I recently came to the conclusion that bananas are THE MOST PERFECT FOOD.
Think about it. A banana comes ready to eat. All you have to do is peel it and eat it. Let’s briefly go over some of the reasons why bananas are THE MOST PERFECT FOOD:
#1 GREAT AS IS
There’s no need to mess with the banana, but you can if you want to. You may also eat a banana just as it is and that’s fine.
You can use bananas as an ingredient to enhance many meals and snacks. You can make a StrawNana smoothie. Make an extra sweet treat, like a frozen Nutella-Banana, Banana’s Foster or Banana Split. I even once grilled bananas wrapped in bacon. I’ve had bananas on pizza!
Side Plug: I also make delicious Ferdi’s Nana Puddin’ which you can order anytime by messaging me via text message, email, or social apps.
#2 CONVENIENTLY PACKAGED
There’s no need to wash your banana. Plus, you can easily peel it, with your fingers. Oranges feature an outer layer that you don’t eat either, but you need some sort of tool (or knife) to get to the inside — unless your some kind of barbarian. Other fruits hit the floor and need to be cleaned before you put them in your mouth.
#3 NO WASTE
Although the banana does come in it’s natural “package” (aka banana peel), there’s no need to worry about pollution. The banana packaging (aka banana peel) is 100% biodegradable.
Side PSA: Let’s just keep banana peels off the streets and walkways. You never know what’s going to happen when someone drives, bikes or steps on a banana peel based on what we’ve seen in movies, cartoons and Mario Kart.
#4 NUTRITIOUS
Bananas are a healthy source of fiber, potassium, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and various antioxidants and phytonutrients. You can learn more about the banana’s health benefits right here.
#5 DELICIOUS
Also, Bananas aren’t just a convenient snack, they’re also a delicious one. But this leads us back to reason #1. Like I said earlier, bananas are great as is but may also enhance many meals.
Are bananas my favorite food? No, of course not. There are a million better foods out there. But they are a great choice and the most perfectly made food by Earth (or God, or whoever you believe is in control of everything). I’m just trying to say they are the most perfectly designed food for instant consumption.
Remember Dunkaroos from the 1990s? The purple packet with cookies (or Biscuits if you’re from London) and some cake frosting for dipping. Plus, there had that fun cartoon kangaroo mascot with an accent. Of course, every 90s kid remembers Dunkaroos whether you enjoyed them or not.
1994 Dunkaroo commercial
A few years ago, I heard Dunkaroos were back. There were rumors that they had made a comeback at wholesale grocery stores (Costco and BJs and Sam’s Club). You had to be a member of an exclusive club to get a box of Dunkaroos. I’m not sure if they were ever even there or if this was some sort of lie the grown-up 90s kids were spreading.
Yesterday, at Winn Dixie I did encounter one box of (NEW) Dunkaroos. New style, new look, new everything. The problem was they were on top of some random boxes in the middle of the frozen food section. They weren’t yet set up on display.
No one was around so I grabbed the box and tossed it into my cart. I later noticed a hand-written code on the box. I also noticed that this was a display box, meant to sell each packet separately (I noticed this when I got home). So I wondered, Wait, how much did I pay for this display box? And, when I checked the receipt I was relieved to find out that I had paid nothing for them. Unless they were under some super secret code.
I scanned my receipt multiple times and found no sort of Dunkaroos or Kangaroo secret code. The cashier hooked it up, probably because she sees me each week. I saw her attempt to scan the box, but she acted like everything was good and tossed them into a bag.
New Dunkaroo Review
These new Dunkaroos are not the Dunkaroos I remember from middle school. The only thing that remained the same is the Betty Crocker cake frosting for dipping, even though this was a funfetti-style frosting. I remember having chocolate or vanilla frosting (maybe a cookies and cream one later on).
These new cookies are too thin and small. I even broke some when dipping them in the frosting. They’re like the Jesus cookies you receive at church kind of thin. If you make a product that comes with a dipping sauce, part of the R&D budget should go into making it so your product doesn’t break and get left behind in the dipping substance.
