Friday, July 13, 2012
Cheeseburger In Paradise
So as many of you know I have had a very strange craving...especially for me. For the past few weeks I have been craving cheeseburgers. This is the type of food I eat once a year at best and for some odd reason I just kept thinking about cheeseburgers. The craving was so bad that last night after work I even debated stopped by In N Out...thanks to Kim who kept talking about it all day at work after I mentioned cheeseburgers at 0900...thankfully as I was going home the line at the drive-thru was atrocious and it killed my motivation.
I have to say as a side note that I love that my friends know me so well that when I tell them I am craving cheeseburgers they look at me as if I just told them I started smoking crack. One of them even asked me if I was pregnant. And granted I am no pregnancy expert but I am pretty sure the stereotypical pregnancy craving is pickles not cheeseburgers but please correct me if I am wrong. But they were accurate in the evaluation...damn what would be so out of the ordinary for Danah...hmmm cheeseburger craving or baby craving...yup both pretty right on.
Anyway today since it was my day off I decided to indulge in my cheeseburger fantasy. So I started looking for a recipe that would satisfy this odd ball craving and thankfully Rachael Ray came to the rescue. This recipe called for a burger with spicy mustard, worcestershire and onions mixed it. It had melted swiss cheese on it...which was super good with the mustard in the burger, but to be honest with you my cheeseburger vision did have American cheese on it. However, this burger seriously had the best onions ever!!!
Let me start by saying I love my cast iron skillet. As many of you know I love the grill and I do truly think that grilled food is the best, but when making burgers the cast iron skillet has truly been a godsend for me. It really keeps the burgers much more moist as it holds the juices in the pan where as the grill just can dry out the meat if you aren't careful. Plus I cooked the onions for the burgers in this grill and they were cooked to perfection. So you take a sweet onion...the recipe calls for Vidalia and you rub the 1" thick onion slices with olive oil and then sprinkle them with pepper and salt. Cook them in a hot cast iron skillet for 4 minutes each side and OMG they are sweet, caramelized, soft and they add so much flavor to the burger. Seriously although I was craving the cheeseburger honestly it was the onion that made my night.
Now before I get into the recipe let me also tell you about an amazing Petite Sirah I discovered at Trader Joes the other day. Its only $16 and it is seriously one of the best wines I have had in a long time. Try it and I promise you will not be disappointed.
 |
| Yes, it is a burger place and it's named after my home town. Had to wear it while I cooked cheeseburgers. Duh |
I have to say as a side note that I love that my friends know me so well that when I tell them I am craving cheeseburgers they look at me as if I just told them I started smoking crack. One of them even asked me if I was pregnant. And granted I am no pregnancy expert but I am pretty sure the stereotypical pregnancy craving is pickles not cheeseburgers but please correct me if I am wrong. But they were accurate in the evaluation...damn what would be so out of the ordinary for Danah...hmmm cheeseburger craving or baby craving...yup both pretty right on.
Anyway today since it was my day off I decided to indulge in my cheeseburger fantasy. So I started looking for a recipe that would satisfy this odd ball craving and thankfully Rachael Ray came to the rescue. This recipe called for a burger with spicy mustard, worcestershire and onions mixed it. It had melted swiss cheese on it...which was super good with the mustard in the burger, but to be honest with you my cheeseburger vision did have American cheese on it. However, this burger seriously had the best onions ever!!!
Let me start by saying I love my cast iron skillet. As many of you know I love the grill and I do truly think that grilled food is the best, but when making burgers the cast iron skillet has truly been a godsend for me. It really keeps the burgers much more moist as it holds the juices in the pan where as the grill just can dry out the meat if you aren't careful. Plus I cooked the onions for the burgers in this grill and they were cooked to perfection. So you take a sweet onion...the recipe calls for Vidalia and you rub the 1" thick onion slices with olive oil and then sprinkle them with pepper and salt. Cook them in a hot cast iron skillet for 4 minutes each side and OMG they are sweet, caramelized, soft and they add so much flavor to the burger. Seriously although I was craving the cheeseburger honestly it was the onion that made my night.
Now before I get into the recipe let me also tell you about an amazing Petite Sirah I discovered at Trader Joes the other day. Its only $16 and it is seriously one of the best wines I have had in a long time. Try it and I promise you will not be disappointed.
INGREDIENTS
- 4 1-inch-thick slices of Vidalia onion or other sweet, large onions, plus leftover onion for grating (3-4 tablespoons)
- Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), for liberal drizzling
- Salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef (choose chuck for buttery burgers or sirloin for leaner patties)
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons spicy mustard
- 4 slices good-quality Swiss cheese
- 4 slices good-quality white bread, toasted and lightly buttered
Note: You will need 4 small bamboo skewers orlong toothpicks to prepare this recipe.
Serves 4
PREPARATION
Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Secure the onion slices with toothpicks so that they stay intact when flipped. Dress the onions with EVOO, salt and pepper and add to the hot pan; caramelize the onions for 3-4 minutes on each side.
While the onion slices cook, place the meat in a bowl and mix with the Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt, pepper and grated onion – grate the onion directly over the meat so that it catches all the juice.
Remove the onion slices from the skillet, then drizzle a little more EVOO into the pan and wipe it around with a paper towel. When the pan smokes, add the meat in four mounds; press the mounds down with a spatula and cook for 4 minutes, until brown and crisp. Flip and press again, caramelizing the second side. Fold the cheese to fit the patties, place the cheese on top of the burgers, then cover the pan with loose foil for a minute to melt the cheese. Remove the pan from the heat.
Place the patties on the buttered toast and top with the Vidalia onion bullseyes.
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I had In N Out last night. I'm pretty sure that somehow I knew you were craving it. Kind of like Sympathy Pregnancy symptoms in a relationship. Even though neither one of us is pregnant.
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