Best burger ever!

I was feeling kinda bleh...my throat hurt, I felt a little hot, a little cold - you know the drill. I have been around A LOT of sick friends lately so I was very afraid that the dreaded cold was upon me. But I refuse to give in!

Starve a fever, feed a cold? Or is it the opposite? Either way, I was craving a comforting decadent meal. Mmmm, a burger sounded great. I went off to the grocery store for some ground lamb, but they didn't have any so I opted for the grassfed beef. Funny thing, I noticed that I have blogged about ground turkey, pork, bison (ad nauseum) and lamb - but never basic ground beef. haha!

While at the store I was buying feta in the bulk section and saw they had a big tub of roasted garlic. Normally I make my own but I thought I'd throw a bunch of cloves in with my hunk of cheese. An excellent decision!

To go with the burger I thought I would make aioli. OK so I have never made aioli before, because I am a mayo hater. Therefore you can probably guess that I have never made mayonnaise before either! I refuse to buy it at the store because it is made with canola oil which I think is scary. I have seen recipes for olive oil mayo on many of the excellent blogs so I figured I could try it myself. SUCCESS!!! Thank you to everyone who has posted recipes! I am happy to report that it was incredibly easy even though I did not measure anything and I don't understand why the stupid food network etc makes it sound impossible and complicated...


Question for you mayonnaise makers - since all egg yolks are different sizes, how do you know when to stop adding oil? Until it firms up? How firm? or unlike me do you simply follow a recipe? :)

In case you are curious, here are the details for my tasty meal.

Burger: I chopped up a ton of the roasted garlic and mixed it with a blob of ground beef and a dash of salt. Cooked it in bacon grease, and threw a little aged gruyere cheese on top.

Sweet potato fries: love these!!! Sliced up a sweet potato and baked in 400 deg oven until done, prob 20-30 minutes? Salt and thyme added afterward. Threw some onions on the pan to caramelize as well.

Pimenton aioli: mixed my homemade mayo with pimenton de la vera, chopped roasted garlic and a drop of lemon juice. SO DELICIOUS!!! I am so happy to have learned something new and added mayo to my repertoire. Thanks you guys!!!

This was a simple meal, but took more effort than usual because I made several things at the same time. It was worth any minimal energy I put in because it was the best burger ever! The beef was so juicy and tender (I think I am used to bison), and it didn't need the added cheese - I ended up taking it off once I took the first bite. The sweet potatoes were yummy and the aioli was killer. Killer I tell you! Try it!!!

Thanks for reading this lonnnnnnng post! You deserve an award!

Do you have any secrets for a great burger? Try adding roasted or raw garlic to the meat and tell me what you think. And try the pimenton aioli, ok? :) Next time I am having it with fish. YUM!