Best Burger Ever with Secret Sauce

Ingredients:

Burger:

2 lbs. ground beef, 85/15

1/2 c. grated Monterrey jack cheese

1/4 c. BBQ sauce

season salt, to taste

cracked black pepper

onion powder

Secret Sauce:

3/4 c. mayo

1/4 c. ketchup

1/4 c. relish

2 T. Worcestershire

seasoned salt

hamburger buns

cheese slices

lettuce

avocado

tomato

other hamburger toppings

Recipe:

1. Combine the ground beef, grated cheese, BBQ sauce, and seasonings. Shape patties that are about 1-inch thick.

2. Then is it very important to push a 1/2 inch indent into the center of the patty - this is what prevents the patty from becoming a dome. These burgers stay extra moist because the BBQ sauce and cheese are mixed in with the meat.

3. Wait for the skillet to get super hot and then apply a very thin layer of butter to the pan. Place the patties on the pan, indent side up.

4. Reduce heat to medium and allow patty to cook for about 4-6 minutes, but make sure it doesn't burn. Then flip the burger over and cook until done.

5. For the sauce: combine all ingredients and whisk until well mixed. Taste and adjust ingredients to your liking.

6. Assemble the burgers and serve with toppings.

Rating: 3 of 5

I actually wasn't that impressed with this burger recipe. It could be because we had the most amazing burgers the week before, so expectations were a little skewed. But, yes, these burger were juicy, and had pretty good flavor. One thing that drove me nuts about this recipe is that there was no specific measurement for some of the ingredients. It's not that big of a deal, but it is helpful.

Source: Little Miss Momma, Best Burger Recipe Ever with Secret Sauce

Chipotle-Mango BBQ Chicken Salad

Salad sans dressing

Ingredients:

Chipotle-Mango BBQ Sauce:

1 mango, peeled and chopped

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, plus 2 t. adobo sauce

1/2 c. ketchup

1/2 c. apple juice

1/4 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

juice from 1/2 lemon

2 T. unseasoned rice vinegar

2 T. brown sugar

1 T. canola oil

2 t. paprika *

2 t. salt

1 t. black pepper

*I only had 1 t. paprika, so I substituted the rest with just a 1/2 t. cayenne pepper.

Dressing:

2 T. prepared Chipotle-Mango BBQ sauce

2 T. plain Greek yogurt

1-2 t. lime juice, give or take a little

salt and pepper

Salad:

2 chicken breasts

2 ears sweet corn, shucked

1 vine-ripe tomato, cut into wedges

1/4 c. chopped cilantro

1 bag Dole Romaine Salad mix *

*I used just a head of Romaine

Recipe:

Chipotle-Mango BBQ Sauce:

1. Combine all ingredients for BBQ sauce into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring often. Let cool then transfer to a food processor or blender, and process until smooth.

Dressing:

1. Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. Taste, then add more lime juice, salt and pepper if necessary.

Salad:

1. Marinate chicken breasts in some of the prepared Chipotle-Mango BBQ sauce for at least 15 minutes, or up to 3 hours.

2. Grill over medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes per side until no longer pink in the middle. Allow to rest for 5 minutes off the grill before slicing.

3. Grill corn alongside the chicken, rotating every few minutes until charred on all sides. Let cool for a few minutes, then cut kernels off the cob.

4. Divide lettuce between two plates, then top with grilled corn, tomatoes, cilantro, and grilled chicken. Drizzle with prepared dressing.

Rating: 4 of 5

I really liked this salad. My only complaint is the heat of the dressing, but that is easily remedied by taking out the chipotle pepper before blending. I thought the chicken marinade was perfect and just the right flavor to go with the salad and cilantro. For the corn, I brushed it with olive oil and then grilled it. Loved the flavor in the salad. Super easy salad to make although it does require a little bit of prep time. I'd definitely make this again.

Source: Iowa Girl Eats, Chipotle-Mango BBQ Chicken Salad

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients:

1 t. garlic salt

1/2 t. black pepper

2-3 T cornstarch *

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. vinegar

1/2 c. chicken broth

3-4 T. ketchup

1 T soy sauce

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

* I used minute tapioca instead. 

