Jamaican Jerk Pork Sandwiches

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Jamaican jerk pork or chicken is sort of the island equivalent of barbeque. Traditionally, it is cooked over a wood fire on makeshift ovens made of steel drums cut lengthwise.

Nowadays, “jerk” refers to the combination of seasonings used to flavor the meat prior to cooking, mostly allspice, thyme, cinnamon and black pepper. Scotch bonnet peppers, among the hottest of all peppers, also are traditionally used, but many pre-mixed dry rubs available for purchase either skip or tone down this ingredient. The seasoning mix I used was not spicy hot at all.

While the origin of the term “jerk” is vague, it most likely came from the Spanish conquisatdors, who ate “charqui”, or dried smoked meats, during their long journey across the Atlantic. The term “jerky” also comes from this word.

Although jerk meats normally are cooked over an open wood flame like barbeque, most Americans wouldn’t associate jerk flavor with the barbeque you find on the continent. For one, Jamaican jerk seasoning isn’t sweet, it’s savory. Plus it lacks the vinegary tartness of traditional BBQ.

But it is still delicious and has been growing in popularity in recent years, perhaps because of travellers who tried it while vacationing in the Carribean were anxious to spread word of this interesting and delicious dish.

In this version, the meat isn’t even grilled. Instead, it’s cooked all day in the crock pot. But the flavor of the jerk seasoning is still at the forefront and I love the way slow-cooked meats fill the whole house with a tantalizing aroma, making me look forward to dinner all day.

Another thing I liked is that pork shoulder is one of the least expensive cuts you can buy. I bought a  7 lb bone-in shoulder and cleaned it myself and it was only $1.19/lb! Half went in the freezer for another time.

I served this with oven baked sweet potato fries, which are the easiest thing in the world to make. They are one of our favorites!

Jamaican Jerk Pork Sandwiches

2-3 lb boneless pork shoulder

1 medium white onion, julienned

3 TBS Jamaican jerk seasoning

1/2 cup chili sauce

1/2 cup water

1 can Mexican corn (corn with red pepper)

2 TBS salsa

1 cup shredded green leaf lettuce

Fat free sour cream (on the side)

1/2 cup chopped cilantro (one the side)

8 whole wheat pitas

1. Spray crock pot with cooking spray. Trim pork of excess fat and cut into 2 inch cubes. Place pork and onion in crock pot, sprinkle with jerk seasoning, cover with chili sauce and water and stir.

2. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

3. Use two forks to pull pork apart. It will shred easily. Meanwhile, drain corn and combine with salsa in a small bowl.

4. To assemble sandwich, place a good amount of the pork in a pita, add corn relish, top with lettuce and garnish with cilantro and sour cream.

Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into sticks

2 TBS EVOO

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp granulated garlic

1/2 tsp onion powder

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss until sweet potatoes are evenly coated. Pour out onto a baking sheet and bake at 375F for 45 minutes. Super delicious!

Do you make any recipes with the flavors of the Carribean? Share your ideas in the comments section below. And thanks for looking at my blog!

Wine on Wednesdays – Me and Wine

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Like many people, I used to think drinking wine was for snooty Europeans and people with too much money. I had always been a proud beer drinker.

But in 2000, I became general manager of a fancy casino steakhouse. Knowing nothing about wine other than I didn’t like it, I gave myself a crash course in oeneology so that I could knowledeably talk about wines and food pairings with my employees and guests. I bought a bunch of books and ventured into mysterious parts of the liquor store I had never visited before: the wine aisles.

What I quickly discovered was that I really loved wine. I loved its rich history, its nearly endless varietals and brands, and most importantly its taste. Good wine tastes great, it’s a true pleasure to drink, much more so than beer. And an appreciation for good wine can make life better.

I enjoy red wine more than white, with pinot noirs, zinfandels and shirazes at the top of my list. And while I enjoy good wine, I can’t afford fine wine. I never spend more than $10/bottle, and except for a special occasion, I usually limit myself to $7.99/bottle or less. Usually far less.

Fortunately, there are many, many very good wines available at that price point. There also are a lot of truly bad wines at every price level. As a result of years of trial and error, I’ve been able to weed out those ones, and have compiled a rotation of 25-30 wines that are very inexpensive but also very good.

In this “Wines on Wednesday” feature, I will be identifying some of the best value-priced wines I have found since first discovering my passion for wine 12 years ago. I will describe some of the best places to find good, cheap wines, and how to pair wine with food to enhance even the everday dining experience.

