savory

other

Apple, Brie, and Toasted Pecan Panini (& Voting Now Open in Project Food Blog Round 4!)

Willow Bird Baking is a contestant in Project Food Blog, a contest comprised of a series of 10 challenges to find the next food blog star. Voting for Challenge #4 is now open! To vote for my Croissant Tutorial to win this round, register for a Foodbuzz account. Once you’re registered, sign in and go to my Croissant Tutorial entry here. To vote, click the heart next to the words “Vote for this Entry.” I am so grateful for your support!

A few of years ago, back when I was still working in a developmental neuroscience lab (sounds fancy, but you can think of it as “playing with tadpole neurons”), I was given a travel stipend to head to San Diego for a conference. To put this trip in perspective for those of you who are jet-setters, I had never in my life been west of Missouri. Even that 12-hour Missouri trip had always been taken by car; I had only been on a plane once when I was 8 years old. I was also 22 years old and poor, so the last thing I expected was to suddenly be able to fly off to beautiful California for a visit.

Apart from being terrified of the plane, I was over the moon about traveling 2,500 miles away from everything familiar. I traced the distance on maps and looked through photos of the city, trying to get a grasp on the journey I was about to embark upon. My awesome sister, Sarah, volunteered to fly out and show me around, since she loves the city.

Every part of that trip was incredible: walking into the raspberry scented hotel lobby each night and seeing the lights of downtown all around my window, walking past flowers that seemed overwhelmed by their own huge blooms, eating pastries above the surf in La Jolla — and the HILLS! Hills like I’d never seen, rolling all around with houses creeping stealthily up their sides and staring off into the Pacific Ocean.

My sister rented a convertible and even though it was November, we drove with the top down to Coronado Island. We stopped into a little restaurant, Cafe 1134, for lunch. We weren’t expecting much, but ordered some panini. As we each took our first bites, our eyes met, and we realized we had just walked into something special. These were no ordinary panini. These were extraordinary panini: warm, melty, amazing! Even after a fancy seafood dinner, pasta in Little Italy, breakfast by the shore, and an Indian feast in La Jolla, we both still think of those panini as one of the best meals we ate in San Diego.

They’re just sandwiches, right? Wrong! They can be transcendental.

What perfect, amazing timing for this post. I’m so excited to share with you that I’m about to embark upon my second journey to the West Coast. I’ve just been chosen as the Nature’s Pride Bread Ambassador and awarded a trip to San Francisco.

How fitting is it that, just as I’ve discovered I’ll be returning to California, I’ve also found another transcendental panini — this time from my own kitchen, with my own homemade croissants! My sister Sarah isn’t going to believe me when I say that these are as good (if not better) than the panini at Cafe 1134, but perhaps I’ll make her a believer with a bite!

Everything about this panini is incredible. The buttery, fresh croissants embrace crisp apples, creamy brie, toasted pecans, bright rosemary, and a drizzle of sweet honey. The flavors melt and meld into a gorgeous medley of sweet and savory. I swooned. I devoured. I wished I hadn’t frozen the rest of the croissants.

Have you made your croissants yet? I’ll let you in on a little secret: I tried “handmade” croissants from a Charlotte bakery, and scout’s honor, homemade was about a billion times better. That being said, making these panini is an urgent matter. Even if you have to pick up some croissants from your local bakery to try this, you should do so as soon as possible!

What are your special travel memories? What food reminds you of your trip?

Apple, Brie, and Toasted Pecan Panini


Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking
Yield: 3 panini

Ingredients:
3 big croissants (preferably homemade!)
1 large apple (I use Gala), cored and sliced relatively thin
2 teaspoons chopped rosemary
1 8-ounce round of brie, sliced
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
honey for drizzling

Directions:
Toast the pecans: Place nuts in a dry skillet over medium-high heat and stir constantly. Once they begin to toast (when you start to smell them), shake pan to ensure all sides of the nuts are toasted evenly and none of them burn. Pour out onto a plate to cool while you assemble the sandwiches.

