Everyone has a great burger recipe...

The funny thing is that there are so many "secret recipes" when it comes to burgers. From sauces to spices, everyone seems to have some sort of under cover thought as to how to make an impeccable burger. Here is the real secret ---- KEEP IT SIMPLE!

Like most things when it comes to cooking, you don't have to do a bunch of stuff to a burger to make it good. Just use good ingredients and pay attention to what you're doing.

It's not rocket science... but there are a few rules you should follow this grilling season when it comes to cooking burgers. Grab your favorite macro or micro brew and follow along:

1) Use good quality meat --- I use ground sirloin but some like to use a fattier cut of meat. Whatever you like will work, just make sure it is fresh.

2) Don't overwork your patties --- when you make a patty, just form it, pat it a few times and put a small well in the center using your thumb (so you don't end up with oblong burgers when they cook).

3) Season your burgers prior to grilling them with ONLY salt and pepper. Don't use garlic powder, don't use seasoned salt, don't use your Dad's secret weapon of cayenne and chili powder. Keep it simple... remember?

4) Yes, you may oil your grill. If you don't, then your burger WILL stick to it. First, make sure it is clean by heating it to a high heat and scraping it with a grill scraper. Then leave it on the high heat and use a paper towl or kitchet towl to oil the grates.

5) Place your burgers on the grill and LEAVE THEM ALONE!!! Don't squash them or poke them. They are fine. And they never did anything to you. Stop agitating them.

6) Flip your burgers only ONE TIME. Depending on your level of "doneness" you will flip the burgers after a specified period of time. Once you have done this, don't flip them again. Just put your cheese on them, and walk away to let the cheese melt (if you're having cheese). If you want to know how long to cook your burgers for a level of "doneness" you like, click HERE.

7) Let them rest. Once the burgers are done, let them rest for about 3 minutes before devouring them on the bun. This will let the juices redistribute.

8) While you shouldn't experiment with the patties, you should experiment with toppings. I'm more of a classic guy who likes lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and ketchup. You can find some more ideas from Bobby Flay HERE.

Enjoy! Grilling season is upon us. And we all love a good reason to drink more beer... right?

Car Bomb Cupcakes

St. Patty's day has come and gone, and so are the cupcakes. All of those delicious chocolate Guinness mini cakes filled with rich Bailey's chocolate ganache topped with a smooth Bailey's buttercream. These cupcakes have been featured on Good Morning America and I have the recipe below for you from: http://annies-eats.com/2009/10/16/guinness-baileys-cupcakes/. There are a few steps, but overall, not too difficult to make.

Guinness and Bailey’s Irish Cream Cupcakes

Yield: 24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the Guinness chocolate cupcakes:
1 cup stout (Guinness)
16 tbsp. unsalted butter
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1½ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

For the Bailey’s ganache filling:
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. Bailey’s Irish cream

For the Bailey’s buttercream frosting:
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3-4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
4-8 tbsp. Bailey’s Irish cream

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. Combine the stout and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the eggs and sour cream to blend. Add the stout-butter mixture and beat just to combine. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed just until incorporated. Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, filling them about 2/3 to ¾ full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the ganache filling, place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until simmering, then pour it over the chocolate. Let sit for one minute and then whisk until smooth. If the chocolate is not completely melted, place the bowl over a double boiler or give it a very short burst in the microwave (15-20 seconds). Add the butter and Bailey’s and stir until combined.

Set aside to let the ganache cool until it is thick enough to be piped. (You can use the refrigerator to speed the cooling process, but be sure to stir every 10 minutes or so to ensure even cooling.) Meanwhile, cut out a portion from the center of the cupcake using the cone method (a small paring knife works best for this). Once the ganache has reached the correct consistency, transfer it to a piping bag fitted with a wide tip and pipe it into the cupcakes.

To make the frosting, place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Gradually add the powdered sugar until it is all incorporated. Mix in the Bailey’s until smooth. Add more if necessary until the frosting has reached a good consistency for piping or spreading. Frost the cupcakes as desired.

Anyone ready for another round?

Kid Rock's Detroit Tour

On a recent trip to Detroit, I had the pleasure of being taken to a local favorite in Clarkston, MI. If you ever make it to the Detroit area, Clarkston Union Bar and Kitchen is not a place to skip out on.

