Hold the cheese or extra cheese?

It depends on what the dish is, and what I want at the moment. "Sometimes I like a solo cheese adventure...sometimes I want an orgy of cheese."

I will say, though; on rice and meat dishes, the more cheese the better.

Ask me things. And even stuff.

Adventures in Cooking: Juicy Lucy's

I've recently become a fan of the Travel Channel's 'Man V. Food', and enjoy the other restaurants the host Adam Richman goes to before the food challenges almost as much as the challenges themselves. While he was in Minneapolis during the second season, Adam went to two restaurants; Matt's Bar and the 5 - 8 Club, to try and see which restaurant made a better "Jucy/Juicy Lucy". While he was unable to determine for the viewers which was better at making the burger, thanks to some clever editing by a car honking as it drove by when he spoke the name of the joint, watching him eat the burgers piqued my interest in seeing if I could make them myself.

At the outset, it's just an ordinary hamburger but with a pocket of cheese in the middle, like an inside out cheeseburger. And during the course of the show, they showed some of them being made, so I could get an idea of how to do it.

I was set to make one for lunch today, but lack of cheddar cheese stopped that. I ventured out into the cold New England afternoon to get some cheddar cheese at Market Basket, along with a lot of food for our cats, and came back home victorious.

The recipe I used was from the website Heavy Table.com, and aside from the cheddar cheese {you can use almost any type you like; cheddar, Swiss, bleu, etc.}, I opted for 73% lean hamburger meat.

Prep was relatively easy, though I did reference the recipe a lot to ensure I was doing it correctly, and soon enough, I had my own Juicy Lucy ready to cook in the small skillet.


I opted not to use steak sauce, as we were out, and seasoned it only with salt and pepper, pushing it around as it cooked for 8 minutes on one side {which went against my nature to let it do}. I flipped it over after the 8 minute mark, added more salt and pepper, and then let it cook for 8 more minutes.

I was discouraged at seeing some of the cheese leak out, as I'd apparently made the patty too small before it cooked, but most of it was still inside, so I wasn't too concerned with that.

I prepped my bun with mayo and some ketchup, adding potato salad on the side to complete the meal, and put the burger on the bun, ready to eat in all its inside out cheeseburger glory.

The first bite was incredible; cheese and meat coming together like never before. This is definitely something I'm going to be making more of, and with more variety next time, and with a bigger patty. I might go for Hoffman sharp cheddar cheese, and see if that can turn it up to 11.


Until next time, Bon Appetit!

Full Day's Food for May 11, 2010

Meal: Thomas' Multi-grain bagel with butter in the car, and then a plain bagel with cream cheese with a Tall hot chocolate at Starbucks for breakfast.


Rating:
Taste: multi-grain bagel- 9, plain bagel- 10, hot chocolate- 10

I picked up the multi-grain bagels for lack of a better choice on snowy night in February while at Weis, one of the other supermarkets around here. I was surprised to find, once I did finally eat it, that it tasted good, and that it was high in fiber, which I could always use more of in my diet.

I knew, though, that this one little bagel wouldn't be enough to sustain me until lunch {one of the reasons I go to Starbucks in the first place in the morning...aside from using it as a place to hang out before I have to go to work}, so I opted for a bigger bagel, this time with cream cheese to go with my tall hot chocolate.

The bagel complimented the cocoa perfectly, and had a small hint of sweetness I didn't expect. And the cocoa...try it if you haven't, because Starbucks has the best cocoa I've ever had.

Meal: last of the leftover Pizza Hut, an oats and chocolate Fiber One bar and a can of Coke for lunch.

Rating:
Taste: pizza- 8, Fiber one bar- 8, Coke- 10

I was surprised I wasn't sick of the pizza by now, as a lot of people would be having the same food three days in a row, but I guess that's a testament to Pizza Hut and the food they make. Also, I was afraid that not refrigerating it right away would negatively effect the taste, but it didn't, so that was good.

The bar was scrumptious as always. I used to eat about two of these every time I went to my friend Rebekah's house back two summers ago. I've started trying to eat at least four a week, which also helps with my fiber intake, something everyone should take into consideration when they pick food to eat.

The Coke was cold and crisp and not my original choice to have for lunch, since I left my water in the car when I was dropped off in the morning. Canned soda is my second favorite way to have soda, second only to soda from a fountain. Yuuum.

By the way, even though I had two bagels for breakfast in the morning, I was so hungry by the time 12:30 rolled around that I started to feel sick. It looks like I'll have to have something a little richer or more filled with protein to supplement it in the mornings or else this will become a problem.

Meal: Regular sized Chicken Carbonara sub from Quizno's and a large Coke from Jerry's for dinner.

Rating:
Taste: Chicken Carbonara- 7, Coke- 9

The Chicken Carbonara sub is the only one I ever get when I go to Quizno's. With ingredients like bacon, mushrooms, chicken, mozzarella cheese and "Creamy Bacon Alfredo Sauce", why would I ever want anything else? One time I deviated, not by choice, and got cheddar cheese instead of mozzarella. The sandwich was still tasty as ever, but I don't think I would ever deviate again. I normally would give this sandwich a 10, but because I left it in the microwave for about two hours to keep it warm, all of the heat turned into moisture which soaked part of the paper it was wrapped in. The sandwich was still good, but not as good as it usually is when it's fresh out of the oven.

The Coke was refreshing as usual. Fountain soda is the only proper way to drink soda, in my opinion. Followed by can soda {I can't describe why, but try it, and you'll see what I mean}, and then bottled soda, which makes the soda lose something.


It's definitely time for a gym visit tomorrow, I think.

Food Quote: "In terms of fast food and deep understanding of the culture of fast food, I’m your man." —–Bill Gates