Preheat panini press to medium and spray with cooking spray. Slice croissants open and layer brie slices, apple slices, a small handful of nuts, a generous pinch of the chopped rosemary, and one more slice of brie on top. Drizzle with honey and replace the top of the croissant. Grill on panini press for a few minutes, checking periodically, until cheese is starting to melt and croissant is toasted. I finish mine in the microwave for about 15 seconds to get the cheesy nice and melty. Serve warm.

If you liked this post, please:
–Subscribe to Willow Bird Baking
–Follow Willow Bird Baking on Twitter
–Follow Willow Bird Baking on Facebook
–Give this post a thumbs up on StumbleUpon


ShareOther ways to share this post with friends!

by | 43 Comments
other

Elevated Americana: A Celebration of 39 Years

Over a decade ago, my dad sat down to write out his memories. The resulting document sits in an pale green folder on my bookshelf now as one of my most treasured possessions. In it, he describes the cocoa paste sandwiches his mom packed for lunch each day, the novelty of the canned biscuits his Grandma made, and how his dad got laid off most winters from his construction job and resorted to hauling wood for meager pay.

Under a section called, simply, Vivi, he describes at the hot summer night at Gooch’s, a little soda shop in the tiny town of Piedmont, Missouri, where he drove up and saw my mother for the first time.

I saw a beautiful blond, tanned girl that I had not seen before. She was very pretty, and I caught her eye as soon as I drove in. After asking around, I found out she was Vivian Roberts and was in town visiting her cousins. I quickly asked her out . . . I knew I was in love, the moment I saw her.


Mom and Dad

It sounds like the beginning of a fairy tale, but my parents’ youth was harder than it should have been — especially for my mom. Daddy was poor, but mom was living a nightmare. Her dad was an abusive alcoholic. It wasn’t long after my parents’ first date that he took my mom and their family back to Kansas City. Dad describes the difficult time that followed:

We wrote letters to each other every day. I called her when it was possible. Kansas City was a good 6 hour drive from Piedmont. Viv was living in a rough situation and her dad treated her like dirt. It seemed like we would never be together. We both prayed for a solution.

The solution came in an unexpected way. My mom’s dad came home after drinking one night and beat her badly, tearing out fistfuls of hair. After getting a sobbing phone call from her, Daddy got in his Torino and made the 6 hour drive in 4 hours to pick her up and bring her back to Piedmont to live with her grandmother. Finally in the same city, Dad says, “I was in heaven. I could date Viv, and see her every night. I fell quickly and deeply in love with the girl I wanted to marry.” They were married shortly thereafter at the First Church of the Nazarene in Piedmont, my mother only 16 years old.

The third challenge in Project Food Blog, a competition to find the next food blog star, was to create a luxury dinner party. It just so happens that this challenge fell on my parents’ 39 year wedding anniversary. Thank you so much for voting in the first two challenges to get me to this point, where I had the privilege of creating a special meal to honor my parents’ marriage.

I wanted to take that night at Gooch’s soda shop and my parents’ memories from growing up in the 1960s and elevate them by creating luxury versions of several classic American dishes. My four course menu featured all-American favorites such as pizza, popcorn, nachos, burgers and fries, and of course, apple pie — fancied up, but still retaining their classic charm.

The amuse bouche truly amused my bouche — each component sung in the bite to produce a harmony that tasted exactly like a fresh Margherita pizza. The appetizers, though, were disappointing. Food blogs represent genuine, real people who are dancing through kitchen highs and lows along with their readers — so I’m not afraid to tell you when things don’t work out. My Saffron Buttered Popcorn only carried the lovely saffron flavor in certain bites and my nachos were dry. Nevertheless, we trekked on to the main course and were rewarded for our diligence!

Served in sweet diner trays (download the template here, print them on cardstock, cut, fold, and glue together. Adapted from Bakerella‘s smaller version), the “burgers and fries” were leagues above your standard diner fare.

The roast was perfectly cooked, juicy, and flavorful, and every accompaniment pulled its weight to make the sliders a true indulgence. I actually forgot the caramelized onions on my dinner party version (they were sitting in a container right behind me, too!), but remade the sliders that evening with them included just to taste. They were dynamite with and without the onions! The herb-salt roasted fingerling potatoes carried a hint of fresh lemon with every bite — delicious.

