Yummy Lamb Burgers

I got a hankering for a burger.  OK who am I kidding, I'd eat a burger any day of the week and twice on Sunday!  I love them.   I usually make turkey burgers, but while at the grocery store, the ground lamb caught my eye.  I went for it!  It's definitely more pricey than ground turkey but the occasional splurge doesn't hurt too bad.  As I was driving home, I started to plot out my burger.  I definitely had to use some of the fresh herbs from my garden.  I decided to go with thyme.  It's kind of an obvious choice, but not as obvious as mint.

To that I added salt and pepper, of course.   And then, a generous amount of crumbled feta cheese.  Oh yes... I went there.

And then, just to make sure the burgers held together, I added an egg white.  I then formed them into pretty big patties. 

And headed for the grill!  They cooked for about 8-10 minutes on each side. 

Now.... the dilemma of what to serve on them.  For me, the usual ketchup, mustard and pickles wasn't going to cut it.  Neither was the same old bun.   I didn't have any plain yogurt in the house to make a yogurt sauce either, so I opted to make a sauce from Dijon mustard and mayonnaise.  And as luck would have it, I just happen to have sandwich size Ciabatta rolls in my freezer.  And that was a tasty burger!

I'll be having more tasty burgers this weekend at the National Hamburger Festival!!  I hope I find some gems like I did last year!  I still dream of that Muffaletta burger.

Lightlife Frozen Entrees Deliver the Goods!

Very recently, Lightlife Vegetarian Frozen Entrees have been showing up in Giant Eagle stores around where I live, in Akron, Ohio. 

Now generally, I stay away from processed foods but these caught my attention.  Why?  Because this is the list of ingredients in the Asian Teriyaki entree:  cooked whole grain brown rice, broccoli, edamame, fire roasted pineapple, carrots, red peppers, shiitake mushrooms.  Wait, where's the high fructose corn syrup?  Where's the 25 letter words that I can't pronounce?  They aren't in here.  And guess what, this stuff tastes good.  It tastes really good.   Now granted, the sauce packet has more ingredients but really, nothing offensive to me.

So here's what get when you purchase Asian Teriyaki.  A hearty tray of veggies and brown rice.  And I do mean hearty.  This is a nice portion.  And you get the sauce packet separately.  So you can put on as little or as much as you want, or none at all even.

All you have to do is remove the sauce packet and drop it in hot water to thaw it out.  And then vent the top wrapper on the rice and veggies.  Pop that in the microwave and then when half the time is up, you pour over however much of the sauce you want and then finish the cooking.  It's simple.

I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious this was, as well as filling.  For anyone on Weight Watchers, Asian Teriyaki is 6 points.  Plus I think it is at least two vegetable servings as well as a whole grain.  Check them out.  I think, like me, you'll be pleasantly surprised!

Tortellini Salad Not Your Everday Pasta Salad

I think it's a very good possibility that I like tortellini better cold than I do hot.  Maybe that's because whenever I buy it, my mind doesn't go directly towards thinking of what kind of sauce I can use on it for a dinner creation.  My mind goes more in the direction of... what can I put with this to make a delicious salad?  Do I want a vinaigrette?   Do I want a creamy Caesar type dressing?  What kind of vegetables would be good with it?

I decided that tomatoes, broccoli and loads and loads of mint from my ever abundant mint patch in my yard with a lemon vinaigrette sounded good.  So, cook your tortellini according to package instructions.  You do not want to overcook it or let it get mushy.   It should be al dente.  And be sure to salt your water liberally.

While the tortellini are cooking, cut up your veggies.  For one pound of tortellini, I used one container of grape tomatoes, cut in quarters.

For the broccoli, I used half of one whole head.  I cut it up pretty small, using only the florets.  The stems and other half of the broccoli you can keep and use for something else.  Or hell, load it up!  It's not going to hurt anything.

And then the mint.  Now I have a huge mint patch in my yard.  But if you don't, and would rather use something like basil, by all means, go for it.  I used a lot.  And I do mean a lot!!!

After washing it and pulling the leaves off the stems, I cut it into ribbons, more commonly referred to as chiffonade.  It probably ended up being close to a cup of fresh mint after all was said and done.  Do you think that sounds overpowering?  It wasn't!

Now for the dressing.  I decided that a lemon vinaigrette would be perfect.  It's not heavy and lemon brings out the best in everything I think.  It's very simple to make too.  You need 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice.  DO NOT listen to Sandra Lee and use that bottled stuff.  It's not the same, it's not good and just blech.  You also need 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil, 1 Tablespoon of Dijon mustard, and salt and pepper to taste.  Whisk this together and mix it with your drained and cooled tortellini and veggies.  If you want to finely chopped shallots or garlic to the dressing, that's an excellent addition.  Stir the salad gently, so as not to break up the pasta.  And if you want even more lemon, add the zest too!   Play with it, have fun with and enjoy it! 

