Seasonally Delicious Burger Night

Grilling season is year round at the Good Cook Doris house - you'll find me out in the snow womaning the grill. But now that the weather is finally warm the grill is really in full swing. Spring produce is also finally coming up and it seemd like the perfect combination for celebrating burger month 2020.

This epic burger is part of a fan-frickin-tastic month-long event hosted by Girl Carnivore, but opinions are always my own!

This is less of a burger recipe and more of a burger guide. It takes advantage of seasonal local ingredients and a little bit of creativity! This year we joined a spring CSA that delivers a mix of winter storage crops, early spring crops, and pantry items from local food producers.

It's been a delightful assortment of products. Most exciting are the early spring crops that are new to me - like wild ramps and sunchokes. Each box also comes with a loaf of freshly baked crusty bread. With all of these ingredients to work with I got grilling! I think that the fun part of burger meals is that everyone can customize their burger however they like. The griller's job is to make a good assortment of toppings along with juicy patties and the eaters are in charge of their creations. 

Here's how I assembled my mid-May seasonally inspired burger! 

Ingredients:

Ground beef from a local farm that is now offering home deliveries (I prefer 80/20 or 85/15 ground beef - I find it stays nice and juicy)

Fresh crusty bread from a local bakery

Cabot extra sharp cheddar

Ramps

Local sriracha

Dukes Mayo (my favorite!)

Preparation:

Burger patties: 

Keep it simple and let the beef shine! I like to season generously with kosher salt and ground black pepper when I mix the meat. 

Gently form into patties, being sure to press down and make an indent in the center (helps it from puffing up when grilling).

Toppings:

Choose your toppings! 

I like to cut thick slices of Cabot cheddar to melt on top - the sharper the better
For vegetable toppings, coat in oil and sprinkle with kosher salt

Grilling:
Start the burgers first
Add thicker vegetables with the burgers, add more delicate vegetables when you flip the burgers
Add the cheese when the burgers are almost done, letting it melt into a delicious coating on top
Grill your bread if you want to add a little extra grill flavor

Assembling:
Spread mayo on both sides of the bread and drizzle sriracha to your desired level of spiciness
On the bottom bread, add the grilled veggies
Add the cheese covered burger and top with the second piece of bread
Serve with a side of pickles, simple salad, or some grilled sweet potatoes
Try to fit it all in your mouth! Watch out for the dripping juice!

Now it's your turn! Open the fridge and pantry and see what you've got in there and get yourself to the grill! To help you out, be sure to enter the Burger Month giveaway to win some awesome prizes. They'll help you take your grilling to the next level! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want more amazing burger ideas? Check out these bloggers for more burger month creations:
🍔 Girl Carnivore 🍔 A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures 🍔A Day in the Life on the Farm 🍔 A Merry Recipe 🍔 An Affair from the Heart 🍔Art of Natural Living 🍔 Caroline's Cooking 🍔Chef Justin Grimm 🍔Chiles and Smoke 🍔 City Living Boston 🍔Comfortably Domestic 🍔Culinary Adventures with Camilla 🍔 Dixie Chik Cooks 🍔 Everyday Eileen 🍔 Everyday Southwest 🍔 For the Love of Food 🍔Good Cook Doris 🍔Grillax: Fire. Food. Fun. 🍔 Grilling Montana 🍔 Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks 🍔 Jolene's Recipe Journal 🍔 Karen's Kitchen Stories 🍔 Kate's Recipe Box 🍔Kudos Kitchen by Renee 🍔Life Currents 🍔 Life of a Ginger 🍔Making Miracles 🍔Man Meat BBQ 🍔 Miss in the KItchen 🍔Off the Eaten Path 🍔Our Good Life 🍔 Palatable Pastime 🍔 Pastry Chef Online 🍔 Real Life With Dad 🍔Renee Nicole's Kitchen - Everyday Gourmet 🍔 Sarah's Cucina Bella 🍔Savoring Midlife 🍔 Seduction in the Kitchen 🍔 Simple and Savory 🍔 Spoonabilities 🍔 Sumptuous Spoonfuls 🍔 Swirls of Flavor 🍔 The Redhead Baker 🍔 The Spiffy Cookie 🍔This is How I Cook 🍔 Thyme for Cocktails 🍔What's Cooking Italian Style Cuisine 🍔 Wildflour's Cottage Kitchen 🍔Wile E. BBQ 🍔 Wok & Skillet 🍔

Disclaimer: Thank you to #BurgerMonth Sponsors: Cabot, Anvil & Hammer, New York Beef Council, Red Duck Foods, and Spoonabilities for providing prizes for this epic event. All opinions are my own. The #BurgerMonth giveaway is open to U.S. residents, age 18 & up. All winning entries are verified. By entering you give the right to use your name and likeness.

