going to use a George Foreman type grill, but I typically get either 10% or 20% fat. For this batch of burgers we decided to flavor the beef with Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper. Once the beef is mixed well with the flavorings, I like to use my hands to cut an 'X' into the beef, so I get about 4 equally sized portions.

The first burger was made in a sauce pan. Don't use any oil or grease, let the burger cook in its own fat. It takes a little bit longer to cook this way because there is not an equal amount of heat on all sides of the burger, but it is worth the wait. Burgers cooked in this way have so much more natural flavor and don't need any extra sauces.

I cooked Burger 2 on the stove, in the grease leftover from the first one. I stuffed this burger with a mix of shredded Asiago cheese and Yellow Hungarian Wax Peppers. I tasted the pepper as a slice before cooking and it was crazy hot. Diced into the burger, the spicy pepper taste was lost. I recommend keeping the pieces bigger or just using them as a topping. I topped this burger with red onions and American cheese. I used a Vienna roll with a spread of a spicy Chipolte sauce. This burger cooked in less than 10 minutes and was SO juicy! I didn't need to use any extra sauces or anything. This was the best burger of the night.

Burgers two and three cooked on the George Foreman. Be careful when using a George Foreman! They cook fast and you can't see food while it cooks. It is useful though because you can fit 2 burgers on at once. One of these was stuffed with cheese and peppers, the other had a bit of cheese and a secret ingredient: a few drops of Liquid Smoke. It added a great smokey flavor to the burger that reminded me of pulled pork. Both of these burgers got American cheese and were served on normal hamburger buns. While neither burger needed extra sauce, I did add an 'X' of Sriracha for an intense flavor. This hot sauce is also good to marinate the beef with.

My sous chef made an extra ingredient that went great on Burger 2, the mega burger. She greased a cookie sheet with oil, then put patties of Asiago cheese. Cooked at 350 for about 5 minutes, these were great crispy toppers to the burgers. I would even eat these on their own.


Tips and Tricks:
-Wear a shirt or apron when cooking burgers on the stove. The splattering oil is hot.
-Stuff your burgers carefully. I have two techniques for stuffing meat. Sometimes I make 2 smalls patties and combine them with my extras in the middle. For this recipe I chose to mix in the stuffing with the meat. Ensure that cheese is not on the outside of the meat, keep it in on the inside.
-When in doubt, go light on the seasonings prior to cooking. It's easy to add more flavor later, but tough to get rid of what is not wanted.
-Taste stuffing or toppings prior to inclusion to ensure you like their flavors.
-When doing the clean up, let grease cool then pour it in the trash. Dumping down the drain will give you a bad smell and plumbing problems. I like waiting until the grease is dry and easy to spot.
-For a different taste, use ground turkey instead of beef.




-XY