New “extra thin” cookies (biscuits or crackers)
They don’t taste the same either. The cookies don’t have the same flavor, but that could also be due to them being too thin. Also, in the 20+ years since we’ve last seen Dunkaroos I’m sure FDA standards have changed. Maybe there was some strange ingredient in the old Dunkaroos cookies that’s no longer usable — something to make them extra addicting to kids. I also remember different cookie shapes (including a kangaroo, a kangaroo limb and head). Now, they all just look like cheap kangaroo coins.
I’m not saying these are bad, they just aren’t the same. Also, if you want to enjoy dipping cookies in cake frosting I have a better idea for you.
It’s time once again for more Apples in Review. For the past few months, I’ve been tasting a new apple each week. I’m trying to get ahead for when I run out of apple varieties at The Fresh Market and am forced to visit actual farms or farmer’s markets. We’re now on to our second variety of Apple — the Green Granny Smith apple.
Green Granny Smith Apple just before taste test.
While the Red Delicious is the most famous apple, the Granny Smith Apple (aka Green Apple) is also a top-tier apple. Known for its sour taste, this variety is heavily featured in both the candy and adult beverage world.
We’ve even seen Green Apple replace Lime Skittles. In the “original” bag of Skittles — if Green Apple replaced Lime just a few short years ago, does that make it still the “original” flavors? I don’t think so! Lime was always my favorite Skittles flavor. Did their license agreement with Limes end abruptly? #BringBackLimeSkittles! Come on, Marshawn!
“Original” Skittles flavors (although we all know that green used to be, and was better as, Lime)
Granny Smith apples are best known for their sour flavor. Although the sour flavor isn’t my favorite — eating too much gives you sticky Skittles/Starburst spit — I appreciate that they exist. If you eat a Red Delicious apple and a Granny Smith back to back, it’s kind of crazy to taste the difference between those two varieties alone. But who’s going to eat two different apples back to back? A Psychopath.
I was told (in a book, on a podcast and probably somewhere else) that Green Apples are great for heavy voice work (on-stage acting, voice over, singing). There’s some chemical in them, and only them, that clears your voice and throat. Or in gross terms — the Malic Acid within the Green Apple will clear mucus and the throat. Adding honey to ginger & lemon tea usually works for the throat, but just one bite of a green apple can do wonders.
Due to the sourness of the Green Apple it goes great with some smooth peanut butter (because crunchy Peanut Butter is for Ding Dongs). If you have a peanut allergy, which is common today, please don’t try this combo at home (or anywhere for that matter).
Sour Apple face.
I find the Green Apple to be too sour at times and the skin to be tougher than most apples. I’m not a fan of a thick/strong skin on my apples. Now that I’m trying the whole apple and not just the inside parts, I much prefer a skin that blends in with the flavor, taste and texture of the rest of the apple.
My current Apple Ranking: 1. Red Delicious 2. Granny Smith
-based on flavors tried and written about so far
A Short History of Green Apples (according the the internet)
The Granny Smith Apple comes from Australia and was introduced to the market back in 1868. I had no idea that apples came from Australia, but I guess it makes sense for this backwards ass sour apple to come from upside-down Australia. It’s not sweet like other apples, instead it’s sour.
The name Granny Smith comes from it’s cultivator, Maria Ann Smith. Maria created this apple and was someone’s granny. The sour/tart flavors and crunch make this variety of apple good for everything from salads to pies and everything in between (candy and alcoholic drinks).
Once again I got this image from bestapples.com
While the Green Apple is not my favorite apple, it’s still a nice sour treat. I would enjoy it much more with some outside help — Nutella, dulce de leech, peanut butter. Let’s face it, I think every apple can be enhanced with “outside help.”
A few weeks ago I made a post about all of the different kinds of apples that exist. While writing that post I decided that I would attempt to try all of the different varieties of apples that I could find. I was going to start posting my short reviews of each apple on the @ferdislearnings Twitter profile, but after trying a few different types of apples I’ve decided to instead make a weekly (or bi-weekly) post featuring a different apple each post.
