Happy Birthday Bacon Burger Conquest Surprise

To celebrate our friend Adam's birthday we threw a birthday roof top BBQ at his pad in the East Village. For my present to Adam I concocted up a burger fit for a King. I like to call it...

THE HAPPY BIRTHDAY BACON BURGER CONQUEST SURPRISE!


Nothing says I love you like a burger made with 4 kinds of beef, beer and bacon and cheddar hidden inside of it!


Ingredients
(Measurements are approximate)
1.5 LBS Beef Sirloin Tip Ground
1.5 LBS Beef Ground Round
1 LB Beef Ground Chuck
1 LB Black Angus Ground Beef
1 Package of Bacon
2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
12 Hamburger Rolls
4 Oz Your favorite Beer (I used Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat)
2 tsp of Olive Oil or Non-Stick Cooking Spray
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Coarse Black Pepper
1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
1 tsp Ground Parsley
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Basil
2 tsp Grill Seasoning or Mrs. Dash
1 TBSP Soy Sauce


First you fry the bacon. Don't throw away the bacon grease yet. When the bacon is done put it in aside in a dish that you line with paper towels (to soak up the excess grease.).


Combine all the beef in one bowl or pot.


Add in all the spices, soy sauce and beer. Pour in 3-4 Oz of the bacon grease. You can discard the rest. Using a spatula, stir and blend the meat and spices thoroughly.


Once the bacon has cooled down, chop it up into small pieces.


Get out a cookie sheet and spray it with a little non-stick cooking spray or spread a small layer of olive oil on it.


Fashion half the meat into 12 patties and place them on the cookie sheet.


Place a good sized sprinkle of cheddar cheese on top of each patty.


Cover each of them with the chopped bacon pieces.


Make another 12 patties and place one on top of each of the bacon-cheddar topped patties.


Take each of the double patties and seal up the edges by gently pushing the sides of the burger together. When you are done, they will look like big fat burger patties and no one will see the surprise hiding inside.


Place the burgers in the fridge for at least an hour. This will allow the patties to harden a little which will keep them held together.


If you are making these at someone else's house, be a nice guest and clean your dishes!


Start up your grill and get a good flame going. If you are cooking for sometime, save the burgers for later.


Place the burgers on the grill and allow them to cook to your liking.


Try to flip as few times as possible to help the burgers keep form.


Place the burgers on a tasty roll (we went with potato rolls.)


As the burger cooks, the grease from the cheese and bacon will cook through the entire burger, creating a very delicious taste. Serve them to your friends and watch their faces light up when they bite in to find the bacon and cheddar hidden in the middle. It's a birthday present for everyone!


-Rev

Knickerbocker Bar and Grill - 2 Blogs with one Stone

Knickerbocker Bar and Grill
http://www.knickerbockerbarandgrill.com
33 University Place
New York, NY 10003

THE STORY
The Knickerbocker, located in NYC's Greenwich Village, right near NYU, has been in operation since 1977. It's 300 year old marble bar has become a favorite hang for celebs like Rachel Ray, Paul Sorvino, Alec Baldwin, Richard Gere and more (or so says they're website!) With a grill that stays open until 2 am and an actual piano bar, the Knickerbocker has definitely carved out it's place in the myriad of NYC restaurants. Serving a slightly older crowd, you can tell it has stood the test of time.

BUT it's not known for their burgers. The Knickerbocker hangs their hat on steak, specifically the t-bone. Which is exactly why we were there, but you'll have to read our sister blog, Steak Club 7 for the full story on the steak. But it was pretty good.

THE BURGER
The "black angus" bacon cheese burger arrived and we split it into 6 pieces (I took 2!) so we could all share. It was cooked to a perfect medium rare and looked amazing with the cheddar and bacon cooked on top. One bite, 2 bites, give me another piece...yeah looks are revealing, this was a great burger. It was full of flavor with a nice juiciness to greasiness balance served on a toasted brioche. A clear winner and a nice surprise. While you're at the Knickerbocker, be sure to ask for the off menu mac and cheese which is filled with peas and bacony goodness!


8 out of 10 ounces
-Rev

Black Iron Burger Shop - Combining Work and Play

Black Iron Burger Shop
http://blackironburger.com/
540 E. 5th St
New York, NY 10009

THE STORY
We started our new company, Yeah! Management back in February and since we started here, all our co-workers have been asking to be taken on a Burger Conquest. I wanted to make sure to impress so I contacted our new friends from the Black Iron Burger shop. Our last outing there proved to be victorious and I thought I owed a winner to all. The menu at Black Iron Burger shop is simple; burgers, sides, micro-brews (including an incredible Abita Root Beer!)