The atmosphere is unique. It's an old church converted to a restaurant, and by all means, the food is righteous. The macaroni and cheese was absolutely phenomenal. The combination of thick and creamy cheeses topped with a savory and crunchy layer amount to nothing short of awesome. It might have had me thinking about it most of the 4 hour drive home I had the next day.

Check out the link below to see their recent feature on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4mrgJCEcPQ

Lent!!! Bring on the Fish!!!

Let me start by saying that I am not Catholic. I am not originally from the Midwest and it is okay to eat meat on a Friday in my religion. But I LOVE LENT!!! Why? Easy: FISH FRIES!!! I remember when my wife and I first started dating. We spent a long time in a "long distance relationship" and I travelled many times to her home state of Wisconsin to visit her and her family. I love the Milwaukee area. It offers so much for someone who loves food and beer. Not the least of which is a the Friday night tradition of Fish Fry.

For those of you who don't know, in Wisconsin (and probably in a lot of other areas as well I am assuming) most restaurants offer an all you can eat fish and chips dinner on Fridays. I am guessing it is due in large part to the overwhelming amount of Catholics in Wisconsin and the fact that eating meat on Friday used to be a hell worthy tresspass. Well not so much any more... but the one glorious thing they have kept from those days is the Fish Fry. One of the best in the area is the 5 O'clock Club in the Pewaukee area. Most restaurants offer two different kinds of fried fish (baked and grilled fish too but why would you do that?). My favorite are the predictable cod fillets and lake perch. The latter is my absolute favorite. My father-in-law introduced me to it years ago and I absolutely love it now! If you get the chance to try it, go ahead.

Back to lent...

So here in St. Louis, we don't have Friday Night Fish Fry. It is a sad and somber thought that I have come to grips with. When I moved here, I remember actually wondering if we would have it here since it is a Midwestern city like Milwaukee. Imagine my disappointment. Except for Lent! During Lent, all of our local churches have Friday Night Fish Fries! True, they aren't at restaurants. They're at churches so there are tons of kids running around and it is LOUD, but most of them have "to go" areas for takeout and they do serve beer and wine so really, not a big deal. The best part is that most or all of our churches do it so there is always one nearby. The worst part is the crouds. I will literally stand in line for 30 minutes to pick up my carry out order.

Well tonight is the first Friday night of Lent. So around 5:45 or so, I will be heading over to Holy Infant Catholic Church with my daughter to pick up some fried seafood goodness. Whether you're Catholic or not, you should too!

The Importance of Knowing People

I know that's a weird title for a blog entry on a site dedicated to food and drink, but it is applicable. As I've stated before, I am an enthusiast of the distilled spirits; mainly Whiskey. Being from Kentucky and growing up less than 20 minutes away from the Bourbon Trail, I have grown to love Whiskeys, Bourbons and Ryes. I fancy myself a collector (although my "huge" collection is about 12 bottles strong right now). Still, I am not one of those collectors that never opens his bottles of Whiskey. Quite the contrary. I believe no one ever made a bottle of Whiskey to keep and never be openned. They're made to enjoy. So I enjoy them (although not nearly as often as I would like to... as it stands right now, I probably have 1 a month and that is being liberal).

I got off on a tangent there... sorry. I do that when I speak of Whiskeys. Back on track...

I heard recently through the internet that Woodford Reserve was coming out with a new permanent line extension of their already great stable of products. I was elated to hear of this (Woodford is my go to "everyday" bourbon). The new expression is Woodford Reserve Double Oaked. It is just that, a twice aged bourbon and I must say that I cannot wait to try it. To that end, I sent a note to the Spirits Manager at my local liquor store (Lucas Liquor). In the note I simply asked about ETA on availability and whether or not they would be doing a reservation process (like they did with another offering that I wanted in late 2011). He replied almost immediately telling me that it will be there in early March and he would be happy to put a bottle aside for me and call me when it came in.

I tell you this because there is an important lesson to learn here. It is good to be able to say, "I've got a guy" or "I know somebody" when it comes to procuring things that may be in high demand. It also helps to get to know people who work at the places where you shop and dine so that you may be able to get the insiders scoop on certain products or events. This is a good lesson to learn if you are into food and drink but also in most any other situation as well. It is invaluable to have a person that you trust "on the inside" when it comes to finding or buying things that are hard to find or buy.

And it doesn't hurt that Lucas Liquor has the best staff of any liquor/party store that I have ever run into. They are always friendly, knowlegable and attentive to their customer's needs. In a world where the art of customer service is dying quickly, Lucas Liquor and their staff just plain get it.