It’s been a few weeks and I have now tried a few different apples. I wanted to get a bit ahead of myself.
Of course, I’m starting off with the original apple — The Red Delicious. The forbidden fruit that Adam & Eve ate back in the garden. I’m guessing it was a Red Delicious apple because I bet they didn’t have all of these varieties of apples yet. If Adam and Eve were the first man and woman then there was no one around yet to create these new kinds of apples and the Red Delicious had to be the only one around, right???
Let me start off by saying that I don’t normally eat the skin of an apple. My normal apple eating ritual consists of cutting an apple into slices and just eating the inside parts and tossing the skin in the trash (where it belongs). There is also usually some Nutella, dulce de leche or peanut butter involved.
For the purpose of this apple eating experiment I decided to bite straight into these apples, skin and all. I’m not using any flavor enhancers either (nutella, dulce de leche, peanut butter…). I’m reviewing not only the taste of the inside of the apple, but also the skin.
Red Delicious Apples ($1.79/lb) at the Fresh Market
Now it’s time for Apples in Review: Vol 1 – Red Delicious
The Red Delicious Apple just tastes like an apple to me. It tastes like a regular, plain ass apple. If a candy or beverage said “Apple-flavored” on the label, this is what I’d expect to taste.
If you pick a nice one you’ll notice a beautiful, shiny red coat of skin. I’m guessing that’s why they call it the Red Delicious — it’s shiny, red coat makes it look like a delicious treat for you to eat.
I started my journey with the most basic version of an apple so that I can hopefully notice the differences when I venture out into other varieties.
The red delicious apple is refreshing. After biting into this one the inside quickly started to turn brown and loose moisture. Apples tend to do this, but this felt much faster than I’d expect. Since eating this apple I have noticed that some apples have a extremely high moisture content and this wasn’t one of those.
When biting into the Red Delicious I thought, “Yeah, that tastes like an apple to me.” This is why I look forward to trying other varieties and seeing what differences I can taste.
I don’t expect to taste wild notes of chocolate with hints of mild cherry like in coffee, but I do plan to notice subtle differences in sweetness and sour levels, moisture and other apple identifiers. I’d say the Red Delicious is our middle of the road apple. It’s got a mild flavor for those who crave a simple, plain ass apple.
image from the Washington Apple Commission (bestapples.com)
Something I never really thought about but I do almost anytime I go to Publix in the middle of the day when I haven’t had lunch yet and I’m too hungry to wait until I get home — I always buy some croquetas from the Publix bakery.
SIDE NOTE: For you gringos a croqueta is a fried breaded cylinder usually containing ham inside and some other stuff too. I’ve heard someone call it a fritter before. They can also be filled with chicken, fish, cheese, chorizo, mac & cheese and all sorts of crazy stuff. I would call it the Cuban cousin to the Italian Mozzarella stick.
I’ve always been a ham croqueta person. Ham is the original. If you order a croqueta anywhere you will 99% of the time be given a ham croqueta, no questions asked. If the establishment you are at has chicken, fish, cheese or other types of croquetas they will either ask you, “What type of croqueta?” or you will have to specify, “I want a croqueta de pollo.” (Spanish for chicken croqueta).
What I do at Publix bakery to make my mid-day snack into a fun game is I usually order a few original croquetas (aka HAM) and one of either chicken or cheese (sometimes one of each). They all get thrown into the same bag and since all croquetas look about the same from the outside, it’s a fun guessing game.
The Publix bakery person usually tries to separate them with some fancy bakery paper, but that doesn’t really work because they are getting tossed around all over the bag. Also, I’m going to eat these while driving so I will not look in the bag to see how they are separated.
So, once I leave Publix and I’m driving home or to my next destination I get to play a little game I call CROQUETA ROULETTE. I stick my hand in the bag and grab one at a time. Next, I take a bite not really thinking about what’s going to be inside and I’m surprised each time.
