Bobby Flay Everyday!: Mesa Grill Burger

Welcome to Bobby Flay Everyday!

I am not an expert. I have never even taken a class. I have no formal training - but I love to grill. I love the food off the grill and I just like the idea, the fun and the relaxation of grilling. So naturally Bobby Flay is a hero. I have his books, I watch his shows and I try out his recipes. So my idea is to grill one of Bobby's grilling recommendations everyday and see how it goes. Bobby Flay Everyday!

The idea to grill and blog is not original. Julie Powell wrote a blog that became a book and then a movie when she cooked all 524 recipes from Julia Child's cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. But this is not French Cooking - this is backyard, after work, tailgate, American male grilling. I grill outside in a man-cave in every kind of weather. There is no "grilling season" for me - its everyday, year-round. We will skip around through Bobby's books and TV shows and grill what we like. But grilling is more than food, its an experience - so we will also report on what music we listened to or what ball game was on while we were grilling. We will keep track of what we were drinking during the grilling and later with the food. I'll try to figure what went wrong when we fall short of Bobby's perfection and pass on any tips I know about or discover along the way. Maybe it will give others some ideas as well.

The photo is of me and two of my brother-in-laws roasting the Thanksgiving turkey on the grill last year. That's me on the far right. In real life I am a college professor and pilot. I have written 12 books, but they were all about flying - here we write about grilling. We write about Bobby Flay Everyday!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Mesa Grill Burger

This eight-layer, stacked-high burger is the The Mesa Grill burger with double cheddar cheese, and grilled onion. It comes from Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook page 162. These burgers just keep getting better and better. Here it is from top to bottom: Layer 1- whole wheat bun that was butter sprayed and toasted on the grill. Layer 2 - thick slice of beefsteak tomato. Layer 3 - thick cut bacon, crispy from the grill. Layer 4 - half a pound of ground Angus beef grilled with canola oil, kosher salt and ground pepper. Layer 5 - two slices of sharp cheddar cheese that was melted over the burgers using the "basting pan" method (see previous blog and video for that technique). Layer 6 - a slice of Vidalia onion that was grilled with canola oil, salt and pepper. Layer 7 - fresh romaine lettuce leaves. Layer 8 - bun top, also toasted from the grill. On the side - Kosher Dill pickle spears. A cheesburger from paradise.

Also on the side are Bobby's Grilled Potatoes with Spicy Tomato Mayonnaise from Grill it! page 179. This was sort of a potato salad, but with a kick. I started by roasting two roma tomatoes right on the grill grates until they were charred on all sides. I slices up the hot tomatoes and tossed them into a processor with mayo, parlsey, chilpole chilies, paprika, three garlic cloves, and ground black pepper. The processor turned all this into a great tasting dressing. I partially cookd the red potatoes and them took them to the grill. In a pan over the grill, I let the potatoes sear and then I threw in some of the Spicy Tomato Mayo. The mayo was so good that we even spread it on the burger buns!

Let the Bracket Busting Begin! Our brackets are all filled out and ready to go. Dorothy and I always fill them out separately and then compare later. For the first time in 20 years, we both have the same two teams in the final game: Kentucky and Kansas, and we both picked Kentucky to win it all. I looked at President Obama's bracket. He also has Kentucky and Kansas in the final game, but takes Kansas to win it all. We will see how smart that is (Kentucky has more electoral votes).

Grillin' and Hoops to come! Paul