THE BURGER
Given the option, I still ordered exactly the same as I had last time. The Iron Horse is their specialty burger and it comes on a toasted sesame seed bun, with 2 patties, fried onions and horseradish cheese. God damn! It is one of the tastiest burgers on this little island we call Manhattan. The onion rings weren't as good this time but we we're running 12 deep so with one fantastic server, Hannah, and one cook, we imposed a serious challenge. We tried the baked beans, which were only kind of pedestrian, but nothing could out do the tasty iron horse burger.

Get on your horsey and gallop down to the east village for one of these tasty numbers!

So, office mates, how did we do?


8 out of 10 ounces
-Rev






Thanks to Camille and Andy for hooking up the reservation!

NYC Wing-Off #8 - Blind Tiger Ale House vs. Thunder Jacksons

From the same people that bring you Burger Conquest, we bring you the New York City Wing-Off. A crew of men on a search for the best wing in NYC. Wing-Off judges solely on medium and hot wings. Service, ambiance, beverage selection, price and other menus have no factor but they sure do count for a good time! Also, NO WOMEN ALLOWED!!

WING-OFF 8

BLIND TIGER ALE HOUSE vs. THUNDER JACKSON'S
Blind Tiger Ale House
http://blindtigeralehouse.com/
281 Bleecker St (@ Jones St)
New York, NY

Thunder Jackson's
http://www.thunderjackson.com
169 Bleecker St (@ Sullivan St)
New York, NY 10012

BLIND TIGER ALE HOUSE
Rumor has it that the new Blind Tiger Ale House (it moved) has some of the best wings in NYC. Leave it to us to find out. After choosing some Brooklyn Local 2 and Allagash White from one of the most unique collections of beers we have ever seen, we placed an order for 40 wings. Owner Alan Jestice joined us for a quick chat to talk about the wings. Blind Tiger bakes, not fries, their wings unlike most other places. Their wing is neither hot nor medium, its a chipotle flavored wing. That disqualifies it for our ranking but who are we to say no to a wing?? Alan slapped a bottle of Rare Voss Belgian Style Ale from 2000 and wished us happy winging.

The wings didn't last more than a couple of minutes as the Wing-Off crew demolished the entire lot. They were really saucy and quite different than an normal wing. The baking process not only means it takes longer to make them but also leaves the meat softer. The chicken fell right off the bone and melted in your mouth. The flavor was nice and smokey with some pepper flavor, not very hot though. They were some damn tasty wings and they left a little after bite.





THUNDER JACKSON'S


Only a few blocks away from our first location, Thunder Jackson's known as a party place with some tasty bar food. TJ's describes their establishment as an "Urban Roadhouse" and serves it up with all the party accutriments like Das Boot, made famous by the movie "Beer Fest." As we entered Thunder Jackon's we were met with a site that took us a moment to process; a large group of Elvi (the plural for Elvis) drinking at the bar. Turns out that the New York City Wing-Off had chosen the same location as the Elvis Pub Crawl for charity! Seems like a funny concept but as Linday, the crawl organizer, explained to me, they drink around the city in Elvis garb and raise money for Orphans International. So we all bought a pair fo Elvis sunglasses ($5 and it goes to the charity) and got one big Hot Winging Hound Dog photo.



Owner Kyle Radzyminski joined us in the fun and introduced us to Simone, our fantastic server. Kyle had the chef stage and serve up all kinds of different wing types they have at Thunder Jackson's. We ripped through some Angry, Dirty Angry, Pissed and then they tested out a new wing on us, the Chipotle . The wings at TJ's are all fried and breaded so they were completely different from the Blind Tiger. The ANGRY ones were juicy and crunchy. The Angry Dirty wing had a really unique dry rub that gave it a nice flavor. The Pissed wings were spicy hot on the first bite but had no after bite. They were tasty and delicious. The Chipotle wings were the one that stole the show for me. A nice smokey and hot flavor and juicy all the way through.




However, as neither The Blind Tiger Ale House nor Thunder Jackson's did not have standard hot and medium for which we judge, both are disqualified from the Wing-Off.

Winner = ELVIS.