The Best Burger in the World

Let’s talk about the best burger in the world.

A few months ago, a good friend of mine took some friends and I to his family’s restaurant. At this restaurant I ordered this burger, of which I exclaimed, “This is the best burger in the world.”

I have had it in my mind for a while to remake this miraculous burger to the best of my ability… and while on a recent visit to Texas, with plans of watching this big basketball game that I think was supposed to be important or something, my boyfriend said he was buying some beer on his way over, to which I thought it would only be right to pair the best burger in the world.

I twisted my friend’s family restaurant’s burger a bit to make it my own, but I have to give great thanks for the inspiration. My tummy thanks you ;)

Let me just preface that this is NOT healthy. But, ya know, that’s what Splurge Saturdays are for. 

You just gotta splurge sometimes.

Equation to the best burger of the world:

2 Buttery Toasted Hawaiian buns

+

¼ Cup Pimento Cheese

+

1 Perfectly-Cooked Over Easy Egg

+

1 80/20 (Beef-To-Fat Ratio) Well-Seasoned Ground Beef Patty

+

1 Small Block of American Cheese (stuffed into the Beef Patty)

YUM!

The Juicy Pimento Cheese, Egg, American-Cheese Stuffed Burger

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Perfect Pimento Cheese:

2 cups grated Cheddar Cheese

1 cup grated Monterey Jack Cheese or Pepper Jack Cheese

1 4-ounce can diced Pimentos (found by the olives in the grocery store)

1 Jalapeño pepper, washed, diced fine, seeds kept

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon cayenne

2/3 cup reduced-fat Mayonnaise

½ cup reduced-fat Cream Cheese, softened

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Burger:

1 ½ pounds Ground Beef (80 percent lean-this is most important for the perfect burger)

1 ½ tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste

1 teaspoon pepper, plus more to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 eggs

4 American Cheese slices (or any type of cheese, but for this burger I suggest this)

4 Hawaiian buns

1 tablespoon softened butter

Original Pam Spray
A bunch of napkins (you'll need them, trust me)

Procedure:

1. So you don’t forget, preheat the oven to Broil. Butter each bun and bottom of the Hawaiian buns, and place on a baking sheet. (DON’T place in oven yet).
2. Make pimento cheese: Mix all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl until well combined. Refrigerate until ready to use. (Note: you probably won't use all of the Pimento cheese of the burgers, but it serves as a GREAT snack with pretzel crackers, snow peas, or even a killer grilled cheese)
3.  Cut each slice of American cheese in half, then in half again (so you have 4 equal squares). Stack 4 squares on top of each other to form 4 cheese cubes.
4. In a large bowl, mix with your clean hands ground beef, Worcestershire Sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper, and olive oil until ingredients are well combined.
5. Divide beef into 8 equal portions and place on a work surface. Roll each of these portions into balls and then flatten them. Place 1 stack of American cheese in 4 patties. Place the other empty patties on top of the patties with American cheese, and pinch the edges to form a tight seal. Cup each patty with your hands to reform them into normal looking burger patties, and work them until they form a single, thick patty. Repeat with all patties until you have 4 good-looking patties. Transfer them to plate and refrigerate for a moment while you prepare the stove.  
6.  If you have this type of amazing stovetop grillpan, then get out that baby. But if you don’t (don’t fret, but you should probably go ahead and order it), just get out a large, nonstick sauté pan. Heat over medium-low heat until hot (like 2-3 minutes), spray well with Pam, then place the 4 patties (or as many as will fit at one time) into the plan. Turn heat to low (it's all about low and slow!) and cook, undisturbed (don’t press them), for 4 minutes (it's totally okay if cheese oozes out a bit). With a spatula, flip patties and cook another 4 minutes. This creates a medium-rare burger (how a burger should be eaten), but if you aren't one for any pink in the center, then cook your burger a little longer on each side for desired done-ness. Transfer patties to a plate and cover loosely with tinfoil (it’s important to let the burger rest for a few minutes). Reserve the burger juices in the pan they cooked in.
7.  While burgers are resting, throw those Hawaiian Buns in the oven and set a timer for 3 minutes.
8. In a medium saucepan, pour the reserved burger “juices” and heat to medium heat. Gently crack all 4 eggs into the pan and cook until whites are set, but yolks are still soft (about 3 to 4 minutes-over easy style). With spatula, divide the eggs into 4 portions (if the whites are all stuck together). Season with salt and pepper and take off heat.
9. Pull the Hawaiian buns. Divide onto four plates. Immediately coat the top buns with a heaping amount of pimento cheese. Place a burger patty on each of the four bottoms. Place an over-easy egg on top of each patty.
10. Serve to your sports-obsessed boyfriend, who actually takes his eyes off the game to eat this burger because it is, in fact, the best burger in the world.

