Move over Big Mac, here comes the Big Mother.

Now if you're a fan of my food blog, you've seen me write, on occasion, about where I now live which is Monticello, Utah.  If you're new to my writings, put Monticello into the Search box on my blog and bring up the previous posts about it.   Since moving here in May 2009, I have been one of the residents pushing for development whether by writing letters to appear in the San Juan Record, or here in my food blog.  I'm not in a minority for development, but it seems when it comes to actual decision making, our voices keep getting ignored.  The point of all this is that Monticello, Utah's all time residents want to keep the town in the 1840's when it was founded.  However, they also want the sales tax coffers to be full and pay for all their needs without having businesses that locals and tourists can take advantage of.  The gist of it is, you cannot have it both ways, and if there is anyone reading this that wants to bring development to Monticello, Utah, especially a big business that will attract tourists......COME ON IN!!!!!!

During the spring, it came to my attention via three reliable sources that McDonald's would be setting up shop here.  Not even Blanding, only a 30 minute drive south towards Monument Valley, has a fast food business such as McDonald's.  The nearest is either in Moab, Utah or Cortez, Colorado; either is an hour drive from Monticello.  So when anyone here sees a commercial for a Big Mac, Chicken McNuggets, or even a Happy Meal for their kids; it's not going to be purchased unless they want to take that one hour drive.  Such was my mood yesterday, saw the commercial, wanted the Big Mac, wasn't going to drive an hour to get one.  Did I sit and sulk?  Heck no, I made my own and call it the Big Mother; there's another version for the husband, the Big Daddy.  So enough about Monticello and its need for coming into the 21st century, lets get to cooking up some burgers.

 

The Big Mother Burger

 

Ingredients:

 

2 quarter pound all beef burgers (90% lean)

Seasoning Mixture: dash each of ground black pepper, salt and onion powder on each side of the burgers.

3 slices English Muffin bread

1/4 cup chopped lettuce

3 slices American cheese

2 thin slices tomato

4 pickle ovals (Claussen brand is best)

1/4 diced onions

Special Sauce: 1/4 cup each ketchup and mayonnaise, 1 Tbsp. each yellow mustard and sweet pickle relish, 2 dashes hot sauce, 1 tsp. minced roasted red bell peppers

 

 

Normally I would grill the burgers, but it being 10 degrees outside made me say, "oh hell no!".  I don't like frying burgers for the most part, all that grease is a turn off; so I put the Seasoning Mixture on each side of the burgers, and bake mine in the oven at 400F until medium-well.  Then I put on the broiler to high and give them a little cookoff for one minute on each side.  Again I'm using the English Muffin bread; the toasted texture gives crunch without allowing the bread to fall apart like those untoasted sesame seed buns do.  Could I toast up a sesame seed bun?  Sure, but once moisture from vegetables and condiments get onto them, they seem to get mushy and fall apart anyway.  The thin slices of tomato will give you that nice, sweet tomato flavor, but not be so thick that it's moving all over your sandwich.  Don't you just hate when it does that!?!

 

So the burgers are cooked and the bread is toasted; lets put the Big Mother together.  Oh, you will need a thin, wooden skewer to hold it all together once it's built; it is four inches high!

 

Preparation:

 

This will basically be a building plan.

 

Slice of toasted bread.

Slice of cheese.

Generous spread of Special Sauce.

2 pickels.

Half the diced onions.

Burger.

Slice of toasted bread.

Slice of cheese.

Remaining pickels.

Remaining onions.

Tomato slices.

Burger.

Lettuce.

Slice of cheese.

Final slice of toasted bread with generous spread of Special Sauce.

 

Skewer down the center to hold it all together. 

 





 

Pressing down slightly, the sandwich is still three inches high; and I cut it in half to make for easier eating.  Even then, I was only able to eat half of a half before I started to feel full.  To say it's a mouthful is an understatement indeed.

