The Smash Burger. An American classic found in backyards nationwide during the summertime. 

Everyone has their own way of doing it, this is ours.
​

Ingredients (serves 2)

12 oz Porter Road Beef vs Bacon divided into 4-3 oz balls (you can use other meat, but I highly recommend stepping up your meat game for this recipe)
2 Brioche Burger Buns
1/2 thinly sliced white onion
1/4 cup bread & butter pickles
4 slices American cheese
Sean Brock's Special Sauce (recipe to follow)
Parchment paper folded into a small square
A large spatula and/or grill press

Before you get started, make the special sauce:

• 1 3/4 cups mayonnaise, preferably Duke's
• 1 1/4 cups yellow mustard
• 5 tablespoons ketchup
• 1/2 cup Bread-and-Butter pickles, drained and cut into 1/8-inch dice
• 1/4 cup pickled jalapeños, drained and cut into 1/8-inch dice
• grated zest (use a Microplane) and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon Husk hot sauce (we used Crystal's hot sauce)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons pepper vinegar, preferably Texas Pete brand 

You'll have leftover sauce, but it is good on a lot of things. May I suggest dipping french fries in it? I digress. 

Cut your onion and prepare your mis en place on a tray: buns (add a little butter to help them toast), pickles, sauce, cheese and onion. You'll also need a little salt. Measure out the burgers using a scale. We want these to be 3oz each. Set on tray in a separate piece of foil. You're ready to roll, baby! 

We used our Blackstone griddle BUT feel free to cook inside on a griddle or cast iron skillet. Preheat your griddle to about medium-low heat. I'm going to go ahead and tell you once you get started, things move really fast! That's why we have the mis en place all on the tray ready to go. 

Go ahead and toast your buns. They will cook about 20 seconds a side depending on your heat. 

Place your burger balls onto the griddle. No oil or grease is needed because the burgers provide the necessary fat. Next, salt each ball generously and top each ball with onions. Place your parchment on top of the first ball and using with spatula and/or grill press, press down as hard as your can! We want super thin burgers that will hopefully form a nice crust. 

Once you see plenty of bubbles forming (about a minute later) it's time to flip. Using your spatula, carefully lift the burger from the griddle and flip! Top each burger with cheese and cook until the cheese is ooey-gooey. The beautiful thing about American cheese is its melting capability and the fact that it almost becomes a sauce in itself. 

While the cheese is melting, sauce your buns on both sides with special sauce. Place a layer of pickles on the bottom and by this time the burgers should be ready. Top each bun with 2 burger patties. Place the top of the bun on those burgers and you are ready to eat, my friend!

A picture's worth a thousand words.
Or just one.
​TACOS.

Ingredients (feeds 2)

-1 piece of flank steak (whatever size)
-1 onion cut into thick rings, put on skewers
-2 ears of corn out of the husk (if you want them Elote style like us, mix a few TBSP mayo with a Mexican-style rub....glaze corn once it's been cooked & top with cilantro + salt)
-2 avocados, sliced
-Large handful of cilantro, rough chop
-Queso Fresco for topping
-Hot sauce of choice for topping
-Cattleman's Grill Mexicano Rub (or anything with these spices: Salt, Spices (Cumin, Red Pepper, Black Pepper, Celery Seed, Oregano), Sugar, Smoked Paprika, Dehydrated Garlic, Chile Pepper, Dehydrated Onion, Corn Starch)
-Caramelo Tortillas (or tortillas of choice.....but if you've never had these, get online and order some NOW)

Heat up your grill and start getting those coals white. Prepare direct and indirect heat zones. While it's warming up: Grab a platter and cover in foil. Trim any fatty pieces off of your steak. Add a light coat of avocado oil and season your flank steak on both sides with your Mexican-style rub. Add a light coat of oil to your corn. Season skewered onions with oil and salt. Get your tortillas. You're going to carry it all out to the grill on your foiled platter. Grab a beer and head out! 