Here’s my croqueta bag from yesterday’s game.
Yesterday I ate the cheese one first. I had ordered three ham and one cheese, so the game ended on that first bite. It was still was and always is a delicious game to play.
So, the next time you find yourself at Publix (if you’re in Florida) order some croquetas (if you’re in South Florida), and play a round of CROQUETA ROULETTE (if you’re in the car).
You won’t regret it. If you’re not in Florida, find some kind of dumpling place that will let you order single dumplings and try DUMPLING ROULETTE. Maybe a FILLED DONUT ROULETTE. There are many ways to play this game.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away. That’s what people used to say. But will any apple do? Is there a specific one with doctor-repelling powers?
Why are there so many different types of apples? Back in middle school, I remember learning about the three main apples: Red Delicious, Granny Smith and Apple computers (just kidding, Golden Delicious was the third one — I think). Just by hearing their names I knew the differences in look and taste.
Now I go to Fresh Market and see more than ten varieties of apples in one day: Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Fuji, Gala, Lucy Rose, Lucy Gal, Ruby Frost, Envy, Honeycrisp and new varieties popping up each season. I usually go for Fuji or Gala, but I don’t know if I’m making the right choice with those — they’re just the safe decision sinceI already know I like them.
I actually started writing this post because after I arrived at my newly redesigned Fresh Market (Coconut Grove). They had recently changed up the aisles, the fruit stands and a bunch of other areas in the store. The Fresh Market is my favorite market to go to. When I got there I saw how beautiful the apple display looked so I took some pictures with my iPhone and wanted to find a reason to share them. So, I wrote this whole thing about apples, but now I actually thought of a pretty good idea.
Over the next few weeks (possibly months), I will try a different variety of apple each week. I will give each one a small review on the Ferdi’s Learnings Twitter account, using the hashtag #ApplesInReview (Make sure to follow @ferdislearnings on Twitter for these). When I run out of apples I will create an #ApplesInReview mega-post right here on the Ferdi’s Learnings site, ranking all of the apples. Stay tuned for that.
Here are some more delicious iPhone pictures of apples for you to enjoy while you wait for my first review…
There are many times in the kitchen where I am forced to use Math. Math is an important skill to have. Sure, I use it in my everyday job (Accounting) sometimes, but most of that Math is done with calculators, Excel and tax programs.
When it comes to cooking I use math a whole lot. Recipes are made up of Math, and many of them are mostly made for not enough or too many people. It’s important to know how to double, half and sometimes go even further than that. What if a recipe calls for three full eggs, but you want a smaller version featuring only one or two eggs. Then it’s not about halving stuff, it’s about going into fractions (⅓ or ⅔).
I sometimes make sauces and spice mixes, but want a larger batch. So, instead of using teaspoons and tablespoons I break the recipe down to parts and use that instead. This way I can use my number system to create a large or any size batch I want.
I’ve even written down some of these breakdowns into my cookbooks. This is my breakdown of Danny Trejo’s Gringo Taco Seasoning mix.
Baking is all about math too. I have learned that baking is more of a science while grilling is more of a guessing game. Even though many baking recipes are recorded in cups, tablespoons and teaspoons, you will always get a much better bake weighing your ingredients with a scale. Grams/ounces is the way to go when making cakes, breads, cookies and any other baked goods.
I made the most Math-heavy recipe in my life the other day, and it’s not what you’d expect. This was like an algebra problem, or trigonometry (although I’m pretty great at math, I don’t know the labels of all the different types of math anymore).
The meal was a Frozen Food Triple-dipper. I wanted to find a way to have some chicken, something cheesy and some pizza all at once! In college, my roommates and I would throw multiple frozen items onto a pan and throw it in the oven at an average baking temperature until it smelled and looked kind of done. Of course, cooking times are also very important when it comes to frozen snacks.
What I did the other day was break it down by first finding that average temperature. Lucky for me the temperature range was from 425-450 degrees, so not that different. I also used the toaster oven which usually gets too hot so I left it at 425 degrees.