Today, I want to start with one of my all-time favorite wines: Coppola Rosso, a red table wine produced by a vineyard owned by Francis Ford Coppola, director of two of my all-time favorite films, “The Godfather” and “Apocolypse Now”.

Although it’s nice that this wine is made by someone whose films I respect, it’s even nicer that this wine is super delicious and also very affordable. The discount liquor store near my house sells it for $6.99/bottle, or $5.97/bottle after the 15% discount you get if you buy six wines or more at a time.

In general, when a wine is made from one type of grape — such as the cabernet sauvignon, merlot or chardonnay grape, for example – it is designated as a “varietal” and can be called a cabernet, a merlot or a chardonnay.

But when a blend of different grapes is used, a wine can only be called a “red table wine” or a “white table wine.” Although Coppola Rosso is a table wine, it tastes  like a good California zinfandel, which are known for their earthy vegetable-like flavors.

Coppola has said that with his Rosso (Italian for “red”) he was trying to capture the flavor of the everyday, versatile Italian paisan red wines his grandparents used to drink. This wine definitely fits that bill. I’m a paisan and I could absolutely drink it everyday.

Coppola Vineyards make a variety of wines, including a Coppola Bianco, a white table wine, and a Coppola Talia, a sweet white wine named for his sister, the actress Talia Shire who played Rocky Balboa’s girlfriend in the “Rocky” series (“Adriaaaaaaaan!”). It also makes some more expensive, exclusive wines.

If you are looking for a really good, cheap red wine that goes with just about anything, you can’t go wrong with Coppola Rosso. It is versatile, delicious and definitely affordable.

Is there an affordable, delicious wine that you enjoy? Please share your discovery in the comments section below. And thanks for looking at my blog!

Mini Turkey Meatloaf

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When I found these miniature aluminum loaf pans at the dollar store, they were so cute I just had to buy them. I knew I would figure out a way to use them later.

Well, it turns out they were just perfect for mini turkey meatloafs. I simply made a batch of my turkey meatloaf recipe, then instead of using a regular sized bread pan, I stuffed it into six of these tiny disposable loaf pans.

The batch made enough for six mini meatloafs. I cooked off three and froze the other three for another time. Perfect!

I threw the pans away when I was finished with them, but you could clean them and re-use them if you wanted. They were six for $1.50, so I didn’t feel too bad about tossing them, though.

The individual meatloafs were both delightful and delicious. And they are perfect for when you have guests with diet preferences — no onions, for example — because you can make their meatloaf mix separate from the rest. Everybody’s happy!

We almost always have turkey meatloaf rather than the normal kind made with a mixture of ground beef and pork because it’s lower in fat and, in my opinion, there’s almost no difference in flavor once you add the seasonings and smother it in tomato glaze.

I served these mini meatloafs with Rosemary Roasted Red Potatoes, and steamed broccoli crowns.

Mini Turkey Meatloaf

2 lb ground turkey

1 yellow or white onion, diced

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 TBS Italian seasoning

1 tsp granulated garlic

1 TBS sea salt

1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

For the Glaze

1/2 cup ketchup

1 TBS mustard powder

1 TBS brown sugar

1/2 tsp Worchestershire Sauce

1/4 tsp Tabasco or hot sauce

Preheat oven to 375F. Combine meatloaf ingredients in mixing bowl using your hands. Spray mini aluminum bread pans with pan spray, then stuff them with the meatloaf mix until filling is even with the top of the pan. Cook for about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, stir together glaze ingredients in small bowl and set aside. Remove meatloafs from oven and pour and scrape off the separated fat and gloop on top. Carefully remove them from the pans by inverting them onto a baking sheet, then thoroughly brush each mini meatloaf with glaze. Return to oven and cook until glaze starts to get tacky, about 10 minutes.

Added bonus: Turkey meatloaf is excellent the next day on a sandwich. It can be served cold or heat it up for a minute in the microwave before putting it between two slices of bread.

Programming Note: It’s the start of a new year, so here at Budget Cooking Blog we are launching a new feature. “Wines on Wednesday” will be spotlight inexpensive yet extraordinary wines for under $10/bottle to complement some of the dishes we’ve been cooking. “Wines on Wednesday” also will give tips on how to select the best wines, and how to successful pair wines with food to enhance your dining experience. Look for “Wines on Wednesday” starting this Wednesday on Budget Cooking Blog!

Meat Free Mondays – Presto! Pesto Pasta

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There’s no better way to warm up on a cold winter’s night than a steaming bowl of pasta and vegetables. But if you add a little fresh pesto sauce, you can transform this everyday dish into something special.

