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Apr. 30th, 2006 02:31 pmMany happy returns of the day!
Apr. 30th, 2006
Happy Birthday
Apr. 30th, 2006 02:31 pmRecipe: Hair o' the Cow What Bit You
Apr. 30th, 2006 02:31 pmI thought of calling it "Hair of the Mad Cow what Bit You," but that might not be a good omen for a bit o' beef. Edit:Officially renamed without the mad part. =)
Marinade:
Captain Morgans Spiced Rum
Tarragon Vinegar
Enova (sub. Canola Oil)
Fresh Ground Cinnamon
Crushed Rosemary
Cajun Fore-Play (sub. Chipotle or other hot-pepper based dry spice of choice)
Finely Chopped Chives
Seeded Rye
Sharp Cheddar, thinly sliced
Montery Jack, thinly sliced
Butter
Bull's Eye Barbecue Sauce
Prep the burger of choice - mine being 100% beef, frozen in a cylinder, cut in 3/4" slices - and place in a bowl. Pour on rum - I used about 100mL, maybe a bit less - then sprinkle on the vinegar until you get some on each burger. Yeah, I know, I tend not to measure, which makes passing on recipes to others a bit of a guesswork on my part, but it's all "to taste" anywho, and that's the important thing. I added the oil because I really would have liked more rum, but I was out, and I wanted something to raise the level of the liquid. I covered the tops of the burgers pretty heavily with the cinnamon, flipped them, and repeated. There's probably about a half teaspoon of crushed rosemary on top of each burger. The Cajun Fore-Play was a light sprinkle, I just made sure I had some decent coverage - I wasn't going for something that would seem overly hot, just adding flavor. About a half-teaspoon or so of the chives on each burger as well. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap - or some other lid - and shake it up a bit, then chill for at least 10 minutes. Could probably do with an overnight soaking; I'm not much of a steak fan, but after eating it, I'm tempted to try a nice thick steak cooked with this stuff. Seems like it would be well suited.
I grilled the burgers on a gas grill, covered, on high, basting with the left-over marinade each time I turned them. Between the oil, alcohol, and fat, this is a highly flammable mix - so much so that I actually had to nuke the burgers for a minute each to finish cooking through - and it smokes hella lots. I wasn't expecting it - hey, I was just winged this whole thing - but the smoke is what makes this whole thing work. Somehow, in the 15-20 minutes they cooked, the smoke managed to permeate the burger, and make it seem as if it had been slow-cooked in a smoker, over a wood fire. Although I plan to try some mesquite chips on the rack, I'm still using the last of the lava rocks, so that had no bearing on it.
Back inside the house, Justin was prepping the cheese - we used 4 thin slices of cheddar (maybe 1/2" thick block, so they were tiny) and 2 of montery. The 2-1 ratio is always the Golden Mean as far as I'm concerned with this cheese blend. He also buttered both sides of the rye bread so that when I came in, I could just start grilling and go. I grilled in a frying pan, but I was waffling back and forth about doing it outside on the grill. I haven't done that often (not at all with sliced bread,) and there was already enough experimentation going on with the marinade, so I decided to stick with what I knew.
After browning the interior of the bread (which is a Must-Do step, to make sure the moistness from the burger doesn't rot right through the bread,) I put some barbecue sauce on the bread, then the burger and the cheese, and then a bit more sauce. Assemble the sandwich, and then grill both sides - I did the non-cheese side down first. Next time, I will add cheese both above and below - but kept thin; as it was it wasn't very intrusive, and, much as I love cheese, too much would *not* work on this.
Although Justin claimed that he could taste the vinegar and cinnamon as solitary flavors in only one bite, I didn't notice any one flavor standing out - except, perhaps, the hidden ingredient: smoke. And, maybe a rye seed or two. The flavor was fairly unique - I would not have been able to pick out anything, if I had not seen the marinade (the chives are kind of visible) or actually put it together (which really, even as forgetful as I can be, makes for a dead giveaway,) which is really more than I could hope for. Even the fairly similar whiskey-balsamic burgers of last grilling season didn't blend as well into a single flavor. The grilled rye is also a critical part of this - the only misgiving as far as a steak marinade, is that I'm not sure how to get the rye in there. I wouldn't want that to be a sandwich, but that added so much to the overall meal, that I would not cook this burger without having the bread on hand.
