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The Best Sweet Potato Recipe To Go Along With That Amazing Burger
When I’m putting a huge effort into making the most amazing burger possible, sides get a little tricky. A lot of time goes into the prep of the perfect burger, so I like to keep the sides simple. I came up with a killer take on sweet potato fries that evolved more into chips for time’s sake.
So, the fries took a long time to cook and were difficult to get right because of size variations in the fries – some would cook, others were too crispy, still others were too thick to cook all the way. I needed something easier, so I started cutting them into chips. Sure enough, cook time was cut in half and consistency was vastly easier.
Coat (thinly) a cookie sheet (or two) with olive oil after you’ve cut your sweet potatoes to resemble extra-thick potato chips, 1/16″ to 1/8″ thick or so. Lay the chips out and drizzle them with a little more olive oil. Then, a dusting of your favorite Cajun seasoning. My personal favorite is currently Trade East Cajun Style Seasoning from Gordon’s Food Service (Commercial restaurant supply chain open to the public). It brings a good amount of fantastic heat without being overbearing.
With the sweet potato chips sprinkled with Cajun seasoning, bake in the oven at 350° for about 20 – 25 minutes until the edges curl up gently. The goal is chewy edges with a soft-ish center.
Now, to time this with the burgers, mine are exceptionally thick so they take ten minutes on the grill. As the grill is heating up to 600°, I pull the almost done potatoes out and drizzle them with a bit of brown sugar to cut the heat of the Cajun seasoning (they’d been baking for ten or fifteen minutes prior). Then I put my burgers on, cook them, and pull the potatoes while the burgers are resting.
They’re simple and amazing. Enjoy.
The Cheeseburger of Cheeseburgers; A Classic Perfected
Now, I can’t name names here, or maybe I could; I don’t think I’d rise to the level of a national corporate fast food giant siccing its legal team after me. Still, I need not be tempting fate. Or a clown. So, I’ll just keep things Marginally Magnificently, Magnanimously Anonymous.
The classic cheeseburger perfected:
1/3 pound burger patty grilled to medium rare/medium perfection (we use 94/6
specialty ground beef, ground to our specifications). Some will use the old
standby 80/20. While I get the whole “lean ground beef overcooks in a matter of
seconds (it does)” argument, nothing tastes better than an expertly-cooked lean
burger.
Sautéed sliced onion (preferably in butter)
Pickle slices
Smokehouse cheddar cheese
Chopped romaine lettuce
Ken’s Steakhouse Thousand Island Dressing
I prep the condiments and table, then sauté the onions, before I cook the burgers… I want the burger hot for the first bite.
I make my burgers big enough they take four to five minutes a side to get to medium-rare to medium. Start off with the grill on high (gas) and get a nice char on the presentation side. Three minutes in, turn the burger 90° so you get a nice cross-hatch (technically, not important as you’re covering the pattern with cheese). A minute later, turn the heat down to low and flip the burgers. Then, four to five minutes on that side and you’re done, putting the cheese on for the last one or two.
Assemble thusly; burger on the bottom bun, pickles & onions on the burger. Thousand Island, then lettuce on the top bun. Assemble and dig in.
Done properly, you’ll never want for fast food again. In fact, this is how I divested myself from the convenience of fast food. Why bother when I can make that stuff taste good.
UPDATE: For a side, try this sweet potato recipe… it’s awesome.
Today’s Lesson in Journalism: The Headline! How Not To Write One in 1,005 Words (Ish).
Don’t do it this way.
An Excellent After-Ride Healthy Dinner That Takes Ten Minutes to Prep and Cook and Is Even Faster To Clean Up After…
On arriving home from the office, my wife was heading out the door to take my daughter to swim practice and my elder daughter was off galivanting about. I asked if there was a plan for dinner, to which she responded that I should have some leftover pizza after my ride. My buddy, Chuck and I were out for a little more than an hour-and-a-quarter and we put in 22 miles and some change and I was feeling pretty fantastic. I was hungry, though. Now, pizza and I are longtime friends. Best friends, really… but I’m tired of eating junkfood. So I was stuck with a dilema… what to eat?
I knew I had a package of individually wrapped salmon filets in the freezer – frozen solid. I thought, well what would happen if I just slapped a filet on the grill? I thought about how I’d make this work as I cut up some veggies for a salad. See, there’s a new fad out there wherein you place your steaks on the grill directly, do not pass go, from the freezer onto a hot grill. This sears the meat and seals in the juicy goodness before it can escape… or so they say.