Consequently, if you live in St. Louis and are in need of any information on any knowledge having to do with alcohol (or you just want to buy some good beer), go to Lucas on Manchester. You'll be happy you did.

And I'll let you know what I think of the new Woodford Reserve. It sounds outstanding.

McDonalds (that's right... a post about McDonalds)

I definitely don't want to belittle my post yesterday about the most amazing restaurant in St. Louis (if you read it, good. If not, what are you waiting for?) but last night brought about an obsurd phenominon that I, like many people I bet, have dealt with their whole lives. A craving for McDonald's.

You see, my wife was home sick yesterday and it became apparent to me around midday that my services were not going to be needed in the kitchen for dinner last night due to said illness. Enter: the craving. Ever so often I get a craving for certain foods much like we all do. Usually it is for something that is as far from "good for me" as possible. Afterall, that is why they call them cravings right? We CRAVE something that we usually don't allow ourselves. The question is: why? Is it something that they put into the food? I doubt the FDA would allow anything like that. Is is it the convenience? Perhaps. Or maybe it is just the fact that we have convinced ourselves that these things we deprive ourselves are so bad that they should never be touched thus rendering them forbidden. And we all know what we do when something is forbidden right? We want it more! Probably not a good thing but really not all that bad when you think about it.

Sure eating a McDonald's Big Mac everyday is going to make you fat and cause some serious health problems. I'd go as far as to say that one a week will do the same thing although much more slowly. We've learned nothing if not that from movies like Super Size Me and The Nutty Professor. But having one ever so often couldn't hurt right? And that is why the cravings are good things. If we crave something, it just shows that we are heading down the right path I think. When I crave a Big Mac, my body is saying, "hey we don't usually have this and I know you've had a long day so why don't you treat yourself big guy?" Is that so wrong?

The answer is no. I think we've become too fixated on the things that are bad for us to realize that sometimes the things that we think are bad for us, are good for us. They're good for our soul. Does that mean that you should go out and eat a double quarter pounder every time that your boss yells at you? Well that's up to you and your belt, heart and blood pressure but I am guessing that's a big NO too. It just means that it is okay to treat yourself to the things that you like or love or crave from time to time. And tell your boss to suck it! Yelling at someone never did any good anyway.

I've always said (even in a recent post about my "diet") that life is way too short to torture yourself with dietting and obsessing about what you eat. It is too short to not enjoy the things you enjoy. If you like a scoop of ice cream, or a ribeye steak, or God forbit a greasy cheeseburger; go ahead. Just don't do it all the time and make the times you do treat yourself count and make sure they're worth it. I think you'll be much happier at the end of the day if you do.

Okay, so this is more of a post about treating yourself good than a post about McDonalds. But seriously though, what is up with those fries? They must put nicotine in them or something...

Happy Corporate Manufactured Holiday!

Okay, I'm a self admitted Valentine's Day cynic. There's just something about a holiday that makes you shovel out money to two major companies exclusively (florists and Hallmark) that just gets under my skin. But, since I have a wife and a daughter, I suppose I need to just suck it up and deal with the extortionistic holiday that is today. Consequently, over the weekend, we went to our favorite St. Louis restaurant to celebrate early. Having a 2-year-old means that weeknight meals almost exclusively need to be at home. It was a great meal in every way, shape and form. Our restaurant of choice, Mosaic Tapas and Modern Fusion, never disappoints.

We started with the Crab Salad. It was wonderful. Chuncks of lump crab meat atop microgreens with a citrus dressing. Fasntastic. We moved on from there in tapas fashion (IE, you order a bunch of stuff and they bring it out as it is prepared). Because we ordered so much stuff, I will just give you a brief summary of each items:

1) Korean BBQ Pork Apple (pictured above, best thing on the menu bar none!)
2) Pot Stickers (close 2nd)
3) Creole Lobster and Crawfish Risoto (spicy but outstanding)
4) Limoncello Mussells (decent, but not my favorite mussells)
5) Short Rib Mini Burgers (very good, and suprisingly tender --- the smoked ketchup is the star)

For dessert, my wife, daughter and I shared the Chocolate Smore's Tart. It was phenominal. Picture the best candy bar you ever ate served with caramel popcorn, toasted marshmallows and peanut brittle. Fanstastic!

All in all, a great Valentine's Day dinner. Even if it was just to celebrate a Hallmark Holiday.