Marinade:
Captain Morgans Spiced Rum
Tarragon Vinegar
Enova (sub. Canola Oil)
Fresh Ground Cinnamon
Crushed Rosemary
Cajun Fore-Play (sub. Chipotle or other hot-pepper based dry spice of choice)
Finely Chopped Chives
Seeded Rye
Sharp Cheddar, thinly sliced
Montery Jack, thinly sliced
Butter
Bull's Eye Barbecue Sauce
Prep the burger of choice - mine being 100% beef, frozen in a cylinder, cut in 3/4" slices - and place in a bowl. Pour on rum - I used about 100mL, maybe a bit less - then sprinkle on the vinegar until you get some on each burger. Yeah, I know, I tend not to measure, which makes passing on recipes to others a bit of a guesswork on my part, but it's all "to taste" anywho, and that's the important thing. I added the oil because I really would have liked more rum, but I was out, and I wanted something to raise the level of the liquid. I covered the tops of the burgers pretty heavily with the cinnamon, flipped them, and repeated. There's probably about a half teaspoon of crushed rosemary on top of each burger. The Cajun Fore-Play was a light sprinkle, I just made sure I had some decent coverage - I wasn't going for something that would seem overly hot, just adding flavor. About a half-teaspoon or so of the chives on each burger as well. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap - or some other lid - and shake it up a bit, then chill for at least 10 minutes. Could probably do with an overnight soaking; I'm not much of a steak fan, but after eating it, I'm tempted to try a nice thick steak cooked with this stuff. Seems like it would be well suited.
I grilled the burgers on a gas grill, covered, on high, basting with the left-over marinade each time I turned them. Between the oil, alcohol, and fat, this is a highly flammable mix - so much so that I actually had to nuke the burgers for a minute each to finish cooking through - and it smokes hella lots. I wasn't expecting it - hey, I was just winged this whole thing - but the smoke is what makes this whole thing work. Somehow, in the 15-20 minutes they cooked, the smoke managed to permeate the burger, and make it seem as if it had been slow-cooked in a smoker, over a wood fire. Although I plan to try some mesquite chips on the rack, I'm still using the last of the lava rocks, so that had no bearing on it.
Back inside the house, Justin was prepping the cheese - we used 4 thin slices of cheddar (maybe 1/2" thick block, so they were tiny) and 2 of montery. The 2-1 ratio is always the Golden Mean as far as I'm concerned with this cheese blend. He also buttered both sides of the rye bread so that when I came in, I could just start grilling and go. I grilled in a frying pan, but I was waffling back and forth about doing it outside on the grill. I haven't done that often (not at all with sliced bread,) and there was already enough experimentation going on with the marinade, so I decided to stick with what I knew.
After browning the interior of the bread (which is a Must-Do step, to make sure the moistness from the burger doesn't rot right through the bread,) I put some barbecue sauce on the bread, then the burger and the cheese, and then a bit more sauce. Assemble the sandwich, and then grill both sides - I did the non-cheese side down first. Next time, I will add cheese both above and below - but kept thin; as it was it wasn't very intrusive, and, much as I love cheese, too much would *not* work on this.
Although Justin claimed that he could taste the vinegar and cinnamon as solitary flavors in only one bite, I didn't notice any one flavor standing out - except, perhaps, the hidden ingredient: smoke. And, maybe a rye seed or two. The flavor was fairly unique - I would not have been able to pick out anything, if I had not seen the marinade (the chives are kind of visible) or actually put it together (which really, even as forgetful as I can be, makes for a dead giveaway,) which is really more than I could hope for. Even the fairly similar whiskey-balsamic burgers of last grilling season didn't blend as well into a single flavor. The grilled rye is also a critical part of this - the only misgiving as far as a steak marinade, is that I'm not sure how to get the rye in there. I wouldn't want that to be a sandwich, but that added so much to the overall meal, that I would not cook this burger without having the bread on hand.