Vinegar Slaw the Perfect Companion to Pulled Pork

If you've ever been to the Carolina's, or if you watch a lot of BBQ shows on TV, then you know that with pulled pork comes a vinegar sauce or a vinegar slaw. It's truly the perfect companion to the deliciousness of pulled pork. I kind of improvised mine and was quite pleased with the result. In fact, my husband Nick went wild for it. He's not a creamy slaw kind of guy. He doesn't grove on mayo or sour cream. So this slaw was right up his alley.

I went for the convenience factor and bought a bag of pre-shredded green cabbage with carrots and pre-shredded red cabbage. I used the whole bag of green but only about half the bag of red and mixed them together.


To make the dressing I used:

3/4 cup of granulated sugar
1 t. kosher salt
2 T. celery seed
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup oil (canola or vegetable, but not olive)



Whisk together until all the sugar is melted and then pour over the cabbage. Mix well and then let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.



I had mine in the fridge overnight and as you can see, the purple cabbage turned the whole slaw a lovely shade of pink!



It's delish! The apple cider vinegar and celery seed give it that something a little extra. We loved it so much, I've made it again already, just to have, without more pork!

Porky Goodness

Ahhh it's that time again... time for smokin! I had planned on making a brisket for Memorial Day weekend, but those plans changed when I was shopping and BJ's (that's a wholesale club like Sam's or Costco, in case you didn't know that or don't have them in your area). They did not have any brisket at all the day I was there. So looking around I thought I'd go with ribs, but then like a light shining down from the heavens, the pork shoulder revealed itself to me. And at $1.59 a lb. it was meant to be!


Isn't that a thing of beauty! Oh yes. It was technically called a Pork Shoulder Butt Roast. Shoulder Butt... not sure how that works, but whatever.

So, the night before this baby is to go on the smoker, it needs to be rubbed. When I make a dry rub, I basically just look around at what I have in the house and toss it together. This was no exception.


3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup kosher salt, 1 T. dried oregano, 1 T. lemon pepper, 2 T. paprika and about 2 T. of Penzy's Northwoods seasoning (which contains salt, paprika, black pepper, thyme, rosemary, garlic and chipotle).

Once it's all mixed together, the shoulder butt gets a massage and then gets put in the fridge overnight.


In the morning, and you better believe it needs to be early because this shoulder butt is going to take a LONG time to cook, get your fire going. I use regular charcoal and when it turns an ashy gray, it's ready. This should take about 20-30 minutes. And while the coals are getting ready, have your wood chips soaking. Generally I use hickory, but this time I tried apple wood. Make sure you have your water tray in place and with water in it (this fits in in the middle of the smoker).



As soon as you put your soaked wood chips on the hot coals, the smoke starts and you want to get the smoker closed and as sealed as you can, as fast as you can. Losing smoke is bad!


My smoker does not have as good a seal on it as I would like it to have so I usually end up needing foil to wrap around the lid and try and keep in as much smoke as possible. This time I got to thinking that if I make a foil lip and put it all around the lip of the smoker, then put the lid on, maybe it would fit more snugly. And it worked! It took a little longer than I would have liked, but it worked



Now, the shoulder butt is on and all we have to do is wait. This is where you have to learn to trust. Trust that the smoker is doing what it should be doing. And after 5-6 hours, add more coals to the bottom. But DO NOT open the lid, ever.

And unfortunately my friends, things did not work out well this time. After about 3 hours of smoking time, we got a huge downpour. I kept my trust in the smoker, that it was doing what it was supposed to, thinking it was pretty sealed up and therefore, still cooking. I added more coals (I used a charcoal chimney to get them ready) and I thought all was well. It wasn't. It was a very very sad day when, after 10 hours, I opened that lid.



Looks nice and all, but it was not even close to being done. So at 7:00 pm on Memorial Day, we had no pulled pork :(

The next day, the shoulder butt went into a 300 degree oven for 6 hours. And then, the heavens parted!! The angels sang!!! Harps were played!!! Porky goodness was achieved!!!


Oh yeah, that is a thing of beauty! It didn't work out exactly how I planned, but the end result was damn tasty. Take a look at this bark!



I served it on some nice Kaiser rolls, with vinegar slaw.


And we lived in porky heaven for close to a week! Yeah that was one big shoulder butt!

I Finally Made It!

Back in 2006, my family went on a vacation to Charleston, SC. You may remember a little discussion about this trip when I blogged peach pie (mmm peach pie). During that trip, we went to a restaurant. I can't remember the name but it was near Fort Sumpter. Anyway, at this restaurant I had a Grilled Romaine salad. It was so good, and I said back then that I would make this when I got home. Well I never did but it was always in the back of my mind.