The number of entries received determines the odds of winning. One winner for each weekly giveaway will be selected. The prize packages are sent directly from the sponsors. Winners have 48 hours to respond or they forfeit the prize and another winner(s) will be chosen.

The #BurgerMonth Bloggers are not responsible for the fulfillment or delivery of the prize packages. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter or any other social channel mentioned in the #BurgerMonth posts or entry.

Join the Good Cook Doris Adventures on Instagram

It's been a while since the blog has seen a real update! I've been cooking and definitely eating, but not posting. I'm planning a 2018 recap here - but in the meantime come follow along on Instagram! You'll find meal prep, vacation eats, fun family meals, and a lot of adventures! I look forward to seeing you there!

First Annual Brisket Cook-off

Ask me my favorite thing to cook and I always say brisket. You might think that sounds a little boring, but brisket lends itself to endless variations. Whether it is braised or smoked the flavor possibilities are numerous. But now the golden brisket award and bragging rights are at stake in the First Annual Brisket Cook-off at temple. My friend Jenni Logan and I teamed up to enter and decided her mom's recipe was our best shot at winning. For this type of event we thought traditional was the right way to go. We're not going for a trendy or 'out there' recipe, but rather something tried and true that will bring back great memories from the tasters.

Jenni and I "met" in the Boston University Masters in Gastronomy program a few years ago. I say "met" because it turns out that way back in high school our paths crossed in the Midwest. We even found pictures with us together at the same summer camp events! Since then we've shared a love of cheese, cooking, and plenty of homework! 

 

We bring you Jenni's family recipe for brisket and hope that you enjoy as much as they do! It is a sweet and sour style recipe that produces melt in your mouth slices. Stay tuned for the cook-off results! Want to see more pictures and know results sooner? Follow along on Instagram. 

Mom's Yummy Brisket
1 (3-4 pound) brisket (7 pounds for 10-12 people - double entire recipe)

14 ounces Heinz ketchup

2 large white onions (thinly sliced)

1 lemon (juiced)

1 teaspoon mustard

2 squirts Lea and Perrin's Worcestershire sauce

1 heaping teaspoon brown sugar

1/2 cup water (adjust to consistency of a medium sauce)

Lawry's salt, black pepper

Garlic powder

1 9"x13" roasting pan

Pam non-stick cooking spray

Aluminum foil to cover and seal meat

Take roasting pan and Pam it. In a large mixing bowl, mix ketchup, lemon juice, mustard, Worcestershire, brown sugar, and water (you want a medium thickness (not to thin or thick!)). Put a small amount of sauce in the bottom of the pan. 

The brisket should have some fat on the top but not too much. Put Lawry's salt, pepper, and garlic powder on the brisket, season well. Place brisket in the pan. Cover the brisket pretty well with the sauce (you may have to add a little additional water). Add the sliced onions on the top of the brisket. Cover and seal the pan with the foil. 

Bake for at least 3 hours at 350 degrees or until very tender (fork should twist easily in the meat). Cool and slice (I use an electric knife). Be SURE to slice the meat against the grain. Return the meat to the pan, re-cover with the onions and sauce and re-foil. You can either freeze it our keep it in the refrigerator until you reheat and serve. Reheat the sliced brisket in the sauce at 350 degrees.

*Notes*

We used an 8 pound brisket (weighed before trimming fat). We cut into two pieces for ease of cooking.

The type of ketchup is a consideration! Heinz ketchup does have a distinct flavor. If you use another brand (like an organic ketchup), you can adjust the sweetness level with the amount of brown sugar you add.
We found that after slicing the meat needed to be heated fully through and cooked for about 45 minutes - 1 hour to become as tender as we wanted.
You could cook this in a crockpot on low for 4-6 hours, checking at 4 hours on the tenderness.

If you make this for Passover, check your sauce ingredients to be sure they are kosher for Passover.

If you are looking for even more brisket ideas, try these:
New England Maple Coffee Brisket (about halfway down the post)
Smoked Brisket
Smoked Brisket, Version 2
Passover Brisket (with Manishevitz!)
Fun ways to use leftover brisket: Beef and Biscuit Pie
Slow Cooker Brisket

Here are a few shots of the competition! We had a lovely spring snowstorm to start our day - perfect brisket weather. While we didn't win we did have a blast (pretending we were in a Top Chef style competition!). We'll be back next year for another great time.