supper tonight – 5.7.12 – pimiento cheese & Smokra burgers with grilled Brussels sprouts

Our local Earth Fare emails us awesome coupons every couple of weeks, often for free stuff that we would buy anyway–organic fresh fruits and veggies, pastured meats, and yummy cheeses. In the last few months, Earth Fare has generously given us free pears, apples, carrots, brie, Irish cheddar, eggs, boneless chicken breasts, and ground beef–and this is just the short list!

One of those free pounds of ground beef turned into four delicious quarter-pound burgers Monday evening. We topped our burgers with pimiento cheese and picked okra (actually Rick’s Picks Smokra from our neighborhood wine/gourmet shop, Shiraz). Fresh onion rolls from Daily Grocery made for excellent buns. And although some of the components of this sandwich bore similarities to Micah’s unfortunate Paula Deen-inspired experiment, I’m happy to report that this batch of burgers was much, much better.

The easiest way to show you a little bit of everything?
Snapping a photo after I’ve taken a few (delicious) bites!

Since Micah was grilling stuff anyway, and since we had a half-pound of giant late-season Brussels sprouts in the fridge just begging to be eaten, and since Alton Brown just happens to have a recipe perfect for just this occasion, we decided to toss the sprouts on the grill with the burgers.

wow. that’s all I really need to say about these.

Want to replicate the amazingness of this fabulous veggie side dish? Here’s how!

What’s in it:

• 1/2 pound of fresh Brussels sprouts
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon grainy mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Step-by-step:

• Wash the Brussels sprouts and put them in a microwave-safe bowl with just a little bit of water. Microwave on high-heat for 3 minutes. (This helps make sure the Brussels sprouts get done on the grill before they get burnt. )
• In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, garlic, mustard, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper.
• Toss the partially-cooked Brussels sprouts in the mustard mixture. If the sprouts are small, thread them onto some skewers. (Ours were gigantic, so we didn’t bother with skewers–we just placed them straight on the grill.)
• Grill for about 5 minutes on each side.
• Cut the grilled Brussels sprouts in half and toss back in the bowl of glaze to soak up the rest of those yummy seasonings.
• Enjoy.

Our burgers Monday night were really good, but this Brussels sprouts side dish stole the show! And the salty, smoky, spicy glaze would be delicious on pretty much anything. Thank you, Alton Brown!

guest photo: Micah’s Paula Deen-inspired burger

Okay, so Paula Deen makes a burger topped with bacon and a fried egg, then sandwiched between Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Except for meatloaf, I tend to avoid Paula Deen’s recipes since they’re often outrageously unhealthy (aforementioned burger included).

But my best friend Jessica got married over the weekend, and instead of hiring caterers for a traditional reception, she got her brand new hubby Brent to grill us all burgers and hot dogs. Besides the usual ketchup, mustard, and pickles, we also had a batch of my pimiento cheese to slather on our burgers (Jessica’s special request). Once you throw in beer, potato chips, and chocolate chip cookie cake…well, it was a delicious and fun post-wedding feast!

Here’s where it get’s weird.

See, we’d gotten a few dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts for breakfast (also the bride’s request!), and there were a few left over.

So my ever-experimenting husband decided he wanted to use one as a hamburger bun. Micah sliced that doughnut in half (rather than using two whole doughnuts–probably a good call), and Brent obligingly added it to his stack of stuff to char.

But since we had no bacon and eggs in the cabin, Micah topped his burger patty with pimiento cheese (gooey), slivers of cut-up grilled hot dog (smoky), and dill pickle chips (crunchy).

And then he snapped this photo:

creepy mutant burger....

You’re probably thinking, “Hmm….not sure that’s the best idea…?”

Or, if you’re a parent who’s used to your kids putting together weird stuff and then turning up their little noses, you might be thinking, “You made it, now you gotta eat it.”

Or, if you’re a frequent viewer of Man Vs. Food, you might be thinking, “Food won.”

You’re probably not thinking, “Damn! That looks tasty!”

With good reason.

Micah ate the whole thing. Not because he liked it, but because he didn’t want to waste it. He said he wouldn’t make a burger like this again.

I tried a bite, and honestly, although the hot dog and pimiento cheese were strange additions, it was definitely the Krispy Kreme doughnut that transformed this strange concoction into a kind of gross one.

Experiment complete. Lesson learned.

(At least until the next time Micah’s confronted with burgers and a buffet of unlikely toppings. )