Bare Burgers are Best!

I have ate plenty of burgers in my existence thus far and when done correctly, one of my fav foods. There are a ton of ways to do a good burger, between stuffings, mix-ins, seasoning, toppings, etc. Great thing, is burgers are pretty easy to make at home and can be found at about any place you dine out at.

I have done much experimenting at home with my burgers. I used to favor mixing in seasoning, sauces, mushrooms, onions and other goodies right in to the burger and I have even made several of my own Juicy Lucy style burgers. Those burgers can all be very good, but over time, with tips from Bobby Flay, I have come full circle on the perfect burger at home.

To me, it starts and end with high quality beef. Skip the low cost stuff that comes in a tube, head to the butcher's counter and get something with a little more flavor when you are making burgers. Save the cheap stuff for spaghetti,hamburger helper & chili...

Fortunately, we got a nice in and we buy directly from the farm. Our beef is pretty close to 85/15. I make my patties around 1/3 to 1/2 pound, round and flat enough to fit a normal size bun but thick enough to sear a good crust and leave the inside a juicy medium. Once patties are formed, give them a heavy douse of kosher salt, crushed black pepper and a little Montreal Burger seasoning.

Get your grill or flat skillet smoking hot and let them hit the steel. Give them a good crust on each side and leave the middle a succulent medium. I actually rarely add cheese at home any more, usually a little mustard, a fresh slice of tomato, maybe some fresh onions or lettuce and if around, a little avocado. A bun should hold up, but not over power, lightly toasting your bun in oven or grill add a nice texture and readys them to absorb the burger juices.

Too much other stuff just masks the great flavor of the beef, if you love a good burger, try stripping it down and enjoying it naked!

McDud

Just to prove its not all Duckys & Bunnies here, I will be critical of things I don't care for. Took the kids to the park after work today and got some exercise. Wife was out and about tonight, didn't feel like cooking, swung by the McDonald's drive through. Kids love them some McNuggets, hey I do too. Plus miniature My Little Ponies are too much to resist for my two young girls.

Trying to be "Less UnHealthy" I went Grilled Chicken Ranch BLT. In the past, I have enjoyed their select Crispy Chicken sandwiches. Not so much this time, the highlight of the sandwich was the very fresh lettuce and tomato. Definitely went down hill from there. Chicken was nothing special, near zero flavor, and kind of dry. I guess the bun was decent.... Although, the biggest disappointment was the Bacon, I love bacon, how do you mess that up?

Even their french fries were subpar on this visit, but their Diet Coke was excellent as always, I swear McD's diet coke tastes better then every where else. I don't even like Diet Coke that much.

So this gets a rating of one, won't get this again, stick to the Crispy Chicken, it has to be worth the extra calories and fat!

Saint Patty's Day Treat

Most of the McDonald's shakes are nothing spectacular, but I do have a weak spot for Shamrock Shakes when they are in season. I found myself with a little time to kill near a McDonald's on Saturday. So I hit up a small Shamrock Shake.

It has a nice minty fresh flavor, the whip cream and cherry on top of their shakes is a nice bonus. Although, beware, if you get one of their giant sized shakes, you are likely to get a belly ache and you may have Shamrock shakes on your off list for quite some time.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Homemade Pizza Fun, Easy & Delicious

We made homemade pizzas based loosely on some recipes from Better Home & Gardens this past weekend. Pretty easy to do, pizza they way you want it with out all the up-charges for extra toppings and great tasting. Not sure we will be ordering pizza delivery very much anytime soon. Here are a couple snapshots of some of our better looking pies.

My pizza of choice: Italian Sausage, Pepperoni, Onions, Mushrooms, & Black Olives

What is your favorite pizza or place to get a slice or pie?

Taste of Thailand - Minneapolis

We brought in some Taste of Thailand for a meeting on Thursday. Plating is not so great out of a take-out container on a paper plate, but it still hit the spot. The selections were pretty safe and standard, got a couple orders of Chicken Pad Thai and Chicken Curry. Also, never sleep on this place's egg rolls, some of the best around.

Nice about this place, you can dial in to the heat level you like. Usually ask scale of 1-10, even if you like your food spicy, a 7-8 should get you plenty of heat.

The Pad Thai was very solid but the Chicken seemed a little lower grade then I remember. Chicken Curry had good flavor, but a little runnier then I prefer. Wasn't perfect, but still a nice spicy change of pace, had not had Thai in several months. I give the meal a 3 score, but you catch this place on a better day and it likely delivers a solid 4. Still miles above your average Asian take out joint or buffet. This is good eats.

Bomb Braised Beef @ The Lowry

This will be the first real time blog entry, as I go forward, the plan is to keep current with recent dining experiences and fill the lulls with some of my past experiences and all time favorites.

Today's work lunch brought me to The Lowry, which touts itself as an urban diner. The Lowry is obviously a little more upscale then your average diner. How many diners do you know serve fresh oysters and have a large bar with about 30 beers on tap?

Most of the table opted for the Lowry Burger and all gave it a thumbs up, might have to try that on a return trip. For some reason, I was not all about a burger today, so after much contemplating, I decided the Braised Beef Sandwich would be my selection.

For starters, my sandwich was stuffed with beef, good problem for this guy. The beef itself was moist without being sloppy with a very smooth flavor. The spicy peppers and horseradish added a nice smooth heat to the sandwich and still delivered a layered flavor, finished off with just a little lettuce and a few fries under the beef for good measure! The ciabatta roll held up to the sandwich without being bready. The sandwich comes with cole slaw, but I opted for fries. The fries were thin, tasty and cooked perfectly. This sandwich gets a solid 4 rating!


Overall I like The Lowry more than I initially thought I would, this will definitely be in the rotation for future work luncheons.