I spread some butter over one side, then garlic salt (from a grinder) and pepper, and some Italian Herb seasoning… and slapped one for me and one for my younger daughter on the grill. A hot grill, 600 degrees F (315 C) and kept an eye on them. Three or four minutes, then flip (not quite thawed at first flip). Then a few minutes on the butter side, then flip once more for a minute or till flaky. As soon as the filets were firm but pliable, I pulled them. I dressed them with a salt and pepper again, then squeezed a quarter-lemon over them.
Friends, it was heavenly.
Ultra-simple, low calorie, high on flavor, simple goodness and about 600 calories for the meal… and the cleanup was two plates and a bowl (for the salad). I’ll have to get used to eating light like that again (I was hungry as a bear the next morning) but it’s a great arrow to have in the quiver when I’m pressed for a decent, healthy dinner.
The Perfect Low-Mess 90 Second Scrambled Egg Sammich
I’m a stove snob when it comes to food. Mainly because I’m a foodie in a cyclist’s body. Some cyclists eat to fuel the ride. I, like many others, ride to eat. I enjoy food immensely.
When it came to breakfast, I always opted for the easy way out in some form of cereal… lately I’m into a hippie maple and flaxseed concoction that, amazingly, tastes quite awesome.
The other day, though, I was in the mood for a couple of eggs. When I have a craving for something good (ie not chocolate, ice cream or Twizzlers) I pay attention. Usually that’s my body’s way of saying, “Yo, we need a specific nutrient down here, get to it, bub.”
I got to thinking there had to be a better way than dragging out a frying pan and making a mess.
I nuked two eggs in a tiny ramekin with a sprinkling of cheese for 90 seconds. Toasted my bagel in a toaster oven for the same amount of time, and slapped the two together.
Perfect. 90 seconds to a hot egg and cheese sammich. Fluffiest egg I’ve ever eaten. Almost souffle quality. Beyond pillowy even.
Wipe the ramekin out, drop it in the dishwasher, done.
The Shepherd’s Pie War… Obi-wan has Taught You Well.
My wife’s sister introduced us to meat pies a couple of years ago. First, it was a turkey pot pie the day after Thanksgiving. It was, as one would guess, awesome.
Then my wife dropped a perfect chicken pot pie.
Well, not to be outdone, my wife’s sister dropped a perfect shepherd’s pie on us next.
My wife countered with an excellent rendition of her own and executed a flawless browned cheesy top.
Next her brother-in-law chimed in with a layered shepherd’s pie that looked like it was made directly for Jesus. It was amazing.
My wife, however, just dropped the mic. She cooked up a perfect roast the other day, but we had a lot leftover. It was a big roast.
What you don’t see in that first photo is the roast beef, roasted vegetables, and the gravy.
It was as if a meat and potatoes pie crashed into crack.
Mere words cannot do the amazing dish justice. It was truly restaurant worthy.
So, if you ever see yourself looking at a fair bit of leftovers, put together a shepherd’s pie. It’s fantastic.
“I’m a Vegan”, She Explained… Part 236
Hey, just a short note for all of you nutty vegan bloggers out there (pun intended):
Ladies, because the vegan landscape is dominated by women, when you write a blog post to share your recipe for cauliflower pizza dough, you don’t have to include the note that you’re a vegan.
We already know. Nobody in their right mind would make pizza dough out of cauliflower.
The Best Baked Pumpkin Seeds EVAH!!! Vegans and Vegetarians should Skip this Post… Heh.
Dude, I’d like to thank Granny B for the best damn pumpkin seed recipe ever thought of, bar none.
Clean your pumpkin seeds and place them on a cookie sheet as you normally would. Then cut pieces of bacon into little chunks and place over the seeds. Then bake till the bacon is rightly done.
Seriously, dude. Bacon. Flavored. Pumpkin seeds.
The candy of meat meets the candy of seeds (and Halloween). And no…. it’s even better than it sounds. Trust me.
Did you say “Gluten Free Hair Care Products”? Since When Did People Start Eating Their Shampoo? Gluten-free Jumps the Shark
Look, I get it, but this whole vegan/gluten-free thing is getting out of hand.
I read a post last night that turned out to be an advertisement for “the Morrocco Method gluten-free, vegan and paleo friendly shampoo. Of course, they recommend you alternate between each of their five shampoos and two conditioners for best results… So I’ll cut right to the chase, because I think it’s absolutely deliciously funny how gullible many in the food-snob crowd can be – and how easily those people are separated from their money… The shampoo set, five standard-sized 12 oz bottles of shampoo (a can of Coke is 12 oz): $130. The conditioner set: $110. Two Hundred and Forty f@ckin’ Dollars for shampoo and conditioner. Oh, I’m sorry. Gluten-free shampoo and conditioner. The hair and scalp “recovery package”? $280! To break this down further, they sell each 12 oz bottle of shampoo separately for $35 each!