I started off baking my Frank’s RedHot Original Boneless Chicken Bites for just 4 minutes on their own. Next, I added in my Totino’s Pizza Rolls for another 4 minutes (now 8 minutes on the Frank’s). Finally, I flipped those two over and tossed in my FarmRich Mozzarella Sticks (aka Cheese Sticks) for the last 8 minutes (that’s a total of 16 for Frank’s and 12 for the Pizza Rolls).
Everything came out just perfect. Even Paul Hollywood (The Great British Baking Show) would agree.
When preparing my items I did find some Tequeños in the freezer but those had a 350 degree bake and an extra long baking time. It would have thrown off my whole system so I decided to leave them out.
There is one last thing I will leave you with. Frozen foods should never be made in the microwave, when you have the luxury of using an oven or toaster oven. Yes, it may take 4x as long to cook, but it’s well worth the wait. So, start preheating your oven now and grab a snack while you wait.
I’ve been eating Lunchables pizza since they first came out in 1996 (back when I was in middle school). Lunchables Pizza was a game changer when they first arrived on the market. Until then, I believe the only Lunchables variety available were the cracker stackers (Turkey, Ham and Bologna…). Today, we even have grown up Lunchables and tons of strange varieties (including tacos and chicken nuggets).
I’m pretty sure I enjoyed my first few Lunchables Pizzas cold, as they were meant to be enjoyed by the folks at Oscar Mayer. It wasn’t long before I tried microwaving them to melt the cheese and have three hot little pizzas. The internet may think Kylie Jenner made that up, I’ve been doing it since the mid-90s, and she was born in 1997.
The real game changer was when I started baking my Lunchables Pizza in the toaster oven. Nuking them was fine for some little hot pies, but the toaster oven added a bit of a crispiness to the crust. It made the cheese meltier and everything just taste better overall. The toaster oven is better for any frozen “microwave” treats (things like Bagel Bites, Pizza Rolls, Hot Pockets…)
Now, I continue to eat plenty of Lunchables today as a grown up (mainly to try and win a second Nintendo Switch so I can play Splatoon 2 with my wonderful girlfriend, but also way before this contest came around). Back in the normal times, it was a good idea to have some Lunchables in the fridge for when I would come home hungry and need a late night snack. Lunchables Pizza is always quick, easy and delicious.
I will never be too old for Lunchables, and maybe that’s because the way I enjoy them continues to evolve. The point of me writing this was to teach you one thing and one thing only. It’s fine to eat Lunchables (of any kind) as an adult. And here’s how you can take your Lunchables Pizza game from “OK” to “Gourmet!”
STEP ONE: OUTSIDE HELP
There’s only one outside source you need to upgrade your Lunchables Pizza and that’s some “Real Cheese.”
First, we’re going to need to outsource some cheese. And I’m going to help you find the best cheese. Lunchables pizza cheese is ok, but it doesn’t melt quite right (especially in the toaster oven). Don’t toss it though, it’s still going to come in handy.
I like to recruit some Sargento, Kraft or maybe even some fancy Mozzarella di Bufula (I haven’t tried out that last one yet, but I’m excited to now). Sargento makes some real thick shredded cheeses and the mozzarella version is the best for any homemade pizza. So, that’s what I’ve currently been using.
STEP TWO: THE BUILD
This step is very simple, because the ingredients are all ready to go by now. All you have to do to build the ultimate Lunchables mini pizzas is:
(1) Lay down the crusts. If you have a little toaster oven rack it’s nice to raise your crusts off of the pan. If not you can even try putting them straight on the toaster oven rack, although that can lead to a big mess. So, if you don’t have the rack that’s fine, a pan will do.
(2) Slather on that tomato sauce. The sauce packet used to come with a tiny spoon or a little spreader, but I guess times are tough for the Oscar Mayer corporation and they had to stop giving those out. Or, perhaps they are more worried about the environment and didn’t want to supply more plastic for ruining our planet. Thanks for caring, Oscar!
