Butcher & the Burger: Fifth Time and Still Charmed

Days like today demand a really good lunch.  I decided I'd treat myself for once and nab a burger at one of my favorite neighborhood spots.  And I went technology-free for a change, so I could just enjoy my meal.

There are few places where I enjoy dining alone (Starbucks, at home...), but after today, I've decided that Butcher & the Burger makes the list.  Their row of industrial-chic barstools (if that's what you can call them) beckons to the solo diner.  I brought along newspapers, snatched a glass-bottle Coke from the cooler, and ordered my burger as such:

• House prime blend
• Steakhouse seasoning
• Split-top egg bun
• Cheddar
• Ketchup, mustard, mayo
• Pickles

Normally I go with goat cheese and griddled onions and griddled mushrooms, but I just wanted something simple today, something sort of classic, something that would go with that end-of-summer feeling and my very analog choice of reading materials.

I ordered my burger cooked medium-well.  It was a bit pinker in the middle than I anticipated, but I find grayness in a patty far more concerning than pink.  The outside had a great char on it, and it was still perfectly juicy in the middle.  It wasn't necessarily the doneness I thought I had wanted, but it was the doneness that the burger deserved.  That really says something about the place: They know how it should be made.

I ate at the side counter, facing the outdoor patio, thumbing through the food reviews and literature sections of the Reader while leisurely enjoying my lunch.  It became clear to me why newspapers, and not phones, are the ideal reading material while eating a burger.  I have no qualms about flipping pages in the RedEye when I have grease on my hands.  I'm not saving the papers for anything special, I can just throw them away.  Ketchup on my mobile device?  No thanks.

I found, as I always do, a bit of nostalgia in going to Butcher & the Burger, and I'm not quite sure why. I say this because I'm too young to have experienced the "classic" burger joint.  But I understand its appeal, the way it makes you feel.  It's not my first time eating there, or my second.  It still hasn't lost its luster.  And I'm going to share it with as many people as I can, because everyone needs to experience that feeling that you're coming back to a place you've never been.

Until Next Time,

~The Amateur Foodie

Happy Birthday, Sis! An Unintentionally Italian Fête (Plus Pie!)

I am not Italian.  Let's be clear about it.  But I love me some Italian food (as you might already know from my near-innumerable postings about Antico Posto in Oakbrook).

My sister requested stuffed shells for her birthday, and the menu that resulted ended up being pseudo-Italian and super delicious.

I'll admit, I made the shells from the recipe on the package.  It was simple enough but tedious at the same time.  If you're not a patient person, make lasagna instead.  The first shell I stuffed was neat and pretty; I made a cannelle from the filling and gingerly placed it in the pasta.  By the time I got to the last one, I'm pretty sure I was angry and had ricotta in my hair.  My best suggestion for the shells is this: make them ahead of time, arrange them in the pan, and stick it in the fridge until about 45 minutes before you're ready to eat dinner.  Nobody needs to see you cussing out a casserole dish.  Trust me.

Now, since pasta's pretty heavy (especially the kind filled with all manner of delicious cheesiness and topped with sausage-y tomato sauce) the only side dishes I made were salads.  Grape tomatoes looked excellent at the grocery store, so I halved two pints to make a caprese salad.  Here's how it went down:

Caprese Salad a la Foodie:

2 pints grape tomatoes, halved and salted to draw out moisture (stick them in a colander over a bowl for about 20 minutes)
8 oz. fresh mozzarella cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4-5 large leaves of basil cut into ribbons just before serving
2 Tsp. Balsamic vinegar
3 Tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
~1 Tsp. honey (maybe a little less)
Salt and pepper

Toss the mozzarella and tomatoes together.  In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar, oil, and honey with a pinch of salt and fresh-cracked pepper.  (You won't use all the dressing for this amount of salad.  Either store the remainder or use it for salad.)  Pour dressing, to taste, over tomatoes and cheese and add in basil.  Toss gently to coat and chill before serving.

I also threw together a great big romaine salad with thinly sliced hearts of romaine lettuce, quartered grape tomatoes, and a little thinly sliced red onion (which I rinsed with cold water and soaked for a while in a mixture of balsamic and water to take some of the sharpness out).

We usually go crazy with appetizers, but I wanted to do something simple this time around. We'd purchased a trio of Italian cheeses and some fruit, so I set up a little cheese board.  It featured Balsamic Bellavitano (strong, aged, nutty, with Balsamic vinegar), Parmesan SarVecchio (aged, sweet, nutty, a little caramel-y) and Asiago Fresco (a bit like Swiss, tasty but not my favorite) along with quartered black figs, sliced Fuji apple, and crackers.  Coupled with a nice Cuvee red wine and a sweet white, these snackies were an all-around crowd pleaser.

Dessert was pie (not homemade, regrettably, but darlings, I just didn't have the time!).  Also, fun fact: you can make your pie into a milkshake.  I won't go into details about why I made it.  Just know it's yummy.

Apple Pie Shake (Serves 2)

1 slice Dutch apple pie
2 scoops vanilla ice cream
1 cup 2% milk

Throw it all in a blender and blend on high until smooth.  Taste it and be amazed (I know I was).

I'm still full...I guess it was a success.

Happy Almost-Labor Day!

~AF