After a break for conversation, guests sat down to a fresh, light apple puff pastry tart. While everyone loved the tart, the consensus was that the star of dessert was the freshly whipped almond cream on top.

The food was good, the company was fabulous — but my favorite part of dinner was watching my parents read the quotes I had framed for them. A few days before the party, I’d asked each of them to tell me their favorite memory together, but to keep it a secret from each other. Imagine my surprise and delight (I’ll admit, there were a few happy tears) when they both emailed me the exact same memory.


Memories sent by mom and dad and framed for the party.

It was of a time when, according to Daddy, they were “so poor but so happy.” Mom was pregnant with my oldest sibling, Jason, and they lived above a hardware store next to some law offices. At night, after the lawyers had gone home, they would slide through the hallways in their stocking feet, laughing together. It’s a memory that, along with a love as strong as my Grandpa’s lumber-hauling hands and as sweet as my mom’s teenage smile, still unites them after 39 years.


Then and now.

Note: Voting for Round 3 is now open! Please log into your Foodbuzz.com account (or register if you don’t yet have one), go here, and click “Vote for this Entry.” Thank you!

Fancy Beef Sliders


Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking, with roast beef adapted from Simply Recipes and slider technique by Annie’s Eats
Yields: ~30 sliders

Roast Beef Ingredients:
3 to 3 1/2 lbs of Boneless Rump Roast (pick an end cut with a lot of fat marbling)
Olive oil
8 slivers of garlic
Salt and pepper


Slider Ingredients:
potato slider buns (or dinner rolls of your choice)
baby arugula
Swiss cheese, sliced
Gorgonzola cheese
2 sweet onions
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil for caramelizing onions
melted butter

Directions:
Prepare the roast beef: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Let roast sit out for an hour before cooking so that it begins at room temperature. When ready to begin, rinse the roast and use a sharp knife to cut 8 small incisions over the surface, inserting a sliver of garlic into each. Rub the roast with olive oil and season both sides with salt and pepper. Place roast in baking dish with lid (or you can use Elise’s on-the-rack method) and bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.

After 30 minutes, turn heat down to 225 degrees F and continue cooking uncovered until a meat thermometer reads 140 degrees (Elise says this takes 2-3 hours, but for me, it was more like 1.5 hours. I was nervous that I might need to slow it down, but it came out perfect. So just keep an eye on it). Remove roast from the oven and tent with foil. Let rest at least 15 minutes before slicing into very thin slices. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees F at this point, in preparation for the sliders.

While the roast cooks, caramelize your onions. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil. When it’s hot, add the onions and stir so that they all come into contact with the bottom of the pan. As they start to brown, stir them every 15-30 seconds. Add balsamic vinegar and stir. Continue to brown for 10-20 minutes until they’re well caramelized.

In the meantime, prepare slider assembly line. Set out baby arugula, Gorgonzola cheese, Swiss cheese, and mayonnaise. Set slider buns onto a baking sheet. On each bun, place roast beef and all the toppings, including caramelized onions. Brush tops of sliders with melted butter and bake at 400 degrees F for about 10 minutes, or until melty. Serve warm.


Sliders with caramelized onions added!

Tips for Creating a Special, Affordable Dinner Party:

  1. Pick a personal theme. Think of a special memory, book, or food — something that resonates with your guests of honor. Plan your party around that theme. In this case, Gooch’s soda shop was the foundation of my party plan.
  2. Get creative with your resources. I decorated my table with a curtain panel that was $3 cheaper than an actual tablecloth. A local dollar store provided fun popcorn containers and drinking glasses. I picked recipes with simple ingredients and used a few luxury items (saffron, Gorgonzola) to elevate them. I also created many party decorations out of paper.
  3. Plan ahead. A week before the party, I made a list of all groceries and planned out prep work for each day. I also wrote a detailed plan of party day, including what times to prep, bake, and photograph each dish.
  4. When possible, choose dishes that can be prepared ahead of time. I didn’t follow my own advice this time, but the beauty of many desserts and appetizers is that they can be prepared in advance and refrigerated until served. You’ll have more fun if there are only a few things to prepare at the last minute.

