Stuffed Mushroom BBQ Burgers

One of my favorite appetizers in the world is stuffed mushrooms. I don't know why but I rarely make them. I think about them and drool over them often, but it's just not something I end up cooking! This past weekend I was really craving some and hubby was craving a BBQ burger. So, we improvised and created one of our absolute favorite burgers ever -- Stuffed Mushroom Burgers. They are crazy good. They are actually more of a "Deconstructed" stuffed mushroom burger because the mushrooms are on top of the burger, while the "filling" is in the center of  the burger. Did I mention the filling has bacon in it? And cream cheese? And Parmesan cheese? And other yummy things? I didn't?! Well, it does. These would be perfect for Memorial Day, since it's coming up so soon! You should probably make them.

[Here's a picture of the filling before the "top" of the burger was put on and sealed.]

Deconstructed Stuffed Mushroom BBQ Burgers Recipe: 

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Ingredients:

• 2 pounds ground beef (15%)
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• Salt
• Pepper
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled
• 3 heaping tablespoons green onion, sliced
• 5 ounces shredded parmesan cheese - divided
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 ounces sliced mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1/4 cup beer (optional)
• 6 large hamburger buns
• Green leaf lettuce
• Condiments - mayonnaise, mustard, etc.

Instructions:

In a mixing bowl combine cream cheese, garlic, bacon, green onion, about 3 ounces of the parmesan, onion powder and salt. Mix well. Form into a 6" log, place in saran wrap, roll and place in refrigerator for 1-2 hours, or until somewhat firm.

Combine ground beef, worcestershire, salt and pepper to taste, and divide into 12 parts. Flatten each piece until very, very thin. Remove cream cheese log from fridge and slice into 6 even discs. Place one disc in the center of one of the flattened patties and top with additional flattened patty. Seal edges and flatten. (You definitely don't want it to be super balled up at this point or your end result will be a huge burger ball.)

Lightly grease the grill and prepare it for direct heat grilling. Place burgers on grill, cover and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side. Remove from grill and wrap in foil.

Place butter in medium skillet over medium heat and melt. Add mushrooms and garlic. Cook for 4-5 minutes and add beer. Cook for additional 4-5 minutes, or until beer has mostly cooked out and mushrooms are a golden brown.

Place your burger on your bun, top with mushrooms and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. Add lettuce and any other condiments you choose. [We, personally, kept them simple and just used the mayo and the lettuce so we could really taste the burger. The filling is very, very flavorful and delicious!]

Grilled Garlic Parmesan Burgers

It's officially summertime! You know what that means... if you haven't already, it's time to break out the grill and get to cookin'! Without a doubt, summer BBQ's are the only thing that keep me sane during the hot summer months. Most of my summer days are spent sitting in front of the fan sipping on some delicious ice water and I can barely muster up the strength to get up and actually "do" anything, so cooking dinner usually sounds like the most miserable experience ever. I do, however, like to take advantage of the fact that my husband absolutely loves to grill. One of the things I love most about him is that during these unbearable months, he happily provides us with deliciously grilled dinners and I get to sit back and watch him sweat. 

This summer I have a lot of goals that i'm really hoping to accomplish. My number one goal is to get my house organized. Organization is not something that comes naturally to me. Oh no, quite the opposite... Pure and utter chaos and clutter is what comes naturally to me. I'm pretty sure that I will be seen on one of the episodes of "Hoarders" somewhere down the line. I can't seem to throw away anything and the countless boxes of my daughter's adorable drawings, her baby toys, her baby clothes and everything that she has ever owned over the past 6 years seem to be piling up. It doesn't help that my mother was the exact same way and she kept every single thing that I ever came in contact with. You know what the best part is? When I got married and got a place of my own, do you know what she did? She handed over every single box of mine that she had saved over past 18 years and said "Here you go!" Thanks Mom. So, now you understand why I have such a difficult time getting rid of anything! That's my story.

Now that I've got that off my chest, we can continue on to the delightful recipe that I have to share with you. I can't express how much I adore garlic. I use garlic in pretty much every meal that I make. What you must understand is that garlic was meant to go into your burger. Your burger is supposed to have fresh garlic in it. If your burger does not contain any traces of fresh garlic, then you, sir, or madam, are missing out! I double dog dare you to try this recipe and tell me that the garlic burger doesn't kick the butt of the regular old burger. Plus, the parmesan cheese gives it a whole new flavor dimension and texture that is out-of-this-world! 

Grilled Garlic Parmesan Burgers Recipe:   

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Ingredients:

• 2 pounds 20% fat ground beef
• 6 ounces parmesan cheese (grated)
• 8 cloves fresh garlic (finely minced)
• 1 tablespoon cold water
• Salt & pepper
• Dijon mustard
• Mayonnaise
• 6 large buns
• Green leaf lettuce
• Cheese (mozarella or monterey jack is great!)
• Tomatoes, onions, etc. 

Directions:

Combine ground beef, parmesan, garlic, water and salt and pepper. Form into 6 patties. 