This low-glycemic recipe will fill you up without slowing you down. Its inexpensive fresh vegetables are available year-round and won’t break the bank. Plus it can be prepared in just a few minutes.

To make basil pesto sauce, simply combine fresh basil leaves, toasted pine nuts, crushed garlic and olive oil in a food processor and blend. This versatile sauce can be used to add flavor to a variety of foods, including pastas, salads and even soups. It will stay fresh in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

During the summer months, basil is cheap and plentiful and making fresh pesto is a breeze. In winter, many grocers carry a pre-made pesto that has all the flavorful goodness of homemade. It’s handy to have around any time of year, but especially in winter when your flavor options are more limited.

The vegetables in this dish are all steamed in the same pot, but for various lengths of time – with the denser carrots taking much longer to steam than the more fragile zucchini.

Presto! Pesto Pasta

1 box whole wheat penne pasta

1 TBS extra virgin olive oil

2 TBS pesto sauce

3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced on the bias

1 cup broccoli florets

2 small zucchini, cut into medallions

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions and drain. Return to pot and toss in olive oil to keep from sticking together.

2. Bring water to boil in stovetop steamer. Add carrots to the perforated insert and steam 5 minutes, then add broccoli and steam another 4 minutes. Finally, add zucchini and steam another 2 minutes.

3.Add vegetables and pesto to pasta pot and toss. To plate, pile pasta and vegetables in center of pasta bowl and garnish with a little parmesan.

Programming Note: It’s the start of a new year, so here at Budget Cooking Blog we are launching a new feature. “Wines on Wednesday” will be spotlighting inexpensive yet extraordinary wines for under $10/bottle to complilment some of the dishes we’ve been cooking. “Wines on Wednesday” also will give tips on how to select the best wines, and how to successful pair wines with food to enhance your dining experience. Look for “Wines on Wednesday” starting this Wednesday on Budget Cooking Blog!

 

A Christmas Miracle

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Each year, from roughly the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve, our house is converted into an insane asylum.

Between the planning, gift shopping, wrapping, decorating, cooking, and entertaining, for about a month our ordinary lives are shoved aside while our days become filled with a frenzy of hyperactivity. Invariably, my diet and exercise routines go out the window. Even the dogs, perhaps sensing the heightened  stress levels, are more irritable than usual.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Then, suddenly, it all comes to a screeching halt on Christmas Day.

Families are reunited. Feasts are enjoyed. Gifts are unwrapped. And, if only for a few hours, peace reigns on earth. Each year, we are rewarded with this Christmas miracle.

So from my family to yours, with heartfelt gratitude for reading and supporting my blog, and with every good wish for a happy and safe holiday, I wish you a miraculous Christmas and a happy New Year!

A programming note: This is my 100th blog post since launching Budget Cooking Blog last August. Hurray! I will be taking the next week off to recharge my batteries and will begin posting the next 100 blogs after the New Year.

 

Holiday Appetizers – Easy Parmesan Squares

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One of the things I like about my family’s Christmas get-togethers is that we always have the same appetizers year after year.

Some may think that shows a lack of originality or a fear of the unknown, but the reality is we know what we love after many years of trial and error. The appetizers are generally very unhealthy and the holiday season is the only time we indulge in them, so they are something we all look forward to every year.

That’s one of the best things about the holidays: All the worry about diet and exercise go out the window, if only for a few days. The holidays have their origin in ancient feast days, in which people would load up on food and drink in celebration of the winter solstice and in preparation for the long winter days and nights ahead. It was both a celebration of community and a farewell to those who wouldn’t make it through the harsh winter.

The indulgent nature of the feast remains intact even today. After all, you can always make a New Year’s resolution to drop the pounds gained during the holiday season!

One of my favorites are these Easy Parmesan Squares. Given the velocity at which they disappear after they are set out, these probably are the most popular of all holiday appetizers. At my family’s party, if you want some of these, you better be quick!

Before Going Under the Broiler

Before Going Under the Broiler

Easy Parmesan Squares

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 TBS dried onions

1 TBS Worchestershire sauce

1 loaf mini party rye bread

1. Combine mayonnaise, parmesan, dried onions and Worchestershire sauce in a mixing bowl. Set in refrigerator for about an hour to thicken.

The Original "Secret" Recipe

The Original "Secret" Recipe

2. Turn on broiler. Using a butter knife or spatula, rub about a TBS of the mixture on each mini rye square and arrange in rows on sheet pans. Broil until brown and bubbly, about 2 minutes, watching carefully so they don’t burn.

