Watch out Red Lobster!

We had another potluck at work and I signed up to bring an appetizer. I was really busy that week and didn't have much time to think about what to make let alone go shopping and make it!

The night before, my husband was trying to help me think of something I could make with only the ingredients we had in the house. We came across this cheese garlic biscuit recipe on allrecipes.com and it turned out great!

Cheese garlic Biscuits II

Allrecipes.com

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

5 Tbs butter

1 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup butter

1 clove minced garlic

• Preheat oven to 400
• In a large bowl, sift flour, salt, and baking powder
• Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs
• Push the flour mixture to the sides of the bowl until you can see the bottom of the bowl
• Add the milk and cheese in the center
• Stir until combined
• Place small spoonfuls of the batter onto an ungreesed baking sheet
• Place in the oven for 12-15 min -until golden brown
• While the biscuits are in the oven, mix together melted butter and the minced garlic
• Once the biscuits are done and out of the oven, brush garlic butter over each biscuit

Best served warm, but can be refrigerated and served the next day.

They aren't going to replace the ones at Red Lobster, but it's a good rival.

Cuban burgers with garlic mayo

This burger is great on the grill or campfire. A few friends of ours came over for dinner a few summers ago and they said they were bringing mojitos. I needed something to go with that but I just wasn't in the mood for a Cuban sandwich. After a little searching I found this Cuban burger. It's very easy to make and is a hit every time!


Cuban-style burgers on the grill

Picture from FoodNetwork.com

Bobby Flay, foodnetwork.com


2 lbs ground chuck
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup high-quality mayo - this is critical
3 cloves roasted garlic (see below for directions*)
1/4 cup dijon mustard
4 soft, classic hamburger buns
8 slices thinly sliced Swiss cheese
4 slices thinly sliced smoked ham
2 dill pickles, sliced 1/4 inch thick - I used dill sandwich pickles

• Preheat the grill, to high
• Form meat into 4, 1/4 inch burgers
• Season meat with salt and pepper on both sides
• Grill for 2-3 min on both sides, for medium
• Once burgers are done, remove from heat and reduce to medium-low
• Spread garlic mayo and the mustard on both buns
• Place a slice of cheese on the bottom of each bun
• Then layer the burger, ham, more cheese, and the pickle on the bun
• Wrap the burgers in foil and place on the grill
• Use a heavy pan or brick and press on the burgers for 30 sec to 1 min
• Cover the grill and cook for 1-2 more minutes, until cheese is melted

Roasted garlic mayo* 

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Take 1 whole garlic bulb and peal off the outer layers of skin, but keeping all the cloves intact
• Chop off the top 1/4 inch of the bulb
• Place garlic in tin foil and drizzle in extra virgin olive oil
• Wrap the garlic in a pouch, leaving room at the top
• Roast for about 30-45 min, until golden brown - it's important to make sure this is roasted well enough, otherwise the flavor will be too mild in the mayo
• Once roasted, take the pulp out of 3 cloves and puree
• In a small bowl, combine the garlic and mayo
• Season with salt and pepper

This garlic mayo is so good, it's like Franks Red Hots, "I put that sh*t on everything!". Also, if you make it a day ahead of time, it will all be sooo much better :-)

Why am I writing this a few summers after I originally made this?!?!? This is soo good I just kept assuming it was already on my blog.