Bacon Bourbon Blue cheese Bison Burgers….BOOM!

Hello!

Can you believe it’s already Thursday?!

Can you believe I’m giving you two, count them – TWO!, food posts in one week?!

I know, right?!

It even amazes me. I’m darn near rendered speechless over here.

Well, that would make for an awkward blog post, now wouldn’t it?

Just imagine it.

Anywho, I had a major craving for a burger this weekend but I didn’t want a standard old burger.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I make a pretty mean burger, if I do say so myself!

But, I decided to up my game.

And, be alliterative in the process.

Because alliteration is FUN!

(For those of you that weren’t paying attention or were out sick that day in English class, alliteration is “the use of words that begin with the same sound near one another. But, I’m sure that’s none of you. And yes, I’m a grammar nerd.) 😉

So, I started with the bison that I had and went from there.

Bacon? duh. Blue cheese? Totally awesome on a burger. Bourbon? Why the heck not?!

I threw in some McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning because it’s the bomb. If you don’t have any, you can use your own preferred seasoning. Remember that the blue cheese is already salty so don’t overdo it with that seasoning.

Basically, I mixed the ground bison with about 1/4 cup of Montreal Steak Seasoning, a couple of tablespoons of Bowman Brother’s Bourbon (more alliteration!), and a couple of tablespoons of blue cheese.

I probably could have added more blue cheese but I didn’t want to overdo it. I love blue cheese but I knew I wasn’t going to be the only person eating. If you are making these for blue cheese lovers, add more.

Feel free to add in fresh chopped onion and garlic, if you desire. That would be YUM!

And, out onto the grill they went! I tossed some red onion slices on there, too. And fresh-picked corn on the cob.

Now, depending on how you like your burgers, they’ll be on the grill for anywhere between 9-13 minutes.

You generally want to get a good sear on one side and that will take about 5-6 minutes before you flip.

Once you flip, the rest is up to you. Less time for rare, more time for well-done.

We prefer ours medium.

Now, you’re probably wondering where the bacon is.

I ate it all!

Just kidding. 😉

I debated putting the bacon IN the burger but I think bacon goes best ON a burger.

The combination of the salty, crispy bacon on top of a burger made with salty blue cheese and sweet bourbon was just amaze-balls. The red onion added a nice smokey sweetness to it, too.

Have you ever grilled a red onion? So good!

Bacon Bourbon Blue cheese Bison Burgers
makes 4 burgers

1 pound ground bison (will work with ground beef, too)
1/4 cup Montreal Steak Seasoning or burger seasoning of choice
2 tablespoons bourbon
2 tablespoons blue cheese (or more, if desired)
8 slices bacon (I prefer Smithfield All Natural)

Mix bison, seasoning, bourbon, and blue cheese with hands. Form into four patties. Grill according to preferred doneness. Place burger on bun, top with bacon and additional condiments as desired. EAT!

Talk to me: Do you have a favorite burger joint? What’s the most unusual burger you’ve ever eaten?

When we lived in Florida, this bar and grill we liked to go to made a burger with Jamaican Jerk BBQ sauce, jerk seasoning, and grilled pineapple. Oh my goodness, it was SO good!!

– jennifer

Jennifer – 2, WOD – 1 … and some chicken stir-fry

Hello, hello!

It’s totally my Friday today but, for the rest of you who have to work the remainder of the week, Happy Hump Day!

Why is it my Friday, you ask?

Well, Thing 1 officially became a Sailor yesterday and we’re off to the graduation ceremony!

It’s been a pretty awesome week for me so far and capping it with the pomp and circumstance of her boot camp graduation ceremony will only make it awesomer!

Yes, that’s a word.

I can’t wait to see her in her uniform!  I will probably explode with pride.  And tears.  I’m a crier.

Hell, even the Cheerios commercial makes me tear up!  You know the one where the little girl puts the Cheerios on her daddy’s chest?

So sweet! 🙂  I know, I know.  I’m a sap. I can’t help it.

Okay, so, let’s talk workouts.

Yesterday’s was a killer.

I was really concerned about those box jumps.  I know I got the clearance to run but the last time I did a box jump, it hurt and I was very, very nervous.  Pre-workout, I grabbed the 12-inch box just to see.  It honestly took me a few minutes to work up the nerve to jump.  I was afraid of the possibility of pain!  I finally did it and – IT DIDN’T HURT!  So, I tried the 18-inch box. That also took a few minutes for me to work up my nerve but I did that one, too!  And I was okay!  So, progression dictates that I try the 20-inch box since that’s what I was doing before my injury.  That took a little more working up to.  I finally did it but boy, do I have some nerves to get over!  I ended up doing box step ups for the WOD because, really, I don’t have all day to do box jumps and, honestly, I’m supposed to be coming back slow and 72 box jumps didn’t seem “slow” to me.

But, I did RX the weight at 95# on the back squats! Great. Googly. Moogly. Those were so hard!

And yes, I did the 400m runs. Although, my legs were a little wobbly so I’m not sure how I managed them but I did.  I may have kicked Monday’s workout in the ass but yesterday’s kicked back.  So, heading into this morning, it was

Jennifer – 1; WOD – 1

And then, this morning, this happened.

