The last few weeks I've been having some insomnia issues. I get up at 5:45am during the week to get Liam ready for school. I'm okay when I first get up but the days seem to drag for me and I'm exhausted! Exhausted that is until it hits about 7:30pm and then all of a sudden I'm awake. So awake that I can't usually fall asleep until after 1am. It's a vicious circle unfortunately.
That also means that things get put aside because I have no creative energy to spare - and unfortunately this blog has suffered the past couple weeks - I'm sorry! I've made a few things that were delicious, but once cooked, I have no interest in plating and photographing them, let alone sitting down at the computer and blogging them. Sigh.
Last night, though, I forced myself to go to bed at 8:30 and amazingly after reading for about 20 minutes fell asleep. Granted I woke up at 1:30am feeling like I'd slept for days, but was even able to go back to sleep after that. The tides hopefully are turning.
A couple weeks ago I was recipe hopping and came across this recipe from Rachael Ray for an In N Out burger and fries clone. Since I now live in Northeastern PA and the closest In N Out is in Texas, you can guess I don't get there that often. When we flew out to California last summer at 11pm on the way from the airport we met our friends at In N Out before going to their house. Are they really that good? Mhm.
Now their menu is simple enough - burgers and fries, drinks, shakes. That's it. But in the way you order can turn your whole world upside down. "Animal style" means them putting their "special sauce" on your burger, fries, whatever - and one of the best things they've done is "fried mustard". Yep, they spread the mustard on the patty before cooking. Delicious.
Here's the homemade version via Rachael Ray's recipe - the biggest difference I made is that she uses 8 oz of ground beef for each person (2 4 ounce patties) and I used 4 oz for each person (2 2 oz patties) - they were awesome and I can't wait to have one again!
Double Decker "Animal Style"
For the sauce:
- 1/2 cup sour cream (I used light)
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons dill pickle relish (I used sweet relish, I'd recommend using the dill though)
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon superfine sugar (I used regular)
- Salt and pepper
For the onions:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) (I cut this down to 2 teaspoons)
- 2 large onions, chopped
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup beef stock or consommé
For the burgers:
- 2 pounds ground beef (I used one pound of 90/1o ground beef)
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce (I used 3 Tablespoons)
- 4 cloves garlic, finely
- A handful of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
- Coarse salt and coarse pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), for drizzling (omitted)
- 1/2 cup Dijon mustard or grainy Dijon mustard
- 8 slices Swiss cheese or Comté cheese (I used Cooper sharp white American)
- 4 brioche or other hamburger buns, split
- Sliced bread-and-butter pickles, sliced tomatoes and chopped lettuce, for serving
Make the sauce: Mix the first 5 ingredients. Season with salt and pepper.
Make the onions: In a skillet, heat the EVOO over medium heat. Add the onions and season with salt and pepper. Cook until browned, about 15 minutes. Stir in the stock (or consommé) and cook until tender, 10-15 minutes.
Make the burgers: Combine the beef, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and parsley; season with coarse salt and pepper. Form into eight thin patties and drizzle with EVOO. Top each patty with 1 tablespoon mustard.
Pre-heat a large griddle pan over medium-high heat.
Add the patties, mustard-side up, and cook for 4 minutes. Flip and cook for 2 more minutes. Top with the cheese to melt in the last minute of cooking.
Stack two patties with some onions between them on each bun bottom. Top with the pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, special sauce and bun tops.
(For the fries I just used a frozen french fry baked)
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