Before Tyler (17) moved in with us he told me he wanted to cook his “special” burgers for Bill and I.  We had extensive conversations about how much he liked making burgers.  Being new to the stepmom thing and especially new to the teenage boy thing.  I decided to order the “Build a Better Burger” cookbook for him as a surprise.  I had it delivered to his mom’s house overnight.  I was excited we might be able to find some common ground.  5 days later when I asked if he received it, he said “Yeah, why did you send that to me?”  :SIGH:

I did not learn.  I wanted to, however sometimes I can be what I prefer to describe as “strong willed” or “enthusiastic” but my family calls “stubborn” and occasionally they use the very unkind phrase “hard-headed.”

When Tyler arrived he asked about making his “special” burgers for us every day.  Unfortunately his method required grilling and his arrival coincided with the brutal cycle of afternoon storms that are common for Central Florida in late summer.  Finally the day arrived.  We gathered the ingredients and started to work.  His recipe for a burger was ground beef with a salty store bought sauce, soy sauce, salt and stuffed with hoop cheese.  I’ve never seen a kid so excited, or tasted a burger so SALTY.  But to Ty, it was heaven on a plate so we smiled, praised him and ate ours.  Later I secretly threw out that awful sauce only to be caught.  “HEY!  Why’s my sauce in the garbage?” :SIGH:

Tyler’s dinner menu repertoire has done a 180 since he moved here.  He’s done well to adapt.  Now, he likes Brussels sprouts, he cheerfully consumed my attempt at Chicken Tiki Marsala (bad recipe, going to have to try that again), he ADORES my baked macaroni and cheese.  But much to my dismay, he insists on hating lamb.  I just discovered that I can cook lamb at home (as opposed to only being able to order it in a restaurant) .   I love lamb, I want to have it once or twice a week.  :SIGH:

What to do, what to do???

Hide it in a burger, that’s what.  And keep my opinions to myself when he slathers it with ketchup.  That’s what!

Last night I made lamb burgers and Tzatziki sauce with grilled eggplant.  You may notice the lack of photo.  That’s to protect you.  They were UGLY.  and I do mean UGLY.  But for every degree of ugly, there were two degrees of yummy as proved by the clean plate of a 17 year old self professed lamb hater.  Perhaps I can get him to eat the chop next time if I use the same spices.

Lamb burgers:
1 pound ground lamb
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 clove fresh garlic minced
3 turns fresh ground black pepper
healthy pinch of kosher salt

Mix the spices and meat together gently and then let it rest at room temperature for about a half hour.  Form into 3 patties and cook over medium high heat for 7 minutes or until done through.  Unlike beef, the lamb will not dry out if cooked to well done.  I used our Cuisinart indoor grill and it took about 7 minutes to cook.

For the eggplant I sliced it about a quarter inch thick, salted it and put it in a colander with a weight to remove the liquid.  Then I brushed it with olive oil and also put it on the Cuisinart indoor grill — hence the ugly factor.  I would suggest you either saute the eggplant in oil over high heat or use a real grill.  The Cuisanart didn’t get hot enough, the eggplant stuck, tore, steamed rather than grilled ….. you know the drill :SIGH:

Tzatziki Sauce
7 oz Greek yogurt
1 small cucumber seeded and grated
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp lemon juice

*note:  Tzatziki sauce traditionally includes mint which I have an aversion to so I omit it.  If you like it add 1 tsp dried mint.

After grating the cucumber spread it on paper towels and blot out all the moisture you can.  Otherwise your sauce will be watery.

Chuck everything into the food processor, give it a whirl, taste it and salt it.  Refrigerate for one hour before using.

I layered one slice eggplant, 1 slice roasted red pepper, one lamb patty, a dab of Tzatziki sauce and feta cheese on the burger.

MMMMM – no leftovers and I sort of wished I had cooked Tyler something different so we could have eaten his.  That’s the trouble with expanding kids pallets, then they want to eat your food!

So back to the question, is a Burger just a Burger?  No.  Burgers are more than the flavorless fatty meat puck that McDonald’s has purveyed for years.  Burgers are comfort; they are a bonding experience; and they can be a vehicle for introducing new flavors.  We still haven’t come clean and told Ty it was a lamb burger.  He knew something was up — but he was happy to eat it.

