Jack-o'-Lantern Halloween Burger recipe

You don’t have to be a kid to celebrate All Hallows’ Eve.

If you're going to dress up like a creepy character or a sexy fill-in-the-blank, why not enjoying some scary good Halloween burgers as well?

Here's a quick recipe for some Jack-o'-Lantern burgers, via tasteofhome.com:

Jack-o'-Lantern Halloween Burger

Ingredients:

1 envelope onion soup mix
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons chili powder
2-1/2 pounds ground beef
10 slices process American cheese
10 hamburger buns, split

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine soup mix, ketchup, brown sugar, horseradish and chili powder. Crumble beef over mixture; mix well. Shape into 10 patties. Grill, broil or pan-fry until the meat is no longer pink.

Cut eyes, nose and mouth out of each cheese slice to create a jack-o'-lantern. Place cheese on burgers; cook until cheese is slightly melted, about a minute. Serve on buns.

Yield: 10 servings.

Mixed emotions about BGR burger joint in Coral Gables

I wanted to try Fatburger in Coral Gables, but when I got there, it turns out the place had been replaced for a different burger joint, BGR The Burger Joint.

BGR is a chain of burger restaurants, with three locations in Miami and several more spread throughout nine states.

Once inside, the place’s décor was somewhat confusing. Eighties rock band posters lined the walls, yet everything else—from the tables to the floors—looked more like a hybrid between a McDonalds and an Art Deco diner.

The burger joint is self serving; you order your food at the counter, get your soft drink, plastic silverware and ketchup, and once the order is ready they bring it to your table and never come back again.

The burger offerings were quite gourmet, which was surprising given the look of the place. It’s definitely not cheap, with burgers ranging from $8 to $15, and one 9-pound monster burger for $80. Here’s the burger menu:

The Burger: This burger doesn’t have a description, all it says is “this is the one that put us on the map.” Served on a fresh, buttery-toasted brioche bun.

Veggie Burger: House-made recipe including brown rice, black beans, oats and molasses. Served on a fresh, buttery-toasted brioche bun. Specify lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, mojo sauce.

Turkey Burger: Freshly ground and blended with portobello mushrooms and a hint of gorgonzola cheese, then cooked sous vide (very low and slow). Served on a fresh, buttery-toasted brioche bun.

The Cuban: Burger topped with slow roasted pork, ham, sweet pickles, dijon mustard and swiss cheese. Served on our brioche bun and grill pressed.

The Greek: Fresh ground leg of lamb, seasoned with cumin, mint and garlic. Topped with tzatziki sauce and feta cheese. Served on a fresh, buttery-toasted brioche bun.

Ahi Tuna: Sushi-grade tuna topped with grilled pineapple, pickled ginger, a touch of teriyaki sauce, and our mojo sauce. Served on a fresh, buttery-toasted brioche bun.

The Wellington: Roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions, garlic with a touch of mustard seed and blue cheese all atop our burger. Served on a fresh, buttery-toasted brioche bun with our mojo sauce.

The Southwestern: A 9oz burger infused with southwestern influences, like chipotles, poblanos, onion and chilis. Topped with pepper jack and served atop our black bean salsa. Served on a fresh, buttery-toasted brioche bun with our mojo sauce.

The Lobster (seasonal): Lump claw and knuckle meat pulled from Maine Lobsters, served on our slider buns with a special dressing and crisp cold lettuce.

The 9 Pounder: Actual weight including bun and condiments is 15.4 pounds. Two heads of lettuce, eight tomatoes, three red onions, four whole pickles and a river of our mojo. Comes with a bottle of Maalox. If one person can eat it in one sitting it’s free. Feeds approx 10-15.

I had the Wellington and the Greek

The Wellington

The patty had a really smoky flavor and a chunky grounding, which I really liked. The main stars of the burger were the combination between the mustard seed and the blue cheese; the two flavors are very strong by themselves but when meshed together made for a great sauce. Then there were the roasted mushrooms and black truffles. This fungi duo added great texture and an earthy flavor to complement the patty and the sauce.

If anybody told you they would put all these ingredients together, I’m sure you would probably say it wouldn’t work, but it did. It was the Picasso of burgers.