If you liked this post, please:
–Subscribe to Willow Bird Baking
–Follow Willow Bird Baking on Twitter
–Follow Willow Bird Baking on Facebook
–Give this post a thumbs up on StumbleUpon


ShareOther ways to share this post with friends!

by | 130 Comments
other

Snack Attack #2: Chili-Lime Roasted Chickpeas

You’ve had sweet (with a little tart thrown in for good measure). Now it’s time for the other side of the snacking coin: salty. Salty, spicy, tangy, bright, crunchy, provocative. Wait, can food be provocative?

I think so. Especially if the words chili-lime are involved.

I’ve seen roasted chickpeas cropping up all over the interwebs and have been all in a tizzy wanting to try them. They just look so scrumptious and snackable. I headed over to The Kitchn where there are about a billion (okay, fifteen) seasoning suggestions for roasted chickpeas. I needed some inspiration.

And oh, did I find inspiration! The Kitchn lists Garlic, Pepper, Rosemary chickpeas; Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil, Chili Powder chickpeas; and Brown Sugar, Rosemary, Cayenne Pepper chickpeas, just to name a few.

Chili powder, cumin, and lime all seemed like popular seasoning components, though I couldn’t seem to find a recipe that put them all together. They’re a match made in tex-mexy heaven, though, so I threw them all in my chickpea seasoning mix. Sure enough, the finished product tasted exactly like I’d imagined — spicy and addictive. I crunched down chickpea after chickpea while watching the first few episodes of America’s Got Talent on Hulu (no spoilers, please — except one. Feel free to tell me if anyone knocks Piers Morgan’s block off after a particularly snotty critique).

Are you in a snacky mood? These are so simple to make and they taste better than those greasy potato chips. The spice flavoring would also be wonderful on popcorn. What’s your go-to salty snack?

Chili-Lime Roasted Chickpeas


Recipe by: Adapted from chowmama
Yields: about 1.5 cups roasted chickpeas

Ingredients:
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans), drained, rinsed, and blotted dry
3-4 teaspoons chili powder*
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon lime juice
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1-2 teaspoons cumin*
Pinch of dried herbs of your choice (I used a little rosemary and thyme) OR chopped fresh cilantro

*Note: start with the lowest amount of spice, then add more to taste.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray it with cooking spray. Spread chickpeas out in a single layer over the foil. Once oven is preheated, bake chickpeas for 45-50 minutes, stirring and flipping every 15 minutes or so. Chowmama includes a note saying that the cooking times can very; the way she looked for (and thus the way I looked for) doneness is taking a few chickpeas out, letting them cool for a minute, and then biting into them. Take them out when they’re really crunchy.

Near the end of the chickpeas’ cooking time, combine oil, chili powder, lime juice, sea salt, and cumin in a medium bowl. Whisk to mix. When chickpeas are done, let them cool for just a minute before pouring them into the oil mixture. Stir to coat all the chickpeas well. Eat immediately, or store in an airtight container (after cooling completely) to eat later.

If you liked this post, please:
–Subscribe to Willow Bird Baking
–Follow Willow Bird Baking on Twitter
–Follow Willow Bird Baking on Facebook
–Give this post a thumbs up on StumbleUpon


ShareOther ways to share this post with friends!

by | 99 Comments
other

Old-Fashioned Burger Stand Burgers & Easy French Fries

I wish I were gymnastically inclined. If I could do a cartwheel or two or three hundred, maybe I could express how excited I am about sharing this recipe with you. Instead, I am the girl who, in middle school, somehow body-slammed herself onto the hard gym floor mid-cartwheel-attempt. They make gymnastics mats for a reason, gym teachers.

I will not be trying that again. You’ll have to trust me when I say I’m flipping around the room in spirit. Because these. burgers. are. amazing.

