James Beard's Favorite Hamburger

Before getting into this blog, I wanted to remind you all to vote for me for my first entry for Project Food Blog.  Voting for this first challenge is open from September 20th (9 AM EST) to September 23rd (9 AM EST).  Winners from this challenge will be announced from 3 PM EST on Friday September 24th.  There are 652 entries and only 400 will move forward so your vote is much appreciated!

Now, back to our regular scheduled programming...

I absolutely love burgers.  I mean, what's not to like? A burger is one of the most versatile things that you can make in your kitchen by playing around with its ingredients.  You can use beef, lamb, turkey, chicken, tofu, beans or vegetables.  You can add different seasonings, toppings and even stuffing.  You can sandwich a burger in a bun, pita, bread or even go bunless.  You can make sliders, flat patties, or thick and juicy burgers!  The possibilities are endless!

Wow, I just sounded like a weird burger infomercial.

The point is that I love a good burger and on Thursday, I was definitely craving a good juicy beef burger.  Although I have a standard burger recipe that I could make in my sleep, I definitely like to experiment and play around with different burger recipes.  I did some research and found a fantastic recipe for James Beard's Favorite Hamburger.  I think the title says it all.  I mean, if it is good enough for James Beard, then it is definitely good enough for me!

I was planning on making these burgers for dinner that night until I banged my big toe up pretty badly at work.  Even though I work in an office with a pretty strict dress code, I tend to actually work at my desk without my shoes on.  It is my secret way of rebelling against corporate America.  Anyway, I got up from my desk to throw something away and klutzy me hit my big toe against a bookshelf.  It hurt pretty badly but I stubbornly went to the gym after work even though my big toe was throbbing.  Big mistake.  I ended up hobbling home after the gym and after Bret took one look at my toe, he told me to sit back, elevate my foot and threw a bag of frozen veggies on it.

Even though I didn't cook this dinner, I did take photos to work on my photo skills while Bret got to work. 

This is such a simple recipe using just a handful of ingredients.  Since Bret was only cooking dinner for two people, he halved the recipe.  The ingredients for this burger included:

• One pound ground beef
• Half an onion
• Half a tablespoon of heavy cream
• Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• Unsalted butter, as needed
• Vegetable oil, as needed (he didn't use any)
• Kosher salt, to taste

First, Bret spread the meat out on a board and grated half of an onion in it.  This was grated very finely so that just onion juice and finely grated raw onion was on the beef.

Next, Bret poured about half a tablespoon of heavy cream on the meat.  We rarely have heavy cream on hand but I had just purchased some for my cherry tomato goat cheese tart.

Finally Bret added some fresh cracked peppercorns.

Without mixing the ingredients, Bret shaped the meat into four patties.

Even though we have a cast iron skillet, Bret decided to use the grill pan to get nice grill marks on the burger.  He warmed the pan on the stove with a few pats of butter.  The burgers took about four minutes on each side.

While the burgers were cooking, Bret also boiled up a few ears of corn.

And he also made some delicious spicy sriracha butter.  We are both seriously addicted to this stuff.

Because of my obsession with mustard, we had quite a few brands and flavors to choose from but we went with two Stonewall Kitchen mustards - roasted garlic and horseradish.

And we also had to have two pickles - pickle chips for the burger and Grillo's spicy pickle spears for the side.

When the burgers were done, Bret sprinkled the patties with a bit of the salt.  We then put our burgers together.  Bret opted for a brioche bun but I decided to be good and opted for a whole grain sandwich thin.  I topped my burger with ketchup, mustard and goat cheese crumbles (also leftover from the cherry tomato and goat cheese tart).

Bret and I unanimously agreed that this was going to be our new standard burger.  Because we didn't mix the ingredients in, the meat wasn't overworked and the burger was so tender.  It was truly delicious.

Thanks to Bret for letting me play injured patient while he whipped up this yummy dinner!

What's your favorite kind of burger?

Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog: Ready, Set, Blog!

As I previously mentioned, I am participating in Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog.  For my first entry, I need to explain what defines me as a food blogger and why I should be the next food blog star.  

People always ask me why my blog is titled Fun and Fearless in Beantown.  When I was in college, I was a fervent reader of Cosmopolitan magazine (don't judge).  Every year, the magazine would highlight both celebrities and everyday individuals who were both fun and fearless in their lives.  There was something about this annual feature that really struck a chord with me and since then, I have tried to find a way to have a fun and fearless attitude in all areas of my life.

Although I write about different topics on my blog, a majority of my blog posts relate to food - whether it is trying out new restaurants, dreaming up new recipes, participating in cooking classes or just playing around in the kitchen.  I try to embody a “fun and fearless” attitude with food in different ways, like:

• Getting creative in the kitchen to combine both of my Korean and American backgrounds with dishes like kimchi spaghetti;

Cold Kimchi Spaghetti

• Taking classes to learn more about different cuisines, like making dumplings at Myers + Chang;



My Cooking Class Dumplings

• Entering fun recipe contests like Olivia's Organics Summer Harvest Recipe Contest, which I recently won with my Baked Green Tomato Herb Salad;

Contest Winning Baked Green Tomato Herb Salad

• Finding new ways to utilize every ingredient to the fullest with “clean out the fridge” and “kitchen sink” recipes like my beet green hummus;

Beet Green Hummus



• Experiencing tasting menus (like the one I experienced most recently at Arrows Restaurant) where I have no idea what to expect and always try something new; and 



Deep-Fried Dodge Cove Oysters - first of ten courses at Arrows Restaurant

• Challenging myself to use local ingredients in ways that I’ve never dreamed of such as beet latkes.

Beet Latkes

So why should I be the next food blog star? 

I think we all need a “fun and fearless” attitude in life and my blog makes it easy to find one when it comes to food.  I try to tell a story with each of my food adventures.  There are often successes and sometimes there are failures (or as I like to call them, learning mistakes).  Either way, my readers can relate to the experience and hopefully be inspired to try something new out on their own. 

How do you maintain a fun and fearless attitude in your life?

Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog

A lot of times, I consider my endeavors in the kitchen to be like a project.  As I’m testing out a new recipe or experimenting with new ingredients, I’m constantly thinking about how to demonstrate this project on my blog for my readers.  I am currently involved with a new project sponsored by Foodbuzz.  Foodbuzz is a wonderful food blog community and I’m proud to be a Foodbuzz Featured Publisher.  This project is called Project Food Blog and it is a competition where Foodbuzz Featured Publishers will participate in a series of culinary blogging challenges.  I will be posting my entries for each round here on my blog.  There is a grand prize for just one contestant: $10,000.00 and a special feature on Foodbuzz for a year. 

I’ve always welcomed reader participation on my blog and Project Food Blog is no exception.  Eventually, I will have an icon on my blog for you to use to vote for me.  There are judges for the competition but there will be one readers’ choice winner per round.  The blogger with the most votes from the public will be the readers’ choice for that round and will automatically advance to the next round.

I’m already hard at work getting my blog ready for the first round, but in the meantime, you can check out my Project Food Blog contestant profile here.  

I’m not sure how far I’ll advance in Project Food Blog but I’m excited to participate and compete against some great food bloggers and I hope you’ll want to join me for the ride.