The only issue I had with the burger was that I ordered it cooked medium-well and it was done medium-rare. The red juices dripping into the bun were kind of a turn off.

The Greek burger was a major disappointment.

In the menu it said that the burger had been featured on Food Network’s “Throwdown with Bobby Flay,” and had actually beaten the grilling master.

The flavor profile was just too mild, nothing stood out except the mountain of feta cheese on top of the patty. It was so-not memorable than I even forgot to shoot photos of it.

Overall, I can’t really make my mind on whether I liked BGR The Burger Joint or not. I think it’s expensive for what it offers, but it also makes me want to go back and try other burgers.

This is what other bloggers are saying about BGR The Burger Joint:

Fatgirl Hedonist on the Greek burger:

The bun was a freshly baked, soft brioche topped sesame seeds. The seasoning on the burger was amazing and the meat was tender and insanely flavorful. The tzatziki sauce was also fresh and and very creamy and played perfectly with the feta cheese and super fine cucumbers.

Food for Thought on the Cuban burger:

My initial foray into BGR-ville was the "Cuban." Before getting to the toppings, let's focus on the burger itself. On the plus side, it's cooked to order and to requested degree of doneness - and my requested medium was in fact delivered. But texturally, this burger was unusually dense and monolithic, despite being cooked only to medium temperature. It felt like a solid block of meat, more meatloaf than burger, with no tenderness to it. And while I liked the idea of a Cuban burger, the toppings turned the thing into a salt lick. I usually have a pretty high threshold for aggressive seasoning, but between the salty pork, the salty ham, and the salty cheese, I was in the market for hypertension medication before I finished it. A light, fluffy brioche bun was rendered irrelevant by being pressed, Cuban sandwich style.

Rachel Ray's Lasagna Burger recipe

How do you go from being a small time cook to being an uber famous day-time talk show host? Ask Rachel Ray, she hosts the Rachel Ray show on CBS and three more programs on the Food Network channel.

Ray jumped to stardom for being able to prepare meals in 30 minutes or less in one of her shows.

Here's one of her recipes for a lasagna burger. Via rachaelraymag.com:

Photo by Marcus Nilsson.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds ground beef, pork and veal mix
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
One 14.5-ounce can Italian crushed tomatoes1 handful basil leaves, shredded or torn
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, season the meat with plenty of salt and pepper. Form into four patties, thinner in the middle for more even cooking. Drizzle with olive oil.

2. In a saucepan, heat two table spoons of olive oil, two turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes; add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more, then stir in the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes; stir in the basil.

3. In a large skillet, heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the patties and cook, turning once, until medium-rare, 7 to 8 minutes.

4. While the patties are cooking, in a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat; whisk in the flour for 1 minute, then whisk in the milk. Season with salt, pepper and the nutmeg, then cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ricotta and parmigiano-reggiano.

5. Spoon some red sauce on the roll bottoms, then top with the patties. Dollop the cheese sauce on the patties and set the roll tops in place.

Amstel Light Burger Bash tickets available Oct. 24

Food on television always seems to look better than in real life, but for once you might actually get the chance to sink your teeth into burgers prepared by some of the most notorious chefs in the country and make your own judgment.

Tickets for the 2012 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival (Feb. 23-26) will become available next Monday, Oct. 24, according to a press release.

The 11th annual edition of the Festival will feature lots of events for different types of foodies. We are concerned with the Amstel Light Burger Bash, a gathering that brings together chefs like Bobby Flay, Geoffrey Zakarian and Michael Schwartz to see who shows superior burger-building craftsmanship.

Iron Chef Michael Symon’s burger with fried salami, provolone, shasha hot sauce and pickled onion claimed the People’s Choice award in 2011.

Tickets for this event go for about $250 per person in total and can be purchased online or via telephone at 877-762-3933.

Rachel Ray and chef Michael Symon with his burger award at last year's
Food Network South Beach Wine and Food Festival. Photo courtesy of
sobefest.com

Recipe: Bobby Flay's Green Chile Cheeseburgers

For this week's recipe, I'm bringing something from king of the grill Bobby Flay.

Flay is a celebrity chef who hosts several shows on the Food Network channel and owns restaurants throughout the country; he's best known for his grilling technique.