Fruit Salsa with Baked Cinnamon Oatmeal Chips

I love me some fruit.

I don't think there's any fruit that I don't like... I just love that it's healthy AND beautiful to eat all by itself. 

...but there's nothing wrong with adding some fluff, either. 

This appetizer/snack/dessert has just the right amount of fruity fluff without too much effort, and is adapted from one of Momma Jacque's recipe ~(thanks, Mom!)~

So go ahead and whip it up, devour it, and remind yourself that the fact that you just consumed every last drop is totally fine because you now have your daily fiber and fruit servings all taken care of.

...and substitute any fruit you'd like. I picked a few of my favorites and they worked together quite well; but add & subtract as you please :) 

It's just like chips and queso! 

- except a little sweeter and like 1/10 the calories -

Fruit Salsa with Baked Cinnamon Oatmeal Chips

Serves 8

Ingredients:

For the Chips:

10 6-inch flour tortillas

1 egg

½ cup Steel Cut Oatmeal

1 tablespoon ground Cinnamon

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

For the Salsa:

1 Mango

1 Navel Orange

1 Red Delicious Apple

2 Kiwis

2 Nectarines

2 cups Apricot Preserves

1 Pomegranate

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut each tortilla into 4 equal triangles in the shape of tortilla chips and align them on a sheet tray. Mix egg well with fork in a small bowl. Mix cinnamon, sugar, and oatmeal together in another small bowl.
2. With a pastry brush, brush egg onto the top side of all of the tortilla triangles. Next, with a spoon, sprinkle oatmeal mixture over all of the cut tortillas. Press oatmeal into the tortilla a bit so it will stay.
3. Bake chips for 8 minutes, then rotate the sheet pan and bake another 8 minutes. Take chips out of oven and let cool.
4. Deseed the pomegranate and set aside in a small bowl. Wash and peel all of the other fruit and place in a blender with apricot reserves. Pulse fruit mixture until partially pureed and slightly chunky. Mix in pomegranate seeds, but don’t pulse.
5. To serve, pour fruit into 8 coffee mugs on top of plates and circle the cooled cinnamon oatmeal chips around the mugs. 

xoxo,

Casey

Jolly Ginger Cocktail

I'm a sucker for a sweet cocktail.

The problem with this is that sweet cocktails should be called "high calorie cocktails" or "yes I'm tasty but if you keep drinking me I'll add 10 pounds to ya realll fast" cocktails.

...but I've solved this problem for ya. 

The answer is Splenda simple-syrup. It's easy, sweet, and is the perfect addition to any sweet cocktail that your sweet heart desires.

This particular drink was inspired by my love for ginger-ale... oh, and get this: it's only 80 calories per drink, purely from the alcohol content. That fact alone can make a girl very, very jolly (hint the name). 

...and if you happen to be one who isn't too keen on alcohol, then this is a 0 calorie drink. Your welcome.

Also, I measured this drink out by cups. I know that isn't too professional... but I'm more of a baker than I am a bartender and I'm sure many of you can relate. A baker who enjoys her sweet cocktails. 

 ~ I'll take this drink stirred ~

Just call me the "Skinny Girl Cocktail Protege"  ((watch out Bethenny!))

Don't you love my whiskey Mad Men glasses I got at Bed, Bath, & Beyond on sale for $2 each? 

Oh, and fellow foodie, while you're sipping up (it's whatever o'clock somewhere), check out this article that I found very interesting, and very, very true (good thing I don't blog about restaurants).