They are not gourmet burgers. They’re not sporting Gruyere, truffle oil, shallots, or mushrooms — not that those ingredients wouldn’t be tasty on some burger, somewhere. Just not this one.

They are not Texas-sized steakburgers. You do not need to dislocate your jaw to take a bite, they do not include exotic spices or a pile of complementary toppings — though you know I love a burger like that on occasion. It’s just not this burger’s style.

These are the burgers your fast food burger could taste like (you guys know the Old Spice commercial, right?). The burgers they’re trying their hardest to replicate in every establishment that owns a drive-thru.

These are thin, fall-apart tender, juicy, salty burgers with a slight crisp crust, smothered in melty cheese, onions, and tangy burger sauce before being smooshed into a pillowy, sweet, toasted potato roll. Swoon.

Imagine the best 1950s burger stand — one that carefully wraps its burgers in wax paper and sends them out dripping in burger sauce with a side of crispy fries. Maybe via a roller skating waitress. These are those burgers. Christopher Kimball called them something like the “ultimate indulgence burgers” — exactly!

In case you’re nervous about the fact that you grind your own meat for this burger, I need to tell you that they’re also easy. I would stick these babies on the menu any weekend without a second thought. You can also make the patties and freeze them sandwiched between sheets of waxed paper, making this recipe perfect for weeknights as well (thaw for 30 minutes at room temperature before using).

The basic method is as follows: cut chunks of meat, freeze it for a bit, grind it in a food processor, gather your patties loosely, season, cook in hot skillet, melt cheesy goodness on top, and place on sauced, toasted bun. I made my sauce and sliced my onions the night before, and so the whole process was quick as a whip.

The burgers stay super tender because you don’t pack them into patties with your hands the way you might form other burgers. After grinding the meat, you try not to touch it much at all, gathering it into piles with your spatula and only then gently pressing it against a sheet pan or tray into a loose patty with plenty of crevices. You want it where it’s only just sticking together.

Heavy salting and a smoking hot pan make for a nice crisp crust on the patty. You don’t need to worry about cooking it to medium rare or medium or any of that — as Kenji from America’s Test Kitchen said, because of the way you form the patties, there’s no way to overcook this burger into toughness. No matter what, it’s tender and perfect.

Grab your glass bottles o’ coke and some roller skates, and let’s make some burger magic!

Old-Fashioned Burger Stand Burgers


Recipe by: Cooks Illustrated
Yields: 4 burgers

Ingredients:
10 ounces sirloin steak tips, cut into 1-inch chunks (look for meat that has a striated texture to be sure you have the right cut. Flank steak may be substituted)
6 ounces boneless beef short ribs, cut into 1-inch chunks
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 soft hamburger buns (potato rolls)
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
4 slices American cheese (don’t substitute! American cheese has the perfect texture for this recipe)
Thinly sliced onion

Classic Burger Sauce Ingredients:
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/2 teaspoon sweet pickle relish
1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Mix ingredients for burger sauce and refrigerate it until you’re ready for it.
2. Place chunks of meat onto baking sheet about 1/2 inch apart. Freeze until very firm, hard around the edges, but still pliable (15-25 minutes).
3. Grind meat in a food processor in two batches, using 10 to 15 one-second pulses and redistributing meat in the processor as necessary. Transfer the meat to a tray or baking sheet without touching it — just overturn the processor bowl onto the tray. You want to touch the meat as little as possible from here on out. Discard gristle or hunks of fat.
4. Gently separate ground meat into 4 equal mounds using a spatula. Shape each mound gently (without picking it up) into a patty about 4 inches in diameter and thin (about 1/4 inch thick), leaving edges ragged and crevices in the burger. Season top of each patty liberally with salt and pepper. Use a spatula to flip patties and season the other side. Stick them in the refrigerator while you toast the buns.
5. Melt 1/2 tablespoon butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat until it foams. Toast 4 buns, tops and bottoms, in batches until golden brown. Set aside and wipe out the skillet.
6. Put skillet on high heat. Add oil and heat until just smoking. Using a spatula, put all 4 patties into the skillet and cook without moving for 3 minutes. Flip burgers over gently and cook for 1 minute. Top each with a slice of American cheese and cook for another minute.
7. Place patties onto bun bottoms and place sliced onions on top. Spread burger sauce on each bun top, cover burgers, and serve immediately.

