Mostly about food, this blog is just a place for me to throw things that are of interest to me. I appreciate you taking the time to stop by an look around. This represents just some of the stops on the various pathways that this amateur home cook finds himself.

You may find that these foods tend toward protein and away from carbohydrates - this is due to diabetic issues, so I try to only sparingly use carbs, and good ones at that. Of course, sometimes I forget....

Feel free to drop me a line with any suggestions or just to let me know what you think. Thanks!

If you c


Search This Blog

A Little Navigation...

Yá át ééh!

I want to thank you for the time that you spend here, and hope that you can find useful things here.

Hagoonee'


Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Bacon Cheeseburger - for FOUR

So I was thinking of food - big surprise - and missing the great places that have gone on to that restaurant retirement in the sky. One of the San Antonio greats was Little Hipp's Gimmedraw Parlor, home of Shypoke eggs, mega-sized cheeseburgers, and Willard the turtle. Just down the street from Hipp's Bubble Room, located on the corner and possessing a criminally undersized parking lot, it was impossible to have a bad time there.

Back to the burgers. They had these giant burgers you had to cut like a pizza to eat, but beside being huge, they were mighty tasty. So I figured what the heck, even though I don't own a flat top or have access to those giant buns, I'd try and crank one out to honor the old place. So in tribute to the Hipp family, I present the Bacon Cheeseburger for Four.

First, I readied eight slices of Buckboard bacon,made from pork shoulder rather than bellies. It's much leaner and more flavorful. This was made them into a weave, pre-cooked on a comal, drained and set aside for later.


Next I took 1.5 lbs of ground chuck, and added my seasonings to the meat. You never want to mix fresh ground meat too much, as it will make it tough. This I divided into two very large but thin patties. I trimmed my bacon weave to a bout an inch smaller than the burger meat, and placed it on one patty.


These two patties were then stacked and had the edges crimped together securely. A final round of seasoning, and off to the Weber it went.


Once done, it was topped with sliced cheese and peeled Hatch peppers. The bun was split and grilled as well for a bit of crunchiness. Adding a little catsup & mayo, sliced onion and cilantro, and we were ready to roll!

Note: That little dot on the plate below is a quarter, just for an idea of scale.


Here's the presentation pic - with a clear view of all the goodies and the hidden bacon. The bread loaf I chose for this effort was a multi-grain one, and was a little chewy and heavy. Probably a home made pan frances type of loaf would make a better bun.

Friday, April 2, 2010

MOINKS & Grilled Asparagus

Most of you may not know what a MOINK is. It is a treat that was created by BBQ Grail, a frequent and skilled poster on the BBQ Brethren online forum. Basically, a MOINK is is an all-beef meatball (the "MOO") which is then wrapped in bacon (the "OINK"). Put them together, you have MOINK.

These were done on a Weber grill, but I usually do them in the smoker. Either way, tasty stuff! Here are my ingredients: pre-made beef meatballs, fresh bacon, some Hog Waller rub, and a BBQ sauce I created from tomato sauce, honey, Worcestershire sauce, Sriracha, and a few other tasty goodies.


Each MOINK was made up using a half-piece of bacon, pinned around the meatball with a toothpick.


The MOINKs were put on the grill with indirect heat from an offset fore in the Weber kettle.


Once they were flipped, I added the fresh asparagus coated with olive oil, salt and cracked pepper.


Finished MOINKs!


Plated MOINKs, along with grilled asparagus and Bernaise sauce.



Different? Yes. Tasty? You bet!