Recipes »Rain City Burgers

rain6501 Roosevelt Way NE  Seattle, WA

There’s lots of talk about seattle’s Red Mill Burgers. They are featured in GQ’s “The 20 Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die“, Oprah is a fan and locals wait on long lines for them.

But for my money, if you had one burger to eat in the city, I’d direct you to the far less known  Rain City Burger.

Don’t get me wrong, Red Mill was very good but it all comes down to personal preference. I don’t like my burgers too substantial. I like them squishy and salty (two things new York’s Shake Shack always got right) and Rain City delivers.

I tried their Rough Rider which has a hint of teriyaki sauce and couldn’t resist the garlic Parmesan fries I saw all the customers eating. Excellent. I will be back.

They also boast all natural beef without added hormones and added antibiotics – a claim that in the past I probably would have not noticed but as our food is becoming increasingly alarming (see the wealth of terrifying Monsanto info out there), it’s nice to feel less like your destroying your body when you indulge in fast food burgers and fries.

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Posted on May 19, 2013

Spend a Couple Hours »AMNH (and Shake Shack)

200 Central Park West

Going to the American Museum of Natural History on a crowded Sunday with a toddler doesn’t exactly allow for casual, relaxed browsing, but as we rushed through some areas, I noticed the museum, which I’ve always loved, has benefited from some lovely make overs (Hall of Asian Peoples for one).

While we only saw some exhibits in passing, we did thoroughly enjoy the updated and fantastic Hall of Ocean Life. The familiar giant whale is still here, but there are new additions like a life size collage of ocean life and Van pleasing dioramas of seals, manatees, walruses, dolphins and polar bears.

The classic animal halls are still as awesome as ever, and made even more so when Van would “roar” at the lions and snort at the rhinos.

Crowds are unavoidable on the weekends, we even skipped dinosaurs completely because of them, but the museum is still a thrilling experience, any time.

And of course, we had to finish the afternoon off with Shake Shack burgers from across the street which surprisingly took a fraction of the time to get versus the original stand in Madison Square Park. There we discovered we might not be perfect parents after all (ha) after getting Van hooked on their cheese fries.

 

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Posted on March 4, 2012

Restaurants »Smash Burger

Various Locations

I went all the way to Minneapolis to have Smash Burger, which I have learned has a location in Brooklyn, but every menu is customized to its location, so if I want a grilled pastrami burger, I can go locally but only in Minneapolis can I get the delicious Twin Cities (cheddar cheese, Swiss cheese and garlic grilled onions).

Another difference is that locally one can order a glass of wine with their burger, which back in the Midwest, I was thrilled to find beer on the menu – complete with frosty mug!

The burger is juicy and flavorful, the sides excellent. We shared onion strings and fried pickles (Yum!).

Good stuff  – for chain fast food especially.

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Posted on August 21, 2011

Recipes »Lamb Burgers with Cilantro and Chevre

from “Cold-Weather Cooking” by Sarah Leah Chase

There’s something special about this Lamb Burger with Chevre and Cilantro. It stays moist even when cooked past medium and packs a whole lot of flavor. Top with the usual condiments and even add some harissa for a kick. While the recipe calls for grilling, pan frying works just as well.

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Posted on October 18, 2010

Recipes »Vietnamese Bistro Sandwich

from Food Network

I am always intimidated to make a restaurant favorite, especially one as seemingly complex and delicate as Bahn Mi. But.. if the recipe changes things up a bit like this Vietnamese Bistro Burger, I am more up to the challenge. These are so good, Mike said I could win some sort of Food Network challenge with them.. except that I got the recipe from Food Network Ultimate Recipe Showdown. One more time that Asian flavor, ground pork and I get along swimmingly.

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Posted on September 12, 2010

Restaurants »Umami Burger

4655 Hollywood Blvd

It was a couple days into my LA trip before I had a truly notable meal. After a long and impossible wait among underage drinkers at Alegria, we left in defeat and moseyed on over to Umami Burger, the home of burgers with a unique flavor that’s a little hard to describe but wildly yummy and memorable. Not surprisingly, I’ve learned that flavor is called “umami”.

Umami is the fifth basic taste that was discovered by the premiere chef in France of the late 1800’s Auguste Escoffier. Here is an NPR story all about it.

But back to the burger joint in Los Feliz: it’s delicious. My Socal was perfect with its lettuce, oven dried tomatoes, caramelized onions, “spread” and cheese and my tempura onion rings were crispy and addictive. The meal was filling and the spot boasts an excellent beer menu and a heated outdoor dining area. The only problem? the hostess was a complete eye-rolling witch. Really weird and uncalled for, right? Good thing there was great food to make up for it.

Click here for the rest of Umami Burger

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Posted on February 28, 2010

Recipes »Homemade White Castles

white castles homemadeWhen I came across this White Castle recipe on A Hamburger Today, I immediately forwarded it to kitchen-experimenter extraordinaire, Mike. Just a few days later he offered to make the teeny sliders for us and you can't imagine how excited I was!
I heart White Castles and, even if it grosses you out, I eat the frozen ones all the time – especially if I've had some booze before bothering about dinner.

This recipe mimics the flavor and consistency of the originals pretty well thanks to the inclusion of some less than common hamburger ingredients. Even the usually die hard, let's-do-it-right dudes of AHT couldn't stomach the idea of adding beef baby food to their burgers (wusses!), but Mike went all out and the results were great.

He used mini potato buns, which worked perfectly size-wise, and fried up some finely chopped onions to complete the clone. As the latter batches of onions browned and caramelized, the home-made burgers tasted even better than the original.

Here's the recipe on AHT

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Posted on August 17, 2009

Recipes »Lamb Burgers

lamb burgersPhew, there's no getting around the heaviness of a home-made burgers but gosh, they are good. For my first Serious Eats recommended recipe I went with these with lamb burgers (adapted from Ted Allen's The Food You Want to Eat) and the zest, capers and mustard were great flavor enhancers – however, I would cut down on the oil next time, possibly even sub in some Pam.

We garnished these lively patties with think slices of fresh tomato and French Raclette cheese, which is often served abroad heated then scraped onto plates. It's very creamy and melts nicely, a nice departure from the usual sharp cheddar.

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Posted on April 13, 2009

Restaurants »Shake Shack

shake shack The shack burger is the best burger I have had in the city yet.
They are still open until December.
Don't be afraid of the line during lunch, it goes fast.
And there's no line after work.
www.shakeshacknyc.com

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Posted on November 14, 2005