Here's his recipe for green chile cheeseburgers, via foodnetwork.com:

Ingredients

Queso Sauce:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
12 ounces Chihuahua or Monterey jack cheese, coarsely grated
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Green Chile Relish:
1 medium poblano chile, roasted, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
2 Hatch chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
1 serrano chile, roasted, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pickled Red Onions:

1 1/2 cups red wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 medium red onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

Burgers:

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 hamburger buns, split and lightly toasted
12 blue or yellow corn tortilla chips, coarsely crushed
For the queso sauce:

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the milk, increase the heat to high and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cheese until melted; add the Parmesan and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Keep warm.

For the relish:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

For the pickled red onions:

Bring vinegar, water, sugar and salt to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Put the onions in a medium bowl, pour the vinegar over, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 48 hours before serving.

For the burgers:

Heat a griddle or large saute pan over high heat. Add the oil and let it heat until it begins to shimmer.

Shape the ground beef with your hands into 4 round patties about 1 1/2 inches thick and season each burger on both sides with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook the burgers until golden brown on both sides and cooked to medium, about 8 minutes.

Put the burgers on the buns and top each with a few tablespoons of the queso sauce, relish, onions and chips.

Guy Fieri to open burger joints on Carnival cruises

Fieri shows off his new burger.  Bill
Kostroun/Courtesy of Carnival
Cruise Lines.

You turn on the TV and there is Guy Fiery sampling food at some diner in the middle of nowhere. You go to T.G.I Friday’s and his face is printed all over the menu. Then you take a vacation, and the restaurant on the cruise bears his name.

This is no greasy nightmare.

The Food Network star has signed up a deal with Florida’s Carnival Cruise Lines to bring some of his burger ideas on board, according to Miami New Times.

The restaurant chain, called Guy’s Burger Joint, is inspired by roadside diners along California’s coast. They'll be located adjacent to deck-top pool areas and have surfboards and car items as decoration, including car bumpers, grilles and chrome pipes adorning the walls, according to USA Today.

"The burger that we're making is legit," Fieri told USA Today at a press conference. "It's a straightforward, real deal, quality burger. That's what it has to be."

The joint will open on the Carnival Liberty (October 2011), Carnival Breeze (June 2012), Carnival Conquest (October 2012), Carnival Glory (November 2012).

The best part of it? The burgers come free with the cruise ticket.

Comedian George Lopez and Carnival President Gerry Cahill sample Fieri's
new signature burger at the Carnival press conference. Ray
Stubblebine/Courtesy of Carnival Cruise Lines.

Heavy Burger in Aventura rocks

Hidden a few blocks from Aventura Mall is Heavy Burger, a rock-themed burger joint located in the posh city of Aventura near North Miami Beach.

From outside, Heavy Burger looks like a big red tent, that’s because the burger restaurant has a covered patio area, but there’s much more to it.

Once you step inside, the place is a cross between the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and a Wild West saloon: electric guitars, posters and different rock and roll memorabilia line up the walls; there are red leather couches; a bar; and the worn out wooden floor completes the whole décor.

The music matches the posters on the wall, from Led Zeppelin and The Beatles to Iron Maiden and Judas Priest.

The menu is creative and burgers are named to go along with the heavy metal motif:

Most burgers go for $10, with the most expensive one being the Twisted Burger ($14, see below). All burgers weigh 10 ounces except the Twisted Burger (8 ounces).

Heavy Burger (Classic): Black Angus patty, American cheese, crispy apple wood smoked bacon, Bibb lettuce, sliced tomato, fresh red onion, on a challah roll.

Motley Burger: Black Angus patty, barbecue sauce, cheddar cheese, apple wood smoked bacon, frizzled onion, Bibb lettuce, sliced tomato, fresh red onion on a challah roll.

The Destroyer: Black Angus patty, provolone cheese, roasted red peppers, sautéed mushrooms, garlic aioli, caramelized onion, Bibb lettuce, sliced tomato, served on an onion roll.