I DID A PULL UP!!!!

Actually, I did 4!! But, who’s counting? 🙂

The first 3 weren’t videoed because I certainly didn’t think I was going to do them! I mean, I was really close yesterday but I didn’t think I was going to get one today, much less 3!

So, after the WOD – 1 km row, 2 mins rest, 5 mins max kettlebell swings (35#), 2 mins rest, 1 km row (sorry, forgot to snap the photo of the board in my excitement!) – I decided to try one more. Didn’t think I would get it – and I almost didn’t!

But, could I be having a better week?! No, I don’t think so.

Jennifer – 2, WOD – 1

🙂

So, if you’ll excuse me, I think I need to go and float through my day.

Happy Wednesday!

QUESTIONS:

How’s your week going? Can you do a pull up?

Oh! And, I made stir-fry last night. Om nom nom!

Chicken & Sugar Snap Pea Stir-fry! Click the photo to get the recipe on my Facebook page. Om nom nom!

– jennifer

A little “Hope” & some Oven-Fried Chicken

Hello! Hooray for Tuesday! Okay, seriously, is it Friday yet? 🙂

Over the weekend, many CrossFit boxes (aka: gyms) across the nation participated in the workout “Hope” to raise money to help find cures for catastrophic children’s illnesses. You can read more about their mission here: Hope for Cures. My CrossFit box Alpha Omega did the workout yesterday.

Um, hard.

But not as hard as being a kid dealing with a life-threatening illness. Just saying.

The next time this happens, I want to do this workout on the National Mall. Will you be joining me? 🙂

So, I posted a recipe yesterday on my Facebook page (the link to it is over there on the right) and my sister shared it with one of her friends. Which is fabulous! I love when my recipes or blog posts get shared, commented on, or tried! Makes me happy, happy, happy!

Cucumber and Black-Eyed Pea Salad! Om nom nom!

But, she said something interesting. Her words describing me were, “She’s a health nut (and an exercise fiend), but she’s a great cook.”

But? What is this “but?”

I’m glad she thinks I’m a great cook! That actually means a lot to me that she thinks that. 🙂 She’s a pretty darned good cook, too!

However,  it sounds as if being a health nut and an exercise fiend are bad. I don’t think those things are bad. Is that just me? And, are those things (health nut, exercise fiend & great cook) mutually exclusive? Clearly, it’s not impossible to be all those things but is it improbable?

What do you think? Do you have friends who are health nuts? Do they routinely offer you food that they’ve made that isn’t good? Do you think healthy food gets a bad rap? I think it does. People tend to view “healthy food” as bland, boring and bad tasting. (Ooooh, check out my alliterative skills!) It certainly isn’t! Well, unless it’s a Brussels Sprout. There’s a healthy food I can do without, thankyouverymuch. But, when offered a cookie or an apple, do more people choose the cookie because they think the apple, being healthy, isn’t going to be as delicious? Okay, perhaps that’s a bad analogy. I would likely choose the cookie, especially if it’s a snickerdoodle. Yum! And, even if it wasn’t a snickerdoodle, if you were offering me a red delicious apple, I’d probably choose the cookie even if it was flavored with Brussels sprouts because I am SO not a fan of the red delicious. Who decided that should be its name, anyway? I certainly didn’t get a vote.

But, I digress. And now I want a cookie.

Anyway, I’m sure she didn’t mean that I’m a great cook in spite of the fact that I’m a health nut and an exercise fiend. Surely, she meant to use the word AND instead of but. 🙂

Speaking of cooking, I tried out a new oven-fried chicken recipe that is AMAZE-BALLS!

Okay, okay. Fine. It should really be called “oven-baked chicken” since there was definitely not any frying involved but who’s going to try that? Sounds boring, doesn’t it? (See….bad rap!) Well, it may SOUND boring but it certainly doesn’t TASTE boring! This chicken is super moist and flavorful on the inside and crispy, crunchy on the outside. Just the way fried chicken is supposed to be! And, it’s easy. And it’s healthy. And, you’ll never know the difference. But, your waistline will. 🙂

Om nom nom!

Oven-Fried Chicken
makes 4 servings

2 cups buttermilk (or 1 cup plain, nonfat greek yogurt & 1 cup milk)
1/4 cup Frank’s Red Hot pepper sauce
1 pound chicken thighs and drumsticks (I opted for boneless, skinless chicken thighs because they are just easier to cook)
2 cups Panko bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1. Combine buttermilk and hot sauce in a large bowl or sealable plastic bag. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Cover the bowl or seal the bag and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 12.

2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs with the spices. Working one piece at a time, remove the chicken from the marinade and dip into the bread crumbs to thoroughly coat. (When breading food, it’s best to use one hand for the dry ingredients and one for the wet.)

3. Place the breaded chicken on a nonstick baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, until browned and crisp on the outside and cooked all the way through.

Per serving:
Calories 310; Fat 7g (saturated 2.5g); Sodium 710mg

Recipe from Cook This, Not That!

– jennifer