Once the grill is hot hot hot, let's cook the tortillas first because we'll stack them on top of each other so they can steam in aluminum foil (so have that ready too). If using Caramelo, you know they're ready to flip when they balloon up all around. Cook until desired colored is reached, I usually go until ALMOST scorched in spots. Wrap those in aluminum foil till ready to use.

Next, cook your corn and onions on direct heat. Corn is ready to flip when it sounds like popcorn popping. It will cook until deep golden and charred in some spots! Onion will cook until nice and charred and feels soft when touched with tongs. Move corn and onions to indirect heat.

Place your steak on direct heat and get ready to sizzle, baby! Flip every minute. Once you reach your desired amount of char, check the temp. If not quite to 130 degrees, move to indirect heat to finish out. Let the steak rest out for 10 minutes before slicing into thin strips.

Get your corn, onions, tortillas, and steak back on your platter to carry back to the table. Serve with avocado, cilantro, queso fresco, and hot sauce of choice! Now, get to building your taco!

Ingredients
Steak big enough to split (we used filet, but you can substitute for ribeye or strip), cut into bite sized pieces after it has rested 
8-10 Scallops
4-5 ripe peaches cut in halves
1 ball of burrata cut in quarters
2 handfuls arugula

For the salad dressing:
1-2 tsp Calabrian chiles (you can find a jar at Fresh Market)
2 tsp Dijon Mustard 
1 tsp honey
1 garlic clove
Olive oil to desired consistency 
Salt & Pep
Season dressing to taste....it's spicy so you may want less chiles, more honey. You do you! You can prep the salad first and leave in the fridge till the rest of the food is done.

Season steak with salt & pep. Cook over direct flame till a good crust forms. Take temp and if it's not quite 130 degrees yet, move to indirect heat. Meanwhile, prep scallops. Pat dry with paper towels, season with a light coat of oil, salt and pep. Remove steak from grill to rest, add scallops and cook on direct heat till golden brown on both sides. Internal temp should be 130 degrees. While scallops cook, place halved peaches on direct heat as well till grill marks form. 

To assemble, place your salad in the middle topped with half the peaches. Place steak on one side, scallops on other, interchange rest of peaches with burrata quarters. Season dish with a fresh pinch of sea salt. Enjoy.

This is an easy, go-to weekday meal that packs a lot of flavor and textures. 

Hey ya'll! It's been a while since I've updated my blog.
A lot has happened since around August 2019! 

Another life event that happened was the passing of our sweet boy, Pliny.

I don't know about ya'll, but I am in the serious mood for some crispy clean lagers....or maybe it's just my mind wishing it was warmer outside?

How was the pairing?

This beer was made for this dish, ya'll.

I mean, LOOK AT THIS GLORIOUSNESS.

As we get closer to Christmas, I hope this dish brings you comfort and a glimmer of hope....that you CAN live thru the holidays. 

Sporting shades of grassy lemon in both aroma and flavor with earthy Belgian yeast tones and just a touch of lactic tartness, our Rusted Plow Farmhouse Saison uses local Alamance County honey to fine tune the body of the beer and dry out the finish for a refreshing take on the style. We use additions during the boil of Sterling hops, and then dry-hop with Sorachi Ace.

How do you make the recipe?

How was the pairing?

Last year, I was lucky enough to travel to Asheville, NC
​not one, not two, but THREE TIMES!

BEER

Optional Breweries/Ones I Want to Visit

Let's move on to the next reason we go to Asheville.....

FOOD

Breakfast

Lunch

Afternoon Snack (yes, it's a meal of the day)

​Dinner

Dessert

Asheville Food Pictures

Other Things To Do In Asheville

The Champagne Library

Asheville Pinball Museum 

Appalachian Vintner (Bottle Shop)

Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest

The Whale

This blog post is definitely what I call a "beginner's guide" to Asheville.

​Do you have any recommendations!?
​
Leave them in the comments on this blog post!

This recipe makes one of the best roasted chicken I've ever had.

Perfect start to my birthday week!

If you try this recipe, let me know.

Have a great day, ya'll!

​Lana <3