The Maiden: Black Angus patty, pepper-jack cheese, cucumber wasabi aioli, sliced avocado, Bibb lettuce, sliced tomato, served on a multi-grain roll

The Young Ron: Black Angus patty, dusted with Cajun spice, cheddar cheese, chili red onion, fresh jalapenos, Bibb lettuce, sliced tomato, served on an onion roll.

The Eruption: Black Angus, patty, crispy prosciutto, roasted red peppers, grilled pineapple, siracha hot chili sauce, Bibb lettuce, sliced tomato, served on a challah roll (very spicy).

The Head-Banger: Black Angus patty, hot wing sauce, blue cheese, crumbles, Bibb lettuce, sliced tomato, fresh jalapeno, served on a challah roll.

Twisted Burger: Kobe patty (wagyu) crispy prosciutto, sautéed mushrooms, caramelized onion, garlic aioli, Bibb lettuce & sliced tomato, served on a challah roll.

The Ball Breaker: Black Angus patty, brushed with chipotle aioli, sliced tomato, frizzled onions, Bibb lettuce, served between two grilled cheese sandwiches.

You can also custom make your own burger choosing from a variety of toppings.

I tried the Motley Burger and the Head-Banger Burger.

Motley Burger

The burger is almost too big to finish, which is a good thing. The flavor was great and there were basically two things that stood out, the barbecue sauce and the frizzled onion. The barbecue sauce had a sweet, spicy and tangy touch and was much lighter than the typical barbecue sauce you can get at a supermarket. The frizzled onion added texture and onion ring flavor to the burger.

The key for the whole burger was that it was well executed.

The grilled patty was cooked the way I wanted it (medium well) and the meat had just the right grinding—not too thick where you feel like you’re eating chorizo and not too thin as if you were having a meatball. The bacon wasn’t too crunchy or underdone.

My only critique is that the lower bun was cut slightly thin and got a little bit soggy.

The Head-Banger Burger

Same highs but some more lows for this one.

The patty was well-done rather than medium well. The blue cheese tasted great, the problem is that there was too much of it in the burger, and after a few bites it was all I could taste.

When you take into consideration ambiance, food and price, Heavy Burger ranks among the best burger joints that I’ve been to. I don’t really count service into consideration, but it’s worth mentioning that the server was very friendly and the restaurant owner came by the table several times.

This is what others are saying about Heavy Burger:

Burger Beast:

“I’d skip the Ball Breaker and eat the Heavy Burger (Classic) and if you’re creative, there’s enough choices to create your own specialty burger. I won’t tell you to run here but maybe a light jog will be in order.”

Comment on Yelp:

Jim O.:

“… I ordered the "Eruption", which is basically an Asian hot burger with pineapple, crisp prosciutto, and siracha hot chili sauce. Now the menu makes a very clear attempt to warn you that this burger is "very hot". I know I have a high tolerance for heat, but it is just siracha, not liquid magma. Despite the gratuitous warning, the burger was delicious. Perfectly cooked, with well balanced and thought out toppings. Managed the avoid the "extreme" burger joint pitfall of having the toppings take over the sandwich, and provided a very satisfactory meal…”

Comment on South Florida Menu Pages:

Burger Master:

“I heard about this place from friends who told me that it is a "Must Try." All I can say is that they are right. The burgers a huge, juicy, and delicious. The bread is fantastic and the choice of toppings are incredible. I went to Heavy Burger with my wife. She ordered the Tuna Steak Burger which was Sushi Grade Tuna on a whole wheat bun which she said tasted like cake. The fries are fresh cut and crispy. The atmosphere is sort of club like with comfortable couches that run on one side of the restaurant. There are many TV's that had sports on all except for one that was playing a concert video of "The Who." The music levels were just right for a conversation without having to yell. I really like the fact that Heavy Burger has a full bar with a great Micro Brew selection. I will definitely be back and will also tell all my friend to try this place before it is too crowded to get in.”

Comment on Zagat:

Dori L.:

“Great decor and music. Service was excellent. Burgers and fries are awesome. Too much food, wish I had an extra stomach to be able to finish it all.”

Comment on UrbanSpoon:

WKG:

“We went for dinner and the burgers were fabulous. They use high quality meat with great flavor. The fries were fresh and hand cut and cooked perfectly. We enjoyed our burgers and fries and will be back again.”