Best Burgers and Fries

The secret to the best burger and fries, just like any dish, is in the ingredients. With an American staple like a cheeseburger, it's easy to slap meat on a bun and call it good. But with a little extra effort, what ends up still being a very easy meal can be lightyears better. So, here are some suggestions.

As you can see, we don't kid around. We use American cheese, baked and crispy bacon, grilled mushrooms, buns from a bakery, and romaine lettuce. Simple things make it mind-blowing. We toast the buns in the oven and we're not scared to use a huge, flattened patty ('cause the thing shrinks in the pan). We also have a secret weapon: Red Robin seasoning.

We put a dash of this seasoning on both sides of our patties, and it makes a world of awesome. We refuse to make burgers without it.

For fries, we cut potato slices as thin as we can, and we love using russet potatoes or sweet potatoes. We coat the fries in olive oil, give them a nice cover of Red Robin seasoning, and put them on a non-stick baking sheet. Bake them at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes, and make sure to stir them up halfway through baking to make sure they get nice and crispy golden on all sides.

The other secret to our fries and burgers: the Utah original creation, fry sauce. We often buy Hire's brand (pictured) or Stephen's (we do not like Some Dude's Fry Sauce-- it's chunky and weird). We can't explain the magic behind fry sauce. It's a delicious concoction of ketchup, mayonaise, and zesty mystery.

Now we've given you all our secrets. Go forth and make good burgers, young padawan.

Travel Post: The Paramount in Boston

When we travel, our vacation largely centers around food. We think a big part of exploring and experiencing a city is tasting it. So, before traveling, we research online, compare menus, and collect restaurant recommendations from friends. This led us to one of Boston's most-loved breakfast spots: The Paramount.

This place doesn't have a lot of frills. It's simple, good food. You bask in the glory of a giant chalkboard covered in delicious descriptions, order at the counter, and have your food brought to your table.

The menu item that really stood out to us: the banana and caramel french toast. Behold it in all its glowing beauty. The french toast was cooked to perfection, and it was a wonderful excuse to have dessert for breakfast. We couldn't have asked for anything more.

Check out The Paramount at http://www.paramountboston.com. It has a couple locations in downtown Boston: one in Beacon Hill and one in South Boston.

Chicken Divan

In reality, this isn't quite chicken divan; it's our more delicious version of chicken divan.

What you'll need:

3 pounds chicken breasts
3 C fresh broccoli (or frozen broccoli if you prefer)
1 box quick rice (we use Rice-A-Roni chicken and broccoli)
1 C mayonaise
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 C dry white wine (we use pinot gris)
1 C grated cheddar
2 Tsp lemon juice
Dash of curry powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 C breadcrumbs
1/2 C fresh grated parmesan
Butter for greasing pan

Bake chicken breasts at 350 degrees for 25–30 min on a baking sheet. Once it's done cooking, cut into chunks or shred. Cook fresh broccoli in a vegetable steamer for 7–8 minutes (or cook frozen broccoli if you prefer). Cut broccoli into chunks. Make your quick rice according to the instructions on the box.

Mix soups, mayo, white wine, cheddar, lemon juice, curry powder, and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add chicken, broccoli, and rice to the mixture.

Grease a 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Add the mixture to the baking dish and spread evenly. Sprinkle breadcrumbs and parmesan on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Then broil for a couple minutes to get a nice golden brown crust on top.

Enjoy ecstasy.

Lamb's Grill

If The Wild Rose is the shining example of how to use sauces to enhance a meal (and it is), then Lamb's Grill is the example of how not to use sauces. This restaurant has a certain amount of charm-- it's been open since 1919 and it has a charming old-timey bar with leather chairs. Unfortunately, beyond the bar, the restaurant looks worn and run-down, and its dinner menu leaves a lot to be desired. Not only that, but when we went for dinner, the place was empty, and we still had way below-par service from our waiter.

Now, the food here isn't awful by any means, but for the price, it doesn't do it for us. These dishes are fine, but they lack any sort of finesse, and they don't really require any cooking talent. Every dish is smothered in a similar gravy sauce that's greasy and tastes like it's been sitting around, waiting to be poured over various dishes throughout the day. You can even see the grease and staleness in the pictures below.

Also, just for the record, we ordered beef bourguignon, but what Lamb's calls beef bourguignon is not actually how we imagine the dish. Traditionally, beef bourguignon is a meaty stew with vegetables, but we were served a piece of meat with gravy over it, masking and overpowering the flavor of the meat.

(beef bourguignon) 

(braised lamb shank)

Yeah... we won't be back. We would love to support such a long-enduring Salt Lake institution, but we can't bring ourselves to support this food.

Lamb's Grill is located at 169 S Main Street, SLC. Their website is www.lambsgrill.com.