As a reminder, I’m cooking my way through Linda Dannenberg’s Paris Bistro Cooking, other posts are listed under the category “Paris Bistro Dining Quest.” One of the things that draws me to Paris Bistros is their history.  In the United States the failure rate of new restaurants is stunning — I’ve read everything from 60 – 90% of new restaurants closing their doors within the first year.  And it seems like the restaurants that don’t fail are the large personality free chains.  Finding  a restaurant with a family history is a gem.

The recipes I chose for this foray are from Chardenoux in the 11th arrondissement near the Bastille.  This is a beautiful area for walking with lots of charming shops and bistros, it’s also a haven for tourist traps so beware.  Cyril Lignac wrote a review of Chardenoux that includes some beautiful photos.

The bistro opened in the early 1900s and was owned by a family of the same name.  The restaurant is known for it’s stunning decor, etched glass, decorative wood molding.  In 1986 Marc Souvrain became the restaurant’s third owner; his take on food is a blend of the traditional with contemporary.  Judging by the reviews I’ve read he’s done it right.

For our menu I chose the Gigot a la Creme d’ Ail (lamb in a garlic cream sauce), Potato gratin and a decidedly not french chocolate pound cake.  I’m beginning to question Dannenberg’s ability to translate recipes and after I complete this book, I’m going to get a book from another author to see if my instincts are confirmed.  Her  cream sauce recipe called for 6 heads of garlic.  6 cloves would not have been enough, but 6 heads would have killed us (I used 1 1/2 heads).  Also because it was just Bill and I I opted for a small rack of lamb instead of a 3 pound leg.  Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly.

I got a late start in the kitchen (7:30) which meant we didn’t eat until 10:00 p.m.  That was my fault, if you were doing this menu for guests you could make the garlic sauce a day ahead, assemble the potato gratin and marinate the lamb so that on the day of the party you just have to bake the lamb and potato and heat the sauce.

Garlic Cream Sauce (excerpted from Paris Bistro Cooking, p.39)

2 heads of garlic
2 cups milk
1 bay leaf
salt and fresh ground pepper
2 cups heavy cream

Separate the garlic cloves, but do not peel them.  Blanch them for 2 minutes in boiling salted water.  Drain and add to milk with bay leaf.  Cover and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes.  Strain into another pan, squeeze the garlic cloves into the sauce, whisk in cream and cook over medium heat until reduced by one third.  Taste for seasoning and keep warm.

Lamb (recipe as written I used a small rack of lamb instead of a leg and it worked well)

3 pounds boned leg of lamb, fat trimmed
3 garlic cloves slivered
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
Fresh ground pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

Make slits all over the leg of lamb, toss garlic slivers with the dried herbs and insert in slits.  Rub the meat with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes.  (medium rare is 145 degrees, medium is 160 degrees)   Serve with garlic cream sauce.

* because I used a smaller rack of lamb I didn’t make slits I made a paste out of the herbs (I used fresh) and garlic salt and pepper and then rubbed the lamb and let it marinade for about 30 minutes.

Potato Gratin (excerpted from Paris Bistro Cooking, p.37)
1 1/2 pounds peeled potatoes sliced thin
salt and freshly ground pepper
nutmeg
2 cups scalded milk
1 large egg
1/2 clove garlic
3 Tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups grated Gruyere cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Prepare an 8×8 baking dish by rubbing it with the garlic clove and 1/2 of the butter.

Toss potatoes with salt and pepper (I omitted the nutmeg).

In a separate bowl slowly whisk the scalded milk into the egg.

Layer 1/2 of the potatoes in the dish top with 1/2 cheese, add second layer of potatoes top with milk and remaining cheese.  dot with remaining butter and bake for 45 minutes.

We had a 2006 Turnbull Merlot with dinner.  I love this wine, it’s  a bold Merlot with the familiar elements of fruit, but also has a smokey flavor to it.

I mentioned a chocolate pound cake.  This recipe was awful.  My only compliment was that it was moist.  There was no taste of chocolate because the recipe had way too much sugar.  It was like a cotton candy cake.  Here’s a link to the recipe – I don’t recommend it.