Wasatch Back Gill and Deli

My actual burger.

I cannot remember a burger and fries this good.  Mel, my beautiful bride, took me to Wasatch Back Grill and Deli in Heber City, Utah this afternoon.  I got the Wasatch Back Burger, hold the onion.  It comes with grilled onions, mushrooms, bacon, yellow pepper rings, provolone cheese and Wasatch Back special sauce. The patty was cooked just right.  The bun was delicious.  The toppings all worked together really well, with fries as a perfect complement.  I can not recommend it more highly.

The menu is huge with several specialty burgers and deli sandwiches, but if you want, you can build your own.  Next time, I want the Pastrami Burger.  You can check out the menu at wasatchbackgrill.com.

Next time you're in Heber, forget Ganny's and Dairy Keen with their nasty patties and one-taste-fits-all food, and go to Wasatch Back Grill and Deli.  It has only been two hours and I want to go back. 

Christmas Reinbeer

nope, not a typo.  to our favorite friends and family this year, we gave christmas reinbeer.  yes, you should absolutely read into that that if you didn't get one, you are not our favorite.  bwahahaha.

tied around the reinbeer's neck is a recipe for delicious beef beer stew.  i found the recipe here from baked in the south.  i have tried several of her freezer meals, all of them delicious!  and one or two of them actually made it into the freezer as a plan ahead meal.  i wish i could be better organized to plan ahead like that, but i just don't see it happening.  ever.  from the freezer or cooked the day you buy the ingredients, or anywhere in between (although there really isn't much in between) this beef beer stew is a keeper.

Beef Beer Stew

2 lbs stew beef

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

3 large potatoes, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 bay leaves

1 Tbsp dried parsley

1 can tomatoes with green chilies (Like Rotel)

1 cup dark beer

1 cup beef stock

Season beef with salt & pepper. Place all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

this can be assembled in advance and thrown in the freezer in a ziploc without the beer and stock. just add those to the crockpot the day you cook it.

Thanksgiving Appetizers

happy thanksgiving!!  yes, i fully acknowledge that we have recently passed groundhog's day, but it is never too late to share recipes, right?  so this year for thanksgiving i was tasked with providing appetizers.  well, i guess technically it was last year for thanksgiving.  anyhoodle, i had recently made an appetizer for a crossfit birthday party that was a huge hit, so i decided on a repeat.  enter the cheeseball.  this recipe comes from my dear, dear friend.  when she has made it in the past, we didn't even take the time to form it into a ball, but just ate it right out of the bowl--it's that good.  and it's easy to make to boot, so it's the perfect recipe if you're ever responsible for bringing appetizers to a party.  (even if that party is at an unmarked house in a snowy neighborhood, just sayin'.)  to help celebrate thanksgiving, i turned my cheeseballs into turkeys.  i underestimated what 1/2 the mixture was when forming the balls, so they ended up being momma and baby turkey cheeseballs rather than the same size, but they were still delicious.

Cheeseball

1 jar Olde English Spread

2 8 oz packages cream cheese

1 c mild cheddar cheese, grated

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp onion salt

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp parsley flakes

crushed pretzels or slivered almonds (any nuts) for rolling

Combine Olde English Spread and cream cheese in a large bowl and mix well.  Add grated cheese and mix well.  Add lemon juice, onion and garlic salt and parsley flakes.  Mix well.  Pour nuts or pretzles into a bowl, spoon half of cheese mixture into nuts/pretzels and start forming into a ball.  Repeat with remaining mixture.  Cover each ball with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Serve with crackers, pretzels, veggies, or whatever you please! 

but of course turkeys wouldn't have worked for the crossfit birthday party, so we had muscle man cheeseballs.

The basement, City County Building

Unbeknown to many, there is a cafe in the bottom floor of the City / County Building. It is called the Washington Square Cafe.  It is a beautiful place to grab lunch.  The floor is tile and there is a beautiful wood counter in front of the kitchen.  The tables are not too close together, so it is perfect for gossiping about work.

There are many items on the menu that look delicious and unusual.  I had the clam chowder in a bread bowl.  It was good, not great. The portion was smaller than I expected, but what I had was yummy.  I have had the burger there (see earlier posts, I think).

Worth a look, and a lunch,

Farewell, Friends

no, i'm not leaving.  but as some of you know, the series finale of dexter was this weekend.  don't worry, there are no spoilers here.  this is a blog about food, not what happens on a tv show.  but, to dexter, deb, angel, quinn, harrison, masuka, and the rest of miami metro, we bid you adieu.  for nearly a decade we have welcomed you into our home on sunday nights.  so on your final night, we will have a special dinner:  steak and beer.  for those of you who are familiar with the show, you know why i went with this option:  whenever deb and dexter have dinner together, they have of course, steak and beer.

