Someplace in Mik's Kitchen

About 2 weeks ago, I watched an old episode of Hell's Kitchen for the first time and was immediately hooked. I loved watching Chef Ramsay scream and curse at the chefs and the many personal meltdowns that ensued afterward. Since then, I also started watching Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares where he visits failing restaurants in England and the U.S. and attempts to revive them by changing the menu and remodeling the restaurant. Watching the shows in the past week has really inspired me to cook more at home and try some new things. A couple months ago, Sassy bought me a Bobby Flay book called Burgers, Fries and Shakes. This is my first attempt at one of the recipes. It's called a Trattoria Burger and is a grilled hamburger with fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced tomato, and basil leaves drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. It's basically a caprese salad on a burger.

Here's the picture of it in the book:


Tenting the burgers to melt the cheese:



And the finished product:


It was quite yummy. The fresh basil really adds to the flavor. I finished it off with some Iowa corn, thanks to Charlie.

Earlier in the week I prepared some steak with a caesar salad, and bbq pork chops (a la Carson's) with mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. Yesterday, I made grilled shrimp with a tequila-lime marinade over angel hair pasta.

I'm off work Monday, so I may use my bbq pit for some ribs.