The Jolly Ginger

Serves: 4 Cocktails

Ingredients:

Ginger Syrup: (serves 4)

1 ginger root, peeled, roughly cut into 1-inch matchstick-sized pieces

2 cups water, boiling

2 cups Splenda

Per each cocktail:

Ice Cubes

½ cup Sparkling Water (I prefer Pellegrino)

½ cup Ginger Syrup

¼ cup Vodka

Lime (cut wedges for the glass)

A cute straw

Ginger Syrup

1.  Place cut ginger in boiling water and continue to boil for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let ginger steep for another 30 minutes.
2. Once steeped, drain ginger water into another sauce pan and bring to a boil.
3. Add Splenda to boiling water and mix to dissolve (it dissolves quickly). Boil for another minute. Turn off heat.
4.  Allow ginger syrup to cool, then transfer to a covered container and refrigerate.

Cocktail

1. For each cocktail, add a few pieces of ice. On top of the ice, pour sparkling water, ginger syrup, and vodka into the glass and stir with a cute straw. Serve with lime wedge. Sip up! 

XOXO,

Cutting Calories Casey

Brussels with Creamy Roasted Tomato & Chorizo Sauce

Forget troubles with dating your greens... Oh, I mean eating them.

This vegetable named Mr. Brussels has sure helped me to.

Buying Brussels Sprouts became a weekly grocery store purchase ever since I figured out the proper way to cook them. Once in college I saw Brussels Sprouts in the frozen aisle and was like, "Why not?" After attempting to cook that frozen mess, only concluding in these green ball things with a mushy center, Mr. Brussels and I decided we weren't meant for each other.

But now we have worked things out and are in a full-fledged relationship, and must I admit that we are happier than ever. We went to "roasting therapy" and with a little help of olive oil and the right amount of salt, I don't see us ever breaking up again.

Then I ate at this mexican restaurant and ordered Mr. Brussels, only he was topped with this creamy, roasted tomato, smoky chorizo sauce and in the moment of the second bite, I decided I believed in polygamy. Once I went home and delightfully and health-conciously recreated this amazing sauce, I thought it was only fair to share my relationship with Mr. Brussels with all my friends... for when you spend just a little time cooking him along with this sauce, I believe you will experience love at first smell. And then taste. And with no guilt, for Mr. Brussels is a very healthy and nutrient-rich vegetable (what more can you ask for??)

PLUS his sauce accompaniment is quite light.

I have no doubt that you will fall as hard as I have...

Don't fret about these post-roasting crispy bits... they're kind of my favorite.

 

Ahhh I'm so happy for you two!

Brussels with Creamy Roasted Tomato & Chorizo Sauce 

Serves 2 meal portions OR 4 side portions

Ingredients:

For the Brussels:

About 16-Ounces Brussels Sprouts

1/2 Cup Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper, to taste

For the Sauce:

5 On-The-Vine Tomatoes, Washed, De-Stemmed, & Cut in 1/2 Horizontally

1/2 Cup Olive Oil

1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning 

Salt and Pepper, To Taste

1 Small Chorizo Sausages, Roughly Chopped (casing removed if it has casing-mine didn't)

1/2 Cup Fresh Salsa (the fresh, pico de gallo kind)

1/2 Teaspoon Minced Garlic

1/4 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese, plus 1/4 Cup to Garnish