Recipe:

1. In a slow cooker, mix together all ingredients except the cornstarch and chicken. Stir until you have a smooth consistency.

2. Add chicken to slow cooker. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

3. About 30 minutes before removing chicken and sauce from pot, remove chicken, shred, add tapioca and stir a few times, and replace chicken.

4. Serve over rice or in a tortilla with traditional toppings such as lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, etc. *

* I actually ate mine over quinoa.

Rating: 3.5 of 5

So, even though this recipe isn't what the source has it down as, I thought it was pretty good. I wanted something easy, like a crock pot, and I think I got it. Daniel really liked. I'd make this one again.

Source: adapted from (I really wanted to make this, but use a crock pot) Get Off Your Butt and Bake, Sweet and Sour Chicken

The Best Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:

2 T. vegetable oil

2 onions, roughly chopped

2 1/2 lbs. ground beef

2 T. tomato paste

2/3 c. smoky BBQ sauce (or whatever BBQ sauce is in your fridge)

1/2 c. ketchup

1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 c. soy sauce

freshly ground black pepper

8-12 potato rolls

Recipe:

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until they start to turn translucent, about 4 minutes.

2. Add the beef and cook, stirring and breaking up the meat, until it is finely crumbled, the liquid boils off and the meat begins to brown, about 10 minutes.

3. Drain the grease off the meat and onions.

4. Stir in the tomato paste, and keep stirring until the meat is coated.

5. Add the BBQ sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire, soy sauce, and pepper, and bring to a boil.

6. Cook until the sauce is slightly thickened, 4-5 minutes.

7. Serve the sloppy Joes hot with warm rolls.

Rating: 3.5 of 5

This was a pretty good recipe. I halved it and the servings came out to the perfect size for LaDon and I. I used Spicy and Sweet BBQ sauce so there was a little bit of a kick there that normal BBQ sauce doesn't have. It definitely doesn't taste like sloppy Joe juice from a can. It's delicious, although not the taste that I'm used to in a sloppy Joe. Easy, easy recipe. One thing I need to do is find something to do with the extra tomato paste. I would make this one again for sure. I'm wondering if I can figure out a way to do this in a crockpot so that we can eat it in the summer with corn on the cob and watermelon without heating up our A/C-deprived apartment.

Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe, The Best Sloppy Joes

Barbecued Beef

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. ketchup

1/4 c. packed brown sugar

1/4 c. red wine vinegar

2 T. prepared Dijon-styled mustard

2 T. Worcestershire sauce

1 t. liquid smoke flavoring

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. ground black pepper

1/4 t. garlic powder

1 4-lb. boneless chuck roast, cut in half

Recipe:

1. In a slow cooker, combine ketchup, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, Dijon-style mustard, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, salt, pepper, and garlic powder; stir well.

2. Place chuck roast halves in slow cooker. Turn meat to coat with ketchup mixture. Cover and cook on High for 1 hour. Reduce heat to Low and cook 7-8 hours.

3. Remove roast, shred with two forks, and return to slow cooker. Stir meat to evenly coast with sauce. Continue cooking on Low for about 1 hour.

Rating: 4 of 5

I love crock pot recipes for several recipes. One reason that I love them is because I can cut the cook time in half by turning the heat from low to high. Cutting the time worked perfectly today. The meat in this recipe turns out nice and tender. Easy to shred. The flavoring was good, but it wasn't out of this world good. Oh, and just FYI, the meat doesn't taste like barbecued beef until after you've shredded it and put it back into the crock pot. I tasted it while shredding and thought the recipe was a total flop (as in tasted like plain roast beer instead of barbecued) so I made up a batch of mashed potatoes and served the meat on top. It wasn't bad. This would definitely be best in sandwich buns, but I think it would probably make for an interesting taco with a little bit of lime juice, cilantro, cheese, and tortilla strips. Actually, now that I think taco, it did taste similar to Cafe Rio's Pork Barbacoa. Except that's better than this.

Source: AllRecipes Dinner Tonight, pg. 22