Lightly grease the grill and prepare it for direct heat grilling. Place burgers on grill, cover and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side. If you are adding cheese, place it on the top of the burgers during the last minute of cooking.

Dress up your burger the way you like it. We like to use mayonnaise, dijon mustard, lettuce, fresh tomato and sliced red onion! 

Tri Tip Burritos

The weather has been amazing this week in California! It's been nice and perfectly warm (not too hot, not too cold) and has been so beautiful that you just want to stay outside! Luckily, we have a park that is right behind our house and is only about a 3 minute walk away, so when my daughter was home on spring break we took a lot of walks over to the park so she could play and I got to enjoy how beautiful and green and new everything was.

With the wonderful weather comes something that is very important in my house... BBQ Season! This is definitely becoming one of my favorite times of the year even though i'm really not a huge fan of hot weather. Being outside while my husband flips his burgers, sauces his ribs and sears his tri tip is always going to be one of those things that makes me happy and that I remember fondly. But, really, that's not even the best part... the best part is taking that first bite of some freshly BBQ'd food, which automatically triggers all of those fond memories of past summers and reminds me how much I truly love my grill master husband.

One of my favorite things that my husband makes is his tri tip. It is a very delicate process, but once you get down some basic rules you will be able to nail it every time. The thing with tri tip is that it can be very tough if you don't get it just right... so, you should probably try to get it just right! I'm going to include the recipe for just the BBQ tri tip along with my favorite thing to do with the tri tip -- tri tip burritos!


BBQ Tri Tip Recipe:   |Print Recipe|
1 Tri Tip (we preferred untrimmed, but you can use the trimmed if you prefer)
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon ground pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder


If you're using an untrimmed tri tip, trim the overly fatty parts. Combine salt, pepper and garlic and rub the entire tri tip with the mixture. Set tri tip aside while you prepare your charcoal (you never want to put it directly from the fridge to the grill as this makes the meat tense up and become tough).


Prepare your BBQ for indirect heat. If you are using a charcoal grill, do this by raking all your charcoal to one side of the grill so that half of the grill is directly above the hot charcoal and the other part has no heat directly below. With a gas grill simply adjust the burners to create the same effect.


Slightly grease the grill with oil or nonstick spray. Take the tri tip and sear it for 5 minutes on each side over the "hot" side of the grill (with coals) beginning with the lean side. After you sear it, place the tri tip on the cool side of the grill with the fatty side up. Cover and cook for 45 minutes, flipping every 15 minutes or so. Try to keep the temperature around 350 degrees. This should put your meat at a perfect medium rare. If you prefer more well done, cook for an additional 10 minutes. 


Once the meat is cooked to your liking, remove from grill and place it on the counter and let it rest for about 10 minutes. This will allow the juices to soak back into the meat and make for a very tender and juicy piece of meat.




Tri Tip Burrito Recipe:
Thinly sliced tri tip (against the grain)
Spanish rice
Refried beans
Salsa
Shredded cheese
Chopped cilantro
Tortillas
Sour Cream
*You can really add anything you'd like... It really just depends on your taste! :)


When I put my burritos together I always like to start by putting a few tablespoons of refried beans down on the tortilla. Next, I top it with a large spoonful of spanish rice, followed by the tri tip, cheese, sour cream and cilantro. It's pretty simple, really, but the flavors really go well together and make the perfect combination of deliciousness! :)

Carne Asada Marinade

My husband's favorite time of the year comes when he can bring his grill out of hibernation. We are huge BBQ fans and during the spring and summer, I'd say we BBQ almost 50percent of the time! Now that spring is here, our grill is up and running and my husband is happy once again. We have a lot of joint BBQ recipes where I make the marinade or the rub and he grills it to perfection. I'm pretty sure that's what marriage is all about, right?

I think a lot of people are scared of BBQing because they think it's a lot harder than it really is. I'm here to tell you that BBQing will be your new best friend if you learn how to do it properly. Now, I need you to prepare yourself for what you are about to see. Once you see this, I guarantee you will run to store and make it. This is, hands down, the best carne asada you will ever taste. I guarantee it!

Also, if you have yourself a local farmers market or a place you can find homemade tortillas, I highly suggest you use homemade tortillas for this! Also, be sure you make the perfect salsa to go with it!

Carne Asada Marinade:

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 4 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• Around 3 pounds of good quality, thinly sliced, carne asada

Directions:

First, you're going to want to mix all of the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Now, you can either place your meat into the bowl with the marinade or you can put it into a ziplock bag and pour the marinade into the bag. Place it in the refrigerator for 4-24 hours. Make sure you marinate it for at least 4 hours.

Grilling instructions:

Prepare your BBQ for direct heat grilling. Make sure it gets nice and hot. With carne asada, the meat cooks very fast so you want to make sure to get those perfect grill marks!

Place the carne asada on the grill, sprinkle with salt, close lid and cook for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes (depending on the thickness).

Turn meat over, close lid and cook for an additional 1 1/2 - 2 minutes.

Now, put it on a plate and serve it to your eager family.