Oh yeah, and those fries! They’re crisp and lovely, and just as easy as the burgers, if not easier. You’re talking to someone who inevitably burns the first batch of anything she’s trying to fry, and often doesn’t get a single usable piece of food out of the entire experience. Nevertheless, these were simple even for me. You don’t even need to measure the temperature of the oil!

To make fries super simple, Cooks Illustrated starts them in cold oil. Surprisingly, they don’t get soggy or absorb oil. You’re then supposed to bring them to a boil, leave them for 15 minutes without touching them, make sure none are stuck to the bottom, and cook for a few minutes more until golden brown. The times were a little off for me and I feared 15 minutes left alone would be too long, so I started scraping them off the bottom a tad earlier and they didn’t break apart. I’d just recommend keeping your eye on them. If you can watch a pot, you can make these fries.

You may have noticed that I went a little crazy with my food stylin’ for this photo shoot. I couldn’t help it! I love these little burgers so much, I wanted to give them the star treatment. It added so much fun to the meal.

I bought some coke in glass bottles, sweet little mustard and ketchup dispensers, and food-grade checked wax paper. A lot of these great materials were on sale after Independence Day. I then downloaded and adapted the template for the burger tray and little fry pouch from Bakerella, who used it for her adorable faux-burgers.

Want to present a meal to your family in these sweet little checkered trays and fry pouches? Download the template here, print it on cardstock, cut around the outside borders, fold the tabs over and glue them. If you’d like to change what the fry pouch says, just crop out my logo and paste in your own.

Easy French Fries


Recipe by: Cooks Illustrated
Yields: about 2-3 servings

Ingredients:
2 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes (about 6 medium), scrubbed, dried, sides squared off, and cut length-wise in 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch batons (strips)
6 cups peanut oil
1/4 cup bacon fat, strained, optional
Kosher salt

Belgian-Style Dipping Sauce Ingredients:
5 tablespoons mayonnaise
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon table salt

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients for Belgian-Style Dipping Sauce together and refrigerate until needed.
2. Put potatoes, oil, and bacon fat (if using) into a large Dutch oven or stock pot. Cook over high heat about 5 minutes or until the oil reaches a good rolling boil. Cook without stirring until potatoes are limp but their exteriors are firm enough to scrape stuck ones off the bottom without breaking. The original recipe says 15 minutes, but keep an eye on them and try a little early (gently).
3. Using tongs, stir potatoes, gently loosening any that are sticking to the bottom, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until golden the fries are golden brown and crisp, about 5 to 10 minutes longer. Use a slotted spoon to transfer fries onto a bed of paper towels over a baking sheet. Salt and serve immediately, while hot, which Belgian-Style Dipping Sauce.

If you liked this post, please:
–Subscribe to Willow Bird Baking
–Follow Willow Bird Baking on Twitter
–Follow Willow Bird Baking on Facebook
–Give this post a thumbs up on StumbleUpon


ShareOther ways to share this post with friends!

by | 44 Comments
other

Tumbleweed Burger

I’m not always a burger fan. I have to be in a mood, and even then, it has to be the right sort of burger with the right sort of fixins. A few weeks ago, I got a hankerin’ — but not for just any burger.

I wanted a burger with flavor the size o’ Texas (can you hear my cowgirl twang?), a mile high and a mile wide, with cheese runnin’ down the sides like the Rio Grande.

Too much? Okay, I’ll stop.

But I wanted a really good burger, y’all. And so I started dreaming. And I reckon this here Tumbleweed Burger (oops, I said I’d stop, didn’t I?) is what I dreamed.

I knew I wanted to season the meat, and dry seasonings are best to ensure you can still form a nice patty. I chose fresh cilantro and my favorite taco seasoning (you can make your own, but I’m not sure you can make it taste as good as this), McCormick’s Cheesy Taco. In case you’re wondering, McCormick’s isn’t compensating me to brag about their seasoning and I had to pay for that little packet o’ love straight out of my own bank account. Worth every penny of $1.09.