Sorry man, but gluten-free just jumped the shark and if you’re that gullible, well you deserve to spend a quarter of a thousand bucks on shampoo and conditioner.
Now, I know there’s gotta be someone out there who reads this post and is tempted to comment along these lines: “Oh, but the Morrocco shampoo is the best thing ever…” I promise, I’ll respond nicely to your comment, but I’ll be laughing at you as I type my reply. Out loud. Laughing. At you.
Unless you actually have been diagnosed with Celiac’s. Then you get a pass, but only if you regularly ingest the shampoo and conditioner, which can’t be good for you. So don’t do it. Really. It would give new meaning to colon-cleansing though. Chuckle.
Oh crap! Literally.
Getting Your Kids Into Fitness – Patience, Persistence and Leading By Example are the Keys to Success.
My wife just completed her first Sprint Triathlon of the season the other day and she’s becoming quite the cyclist. My cycling exploits are well documented over the last three years of this blog. I used to run, before cycling, with a friend of mine when our kids were just stroller-bound. We’d meet every Saturday at a friend’s house and Pete and I would plop our four kids (two each) into their kiddie running strollers and we were off. It gave Pete and I time with our daughters and more importantly, gave our wives some alone time. The fella, whose house we ran at, still gets misty when recounting the story of Pete and I passing him on the way out, pushing our daughters in their strollers.
My daughters have never seen the other side of me. The overweight side. The guy who stood in front of a mirror and said, “Heck with it, I’m just gonna get fat”. I buried him when I bought my first pair of running shoes. He’s got a grave marker that reads, “C’mon man, you’re too old for this…Or somethin’!”
My wife and I have pushed our daughters, well nudged is a better word, toward leading a fit lifestyle ever since they were old enough to understand what the words “fit” and “lifestyle” meant. We had help too. Many of our friends lead a fit life. Grateful Jim, when our kids were too old to push in a stroller, used to take our kids to a pool to swim and then to lunch so I could get my run in. I always made the mistake of saying he taught my kids how to swim but he corrects me, “I only taught them how to not be afraid of the water”. Either way, he had a profound influence on both of my daughters who are now on a traveling swim team. They’re eleven and eight years-old.
A month ago, I purchased a road bike for my eldest daughter. She had been asking for one for a year but I wasn’t looking at some cheap big-box mountain bike with drop bars version of a road bike. She was going to end up with the real deal because one of the great aspects of cycling is enjoying what you ride. We settled on a full-sized 700c Specialized Dolce, with a carbon fork, a triple crank and a decent integrated brake/shifter component set. Originally I was reluctant to drop almost $800 on a bike for an eleven year-old. What if she didn’t like it? My fear was fair but wrong in the end. She took to that bike like she was meant to ride and she makes her dad proud. Her younger sister inherited her mountain bike (a 21 sp, front suspension Trek) and loves it… It couldn’t have turned out any better. Or so I thought…
Monday, while on a training ride, my wife mentioned that my daughter was interested in doing the Aqua-Bike at next year’s triathlon, with my wife. I contacted the organizers of the race by email and explained our situation and my daughter’s age – and also her level of proficiency when it comes to swimming and cycling and asked that she be allowed to compete even though she’ll be well under the minimum age requirement. They responded that a special consideration will be allowed based on her proficiency as explained in my email. Of course I’ll have her whipped into even better shape for the bike leg by that time and I’ll be riding the course myself, as neutral support for all of the cyclists (it’s a female only race). She’ll be good to go and based on this year’s results, she’ll even have a very good chance at a podium spot – racing against adults. In fact, I don’t know who’s more stoked about my baby girl in her first race, my daughter or me or her mom.
Getting to this point has taken patience – if we were to push too hard, we could have turned both of them off from fit sports altogether. It’s taken persistence – always reminding them that their youthful bodies will get old in a hurry if they’re not moved pushed on a regular and consistent basis.
Most of all, it’s taken my wife and I leading by example… Physical fitness and a happy, healthy life go hand-in-hand. There is no cheating it, no miracle pill, no easy way around it. There are no shortcuts, no days off. We can pay now or pay later and for those who opt for the latter, “later” is usually way too early. Living fit doesn’t guarantee a long, happy life. It just makes that more attainable. More probable. My kids see this and now they want to be a part of what makes their parents so happy.
A fit life is not a theory, you have to live it… And that in living it, life is good.
Fit Recovery 