(3) Drop a layer of your “fancy” cheese (the Sargento, Kraft, Bufula or whatever you’ve found). This is the part where you get to gourmet it up with the good stuff. As I said before I have not tried using the super fancy Mozzarella di Bufula, but one day I will and I bet it will be amazing.
(4) Top it with some pepperoni. Lunchables provides a total of nine pepperoni slices. That’s three per pizza, however, I like to eat at least one or two cold. Also, they are very large and round and three pepperoni slices on one of these small pizzas causes a bit of an overlap. They have been known to sometimes give an extra pepperoni slice, but also one or two less. Sometimes I put the pepperoni before step 2 or 3. I’ve had it in all the possible positions: under the sauce, over the sauce and over the cheese.
(5) Sprinkle on that Lunchables cheese. Now that you have all of your ingredients stacked you must be thinking, What about this Oscar Mayer provided cheese? Now’s the time to use it. Sprinkle as much or as little as you want on top of your pizza and you’re ready to stick it in the toaster oven.
STEP THREE: HEAT THE PIZZAS
I like to turn the toaster oven up to somewhere between 350 and 400 degrees for these bad boys. I leave them in until the good cheese and top cheese gets melty. I’d say somewhere between 7-10 minutes.
STEP FOUR: ENJOY YOUR GOURMET LUNCHABLES PIZZA
There you have it, now you’re done and it’s time to enjoy your three tiny delicious hot pies. If you don’t want to go through all of this trouble you can always eat it cold, and still try subbing in some “good” cheese. Also, you can always order some pizza from a real pizza place and enjoy that instead. I think of these as the perfect snack for when you’re craving some pizza but don’t want to order a whole pizza, because you know you will finish the whole thing and feel ashamed of yourself afterward.
I hope you do try to upgrade your Lunchables next time, and if you do please tell me how it went below in the comments. If you have any upgrades or hot tips for any type of Lunchables, I would also like to hear those.
I very much remember the commercials for Klondike bars as a kid, “What would you do-oh-ooh for a Klondike bar.” If you don’t remember them that’s ok, here’s one from the year I was born (1986):
Strange Klondike commercial from the year I was born.
Side Note: I also remember there was a big shaggy sheepdog in my neighborhood named Klondike who gave the best big shaggy hugs. We’d be outside playing basketball or rollerblading (or whatever kids were doing back in the 90s) and we’d always stop whatever we were doing to give Klondike a big smelly, shaggy hug. He was a big sweet boy.
I have always loved ice cream, but I never really got into Klondike bars in my childhood. Maybe the strange ads turned me off of them? Oh, wait, I have to complete a task for the right to enjoy one of these? No thanks, I’ll just get some regular ice cream from the store, instead. It wasn’t until way later on in life (most likely at a friend’s house) that I was finally able to try one.
I first tried the regular chocolate shell with vanilla ice cream inside. It was fine, but the market was full of competition in the milk chocolate shell/vanilla ice cream game. Haagen Daaz had their “hand-dipped” bars, Dove had their mini tunnel shaped ones, Blue Bell and Blue Bunny probably had something similar.
(Cut to the pandemic) I’ve been doing groceries for my parents each week, and I always like to go for what’s on sale when I can (It’s fun to see how much money you saved at the end of grocery shopping. It’s like a built-in mini-game). Klondikes were recently buy one, get one free (for a couple of weeks, actually). So, I got some Oreo, Heath, Reese’s (I’ve tried a few different flavors and I plan on trying a few more). And after trying a few different versions, I can now say that I am a big fan of Klondike bars and what they have to offer.
Now, going back to the commercial, I don’t think I would do anything crazy for a Klondike bar. They are delicious, but I would still just pay a couple dollars for one or a few of them. I would possibly make a trade, using an item I don’t really care for, for one.
Maybe trade in some other treats? But other than just buying it or trading for it, I don’t think there’s much else I would do for a Klondike bar. I do really enjoy them, I just wouldn’t trade a functional kidney for one or anything unnecessary.
