"Fantastic" beats out Chinese

It's amazing what happens on the rare occasion that the Speech Bubbles don't appear...

(Frankly they may've appeared, but empty like my spot on the bleachers...yes, my baseball nerve's still raw. Sorry.)

...I start to think take out, especially on those rare occasions when it's just the boys and me, and miraculously the Bubbles appear with inspiration...burgers...basil...goat cheese...horseradish...I can do something with that!

A quick call home:
Me: Do you want Chinese or Fantastic burgers?
Jere: Why have Chinese when I could have something 'Fantastic?'

Done deal!

Details?
Here goes:

-In a bowl, combine about 10-12 minced basil leaves, 2 minced garlic cloves made into a paste with a bit of salt, 1 t worcestershire sauce, a half t powdered fenugreek seed, a t ground black pepper with 1 lb (80/20) ground beef.
-Preheat cast iron skillet to almost smoking.
-Form burgers (this made 4 OK-sized ones...would be considered small for some) with an indentation in the center so they don't plump to silliness and cook to your desired doneness.
-For the sauce, warm 3 T goat cheese with 2 T cream, 1 t prepared horseradish, pinch of salt and a heavy grind of black pepper...whisk to combine.
-Serve burgers topped with sauce on bread of choice (baguette for us).

Tonight I made the green beans and tossed 'em in a heaping t of store-bought pesto...a nice complement to my martini - my Master Mixologist was drinking and dining with old pals. Oh and I have to put martini glasses on my GPS...one poor vessle didn't quite make it out of its frozen slumber...

With apologies to Dave Matthews...

...Eat, drink and be merry
for tomorrow we die

or eat Mediterranean-inspired burgers!
That's what we did tonight. After I defrosted the chopped meat.

Oh, did I overlook that little detail? Yeah, as the protein speech bubbles erupt over my head they rain FROZEN meat!

Plan ahead?

Pshaw...that's the point of this blog.

So it was the burgers on soft rolls w/spicy tangy smoothy dressing; french cut string beans (from a poly bag...no snickering); and whole-sour pickles.

Details?
Here goes:
-In a mixing bowl, place about a quarter cup minced drained capers and a minced medium shallot, add zest and juice of half a lemon, quarter teaspoon each ground fenugeek seed, ground cumin and aleppo pepper flakes, half teaspoon each dried oregano, coarsely ground black pepper and granulated garlic. Crumble about a 2-inch cube of feta into the bowl, mix, add about one and a half pounds ground beef and mix it all.
-I got 6 nice-sized patties out of this and it REALLY makes a difference if you put a dimple - 1-inch diameter or so - in the center of the raw burger 'cuz they come out flat!
-Cooked 'em in the rockin hot Behemoth...our 15-inch diameter cast iron skillet...it only weighs 12 lbs, really!
-Sauce is a ridiculous combo, but Oh-So-Good: half cup 2% Greek yogurt, T lime marmalade melted in micro, 2t strong Irish mustard...whisk then spread liberally on the buns...Yum.


Yes, the guys eat this...No, marshmallow Fluff doesn't stay between the layers of baking brownie; it floats.