Meatloaf

Growing up, I was not a fan of meatloaf. All the things Alton describes as being wrong with it I wholeheartedly agree with

Great meatloaf is always juicy, but it never falls apart. It is neither bland nor so heavily seasoned that is looses its meaty soul.

The problem is, it was overly seasoned, and did fall apart.

This is the second time I've made this recipe. This is the second time I've had less than thrilling results. I followed this to the letter and did not get a crunch glaze. I was very careful about over mixing the ingredients. Still, the meat came out with a texture I just did not like. The "meaty soul" was lost in this. Considering this came from the same episode as the Burger of the Gods, this was somewhat disheartening.

Also, Alton's penchant for cumin is alive and well. I just really don't like this spice. Alton does. This often leaves me at odds with some of his recipes.

If you have made this recipe and have had success, I'd love to know where you think I might have gone wrong. This definitely falls into the I won't make again category.





Recipe Link

Burger of the Gods

I have a recipe I like to use for making homemade burgers. It calls for some of this and a little of that and wave my magic wand...and yum-o.

I remembered that Alton Brown had an episode where he made homemade hamburger. I remembered that he 'ground' his own meat, but I could not remember what seasonings he used. A quick trip to the Food Network site and I had his recipe sitting on my tablet (an ASUS Transformer Prime, if you must know). I marveled at it's simplicity. 8 ounces chuck. 8 ounces sirloin. 1/2 teaspoon of salt. That's it. Period. End of conversation.

And it is sublime. Better than my own with all of the special ingredients I add.

Now, what you see in this picture is what I call near perfection. Sadly, I had no pickles or shoe-string onions. This comes as close as I can to recreating Red Robin's Burger Royale. We have mayo, ketchup, mustard. Lettuce, bacon, avocado, and melted Cheddar cheese. Oh...and sitting atop that all is a fried egg. Nomalicious!

I have re-dubbed this: Burger of the Titans




Recipe Link