The patties were the best part. They were mouthwateringly juicy, and had such an amazing Tex-Mex flavor. The toppings sent it over the edge: tangy spicy mayonnaise, ripe tomato, dripping hot dog chili, smooth avocado, melty meunster cheese, and crispy fried onions.

Okay, actually, the fried onions might not have made it. They might have burned instantaneously because I didn’t measure the temperature of my oil. There might have only been one fried onion rescued from the carnage. I might have put it on the burger in this photo to salvage my reputation. But I might have too much integrity to let you believe my fried onions worked. So, um. You can skip the fried onions if, like me, you’re not a fan of frying. Or, if you do try them and they work wonderfully, you can email me and gloat (just make sure to tell me how they taste).

Failures happen. But they don’t have to ruin everything!

I served the burgers on Nature’s Pride buns that I was sent (to review, at no cost to me) as part of Foodbuzz’s Tastemaker program. They were 100% whole wheat, which was nice nutritionally and aesthetically — there’s something about brown bread that just feels tasty to me! I thought they were perfect for the burger once they were buttery and toasty.


Dad said he thought the avocado slices would be better served on the side — I tried it both ways and couldn’t decide!

Now I have to let you in on a little secret. My goal on Willow Bird Baking is to encourage you to get in the kitchen and make something you never dreamed you could make. I do it all the time, and sometimes fail, but when I succeed, I feel like I’ve “leveled up” in my kitchen confidence; I want you to feel that too. None of that is the secret, though. The secret is . . . this was the first time in my life I’d made a burger.

That shouldn’t shock you — most of the dishes I post are first tries for me — but maybe it does, since maybe everybody on the planet has made a burger before. I might not mention it at all, except that maybe there’s someone out there who also has a secret, who also hasn’t given burgers a shot. Maybe you thought you needed a grill, or just weren’t sure how to go about it. Maybe you thought they’d turn out tough. Maybe you gave up and went to a fast food drive-through instead.

If that’s you (I won’t tell anybody), I want you to make this burger! I’ve included detailed instructions below, and I’ve tested it out for you — I promise it’s a tasty one! What have you got to lose? Tell me, readers: are you a burger master, a burger beginner, or somewhere in between?

Tumbleweed Burger

Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking (spicy mayonnaise adapted from White on Rice Couple)
Yields: 6 burgers

Ingredients:
1.5 pounds ground beef
4-6 tablespoons taco seasoning (I use McCormick’s Cheesy Taco and highly recommend it)
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
6 slices muenster cheese
hamburger buns
butter for toasting buns

Spicy Mayonnaise Ingredients:
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sriracha (chile sauce)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
fresh cilantro to taste

Burger toppings:
fried onion rings, if desired
hot dog chili (I used Texas Pete brand, warmed in the microwave)
tomato, avocado, romaine lettuce, chopped green onions

Directions:
Mix ground beef, taco seasoning, and cilantro and form into 6 patties (handling as little as possible, so you don’t toughen the meat). Broil for around 9 minutes until checking for doneness by splitting one of the thickest patties in half and examining the meat. You want them to be slightly pink in the middle (see how to tell if a burger is done). Place muenster cheese on each patty to melt when you pull them out of the oven.

While broiling, melt butter in a skillet and toast buns (alternatively, brush melted butter onto buns and broil them to toast, keeping a close watch so as not to burn them).

Assemble the burger: Mix spicy mayonnaise ingredients together. Spread generously onto toasted bun, topping with cooked burger, fried onion rings, avocado slices, tomato slice, a leaf of romaine lettuce. Enjoy!

If you liked this post, please:
–Subscribe to Willow Bird Baking
–Follow Willow Bird Baking on Twitter
–Follow Willow Bird Baking on Facebook
–Give this post a thumbs up on StumbleUpon


ShareOther ways to share this post with friends!

by | 25 Comments

1 … 21 22 23 24 25 … 27