Work has been somewhat brutal lately. We both have been putting in 15 hours/day load, though long weekend is on horizon - it's a slim chance we'll be spending it by doing nothing. Sometimes, it makes me wonder on how we easily survived college life - 15-19 credits, held a job or two (three in Vik's case), and still had the energy for partying. Now, 15 hours/day for few weeks and our bodies felt so abused! Is this somewhat sign of old-age?!!!
So, I am taking a day off. Half day off, since I did have to do some work related errands in the morning. Vik too decided to free up some afternoon hours so we can just chill and relax. So on my way back home, I thought to fix up some fancy-nice dinner and we'll eat it out on the balcony. Well..it did not go as planned. Some unforeseen work glitches came up and what fancy-nice dinner?! :) So, something 'equally' nice but not necessarily fancy. Juicy burger with chipotle - adobo sauce and smoked cheddar, along with sweet potato baked fries. With cooling yogurt topping, to balance out spicy chipotle. And, creme caramel as dessert.
What:
Patties:
- 3/4 lbs of ground beef
- 2 chipotle in adobo sauce, chopped coarsely
- 1 tsp of the adobo sauce
- smoked cheddar, cut to itsy bitsy cubes
- 2 cloves garlic, grated/ finely minced
- 2 tsp of coarsely chopped red onions
- salt and pepper
Saucy toppings:
- 5 shallots, cut rather thickly
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2-3 tbsp yogurt
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp hot sauce
How:
- Fry up shallots with olive oil until soft and caramelized. Let cool.
- Whip yogurt, honey, hot sauce in small bowl and toss in cooled shallots. This can be made bit in advance and store in fridge.
- Mix all patties ingredients, don't overwork the mixture. Shape to patties, size depends on personal taste.
- Slide to oven under broiler for about 12 minutes.
Note: yogurt can be substitute with mayo, of course. But I find chilled yogurt make a great combination with piping hot spicy burger.
The sweet potato fries is pretty easy. Just cut it up after peeling. Make sure they are dry (pat dry with paper towel), toss lightly with olive oil. Slide to the oven on 450F for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with pepper and salt once out from oven. Some cajun spices or sweet paprika will also work superbly. Thought about it halfway munching them. A burger joint near our place has quite good spicy sweet potato fries with their burgers - hm...half a plate too late.
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3 comments:
u call that simple? that's awesome! Love the idea for sweet potato fries!
That burger sounds so tasty! The sweet potato fries would go really well with the burgers.
daphne: thanks!! i guess it's simple compared to what i originally had in mind. :D
kevin: i wish i doctor up the fries with some spicy cajun seasonings. but otherwise, the smoked cheddar inside the burger itself was pretty yummy.
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