Menu:
Brisket burgers with umami mushrooms, caramelized onions, avocado, and Cabot white cheddah
Artichoke-Zucchini Gratin
Mache and Heirloom tomato Salad with a mustard vinaigrette
I know, right? It was a tasty one. The brisket for the burgers is clutch, I urge you all to try it. Go to Whole Foods or Bristol Farms or Byerly's (what up, MN peeps!) and head on over to the meat counter. Ask for a pound of brisket and have them grind it for you. I have a grinder attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer, and the Whole Foods butcher was cranky, so I just brought the brisket home and ground it myself (read: Adam ground it; that's a boy's job).
To make the brisket patties, I put the ground brisket in a mixing bowl with a few squeezes of ketchup, a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce, some salt/pepper, and one egg to bind them all. Use your hands here, guys - the are your best tools. Get everything nice and incorporated, but don't overwork the meat. Heh. Divide the meat into four and form into patties and refrigerate until you're ready to grill.
The Artichoke/Zucchini Gratin is pretty tasty - and a healthier alternative to delicious fries. It is a Giada De Laurentiis recipe, but I changed it just slightly as so to feed four people. For the artichokes, don't be scrrrd: you do not need to use fresh artichokes. Most grocery stores have them in the freezer section. Just let them thaw before you use them so that they don't steam when you saute them. So, I pre heated the oven to 450 degrees. As it heated, I threw the entire bag of thawed frozen artichoke hearts (it was almost a pound) in a skillet with a three-count of olive oil, three zucchinis that i roughly chopped, three cloves of chopped garlic, a handful of chopped parsley, and a pinch of red pepper flake. I got the veggies to brown a bit, and then added to the pan 1/2 cup of chicken broth and 1/4 cup of dry Marsala wine. I let that simmer for another couple of minutes, then transferred the mixture to my gratin pan (any shallow roasting pan will do here). Meanwhile, I melted some....butter! 2 tablespoons and then mixed it with 1/3 cup bread crumbs and 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese and poured in on the vegetables for a yummy, crusty topping. Into the oven until it turned golden brown, it took about 15 minutes. Dude. So good.
For the salad, I got some Mache, from Whole Foods - which I love. I heart it. I really like soft lettuces like mache and butter lettuce. Give them a go. I made a quick vinaigrette with mustard, red wine vinegar, a splash of white wine, salt/pepper and olive oil. I like to whisk the vinaigrette in the bottom of the salad bowl, then pile the greens on top. That way you can toss it right before serving, and the lettuce won't wilt. I also added chopped heirloom tomatoes, which were so sweet and delicious. Big step for me here, as I am usually only a fan of tomatoes in their sauce form. I'm such a grown up.
Okay - burger toppings. If you read last week's dinner, I do so love caramelized onions. I made these in the same way: two to three count of olive oil in the pan with a sliced onion with some salt/pepper. Get some good color on those boys and deglaze the pan with some white wine. Take the onions out and set aside, you're going to use this same pan to cook the mushrooms.
Time for umami mushrooms! I wear very fancy pants, by the way. Just kidding. Adam and his brother wear fancy pants - these mushrooms were their idear. So I took 10 or so crimini mushrooms and cleaned them (do NOT wash these, just brush the tops with a damp cloth; or don't if you like super rubbery mushrooms) and quartered them. I let them marinate during the burger and artichoke prep in some soy sauce, some Worcestershire sauce (five or so good shakes of the bottle of each), a small palmful of dried thyme, and some salt/pepper. After the onions are caramelized and out of the pan, pour the mushrooms and the marinade in, and cook those delicious fellas until they are browned but not too dry.
Sliced avocado and some Cabot white cheddar rounded out these outstanding, melt in your mouth burgers. Since grilling is also a boy's job, I sent Adam down to our apartment community's grill. He had gone down about ten minutes earlier to clean and heat the grill. When he went down there with the the meat and the ciabatta buns, a lovely neighbor of ours had totally bogarted the grill that Adam had prepped. Had it ENTIRELY covered . Uh, hello? Did you think that this grill was prepped just for you? Ah, apartment living. My patient fella shot the duder some laser beam looks and just prepped another grill. Sigh.
Anyhoosers, the burgers were cooked medium for me and medium well for those who can't handle a little pink in their burgers. Not naming names. The brisket was like butter, so juicy and melty and you can really tell the difference when it is freshly ground. With all of the toppings and side dishes, this was a really special meal. So tasty and refreshing on a beautiful, warm Sunday night. Try it tonight! Let me know how it goes!
-D
0 comments:
Post a Comment