Swedish Meatballs and Garlic Spinach

Ashley's grandmother was very Swedish, and she inherited the stereotypical rosy cheeks, blonde hair, and blue eyes. But she also inherited some Swedish recipes-- ones that we've tweaked and made easy peasy. We love this recipe because we can usually make it from stuff we already have on hand.

What you'll need:
1 pound ground beef
1 egg
1/2 C bread crumbs
2 Tbsp milk
1 medium onion
3 C water
1 box quick rice (or white, if you prefer)
1 envelope Liptons onion soup mix
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 C flour.

For the spinach all you need is
1/2 bundle of fresh spinach
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil

Finely chop the onion. (We think this is a good time to tell you an onion secret. If you put your onion in the freezer 30 minutes before chopping it up, you won't cry like a baby when you cut into it. You're welcome.)

In a large saucepan, bring 3 cups water to a boil and add the onion soup mix. Add half the onion. Let simmer for about 8 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine half the onion, the ground beef, milk, bread crumbs, 1 clove garlic, and egg. Mix together. Roll into dollar-sized balls. Roll the delicious balls of meat in flour until coated on outside. Then drop them into the soup mixture in the saucepan. Turn them after a couple minutes. Slowly add about 1/2 C flour while stirring until smooth. Then cover and let it simmer (about 10-12 minutes, until meat is cooked and sauce thickens).

Prepare rice according to the instructions on the package (we usually use Rice-A-Roni butter and herbs flavor for this dish).

For the garlic spinach, get ready for the easiest side dish of all time. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Finely chop 2 cloves garlic and add to pan. Let the garlic reach a nice golden brown. Then add the spinach, stirring constantly. It only takes about 6 minutes for the spinach to cook and take on a nice garlicky flavor.

Serve meatballs and pan sauce over rice and get your pretty green spinach on that plate, too. Try not to drool.

The Wild Rose

The Wild Rose is one of the most surprising restaurants we've ever had the pleasure of stumbling upon. It's located in a strip mall in South Jordan of all places (The District, to be exact), not exactly a location that screams class or originality. And the decor is all over the place. It looks like someone took a 12-year old to IKEA and said, "What do you think looks classy?" There's weird twigs, mismatched furniture and artwork, and dark walls. But none of that matters, because this place has perfect food, wonderfully sophisticated and harmonized. We've tried several dishes, and while we've never had anything below par, we definitely have some favorites that we keep coming back to.

We always start with the pork belly, and we get the jalapeno grits on the side. We've eaten a lot of pork belly, all over Utah and on both coasts, and this is the best we've ever had. It's perfectly cut, succulent with a strip of fat, and a light BBQ demi-glace on the side. The sauce doesn't overwhelm the pork, and it's a beautiful dish. We order it every single time.

(kurabuta pork belly)

We don't always order a salad because we get a lot of food, but the house salad is our favorite: fresh greens with apples, candied pecans, and a balsamic/basil emulsion.

(house salad)

All their dishes are well-balanced in a rare way. Most of them highlight reductions or demi-glaces that complement the dishes rather than overwhelm them, enhancing flavors of the meat rather than masking them. Their rack of lamb has a white wine and dijon reduction with blueberry mint chutney and asparagus.

(australian rack of lamb)

Okay, the crown jewel, the best of the best, a shining dish, and one of the best dishes we've ever had ever is the beef tenderloin. It's served with a port-demi glace with a hint of dark chocolate and a pad of a creamy bleu cheese. The pairing of elements is out of this world-- perfectly harmonized and balanced. It sounds like a strange dish, but it's the money-maker. We would cross oceans and deserts for this dish. Superb.

(tenderloin of beef)

The Wild Rose is located at 11516 South District Dr, South Jordan and their website is http://wildrose-district.com/index.html. 

Spaghetti with Meatballs

Whenever we make homemade spaghetti, it reminds us of Goodfellas, and we're pretty sure this recipe would make any Italian grandmother proud. It just so happens that this recipe is insanely delicious and pretty healthy: 400 calories per serving (4 servings per recipe).

1 pound lean ground beef
3 portobello mushroom tops, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 C parsley leaves
3 fresh sprigs thyme
1 small bunch fresh basil
1 egg white
1 28-oz can tomatoes
1/2 C low sodium beef broth
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
12 oz whole wheat spaghetti
Parmesan

Take a third of the onion and mushrooms and mix it together with the beef. Add egg white and 1 clove of garlic. Then roll the mixture into dollar-sized meatballs.

As a side note, the best way to deal with garlic is to take an unpeeled clove and hit it with the broad side of a knife. This makes it easy to peel and it brings out some of the oil and flavor before you dice it up.

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add remaining onion, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook until onion and garlic is golden brown, stirring occasionally. Add meatballs and brown the outside. Once meatballs are browned, remove them from pan. Stir in tomatoes, broth, basil, thyme, and parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to simmer. Add meatballs and continue to simmer, covered for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box.

Serve sauce and meatballs over pasta. Sprinkle with parmesan. Bask in the glory of your creation.