The burger was the first food I learned to cook — on the grill. Before that my specialty was Lunchables pizza, hot dogs, Bagel Bites and other microwavable dishes. As a kid I wasn’t a huge fan of burgers, I thought of them as a meatloaf sandwich and I guess I was sick of all the meatloaf.
It wasn’t until I saw the movie Good Burger that I finally craved a hamburger (those Mondo Burgers looked mega delicious). Leaving the theater, my mom took us straight to the King of all burgers (Burger King). That’s when burgers instantly became one of my favorite meals (Thank you, Kenan and Kel).
Cut to a few years ago, where the vegans are trying to encroach on my burgers with a new challenger — The Meatless Burger!
Sure, we’ve seen this before in many forms: mushroom burgers, black bean burgers, eggplant burgers, quinoa burgers. But the Impossible & Beyond burgers and all these plant-based alternatives are something totally different. They aren’t burgers for vegans, they are vegan burgers for meat eaters disguised to look, taste and feel like real meat burgers.
Of course, at first I thought, “No thank you.” But, after hearing reviews I became intrigued or maybe it was just disbelief. I thought, a fake plant-made burger can’t taste anything like the real thing.
*Disclaimer: I’ve only tried the Beyond Burger, I haven’t had the pleasure of trying the Impossible Burgers, or even the Impossible Whopper (however, I still one day hope to eat an ImpossibleWhopper and regular Whopper back to back for a true taste test).
I recently cooked up some Beyond Burgers (I buy them when I see them on sale) using two different methods, BBQ grill and stove top. They were both seasoned the same way (sea salt, black pepper and some Lawry’s seasoned salt). They also had the same exact toppings (ketchup, mustard, pickles and American cheese).
SKILLET COOKED
Cooking a Beyond Burger in the skillet is great, a cast iron is even better for a crispy, crusty exterior. I use ghee (unclarified butter) for the high smoking point. It doesn’t burn or get any burnt nasties in it while heating up.
Sometimes the grill may not be accessible: it may be rainy, maybe you don’t want to smell like BBQ, perhaps you’re just lazy. Many factors come into play. But the skillet is a fine way to get a good flavor, but the “planty/non-burger” flavor comes out more in this method.
I also warmed the bun in the toaster oven to create a nice, soft pillow for my burger to lay on.
BBQ GRILLED
The grill is fantastic for Beyond Burgers. You can get it real hot and cook your patty pretty quickly. The fire gives it more of a charred/burger taste. It also hides the “planty/non-burger” flavor much better.
You can also toss some cheese on the patty towards the end of the grilling phase and let it melt (this also works on the skillet, better when covered, but the grill gets that cheese extra melty). I also love tossing my burger bun right on the grill, insides face down, getting it warm and a little crispy.
THE VERDICT
When it comes to fake burgers, grilled is the way to go (if you can). The skillet comes in close second (of course it does, those are the only two methods I tried). It still tastes kind of like a real burger, just a little less than when grilled. However, if you’re really craving a burger, I say just have a real meat burger, but these are still a fine alternative to try something new.
REAL BURGER TALK
I used to be a grilled meat burger fan, but I’ve recently become more of a skillet burger cooker (and eater). I like my diner-style burgers, cooked in hot ghee and preferably on a cast iron skillet. The cast iron may fog up your whole kitchen with smoke, and be a pain to clean at times, you also may burn yourself a bit, but it’s all totally worth it. If you don’t own a cast iron skillet, it’s definitely time to invest in one (especially with all the cooking we’re all doing now while stuck at home).
I’m not telling anyone to eat these fake meatless burgers. I’m just saying if you want to try them (and you find them on sale) they aren’t so bad. Also, don’t let the Beyond Burgers make a fool of you, there are only two patties per package. That’s one reason why I only buy them on sale. For the price of two you can get four or even six meat burgers, and I’m talking good quality meat.
Thanks for listening, enjoy your burger (however you enjoy it)!
Ferdi's Learnings 