3. Serve immediately while still hot.

What sort of holiday appetizers does your family enjoy year after year? Share your story in the comments section below. And thanks for looking at my blog!

Budget Cooking Blog Nominated for The Versatile Blogger Award

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As I stand on the brink of my 100th posting since starting my blog last August, I was pleasantly surprised to learn recently that Budget Cooking Blog has been nominated for The Versatile Blogger Award by www.royaghorbani.wordpress.com. Thank you so much for nominating my blog! It’s an honor to be recognized!

The nomination is a pay-it-forward type recognition in which select bloggers are asked to nominate 15 fellow bloggers who not only write a fun and entertaining blogs, but have been supportive and helpful to their fellow bloggers.

When a blogger receives the nomination, they are requested to:

  • Nominate 15 fellow bloggers.
  • Inform the bloggers of their nomination.
  • Share 7 random things about yourself.
  • Thank the blogger who nominated you.
  • Add the Versatile Blog Award logo on your blog post.

When I wrote my first blog in early August, I had only recently learned what blogging was! Since then, I have developed many rewarding and interesting relationships with a wide variety of people whose work I respect and enjoy reading every day. These writers not only write fun and entertaining blogs, but have been extremely supportive and helpful throughout the whole process of launching and developing my blog.These include, in no particular order because I love them all:

Guapola

Madison Woods

The Big Fat Noodle

Frugal Feeding

Running Sunflower

The Sweet Kitten

Military With Zero Waste

Married With Food

Whatever The Route

Mother Meets the Road

The Tracey Show

Pursuit of Happieness

The 2 Beths

Tinkerbelle 86

West of the I

Seven Fun Facts About Myself

7. Whle working as an usher in high school, I once tried to kick “Mr. Cub” Ernie Banks out of Wrigley Field because I didn’t recognize him. I’m a White Sox fan.

6. I once served a room service cheeseburger to the King of Soul, James Brown.

5. Despite being a classically trained chef, I could eat pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner (and before I was married, I frequently did).

4. In high school, I played guitar in a band called Blackjack. We sucked.

3. I attended Notre Dame during the awful Jerry Faust football years. Two years after I graduated, the Fighting Irish won the national championship under Lou Holtz.

2. My hobby is doing laundry. I’m not even kidding.

1. I have written a screenplay and am about halfway through my first novel.

Thank you again for this honor. It is nice to be recognized for all the hard work that goes into writing a daily blog!

Homemade Paninis

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I love paninis, but I don’t have a panini maker and, unless I get one for Christmas, I can’t afford to buy one right now. But I am able to enjoy my favorite Italian sandwich at home by going all McGyver on you and creating homemade paninis out of a couple of everyday kitchen items.

The concept behind a panini is that it is a flavorful meat and cheese sandwich that is pressed in a machine that has two hot pieces of iron attached by a hinge. Heat from both the top and bottom causes the cheese to melt and the outside of the sandwich to have a pleasant crunchy texture. Usually the iron plates have ridges in them or some other decorative pattern.

For my homemade panini, I simply used my cast iron pans. I heated two of the pans up on separate burners, then sprayed pan spray into the bottom of the larger one. I placed my sandwich — roast beef, fat-free American and red onion, in this case — into the pan, then sprayed the top of the sandwich with pan spray and placed the other cast iron pan on top of that.

I cooked it for just a few minutes, flipped it over to cook it evenly, and finished it for a few more minutes. Although it lacked the ridges, it was every bit as crunchy and tasty as a panini I would have paid a lot of money for at a restaurant.

To make my panini, I used an Italian paisan bread I had made from a very simple recipe a few days before. It’s soft texture was perfect for my homemade panini because the inside remained soft and doughy while the outside was crunchy and flavorful.

Paisan is an Italian word for “peasant”. In this context, it means an unpretentious and simple bread.

Italian Paisan Bread

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp honey

1/4 tsp salt

1 TBS dry yeast (or one envelope)

1/4 cup EVOO

1 cup lukewarm water (baby bath temperature)

1 TBS EVOO

1 TBS corn meal

1 egg, beaten

2 TBS grated parmesan cheese

1 TBS fennel seed

1 tsp coarse sea salt

1. Put yeast in bottom of Kitchen Aid bowl or mixing bowl. Whisk in warm water, honey and 1/4 cup EVOO. Place in Kitchen Aid stand and let sit until bubbles start to form, about five minutes.

