Recipe | Long Boy Burgers

Have you ever had a conversation with your husband about meatloaf? I vividly remember early on in our dating relationship telling hubs that I would be making meatloaf for dinner, and the resulting look of pure disdain that flashed across his face at the word "meatloaf."

Now - call me crazy - but the last time I checked, guys were supposed to love the whole meat and potatoes deal. But apparently my guy takes offense to the mere mention of it. 

So I asked him, "What's wrong with meatloaf?" 

The explanation that followed was lousy at best - "I mean, it's just so...blah. Meatloafff...it even sounds gross." His face scrunching up as he pronounced the last part of the food-that-shall-not-be-named.  (This coming from the guy who eats white rice with a slice of American cheese and ketchup.)

After years of dating and then being married, he now loves meatloaf...

BUT!

...it must be in muffin form. I literally use the exact same ingredients, but put it in a  muffin tin. As long as it's served that way, he will eat - I kid you not - at least 6 meatloaf muffins. 

Men. 

So last night, I made something called Long Boy Burgers from Cook's Country. In essence, it's meatloaf on top of a toasted bun. My pictures don't do it justice, but it's pretty darn good. 

Long Boy Burgers

(Apologies for the crappy iPhone pic. I was lazy.)

Ingredients:

- 2 6-inch sub rolls, cut in half

- 1 1/4 cup cornflakes, crushed
- 1/2 small onion, minced
- 1/2 cup whole or lowfat milk
- 6 tablespoons ketchup, separated
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme (let's be real here - Target doesn't carry fresh thyme and therefore, I omitted it. Turned out just fine. Save yourself $3.)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- Salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds 90% lean ground beef (I only used 1 pound)
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Adjust the oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees.

1. Bake rolls, cut side up, on wire rack inside rimmed baking sheet until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes.

2. Combine cornflakes, onion, milk, 4 tablespoons ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, thyme (again, I omitted it), garlic powder, egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper (oops - I forgot both the salt and pepper, too. Doesn't really need it in my opinion.) in large bowl. Add meat and knead gently until well combined.

3. Top toasted rolls evenly with meat mixture, spreading meat to edges of rolls. Brush top of meat mixture evenly with remaining ketchup and bake until meat registers 160 degrees, 20-25 minutes. Top burgers with cheese and continue to bake until cheese melts, 3-4 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes. Serve. 

My thoughts:

If you don't feel like using their recipe, I would think that your normal meatloaf recipe would work out just fine. I would, however, recommend subbing out your bread crumbs for the corn flakes in the recipe - it really did add a nice sweetness of sorts. Also, you could easily get away with using less meat on each of the buns to get more out of the recipe (probably 6 halves instead of 4). I only used 1 pound of meat, and I could still have easily had 6 halves. A quarter pound of meat on each bun is pretty thick. Don't skip adding the ketchup to the top of the meat before baking - it makes a wonderful glaze. 

So - is my husband the only one who has an unusual hatred for meatloaf in loaf form? 

Recipe | Quick Asparagus

Again - this is another one of those things that can't really be considered a recipe because it's so simple and probably common sense to 99.9% of the population. But up until a few years ago, I had no idea how to cook asparagus. (In my defense, I may have been scared off by an old roommate who cooked asparagus to the point where they were limp tubes of mush.)

All of that to say that asparagus shouldn't be over cooked. If you do, it's a recipe for a gagging disaster. Here's how I make mine. 

Ingredients:

Asparagus

Olive oil

Kosher salt or seasoning of choice

Directions:

- Snap off the tough ends of the asparagus (it should naturally snap at the point where it needs to be cut)

- Drizzle olive oil over the asparagus and lightly season the spears

- Place the spears in a hot grill pan and sear, rolling occasionally, until the asparagus is cooked to your liking. For me, I still like it slightly crunchy. 

Bonus points for being able to cook it on an actual grill. But since this is the neverending winter, that's not quite possible yet considering it snowed AGAIN today. 

It's also good with shaved Parmesan on top.

Any other quick veggie tips?