 

 

now, you know we couldn't just have steak and beer.  we also had brown rice and fresh green beans.  do you know the secret to cooking the perfect steak?  let me share it with you, as my good friend, uncle vo, shared it with me years ago.  1.  hot grill, like 400+ degrees.  2.  throw steak (lightly seasoned with a little salt and pepper) on there and cook for 2 mins.  3.  turn steak 180 degrees to get perfect grill lines and cook an additional 2 mins.  4.  flip steak over and cook for 2 mins.  5.  repeat step 3.  and voila.  perfect steak in 8 mins.

 

but our "dexter meal" wouldn't be complete without blood splatter cookies.  completing the look by wrapping them in cellophane.

 

 

have you ever had a sugar cookie from kneaders bakery?  mr d ranks them as number 1.  i found their recipe online here.  not a copycat, but their actual recipe.  pretty cool that they give it out.  mostly because they know that even with their exact recipe, theirs are much better than how mine turned out.  but they were pretty good.  a good first effort.  the recipe indicates that it will make 4 dozen, so i halved the recipe, and still ended up with 3 dozen.  also, i could not find lemon flavoring, which is supposed to be a powdered ingredient found near the lemon juice, so i just used lemon extract.  it turned out fine, not overpowering on the lemon flavor.

 

Kneaders Sugar Cookies

1 c butter

1 1/8 c sugar

2 eggs

1/2 c milk

3 7/8 c flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp lemon flavoring

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tbsp honey

 

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs and milk, scraping down sides as necessary.  Add in remaining ingredients.  Dough will be soft and sticky.  Place dough on a well floured surface and gently roll out until 3/8 inch.  Cut into desired shapes.  Bake on baking sheet lined with parchment paper at 325 for 10-12 mins, or until edges barley start to change color.

 

Icing

4 1/2 c powdered sugar

4 tbsp corn syrup

3 tbsp milk

1/4 tsp lemon flavoring

 

Mix all ingredients together until smooth.  Decorate cookies as desired!

 

 

 



It Must Be Fall

while sitting in court yesterday a colleague from the dark side, looking for matt, asked when my "lunch buddy" would be making his appearance.  i had to explain to some folks sitting around me that he was in fact looking for matt, and matt is in fact my lunch buddy.  i was shocked that they didn't already know this information.  we are on the internet after all.  and i verified that these folks had heard of the internet.  well, one made a comment that it has been awhile since we've posted.  yes, indeed it has.  so, lumberjack, jr, this post is for you. 

as september is nearing an end, fall is definitely in the air here.  to commemorate the season, i made a simple fall dessert:  chocolate dipped strawberries.  i know you were all expecting something like pumpkin chocolate chip bread, and believe me, that will come as the season blazes forward.  but before we say goodbye to summer completely, we will still enjoy its fruits.  we will just decorate them to look like fall.  the goal was to put jack-o-lantern faces on my "pumkins," but alas, we were too eager to eat them. 

 

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries



1 c white chocolate chips

red and yellow food coloring

strawberries

black gel frosting

 

melt the chocolate chips in the microwave 15 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until they are melted.  add food coloring until the desired hue of orange.  stir.  dip strawberries in chocolate and place on wax paper.  refrigerate until chocolate hardens.  with black gel frosting, add jack-o-lantern faces.

 



as halloween draws nearer, you could also make ghosts.  this would take less effort than the pumpkins because you wouldn't have to dye the chocolate.  and you would only need 2 black dots for eyes.  i'm always looking out for you, my lazy friends.

Dinner was a B.L.A.S.T!

mr d and i had dinner at the black bear diner a few weeks ago.  on the menu was a "B.L.A.S.T. Sandwich."  i was so close to ordering this bacon, lettuce, avocado, swiss cheese, and tomato treat.  but alas, i opted for pancakes instead.  yet, the idea of the B.L.A.S.T. intrigued me.  i was thinking about how i could do a salad with bacon bits, lettuce, avocado, something, and tomato.  but then i'd need to add more protein.  so the tomato turned into turkey.  ok, a club salad.  but what to do for that s?  then i got spinach in my bountiful basket, and all problems were solved.  then mr d and i were at a bbq, and someone had brought a salad with raspberries.  i love raspberries.  sub berries for bacon.  but then, does avocado really fit in anymore?  i think avocado always fits in, but mr d is not that big a fan.  enter almonds. so dinner was a B.L.A.S.T:  berries, lettuce, almonds, spinach, and turkey.  and it was a perfect summer dinner.  do you really need a recipe for this?  not really.  i cooked a turkey breast in the crockpot in chicken stock, shredded it.  in a large bowl, mix together some lettuce, some spinach, and a pack of raspberries.  top each serving with some shredded turkey and a sprinkling of sliced almonds.  for the dressing i used a greek vinaigrette.