2. Combine flours and salt in mixing bowl. Put dough hook attachment on Kitchen Aid and slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients on medium speed until dough ball is formed, about 3 minutes. Remove from bowl and knead on floured work surface for a minute or two until dough is soft and not sticky, adding more flour a little at a time if necessary.

3. Place 1 TBS EVOO in bottom of large bowl and use napking to cover all sides of bowl with oil. Place dough ball in bowl and turn so that all sides are oiled. Cover with clean dish towel and let rest in a warm, draft-free space until doubled, about one hour.

4. Punch down dough, knead for another minute and let rest under dishtowel for a few minutes. Use a knife to cut dough into two equal peices. Using your hands only, poke holes into the dough with your fingers and work the sides outward until you get a crude flatbread shape about 12″ in diameter. Repeat with remaining dough peice. Cover with dishtowel and let rise until doubled in size, about 35 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray two sheet pans with pan spray. Sprinkle corn meal on bottom of sheet pans, then transfer flatbreads to sheet pans. Brush both loaves with egg wash then sprinkle evenly with fennel seed and sea salt. Bake 35 minutes, remove from oven, sprinkle evenly with parmesan and return to oven for 10 minutes to toast the parmesan. Remove from oven and let cool on wire racks.

This recipe makes two smaller flatbread loaves, perfect accompaniment for pastas, salads, or soups or for making paninis.

Have you ever rigged your kitchen equipment to get the recipe you desired? We would love to hear your story in the comments section below. And thanks for looking at my blog!

Meat Free Mondays – Roasted Tomato Soup

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If I’m going to serve soup for dinner, it needs to be something with some heft and texture – like white bean with ham, or beef barley.

Dinner soups need to be filling, especially in winter. That’s why broth-based soups and those with very few additional ingredients don’t really work for me from November through March.

The exception would be this roasted tomato soup. Even though it is broth-based and has nothing in it except the titular roasted tomatoes, onions and a few other simple ingredients, the boldness of its flavor make it filling enough even for a cold winter night’s dinner.

Roasting the tomatoes exponentially enhances their flavor, even when you use less flavorful winter tomatoes. Basically, in this soup you make your own tomato paste, then balance its harshness with hyper-sweet carmelized onions, resulting in a hearty, delicious soup that also is vegetarian and inexpensive.

A dollop of basil pesto adds last second extra flavor complexity to the soup. In summertime, basil is plentiful and cheap, so I usually have pesto lying around. In winter, I typically buy a small package of pesto and plan several meals around it –  soups, breads, salads, pastas — to get my money’s worth from my investment.

Pair this soup with an easy-to-make Italian paisan bread and you have a complete meal bold enough to stand up to even the heartiest appetite.

This soup also is incredibly versatile. In restaurants, I put this on dinner menus in the wintertime when the weather was coldest, and again during the hottest months of summer, when I would serve it chilled and garnished with zigzags of creme fraiche. Filling or refreshing, it is satisfying either way.

Roasted Tomato Soup

6-8 tomatoes, any kind, rough chop

2 TBS EVOO

1 TBS EVOO (Separated)

1 medium white onion, julienne

12 oz bottle of beer, any kind

2 cloves garlic, crushed

14 oz vegetable stock

1 tsp Worchestershire sauce

1/2 tsp hot sauce

1 TBS basil pesto (per bowl for garnish)

Sea salt

Fresh cracked black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Combine chopped tomatoes and 2 TBS EVOO in mixing bowl and toss. Transfer to sheet pan and cook until charred, about an hour, stirring occasionally. You want the tomatoes to get quite dark. They won’t really start to char until most of the liquid is evaporated, about 45 minutes in. Then they will char fast.

2. Put cast iron skillet on fire. When hot, add 1 TBS EVOO. When smoking, add onions and toss. Cook until they start to brown a little, about 5 minutes, then add half the beer and partially cover. The liquid helps the onions carmelize both faster and more efficiently. When beer is mostly evaporated, stir in remaining beer and cook until onions are pleasantly brown and sugary. During last minute of cooking, stir in garlic.

3. When tomatoes are done, remove from oven, transfer onions to same sheet pan as the tomatoes and allow to cool about 10 minutes. Transfer enough of the tomato and onion mixture to fill blender cylinder about halfway full. Add enough vegetable stock to fill blender 3/4 full, add Worchestershire sauce and hot sauce and blend, starting with a careful pulse and eventually building to full speed. Mixture is completely blended when it has a consistent color and texture throughout the entire cylinder, about 3 minutes. Pour mixture into soup pot and blend remaining tomato mixture and stock in the blender the same way. If you have an immersion blender, you can do this blending right in the soup pot.