1/2 Cup nonfat or 2% plain Greek Yogurt

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place tomatoes into a medium bowl. Add olive oil and toss to evenly coat tomato halves. Lay tomato halves cut side down on a sheet tray with sides or any other shallow baking dish. Sprinkle Italian Seasoning as well as salt and pepper over tomatoes. Roast for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until tomatoes are completely softened and wilted and start to wrinkle.
2. In the last hour of the tomatoes roasting, cut off the bottom ends of the Brussels Sprouts and cut them in half lengthwise. Wash in a colander/strainer under cold water, and shake until most of the water has dripped out. Place Brussels into same bowl used for Brussels and add olive oil. Mix well with clean* hands until olive oil has evenly coated the Brussels (may add more olive oil if you think it's necessary). Pour Brussels onto a sheet pan (it's best if it has sides) and spread Brussels in one even layer. Season generously with salt and pepper. I always taste one before cooking to make sure it's properly seasoned (they actually taste quite nice raw). Once oven is preheated, place sheet tray in oven and roast, continuously checking and shaking the pan about every 15 minutes so they get somewhat evenly golden. When they're done cooking, they should be crisp and golden on the outside and tender on the inside, about 35-45 minutes. 
3. While tomatoes and Brussels are in their last 10 minutes of cooking, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once heated, place roughly chopped chorizo sausage into pan and saute for about 5 minutes, until those beautiful golden oils are released. Add salsa and garlic and cook another 3 minutes. Add parmesan cheese and cook another 2 minutes, until pretty much all melted (around this time, the tomatoes and brussels should be done, so pull out). Pull saucepan off heat and let cool 10 minutes, while roasted tomatoes are cooling as well. 
4. Once roasted tomatoes and saucepan mixture have cooled slightly, place roasted tomatoes, saucepan mixture, and greek yogurt into a blender. Pulse until mixture is thoroughly blended, about 30 seconds. Don't over-blend.
5. If mixture is still warm, then serve immediately over Brussels. If not, and if Brussels need re-heating, pop both into microwave and re-heat real fast.
6. Don't forget to grate some extra parmesan on-top of your masterpiece. Enjoy!

XOXO,

Casey & Mr. Brussels 

Eggy Egg Salad Made Healthy

I love eggs.

They're cheap, and when you get them cage free and farm raised, they're dang good... and still cheap. 

This recipe is quite simple... but I figured it should be that way since I'm complicating things a little bit in the next two weeks (but totally in a good, easy-to-follow way). Just wait. You'll love it.

But for now, I'd like to share one of my super easy and healthy recipes that I like to make more often than not. It's yum and fresh, and will go great smothered on some fresh white bread OR just eaten by itself. I prefer both. :)

Only cooking the eggs for 8 minutes keeps the yolks slightly softer than an 11-minute hard-boiled egg, therefore providing a creamier egg salad. 

So when this softer 8-minute yolk is mixed with the Greek yogurt, it provides a creaminess that replaces the lack of mayonnaise. Love that soft yolk. 

Eggy Egg Salad Made Healthy

Yield: 4 portions

Ingredients:

8 eggs

1 cup nonfat or 2% plain Greek yogurt

3 celery stalks, finely diced

1 ½ tablespoon spicy Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon paprika

salt and pepper, to taste

Garnish: You could funk this up and add some cooked/chopped turkey bacon and/or diced bell peppers!

Procedure:

1. Fill medium saucepan ¾ way up with water. Bring to a boil. Carefully add eggs to saucepan, adding them one by one and lowering into the water with a spoon so they don’t break. Boil for exactly 8 minutes. 
2. While eggs are boiling, create an ice bath to transfer eggs into in order to stop their cooking (an ice bath consists of a little ice and some water in a bowl). Once 8 minutes are up, transfer eggs to the ice bath with a slotted spoon and let cool in ice bath for 5 minutes.
3. Once eggs are cooled, peel them and discard of eggshells, placing peeled eggs in a clean bowl. Lightly fork the eggs, being careful to not mix them too much. You want the eggs salad to be a little chunky.
4. Once eggs are to desired consistency, add Greek yogurt, diced celery, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper.
5. Get fresh white bread, spoon some on, and enjoy! Or if you’re going breadless like myself, eat it by itself! It’s that good…

XoXo,

Casey

Bulgogi “Take-Out” with 40-Calorie Noodles

So about my first Bulgogi experience...

It all happened a few months ago when a few culinary friends wanted to introduce me to Korean BBQ. Now I had always seen those words on the front of cheap, low-scale, grade D Chinese food restaurants where they always have those specials that usually consist of abnormally low cost buffet lines... AKA the places you stay away from unless you want to eat cats and have the worst stomach pains of your life.

...but it was a Friday, and I'm usually adventurous on Fridays. So I said yes.. and thank Heavens I did.

Now even though those small plates we're quite tasty and all, they were just the bystanders. The true celebrity of the meal was the Bulgogi.

