Lovin' From the Oven

Goat Cheese Hamburgers

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I’m curious… How many of you guys go tailgating for the football season? I know Niners fan must do it a lot because of the horrendous amount of traffic going into the city well before the game starts. Thanks SF for practically only having one way into the city.

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Believe it or not, I’ve never been tailgating in my life. Not once. I didn’t even do it in college and I went to a pretty big football college, too! Does that mean I have no school spirit? Sorry, Bruins!

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(note to self: pictures of raw meat are just not appetizing)

I may not have tailgated before, but I’m all about “table-gating” at home. There, I have the comfort of my kitchen and all of the amenities needed in order to cook. Forgot the ketchup? No problem, I’ll just walk over to the fridge and get it.

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I’m much more into the food than the game, anyways. I have no idea how football works and can’t for the life of me get into it. I’d like to think of myself as a pretty athletic gal, having played sports in high school, but football just seems so…. slow.

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Vlasic sent me a tailgating kit to get the party started. When I think of pickles, I immediately think of hamburgers and picnics at the park. Burgers and grilling go hand in hand. I “grilled” my burgers indoors on a grill pan on the stovetop, but they turned out just as good.

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Do you prefer your pickles inside your burger as chips or outside as dills? I’m into both. Farmer’s Garden by Vlasic also has great and crunchy varieties.

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I used to hate eating pickles when I was little, but I came around to them about five years ago. Now I can demolish those Disneyland pickles in a bag within minutes.

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What tailgating party doesn’t have chips? They’re a must. I’m partial to the jalapeño kettle baked ones, but most chips will do.

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This burger is nice and juicy, thanks to the 80/20. Even though it’s a little fattier than other ground beefs, it’s totally worth it. Don’t skimp.

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I’ll take two burgers, please.

Print
Goat Cheese Hamburgers

Yield: 3-4 burgers, depending on how big you want your patties

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground beef (I used 80/20)
  • 7 dashes Tabasco
  • 1 tsp garlic salt
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
  • 1 cup sliced crimini mushrooms
  • 1/4 of an onion, chopped
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
  • 4 kaiser rolls (mine were topped with cheese)
  • any other toppings you'd like: lettuce, tomatoes, mayonnaise, pickles, etc.

Directions

  1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the meat, Tabasco, salt, and pepper. Divide and form into four patties (or three if you're making bigger burgers). Cook over a grill on medium heat until desired doneness, flipping the burger halfway through.
  2. While the meat is cooking, cook the mushrooms, onion, and brown sugar in another saucepan until caramelized, about 8-10 minutes. Set aside.
  3. Toast your rolls and put together your burger with the caramelized mushrooms and all your remaining toppings, making sure to put the goat cheese on top of the meat so that it melts. Serve immediately.
https://lovintheoven.com/goat-cheese-hamburgers/

This is a sponsored post by Vlasic, but the opinions expressed are my own.

Korean Sizzling Beef made with Flank Steak

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One thing that I’ve learned while cooking with meat is that I have no idea which direction to cut it. All these recipes tell you to cut against or with the grain is gibberish to me. So, I kind of just cut wherever I feel like it. It’s probably not the best thing to do, but it’s the only thing I know how to do. I’m pretty sure that also plays a big part into if you have tender or chewy meat. It’s about 50/50 for me.

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Either way, my DF will happily eat it since he’s just glad that I made dinner. Does that make me a bad fiancé? Maybe I should take some cooking classes and learn a little more since cooking is still so foreign to me. I’d be more than happy to do that sometime.. I just have to find a way to fit that into my schedule.

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Grill pans are the best. They give you the impression of having a little barbecue inside of your 550 square feet apartment. I got ours from my grandma, but you can easily get one online. They’re a great investment to have in your kitchen.

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I’m blogging on a three hour sit in Las Vegas right now, but I’m just happy to be up and moving. After yesterday’s incident at LAX, it really puts life into perspective. I was supposed to be flying into LAX after the shooting, but all my flights into and out of LAX were cancelled yesterday. Three of my family members were at LAX the day before. I can’t even imagine if one of us were there when it happened.
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In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, you can read about the LAX incident here. My heart goes out to all those involved and those who knew the TSA agent.

