German Burgers w/ Beer Onions

Hey all!  It's been a while since I've blogged but I was really missing it so I'm back with this delicious burger!  

Let me start by saying that my husband LOVES burgers -- I really like them but I could take it or leave it -- in my quest to eat healthy, they sometimes just don't fit into my diet.  But lately we have been taking our burgers to the next level by grinding our own meat.  If you haven't done this yet, you simply MUST!  Grinding your own meat allows you to pick and choose which types of beef you'd like, how lean you like it and you can go ahead and grind in anything with the meat such as onion or...BACON {a personal fav of husband}.  Plus when you grind your own meat, you get this fresh and pure flavor that just cannot be achieved using pre-ground packaged meat from the store.  

We have been testing different combinations of meat for our burgers and last night we used a 50/50 mix of short rib and sirloin.  When choosing a combination, make sure to pick one meat that has a bit of marbling to it {fat} so that you don't end up with dry burgers.  If your meat doesn't have a lot of fat {like if you are grinding  pork loin or chicken} go ahead and grind in a couple strips of bacon.  

So this particular burger was delicious for a few reasons: 1. fresh ground beef, 2. bacon-cheddar cheese, 3. pretzel buns, 4. beer caramelized onions.  My mouth just filled up with saliva reliving this....  Here comes the recipe!

German Burgers w/ Beer Onions (makes 2 gluttonous burgers w/ double patties or 4 burgers for normal human beings)

For Burger Patties:

1/2 lb beef short rib meat, cubed
1/2 lb beef sirloin, cubed
salt and pepper

For Onions:

1 medium sized onion, sliced
olive oil
salt and pepper
dash of worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. of beer 

Assembly and toppings:

2 or 4 pretzel buns {found mine at Trader Joe's}
butter
Shaved Bacon-Cheddar cheese {also Trader Joe's}
lettuce
pickle
deli mustard

1.  Start with the onions by heating up some olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add your onions and season with salt and pepper, cook, stirring often, until they begin to caramelize {about 7 to 10 minutes}.  Add worcestershire sauce and beer and stir to combine.  Cook until the liquid is reduced, about 5 more minutes.  Set aside.

2.  Grind your meat!  I used the meat grinder attachment on my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer -- so happy that I can get EVEN MORE use out of this kitchen appliance.  Season meat with salt and pepper and form into 4 thin patties.  Preheat a cast iron skillet or griddle over medium high heat.  Add a little olive oil to the pan then throw on your burgers.  Cook for about 5 minutes {let them get a nice crust}.  Flip burgers, top with cheese and cover with a lid so the cheese melts.  Remove burger patties to a plate.

3.  Butter those pretzel buns and give them a quick toast on your skillet or griddle now get ready to assemble the burgers: bottom bun, mustard, lettuce, patties {double them if you are really splurging like we did}, beer onions, pickles, top of bun!  Now there's nothing left to do but eat...

Grilled Red Chile-Buttermilk Brined Chicken w/ Mango Honey Glaze

Bobby Flay has some amazing recipes up his little sleeve but good Lord are they a lot of work.  This ain't 30 minute meals, people!  In fact, I was mentally prepared to make this for dinner one night -- I went to the store and gathered all the pertinent ingredients and spices, random dried peppers, etc -- when I read the first sentence of the instructions, "Place chicken in fridge for 4 to 24 hours".  DAMN!  I mean I totally had the 4 hours but 24 hours??!!  Of COURSE I have to marinate for 24 hours -- I can't half-ass this!!!  {Yet another example of reading the recipe all the way through before you get your heart set on a meal....however I guess I was just being stupid-pants because the word brine is in the recipe's title.  duh.}  

Well, giving the chicken 24 hours was well worth the wait -- the meat was so juicy and so flavorful -- there really are no words.  

I went ahead and served this delicious chicken over rice simply dressed with arugula and lime juice.  The mango honey glaze gets all gooey over the rice and it all just goes wonderfully together!  Put the time and ingredients into this lovely spin on the boring grilled chicken we are used to this time of year!  Spice things up a bit!

Grilled Red Chile-Buttermilk Brined Chicken w/ Mango Honey Glaze - 4 servings

Chicken:

1 quart buttermilk
2 tbsp ancho chile powder
1 tbsp new mexican chile powder
1 tbsp cascabel chile powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 (8oz) skin on chicken breasts
4 chicken drumsticks
salt and pepper

Glaze:

2 tbsp canola oil
1 small spanish onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 large ripe mangos, peeled and chopped
1/2 c. dry white wine
1/4 c. pineapple juice
1/4 c. fresh orange juice
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3 tbsp honey
salt and pepper

1.  For chicken:  combine buttermilk and all spices.  Add chicken and turn to coat.  Place chicken in fridge for 4 to 24 hours, turning a few times.
2.  Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towels.  Put chicken on a baking rack set over a baking sheet.  Return to fridge, uncovered for 1 to 4 hours.  
3.  For glaze:  heat oil in saute pan over medium high.  Add onion and cook until soft, 4 minutes.  Add garlic and cook 1 minute.  Add mangoes and cook until broken down and caramelized, 10 minutes.  Add white wine and cook until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.  
4.  Transfer glaze to blender; add pineapple juice, orange juice, and cayenne pepper.  Blend until smooth and strain into a small bowl and season with honey, salt and pepper.  Mixture should be a thick puree, thin with water if  necessary.  Cool to room temperature.
5.  Prepare grill to medium high heat.  Brush chicken with oil and season with salt and pepper.  Grill skin side down for 4 to 5 minutes.  Decrease heat to medium, close grill and cook 15 to 20 minutes.  During the last few minutes, brush chicken with some of glaze.  
6.  Remove chicken from grill to a platter with more glaze.  Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Hot Diggity Dog!

