Soooo what we initially paired this with last night for dinner, honestly, wasn't really a good combo. And it's not because anything I made didn't taste good. I just think that the flavors involved in this and the flavors of the crab cakes and shrimp we made last night were clashing. But I paired this recipe with today with my Sweet Baby Ray's Burgers (see previous post), and what a combo!
I know you're probably like,"This dumbass misspelled potatoes, what an idiot!" Yeah, I totally didn't. I mean, potatoes obviously isn't spelled like that but for what's in this recipe, the spelling is fitting and correct. Parsnips + Potatoes= Partatoes. The combo of the two is actually really good and love the aroma of parsnips as they're cooking. And even if you've never had parsnips before, the flavors of EVERYTHING else that's involved in the recipe, including the potatoes, covers up the taste of them. Just in case you were worried about not liking the way they taste.
I used Yukon Gold potatoes for this because they're softer, so they cook faster, and I like the darker yellow color they have. Parsnips are softer too so they cook in the same amount of time as the potatoes. Ready Freddy?
Smashed Partatoes
3 medium Yukon Gold Potatoes, unpeeled
4 large organic parsnips, peeled
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
Sea salt and pepper to taste
After peeling the parsnips and NOT peeling the potatoes, chop them up into large chunks. Takes less time to cook. Boil the partato combo on high for approximately 30-40 mins or until soft and easy to split with a fork. Drain partatoes and throw them back in the empty pot. Smash them up a little with a potato masher, then add the remaining ingredients. Depending on how smooth you like your partatoes. I like mine lumpy. After you've reached the desired lumpiness, mix with a spoon to ensure all the seasonings and butter spread evenly throughout.
Notice I didn't use any milk? That's ANOTHER great reason to use the Yukon Gold. Since they're softer, they're more moist as well. So no need for the milk, and the extra calories.
If you wanted to use fresh garlic, that would be a great idea. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Thanks for being healthy!
So I just made these and they're AHMAZING!!! This is actually totally my own recipe and not one I tweaked, like I usually do. This is actually the first time I've used the 95% lean grass fed ground beef, and it definitely will not be the last! It tastes so much better and cleaner! I'm in love ::sigh::
I really love cooking on my days off. I just like to look in my spice cabinet, look in the freezer, look back in the spice cabinet, look in the fridge and then I decide what I'm cooking and what's going in it. This method generally works out well, in case you were wondering. This method worked out very well for this recipe as well.
I'm really not a fan of consuming things with HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) in it (mostly because my brother is allergic to corn), for obvious reasons, but I love me some Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. I can't help it. It's delicious. And its so good that I'm afraid to try an all natural brand with no HFCS in it and then it's gonna suck and I'll just end up pissed. So, after much thought. It's decided. I'm sticking with the Ray's. I found 1 burger to be plenty when I ate these, but that may be because I ate it with my Smashed Partatoes (that's the next recipe btw), so everything was quite filling. Let's get this party started:
Sweet Baby Ray's Burgers
1lb 95% lean grass fed ground beef
1/4 cup of Sweet Baby Ray's Original BBQ sauce
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/4 cup minced onions
Pinch of black pepper (eyeball it)
Pinch of Borsari seasoned salt (again, eyeball it)
In a medium bowl add all the ingredients, including the beef, and mix throughly. I used my hand to mix it, it just works better. I actually put this back in the fridge for like 2 hours, only because I made this mixture ahead of time and wasn't ready to cook it yet. But there's no reason why you can't cook these immediately after combining everything.
Form patties to the size of your liking. I made decent sized patties, so 1 lb yielded 4 burgers. I cooked these stove top, cuz I'm afraid of using the grill (long story). But I'm sure they'd be sooooo much better on the grill. I cooked these about 7 minutes on each side total, over medium heat. I turned them a few times so as to brown evenly. You can cook them less or more depending on your desired "doneness."
Did I mention these came out amazing?!? Seriously though. Amazing. I also fried some plantains to eat with this. I did put about 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil in the pan for the burgers, but no oil for the plantains. You really don't necessarily need it if you have a good non-stick pan.
I hope you enjoy these as much as we did!! Thanks for being healthy!!