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Recipe from Food & Wine

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Korean Sizzling Beef made with Flank Steak

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons dry white wine
  • 2 large garlic cloves, very finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
  • One 2 1/2-pound beef flank steak, cut across the grain into twenty 1/4-inch-thick slices

Directions

  1. In a large, shallow dish, whisk together the soy sauce with the sugar, white wine, chopped garlic, toasted sesame oil and crushed red pepper until sugar is dissolved.
  2. Add the sliced flank steak and coat thoroughly in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
  3. Light a grill or heat a griddle. Cook the steak over high heat until the slices are richly browned and medium-rare, about 30 seconds per side.
https://lovintheoven.com/korean-sizzling-beef-made-with-flank-steak/

Crockpot Chile Flank Steak

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I have a confession to make. I’ve always been the girl with crazy eyebrows. Thanks to my pops, they’re thick and wild. I’ve never really paid any attention to them, except for that one time in middle school where I discovered tweezers and pretty much turned my bushy brows into thin little pencil lines. We don’t talk about that.

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Recently, I began to notice just how crazy my eyebrows are. In the morning, they’ll go in all four directions and nothing will help them stay in place. That’s when I made the brave decision to go get my eyebrows threaded… for the first time!

If you don’t know what eyebrow threading is, it’s basically a form of plucking out hairs in a row using cotton thread. The threads are twisted and rolled over your hairs to strategically pull them out. I decided to choose threading over waxing simply because waxing terrifies me. My little sister waxed my eyebrow (yes, only one) once and needless to say, I was left with a patchy eyebrow.

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I made my appointment and then stuck to it. The lady that did the threading was as nice as can be, but we didn’t talk much. She had me sit in her chair, comment on how unruly my eyebrows were, and then went to work. I was more than nervous because she didn’t ask me any questions– she just… started.

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The process felt like forever. I thought she was plucking away every single piece of hair on my head. Since I couldn’t see anything, I was even more afraid that my middle school eyebrows were going to make a comeback. Fifteen minutes later, she finally pulled out a mirror for me to examine her finished work.

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Thank goodness the Yelp reviews did not steer me wrong. She was truly a talented artist and my eyebrows looked like they’ve never looked before: tamed! She cleaned it up, gave them shape, and left the thickness (which is what I wanted and probably should have told her to begin with, but it’s like she read my mind).

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I don’t know why I was so scared to begin with and why I waited so long. I’m a huge fan of threading now! It’s practically painless and didn’t leave my sensitive skin like a sunburned tomato when I walked out. I’ll definitely be doing this again.

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I’ve decided that my favorite meat to cook with is flank steak. It’s cheap, hard to mess up, and tasteful. You can also prepare it many different ways and it cooks well in the slow cooker.

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Did I mention that it’s also ridiculously easy to shred? This recipe, although it looks mighty flavorful, was still a little dull for me. The taste was a bit muted and there wasn’t a huge punch from the salsa like I had hoped.

If you simply use the meat to roll into a burrito or toss onto a taco, then it’d be great since there are other elements of food in a burrito and taco. If you’re eating this meat plain, then you’ll need to add some more spices.

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from Lifetime Moms

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Crockpot Chile Flank Steak

Ingredients

  • 1 Flank Steak - 1 3/4 lbs to 2 lbs (cut in half)
  • 1 small can of green chiles
  • 1 large red onion, chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon of cumin
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • 1 tbsp of olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic minced

Directions

  1. In a medium pan, brown flank steak in olive oil on both sides and place in the bottom of slow cooker.
  2. Add in the remaining ingredients and cover.
  3. Cook on low for 4-5 hours if you prefer it sliced, cook 5-6 hours if you prefer it shredded. Serve shredded over rice, in a tortilla or even plain.
https://lovintheoven.com/crockpot-chile-flank-steak/

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