Bulgogi is what's being fired to the left there, and it's definition according to me is as follows: "beautifully marinated meats in a sweet, Chinese fashion." But seriously... these meats are, in my opinion, how Heaven cooks their skirt steak.

Although I couldn't completely replicate the taste of the meats I tasted at that totally non-sketchy Korean BBQ restaurant, I came pretty darn close. Also, since this meat reminded me of an upscale Chinese take-out, I figured it was best that I used as many green vegetables as I had sitting in the fridge as accompaniments (but seriously- you can basically use any kind of vegetable, because pretty much any vegetable tastes good with soy sauce).

I also decided to experiment with my grocery store find, which is tofu noodles. Just think of a noodle that tastes almost exactly like a normal noodle... but a little bouncier... and you can gobble up a WHOLE  bag for 40 smackin' calories. If that's not a seller, I don't know what is! And they beautifully absorb any flavor or sauce that surrounds them. What more could a girl on a diet ask for?

All in all, I hope that you experiment a little and try marinating some meat and consuming it with this healthy, 300-ish calorie dish. If you find yourself feeling lame and unadventurous, you can always add something like chicken-your-way or shrimp to this noodle dish... but just to reiterate, the marinade is SO easy-just pop it all into a blender and BLEND! Plus, half the ingredients are not completely necessary so you don't really have an excuse not to try it...

Just look at the caramelization on the skirt steak due to the sugar in the marinade.

Cue the drool.

Bulgogi “Take-Out” with 40-Calorie Noodles

Ingredients:

Marinade: Yields 6-8 portions of marinated meat

2 lbs. Flank steak

½ yellow onion, roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves

2 teaspoons Sriracha (not necessary if you don’t have it)

½ cup soy sauce

½ cup Worcestershire sauce (not necessary if you don’t have it)

1 pear, peeled and roughly chopped

5 scallions

½ cup sesame oil (or vegetable oil)

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (not necessary if you don’t have it)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

½ tablespoon agave nectar or honey

For Service: Yields 2 portions

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

¼ yellow onion, roughly chopped

6 asparagus stalks, chopped into 1-inch pieces

a handful of snow peas (about ¾ cup)

1 8-ounce bag Tofu Shirataki

1 ½ tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon garlic powder

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. For the marinade, place onion, garlic cloves, Sriracha , soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, pear, green onions, sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, brown sugar, and agave nectar/honey in a blender and pulse for about 30 seconds until well blended.
2. Slice flank steak in ¼ inch slices and into bite-sized pieces. Pour blended marinade in a bag or Ziploc container along with the flank steak pieces, seal, and let marinate for at least 3 hours (or overnight for best results… the longer the meat marinates, the more the flavors seep into the meat). I even had so much flank steak that I divided the marinade into two containers and froze one in the marinade (totally safe and do-able and lasts about two months-I love this whole freezing-ahead-for-a-future-meal thing... it's quite handy). 
3.  Once the meat has marinated long enough, heat olive oil in a non-stick sauté pan over medium heat. Place minced garlic clove, chopped onion, chopped asparagus stalks, and snow peas in pan and sauté until soft. In a strainer, quickly drain the Tofu Shirataki, discarding the liquid, so just the noodles are left. Add the noodles to the sauté pan along with the soy sauce, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix well and cook long enough to heat the noodles through. Taste for seasoning purposes, and adjust seasoning accordingly. Once noodles are heated through, vegetables are soft, and seasonings are correct, pour into two bowls and keep warm.
4. Rinse out sauté pan and heat over medium. Once pan is hot, pull out the marinated meat. Scrape off some of the marinade with the back of a knife/shake off the marinade when taking the meat out and place meat into the pan (cook as much as the meat as you want to eat… keep the rest in marinade and place back in fridge for up to 3 days or freeze). Note: some of the marinate can be kept on the meat, as long as it is cooked for a proper amount of time (10-15 minutes) or once it reaches 160 degrees F.
5. Once meat is cooked through, place on top of the noodles and vegetables… or just combine the whole thing into a bowl for yourself.
6. Now go on and enjoy those 40-calorie noodles and Heavenly skirt steak. I sure did.