 

The Big Daddy Burger for my husband is basically the same kind of sandwich as The Big Mother, but with a few substitutions.  Instead of a Special Sauce, I use a zesty barbecue sauce; instead of diced onion, I use sauteed onions and mushrooms; and here's the kicker, I add 3 slices of crispy, thick cut bacon on top of each burger patty (that's 6 in total!) and 2 slices of my brown sugar/maple glazed baked ham.  Does my husband adore me?  Oh yes he does!!!

 

Craving a Big Mac, the heck with that...make yourself a Big Mother or a Big Daddy.  Enjoy!

 

Mary Cokenour

Grilled Cheese Upgraded?

Have you seen the new commercials for Sonic Drive-In for their Ultimate Grilled Cheese sandwiches?  One of the men in the car states, "grilled cheese upgraded" while holding a sandwich that has the ingredients for a Philly Cheesesteak.  The other has the "BLT" which stands for bacon, lettuce and tomato, if you didn't know.  So what exactly is the upgrade?  Well instead of using a sub roll for the Philly and regular sliced bread for the BLT, Sonic uses Texas Toast style bread.  Texas Toast  is very thick slices of bread that are normally used for making garlic toast or french toast.  I'm sure its used to make sandwiches also, but the other uses seem to be the more popular.

So again I ask, "What exactly is the upgrade?"  Looking at the photos, the bread makes the sandwich look thick, but you don't see much in between those slices; maybe a bit of lettuce, perhaps a hint of tomato or peppers, and is that brownish color the meat?  Maybe the BLT is upgraded because cheese is now incorporated, but you cannot upgrade a Philly Cheesesteak by changing from a roll to sliced bread.  That seems more like an insulting downgrade in my opinion.

The Grilled Cheese sandwich is an ultimate comfort food of its own. No matter what your age, toasted bread with gooey cheese brings out warm childhood memories, especially when it is nasty weather outside. When you add another ingredient inbetween the gooey cheese, isn't that an "upgrade" in itself? Consider the Tuna Melt or the Patty Melt; both made the same way as a grilled cheese, but with the inclusion of either tuna or a hamburger patty. What about when tomato and bacon are added to a grilled cheese? Just add lettuce and there's your BLT right there.

Well I'm going to give you my "upgraded" version of a Grilled Cheese BLT; packed with filling, messy, gooey and oh so, disgustingly good.   While you can use any bread you like, I'm going to be using English Muffin bread; same airiness as the muffins to get those nooks and crannies, just in a sliced bread form.  This bread looks like typical white bread, but with a firmer texture. 

I'm also going to use mayonnaise as my frying oil, instead of traditional butter for a grilled cheese.  If you're a fan of flavored mayonnaise such as avocado, wasabi, chipotle or sweet chili, spread those on the insides of your bread slices; use regular mayonnaise for the frying.

Time to make the sandwich...

Besides the mayonnaise, you'll need four slices of thick cut bacon (or double up with thin bacon), slices of tomato (2 to 3 depending on the size of the tomato) and Romaine lettuce (try to use the  stems inside the head, they're crispier).

Slather mayonnaise on both sides of each slice of bread, don't be cheap about it!  Heat your stovetop griddle or skillet on medium-high heat, place the slices down onto it and put one slice of American cheese, then cover that with a slice of Cheddar.  The American will melt into ooey-gooeyness while the Cheddar will form an enclosure, or seal, to keep the cheese from oozing out. 

 

When you see the Cheddar start to form its enclosure, place the bacon, then the tomato on one slice of bread. Here's the tricky part, the mayonnaise browns the bread much faster than regular butter, so check the slice with just the cheese on it. If it is browned the way you like it, put the lettuce on top of the tomato, top with the other cheesy slice of bread, press down to help seal it together and remove to a plate.

 

...and there my readers is my version of the upgraded Grilled Cheese sandwich, or the Grilled Cheese BLT. It is messy; you will get it all over your face and fingers; you will laugh; you will enjoy yourself.   Then again, enjoying your food, isn't that what you should be doing anyway?

Mary Cokenour