For a long time now, I've been wanting to do what I did last night:  make a whole mess of hot dogs -- all different kinds -- and stuff my face with every type.  Believe me, I really had to work up an appetite to take down these boys and I gotta tell ya, I wouldn't recommend making all three then proceeding to eat them all...talk about a brick in your stomach.  But all worth it for the sake of ChowGals....

So basically, crazy-topped hot dogs are all the rage this summer.  I've seen them creeping around the web and the magazines in the past but in the past few months they have been in every magazine.  I decided to really go for it -- what I love about these dogs is you can pick a theme and just roll with it -- mix up the ingredients like you would top a pizza!  

Today I have three really special dogs for you -- The BLT-Dog, The Lowcountry Dog and The All-American Dog!  
Feel free to get crazy and home-make all your ingredients {pimento cheese, pork bbq, coleslaw} or go ahead and get the store-bought stuff to make the preparations a little more manageable.  

The BLT-Dog: top your hot dog with chopped lettuce, tomato, cooked and crumbled bacon and drizzle with buttermilk ranch dressing

The Lowcountry Dog: top your dog with pimento cheese and pickled okra

The All-American Dog:  top your dog with shredded pork BBQ and top with creamy coleslaw

Grilled Panzanella Salad

Summer has finally arrived in South Carolina!!  The weather here has been so murky lately -- clouds and rain -- totally atypical of springtime in the South.  This past week has been a total change -- sunshine and in the 80s!  This kind of weather gets me in the mood to fire up the grill!  My husband is in charge of the grill in this house and he does an amazing job -- but I'm always looking for unique recipes that include grilled food -- and this recipe fits the bill perfectly!  

I love panzanella salads because they incorporate my favorite things -- fresh veggies, meats, cheeses and bread, all in one fabulous bowl!  And this salad is particularly fabulous with it's tangy dressing, sliced salami and grilled veggies.  Yum.  This is the perfect side dish to your weeknight or weekend grilling!  

Grilled Panzanella Salad (serves 6-8)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing

2 tsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 small clove garlic, minced

salt and pepper

3 medium tomatoes, halved

6 scallions 

2 large bell peppers, any color, quartered

1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise

one 10 oz loaf ciabatta, halved lengthwise

1/2 c. fresh torn herbs (basil, parsley)

1/4 lb thinly sliced salami, cut into 2 inch ribbons

1.  Preheat grill to medium high.  Make the dressing: whisk extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper.  

2.  Brush grill with extra virgin olive oil.  Put tomatoes in bowl; drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.  Grill about 2 minutes and transfer to baking sheet.  Oil and grill all veggies and bread.  Cool.

3.  Cut up veggies and bread into bite sized pieces.  Add herbs, salami, dressing and any veggie juices.  Toss and serve.

French Bistro Burgers

Who doesn't love a perfect burger?  I believe that the most important part of a burger is the bun and I'm constantly on the search for the perfect hamburger bun.  Honestly, I've thought of baking them myself but let's not kid ourselves....I might be getting a little better in the baking department but when it comes to baking bread...that is a completely different beast.  No.  So on I went looking for an airy bun that is burger-worthy. The grocery stores  just don't have the good stuff....I was about to start checking small bakeries when I hit the jackpot.  My husband and I were eating lunch at Fuddruckers' and I looked up and realized, "OMG, they sell their buns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  So there you have it.  Perfect burger buns for your home grilling!  And at 3 bucks for a half-dozen, you're getting a better deal than most grocery stores!  I am one happy girl!  

The next step in a great burger is to use a grill press like this one.  And I know the comments will flow out like, "oh, these press all those delicious juices out of the burger and you end up with a dried out hockey puck". Not so.  We used our grill press last night and trust me on this -- we still had juicy burgers and we also had burgers that fit on our buns and didn't shrink up on the grill -- I hate that!

Ok so here's the deal with this burger -- it's pretty much the best burger we've ever made in this house -- and we've made a lot of burgers.  I actually attribute most of its deliciousness to the bun but hey I'll throw myself a bone on the toppings as they were amazing.  If you're not a fan of brie then go ahead and use any cheese you prefer -- but the burger will no longer be "French". Sorry.   Bon Appetit!

French Bistro Burgers (makes 4)

4 hamburger buns, split
4 tbsp butter
1 1/2 lbs ground sirloin
1 large onion thinly sliced
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
8 slices bacon, cooked
1 small wheel of brie, sliced 
4 lettuce leaves

1.  Form patties by seasoning sirloin with salt and pepper and dividing the beef into 4 patties.  Set aside until ready to grill.
2.  Caramelize onions:  In a large pan over low heat, add a drizzle of olive oil and add onions, salt and pepper to taste.  Cook onions over low heat for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are cooked through and caramelized.  Set aside.
3.  Grill burgers until desired done-ness (medium-well is preferred).  Butter each hamburger bun and place on grill until toasted.
4.  Assemble burgers:  place lettuce leaf on bottom half of bun.  Top with burger, sliced brie, bacon and onions.  Top with bun and take it to the mouth!