Inside out burger

  A few years ago I was watching an episode of Steven Raichlen's grilling show, I don't recall which one it was, when he fixed an inside out burger and I've wanted to try it ever since. Well I finally got around to fixing it and my first attempt was a bit of a flop. The problem was that I put to much cheese into to little meat, which led to all the cheese to melt and then drain out leaving an empty cavity in it's place. I will be attempting this again at some point and will be sure to try and correct my earlier mistakes.

  The recipe is from allrecipes.com and is for a burger by the name of Jucy Lucy or Juicy Lucy. Now I will be honest I have no idea the history of the name or the idea, but it definitely makes for a great burger.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
4 slices American cheese (such as Kraft®)
4 hamburger buns, split

Directions

1.Combine ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt, and pepper in a large bowl; mix well. Form 8, thin patties from the beef. Each patty should be slightly larger than a slice of cheese.
2. Cut each slice of American cheese into 4 equal pieces; stack the pieces. Sandwich one stack of cheese between 2 ground beef patties. Tightly pinch edges together tightly seal the cheese within the meat. Repeat with the remaining cheese and patties.
3. Preheat a cast-iron or other heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Cook burgers until well browned, about 4 minutes. It is common for burgers to puff up due to steam from the melting cheese. Turn burgers and prick the top of each to allow steam to escape; cook until browned on the outside and no longer pink on the inside; about 4 minutes. Serve on hamburger buns.

Gryo with Tatziki

It's time again for another recipe that takes me for a walk down memory lane. The time is roughly 12 years ago when I was in Colorado with a high adventure group, we were out there to fish, mountain climb, repel, and white water rafting. It was one of the funnest summers of my early teenage years. I wish I could remember all the towns we visited, but for a teenager that was such a small detail, especially when I was busy having fun. While we were on our way out to go fishing for the afternoon, we stopped for lunch in supplies in one of the local towns. We ate lunch at a sort of 50's style diner. At this diner they had Gyro's on the menu and I was persuaded to try one, probably one of the few times to give into peer pressure for a teenager. I'm thankful I did because it was absolutely delicious. Well fast forward to now. My wife has never had a Gyro, so I knew she needed to try one. I looked for several ways of trying to give her some sort of decent glimpse of how delicious they can be. I settled on a simple recipe that called for items I knew were a little more economical and easily obtainable. She really liked my attempt at making them, so I may have to attempt a little more accurate recipe with proper ingredients. The real fun of this recipe came when our little girl wanted in on the action of her food wrapped like Mom and Dad's. We took a leaf of lettuce and made her a small wrap with a little sauce and a few small bite size chunks of the meat, she loved it. So this recipe is Tot approved!

Ingredients
Meat Mixture
1 lb. ground lamb or beef (I used beef)
1/4 cup minced red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
Sandwich
4 rounds of flat bread or pita
lettuce
tomato; sliced

Tzatziki sauce
Ingredients
1 cup plain yogurt
4 garlic cloves; roasted and finely chopped
1/2 lemon; juiced
2 tsp. finely chopped mint
1/4 cup finely chopped cucumber without seeds
Salt to taste

Preparation
Sauce
1. Place whole, un-peeled garlic cloves in a small, un-oiled skillet over medium low heat and cook for about two minutes per side-until lightly browned. Peel and chop finely.
2. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.
Allow the sauce to set in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to let the flavors mingle.

Meat Mixture
1. Thoroughly combine all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Divide into four equal portions and shape into oblong patties about 3" wide, 6" long, 1/2" thick. Refrigerate for an hour.
3. Grill patties over hot fire for 3-4 minutes per side.
4. Spread Tzatziki sauce down the center of a flat bread round, add a lettuce leaf, add some diced tomato. Add the patty, fold the bread over the meat and enjoy.

Tex-Mex Nachos

With Super Bowl this weekend I've been looking for some healthy alternatives to serve and this will be sure to satisfy. It's loaded with flavor and low on calories, so it will be sure to help you keep that new year's resolution to lose some weight and eat healthier.

Ingredients:
 3/4 pound ground round
 1/4 cup green onion
 3/4 cup taco sauce
 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
 1 (16 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
 1 (8-3/4 ounce) can no-salt-added whole-kernel corn, drained
 2 ounces baked tortilla chips( about 3 cups or about 42 small chips)
 3 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
 1 cup chopped tomato
 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
 1/2 cup bottled salsa
 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

 Directions
 1. Cook beef and green onions in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain well; return beef mixture to pan. Stir in taco sauce, garlic powder, pepper, beans, and corn; cook until thoroughly  heated. Spoon 1 cup beef mixture over 3/4 cup chips; top with 3/4 cup lettuce, 1/4 cup tomato, 1.4 cup cheese, 2 tablespoons salsa, and 2 tablespoons sour cream. Repeat procedure with remaining ingredients. Yield: 4 servings.

Best Ever Meatloaf

I love meatloaf, not the rock star, but the food, which my wife is the opposite, go figure. Anyway, since my wife refuses to eat meatloaf I decided to fix it and eat as left overs for lunch. This recipe was very simple to put together and was delicious, I even plan on trying it on the smoker some time.

2 pounds ground beef
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup (Regular or Healthy Request)
1 envelope (about 1 ounce) dry onion soup and recipe mix
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup water

Thoroughly mix the beef, 1/2 cup tomato soup, onion soup mix, bread crumbs and egg in a large bowl. Place the mixture into a 13x9x2-inch baking pan and firmly shape into an 8x4-inch loaf.

Bake at 350F. for 1 hour 15 minutes or until the meatloaf is cooked through. Let the meatloaf stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

Heat 2 tbsp of pan drippings, remaining tomato soup and water in a 1-quart sauce pan over medium heat until the mixture is hot and bubbling. Serve the sauce with the meatloaf.