Bacon Stuffed Burgers

Food writers of the world, I feel that I must warn you. If you are trying to write a grocery list, planning to create a meal that will challenge and inspire you, do not, I repeat: do NOT talk to my friend Veronica. Because sweet Veronica, in her lilting and oh-so-charming southern accent, will tell you all about the amazing hamburger she just ate, and you will be able to think of nothing else.


I really fear that I'm becoming a kind of dull cook lately. Don't get me wrong, everything is delicious, but it borders on the mundane to read about. I need to awaken another part of my culinary multiple personality, the side that makes fresh ricotta, or who has been known to spend a weekend simmering beef stock.

Or maybe I should just shut my trap and enjoy this incredibly delicious hamburger. What made it so delicious? Well, in a fit of mad genius*, I decided to crumble up some very nice bacon and mix it into the ground beef. I know, how could I do such a thing? It was so good. It made the meat smoky and moist and what can't bacon improve? Seriously, I want to know.

Slathered with Lemon Avocado Mayo and topped with crisp lettuce and thinly sliced tomato, this was a work of art. Well, maybe not, but it was a work of beef, especially when cradled by a homemade bun. A side of perfectly smokey and charred grilled vegetables were a healthy and fitting complement to the bastion of cholesterol taking up half of the plate. Put bacon in your burger. It's really good.

Now I have to go out and make a spun sugar birdcage or something, lest I completely lose what little respect I've garnered.


*I hardly think that I was the first person to come up with this brilliant innovation, but I'm rather enjoying the view from my high horse, so I refuse to Google it and find out. Don't rain on my parade!

Comaburgers

As I mentioned in my last entry (before Blogger went crazy and wouldn't let me write anymore), the weather is positively balmy outside, and the world seems to have spring fever this weekend. All over the neighborhood I hear children playing, lawns being mown, and the telltale scent of charred meat wafts through the air.



And so, of course, it was time for hamburgers. And not just any hamburger, but the winner of the 2005 Build A Better Burger contest, the venerable "Grilled California Avocado BLT Burger wth Caramalized Chipotle Onions". It's even more of a mouthful to eat.

As usual, I took liberties with the recipe, made it smaller, etc. The link above will take you to the original creation, if you are a recipe purist. I have to say, this is probably one of the best hamburgers I have ever eaten. Ever. PERIOD. It is that good, folks. Paired with grilled corn and slow baked beans, it will put you in heaven.


Now, why "Comaburgers"? First of all, I didn't quite follow the original recipe and I find typing it out to be a tiresome task. Secondly, these burgers have a unique narcoleptic effect. After eating them, Chris and I both felt the need to lie down and ultimately went to bed early. Today, I had a dialed-down version for lunch, and promptly took a nap with Buster the beagle. Dangerous stuff. But, so amazing.

Comaburgers
serves 4

for the caramelized chipotle onions:

.5 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp Tabasco Smoked Chipotle sauce
1 tsp stock, any flavor (water will do in a pinch)
1 tsp basalmic vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp brown sugar


Heat the oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add the rest of the ingredients, tossing well to combine and cover onions. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until tender and sweet. Keep warm until ready to serve.

for the bleu cheese spread:

.25 c. herbed spreadable cheese (I used Boursin)
2 Tbsp. bleu cheese crumbles
(or, try melting some good pimento cheese instead)


Combine cheeses in a small saucepan. Heat gently over a low flame until soft and easily combined. Cover and keep warm.

for the patties:

1 lb. ground beef (I used Laura's Lean Beef)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 Tbsp. Tabasco Smoked Chipotle sauce
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
8 avocado slices
basalmic vinegar
4 leaves of lettuce
4 slices cooked bacon (very crispy turkey bacon works, too)
4 hamburger buns, split

Prepare a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill with a cover, or preheat a gas grill to medium-high. Remind me sometime to rant about the inferiority of gas grills.

Combine the beef, herbs, Chipotle sauce, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl. Handling the meat as little as possible, mix well. Divide into four equal portions, and keep in mind that wider, thinner burgers are less likely to cook up into hockey pucks.


Place the patties on the grill and cook, turning once, 5-6 minutes per side for medium doneness. While the burgers are grilling, brush the avocado slices with basalmic vinegar and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cut your cooked bacon slices in half. Lightly toast your buns during the last minute of burger cooking.

To assemble: spread the cheese mixture evenly on all cut bun sides. On each roll bottom, place a lettuce leaf, a patty, an equal portion of the caramalized onions, 2 bacon halves, and 2 avocado slices. Smoosh the roll tops on, and dig in!


So there you go, these burgers are to die for. Or, at least, worth the coma. Labor intensive, yes, but it's for a very good cause--enjoy!

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Last night's dinner was borne out of an intense craving. I think I have only had carbonara once, so it was kind of a strange thing to be obsessed with, but whatever, I had all of the ingredients (oh, bless the stocked pantry!), so it was a go.

I was using David Leite's (of Leite's Culinaria fame), and it looked simple and delicious, which is really how a classic carbonara should be. No frills, just eggs, some sort of cured meat (ideally pancetta, but I made do with thick cut market bacon), cheese, and pepper, over some good pasta of course. I really prefer De Cecchio pasta, but I wasn't about to drive across town to get it, so I was happy to use Barilla Spaghetti Rigate instead--it has little ridges that really cling to sauce, I love it.

The recipe itself was missing...something. It was tasty, in a comforting, kind of bland way, but it could have benefitted from something else--maybe a drizzle of cream--to keep it from getting too dry. Leite's recommendation to add reserved pasta water is a good one; if you don't you will be left with the dryest concoction this side of a desert.

To counter the richness of the dish, I served this with a pile of very tender escarole, drizzled with good olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and some cracked pepper. Mr. Canada found it a little too sour (he is really a fan of more creamy dressings), but I found it to be the perfect foil against the eggy, bacony, cheesy pasta. A glass of wine (Hardy's Merlot, I believe), and we had a pretty delicious, incredibly easy, meal on our hands.


Spaghetti alla Carbonara
by David Leite
Serves 4

Alla carbonara means "in the manner of the coal miner" (or the coal miner's wife). According to legend, the dish was popular with miners because the few ingredients could easily be carried or, in the case of eggs, pocketed from henhouses on the way to work. When appetites knocked, a simple campfire in the woods was all that was needed to make an elegant meal. The liberal use of pepper is considered a modern-day metaphor for the specks of coal that would inevitably drop from the miners' clothing onto the plates of pasta.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 ounces thickly sliced pancetta, diced into 1/4-inch pieces
2 tablespoons salt
1 pound spaghetti
3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, well beaten
3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano combined with 1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano
3/4 cup of boiling pasta water
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method
1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring often, until it's crisp. Set the pan aside.

2. Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil. Add the salt and the spaghetti and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving the 3/4 cup of pasta water, and return the pasta while it's very hot to the pan, set over very low heat. Immediately add the eggs, half the cheese, the reserved pancetta and any rendered fat, and toss well. Add just enough of the pasta water* to make the mixture creamy. Sprinkle liberally with pepper and serve at once. Pass the remaining cheese at the table.

*I recommend keeping some of the pasta water on hand to drizzle over leftovers as well, then you won't have disappointingly dry pasta the next day.

Enjoy!

Mrs. C.