No longer! I saw Romaine hearts in the store for a good price and snapped up with this salad in mind. Romaine hearts have all the outer leaves removed and what you get is all the tender inner leaves, so one whole heart serves one person. Clean the Romaine hearts and split in half but do not remove the core. The core will keep the heart intact on the grill.


Drizzle the halves with olive oil and place on a hot grill.


Don't walk away because this does not take long. After a few minutes turn the hearts and grill the other side.


You want them to be just starting to wilt down and have a some nice char marks. But if you go too far, the leaves will get brittle.

Once it's done, chop up the lettuce and put it in a big bowl. Add your fave salad fixings! I added grape tomatoes and fresh edamame and dressed lightly with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I think a nice lemon vinaigrette would be good with this too. This salad is a really delicious change of pace from the norm.

Lunching at Michael Symon's B-Spot

I wasn't lucky enough to have the experience my friend and fellow blogger Tom had when he went to B-Spot. Michael Symon did not greet me at the door, nor did he show me to my table or set a spell and have a chat. Damn! Ahh well, I kind of knew that wouldn't be the case since I had read he was off shooting his new show for the Cooking Channel (yes a new network, a spin off of Food Network) called Cook Like an Iron Chef. But I did hope a little bit, that he would be there. Not to be.

At any rate, my gal pals Cindy, Denise and I had a fun filled morning of shopping around Eaton Collection in Woodmere, Ohio and then lunching at B-Spot. Really, what could be more fun than a trip to Penzy's, Sur La Table, and Trader Joe's and then having a great lunch at an Iron Chef's restaurant!? It's my kind of day! Penzy's was awesome as usual. I picked up some saffron because I've been dying to make arancini and saffron is kind of an important ingredient in most recipes I've seen. Sur La Table is my favorite store to gawk and dream in. I don't often purchase there, but I love to go in and have a look see. And Trader Joe's, well let's just say I did the most damage there! And I'm still kicking myself for not buying the delectable sounding pistachio and dark chocolate toffee. Next time for sure!

So after shopping our hearts out, we walked over to B-Spot. It's a pretty unassuming little place.


Inside is small and fun. Nothing too fancy. There was a whole wall of beer cans that reminded me of my brother's collection (that he still has by the way) back in the day. There was this really cool wall art, kind of like a 50's pin up soda fountain girl and basically not much else. It was dark and intimate and just fun vibe.


We were seated right away and looked over the menu. I was going to go simple but then Denise said she was getting the Thin Lizzy burger and it sounded too good to pass up. I'm in! The Thin Lizzy is a burger with cheddar cheese, caramelized onions, pickles and mayo. I also ordered the Lola Fries, presumably named for one of Symon's other restaurants, Lola Bistro. There was no way I was passing up these fries which merely were seasoned with sea salt and rosemary. Sounds simple but delicious! So with Denise and I getting Thin Lizzy and Lola fries, Cindy mixed it up and ordered the Reuben burger and onion rings. We all had iced tea which was deliciously freshly brewed.

Over in the middle of the restaurant is a pickle bar. Our waitress told us that when we get our burgers we can head over to the pickle bar and have whatever we'd like. There were different kinds of pickles, pickled tomatoes, pickled jalapenos.




When the burger arrived with pickles already on it, I decided that was enough for me so I didn't head to the pickle bar. Feast your eyes on this glorious burger!


Seriously, it's a thing of beauty. The roll looks like it's going to be hard and crusty but it's perfect. Soft but not soggy. The pickles are crisp and full of flavor. The meat is perfectly cooked and so incredibly flavorful. There was just the right amount of mayo on it. Not dripping in mayo but definitely there. I did have to pull some of the onions off because well, onions are not always my friend. But the ones I did eat melted in my mouth. I dare say I'm in love with this burger!


The portion size is perfect. It's not huge and overbearing, it's just enough. And did I mention that it tastes absolutely incredible? There is no contest, this is the best burger I have ever had. And I've had some damn good burgers. This one blows them all out of the water..

Now those fries. OK, I'm not a skinny fry lover. I like my fries hearty. But if I had to have skinny fries, I would want these skinny fries. They were cooked perfectly and seasoned incredibly. Not too much rosemary, not too much salt. The flavors were there without slapping you in the face with them. Incredible!


And in a league all their own were the onion rings. Oh. My. God. These onion rings are a freaking work of art. The batter is golden and delicious. The onion is incredibly sweet and thoroughly cooked. Like I said, onions are not always my friend, but sometimes you just have to suck it up and take one for the team. I had to try them. I just had to. Could you pass these up?


Yeah, I didn't think so.

I will be returning to B-Spot, oh yes. I definitely will be!