4. Heat soup in pot, seasoning to taste with sea salt and black pepper. Garnish with a TBS of basil pesto per bowl and serve.

What sort of soups do you use to warm up a cold winter’s night? Share your ideas in the comments section below. And thanks for looking at my blog!

Improving the Cheeseburger

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As I mentioned a couple of days ago, as a professional chef it can be dispiriting when the cheeseburger is the number one seller on your menu despite all the effort you put in creating interesting and exotic dishes.

One way to overcome this is to make your cheeseburger more exciting. If people are going to order it anyway, why not make it something special? So today’s blog is all about finding ways to improve the humble cheeseburger.

Bacon Mushroom Swiss Burger

Bacon Mushroom Swiss Burger

Probably the easiest way to improve the cheeseburger is to use a better quality meat. I’m not talking about $15/lb Kobe beef or even ground up Certfied Angus Beef. This is supposed to be a budget cooking blog, remember?

No, to improve the quality of your cheeseburger meat, look for ground beef that has a higher fat content. That’s right, higher! Ground beef that is 75:25, which means 75 percent protein to 25 percent fat, will be juicier and have a much better mouth feel than leaner ground beef, such as 85:15 or 90:10. Fat makes beef taste good. If you ate 100 percent lean ground beef, it would taste like sawdust.

Avocado Pepper Jack Burger

Avocado Pepper Jack Burger

The second way to improve your cheeseburger is to season it. This may seem obvious, but a lot of people skip this critical step. You need to season both sides of the burger with a good amount of salt and pepper in order to bring out the full flavor of the beef. If you want to mix a little S&P into your ground beef before forming into patties as well, then that’s a bonus!

A third way to make cheeseburgers taste better is to toast the burger bun. Rub it with a little olive oil or melted butter and put it into your frying pan or on your grill for less than a minute to give it a little crust. That way, when you bite into the burger, there will be a satisfying little crunch.

Burger Set Ups

Burger Set Ups

Burger set-ups are a restaurant secret that speeds up service. Before the customers arrive for the lunch or dinner rush, the cook lines up hundreds of little individual piles of lettuce, tomato and onion. When the orders start flying, the cook need only grab one of these and place it on the bun as the food goes out the service window. This same technique can speed up your dinner service as well.

Incidentally, unless you are working at McDonald’s, use red leaf or green leaf lettuce for your setups, not shredded iceberg lettuce. It may be the cheapest, but that stuff has little to no nutritional value. Plus it just screams fast food.

The final method to add dimension to your cheeseburger is to offer a variety of toppings. There are restaurant chains that have built their entire business model around this idea. Not only can burgers be topped with a variety of cheeses — American, Swiss, cheddar, pepper jack and blue cheese are some of the most popular choices — but other interesting toppings can be offered as well.

These include sliced olives, avocados, mushrooms, sliced jalapenos, sprouts and grilled onions. There’s even a famous Pittsburgh chain that tops its signature burgers with cole slaw, French fries and even a fried egg!

As long as we are breaking traditions, how about throwing out the French fries and serving your next cheeseburger with something different, like this potato casserole.

Cheesy Potato Casserole

Cheesy Potato Casserole
Cheesy Potato Casserole

3 russet potatoes, pre-baked and shredded

1/2 white onion, diced

2 scallions, sliced

8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1-1/2 cups)

8 oz cottage cheese

8 oz sour cream

1 tsp granulated garlic

Dash of hot sauce

Dash of Worchestershire sauce

Sea Salt

Fresh cracked black pepper

2 TBS butter

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Combine shredded potato, cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, granulated garlic, onion, scallion, hot sauce and Worchestershire sauce in a mixing bowl and gently mix together with a spatula. Season to taste with salt and pepper and mix again. Spray a casserole dish with pan spray and transfer mixture to casserole dish.

2. Combine bread crumbs and butter in a small mixing bowl and cut together with a pastry cutter or just between your fingers until the texture is pebbly. Sprinkle over casserole.

3. Cook covered for 40 minutes. Remove cover and cook an additional 10 minutes to toast up the bread crumb topping. Remove from oven and allow to rest for about 10 minutes before serving to let casserole set up a little. If you serve it right away, it will be goopy.

What are some interesting ways you liven up everyday dishes? Share your ideas in the comments section below. And thanks for looking at my blog!