Mexican Lasagna

My family loves Mexican food - well, the American version of Mexican food.  We like tacos, enchiladas, fajitas, tostadas.  So I decided to come up with another way to enjoy one of our favorite genres of food.  

Give this simple dish a try.  You won't be disappointed.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1/2 large onion - chopped

1 can black beans - rinsed and drained

1 can tomato soup

1 tsp salt 

1 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp cumin

3/4 tsp coriander

3 cups grated cheese

4 flour tortillas - 8" wide

Brown your beef  and onions in a sauce pan.  I always put onions is my meat - even if it's just dried onions.  Onions make it taste so much better.  Once your meat is no longer pink, drain the fat (if you have any).

Add the beans, tomato soup, salt, garlic, chili, cumin and coriander.  Stir to combine and allow it to cook on the stove for about 5 minutes to help combine all the flavors.

Place a tortilla in the bottom of a non-stick springform pan.  This is the type of pan used to make a cheesecake.  If you don't have one - go get one.  Believe me, you'll love it.

Now you're going to layer everything.  Start with the meat.  Put about 1/4 of it on top of the tortilla.  Then sprinkle about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of cheese.

Then add another tortilla, more meat, and more cheese.

You can use more or less cheese, depending on your preferences.  We like cheese in this house - so we may have used more than the recipe asks for.  : )

Do two more layers (tortilla, 1/4 of the meat, 3/4 cup cheese) and then it should look like this:

Place the pan in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  The cheese will be melted and lightly browned and perfect!

This will be super hot.  So let it sit for a few minutes and then place it on a serving platter or plate.  Once you've set it on the plate, take the side off your springform pan.

What a beautiful and fun way to present your food.

You can see all the different layers of yumminess.

Cut it into wedges and serve with sour cream, guacamole, or chopped tomatoes.  Of course these toppings are all optional, but they sure do look good - and they taste even better!

Happy eating!

All American Burger

Grill Week

Day 4

All American Burger

Have you ever gone to a barbecue and the burgers are processed frozen meat that's been thrown on the grill with absolutely no seasonings? Yeah...me too. And I have to say, it is one of my least favorite things to eat.

I mean...come on! A great hamburger is really not that difficult to make. If you feel at all intimidated, just keep reading and you'll realize that it really isn't that hard. And who knows, maybe you'll be tempted to make a great burger at your next barbecue.

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef

2 tsp garlic salt

1 Tb Montreal Steak Seasoning

1/4 cup chopped dehydrated onions (you can use chopped real onions, but make sure they're chopped really well - use 1/2 cup)

Place all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix with your hands to combine. Don't over mix or it will make the meat tough.

Once all the ingredients have been combined, divide the mixture into 6 to 8 equal parts. We did four huge burgers and 3 small burgers. You could get 8 regular sized ones as well - you choose the combo that works for you.

Take one of your sections and roll into a ball, pressing the edges in with your right hand while flattening the ball with your left palm.

Once the edges are nice and tight, flatten the burger even further with your left palm and right fingers.

Place the burger on a plate that has been covered with a sheet of wax or parchment paper. Continue to stack the completed burgers with a sheet of wax paper between each one. This will make it a lot easier to transfer them to the grill.

At this point you can throw those burgers back in the fridge (once they're covered in saran wrap). Or you can use them immediately - which is what we're going to do.

Preheat your grill. Turn that baby on high and give it about 10 minutes to heat up.

This is the point where I hand the plate of burgers over to my husband and head back into the house for a nice cold glass of water. But, since the purpose of this blog is to teach you how to barbecue, I guess I'll have to go ask him what you do next.

Once your grill is ready, turn the flame down to medium/low. Place the burgers on the grill and close the lid. You want to make sure that they get a nice sear on the bottom. When grilling beef you want to only turn it once. The more you flip your meat, the drier it will become. So, keep an eye on those burgers.

When the sides (not middle) of the burger look cooked, put your spatula underneath and lift slightly. The bottom should be seared - not burnt. If this is the case, flip that thing. If not, give it a few more minutes. If it's burnt, feed it to the dog.

After you've flipped that burger, you now want to test doneness by feel. A burger that is done will be firm but not hard. It should not be jiggly or squishy.

*Side note*

I'm being told by my husband that some people like their burgers medium - who are you people?! But, if you're out there, the trick to getting that pink center is to flip your burger before the sides look done. Don't let the side turn entirely brown. After you've flipped it, sear the next side and feel for firmness.

No matter how you like your burger, at some point they will be done - and hopefully not burnt or hard.

At this point, toast those hamburger buns if you want to and then transfer buns and burgers to a plate.

This is what I was inside working on while my hubby was cooking burgers.

Now comes the fun part. Take that burger and load it up.

We're building an All American today, so this is what we used:

Mayo - Hellmans is the best

Slices of cheese - the real stuff

Tomatoes

Lettuce

Pickles

Red Onion

Ketchup

Mustard

The nice thing about hamburgers is that you can add pretty much whatever you want - avocados, bacon, ranch dressing, barbecue sauce, ANYTHING. Really the sky's the limit.

Now you don't have any excuse. Go out and make yourself a burger.

Enjoy!