Tag: food

Caramelized Onion & Gruyere Burgers | Gage Sunglasses

Red Rose & HoneyLeave a comment

As we gear up for summer, I think we all have BBQ season on our minds. I love a good cheeseburger, but week after week they can get a bit dull. My caramelized onion and gruyere burgers are just what you need to kick your typical burger up a notch. This recipe will be sure to save you from burger burn-out. I am really excited to share this recipe while also showcasing an awesome Long Island company. Today’s post is brought to you in collaboration with Gage Sunglasses.

If you’ve read some of my previous blogs, it should be no surprise that I love living on Long Island. We are surrounded by the most beautiful scenery from beaches to vineyards. Among the beauty you can find many small businesses thriving on that Long Island energy; one of them is Gage Sunglasses. I discovered Gage a few years ago and quickly snagged a pair for my husband. Gage was founded in 2015 on Long Island and makes high quality, comfortable and affordable sunglasses. They are available in many different frame styles and colors, plus the shipping is less than $3. Whether you’re enjoying the beaches, the wineries or a backyard BBQ, Gage Sunglasses are what you need to enjoy the great outdoors of Long Island.

First, let’s talk burger basics. Regardless of the recipe, I think the most important element is the beef itself. I personally am not a fan of pre-made burger patties – frozen or fresh (thanks, dad). For the best burgers, my go-to choice is a high quality grass-feed beef. You need to start with a good base to create a delicious burger. Usually, a 1 lb package of beef yields three decent size burgers. After that, most of my burgers start the same; sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder and Worcestershire. Be sure to take your burgers out of the fridge about 15 minutes before you’re ready to grill. If they’re super cold, the meat will tense up when it hits the heat.

Next, you need to get to know your grill. We have been grilling our burgers on a charcoal grill. It has taken us a bit to get use to, but now we love it. We use chemical free fire starters that have been a game changer too. When grilling burgers our go-to method for medium/medium rare is a temperature of about 500 degrees, grill 4 minutes on the first side, 3 minutes on the second side, then add the cheese for a final 30-45 seconds. When in doubt, check your burgers with a meat thermometer before serving. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of your burgers and heat of your grill.

We’ve got the basics down, so let’s talk about the superstars that make these burgers great – the caramelized onions and garlic aioli. The caramelized onions on these burgers give them tons of extra flavor and give your meal a gourmet feel. When you plan to make this recipe, I suggest allowing yourself extra time before dinner to make the caramelized onions or make them ahead of time. Add on some garlic aioli (homemade or store bought) to take the flavor up a notch then finish them off with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and arugula. Serve it on a gluten-free bun (if that’s your thing) and you’ve got yourself an amazing dinner.

Now it’s your turn – we want to see how you’re grilling with Gage! Whether you try today’s recipe or make one of own grilling favorites, snag yourself a pair of sunnies here with discount code GRILL15 and share a photo on social media. Tag us both (@redroseandhoney @gagesunglasses) and use the hashtag #GrillingWithGage all summer long. For a chance to win a pair of Gage Sunglasses head to Gage’s Instagram for more info!

Big thank you to Gage Sunglasses for collaborating with me on today’s post!

Disclaimer: Product was provided by Gage Sunglasses in exchange for this post. This also post contains affiliate links. When you purchase an item through an affiliate link, I may earn a small commission.  All opinions/recommendations are my own.

Caramelized Onion & Gruyere Burgers

  • Servings: 3-4
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

This recipe is inspired by a favorite burger of mine from Cow Pig Bun in Maui. Enjoy!

Ingredients

    Caramelized Onions
  • 1 large yellow onion
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/8 tsp sea salt
  • 1/8 tsp dark brown sugar

    • Burgers
  • 1lb grass-fed beef
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 lb Gruyere Cheese
  • Worchestersire sauce
  • Balsamic Vinegar
  • Arugula
  • Burger Buns

    • Garlic Aioli
  • 1/4 C mayonaise
  • 5 cloves of fresh garlic
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1/8 tsp Black pepper
  • 3 dashes of Worchestersire sauce

Directions

    Caramelized Onions
  • Slice onions into rings (not too thin – they need to cook for a while)
  • Pre-heat extra virgin olive oil in a sauté pan over med/low heat for about 2 minutes.
  • Add onions to olive and stir,
  • Once onions are translucent add 1/8 tsp of dark brown sugar and a sprinkle of sea salt.
  • Stir occasionally until onions caramelize; 30-45 minutes.

    • Burgers
  • Pre-heat grill to 500° (F)
  • While the onions are cooking, prep your burgers. Use 1lb of ground beef to form 3-4 equal patties (I usually use 1lb for3 patties).
  • Add salt, pepper, garlic powder and Worchestersire to each side.
  • Use your thumb to indent the center of each burger, about halfway into each burger. This helps prevent the burger from puffing up when it’s on the grill.
  • If you’re not ready to grill, place the uncooked burgers in the fridge. Remove them from the fridge about 15 minutes before you plan to put them on the grill.
  • For a warm or toasted bun, place a bun directly on the grill or wrapped in foil over in-direct heat.
  • For medium/medium rare burgers, cook burgers over direct heat for 4 minutes on one side then 3 minutes on the other side. Cook time will vary depending on the side of your burgers and temperature of your grill.
  • Add cheese 30-45 seconds before time is up.
  • Spread garlic aioli onto each side of your bun then add cooked cheese burger to the bottom bun.
  • Top if off with cartelized onions, arugula and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

    • Garlic Aioli
  • Heat oil in a small pan over low heat.
  • Use a micro plain (small citrus zester or cheese grater) to finely grate fresh garlic.
  • Add garlic to the oil and sauté for 3-5 minutes. The garlic will we fragrant. Keep an eye on it, you do not want it to burn.
  • Combine garlic, oil, black pepper and Worchestersire with mayo in a small bowl

Gluten Free French Onion Soup

Red Rose & HoneyLeave a comment

One of my all time favorite soups is French Onion soup. I remember the last time I had it before going gluten-free years ago. Since then I have longed to enjoy this delicious soup again, but I have never found it on a gluten-free menu. This summer, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make it myself. It is a fairly easy soup to make, but it is very time consuming. I decided to make it again recently and I loved how this recipe turned out. Thankfully, I wrote everything down while I was cooking in hopes of sharing it all with you here. Please note this site and this post include affiliate links.

I made this soup using my 8.5qt stainless steel Calphalon Dutch oven. I don’t think my exact one is available anymore, but found two similar pots (click here and here). If you don’t have this exact style pot, you will just want to use a well-made, large, heavy pot that heats evenly; I believe this helps with the caramelization. The Le Creuset Dutch oven or something similar would also work well. To serve this soup, I ordered soup crocks and soup spoons to make sure we got the “real” French onion soup feel. When we traveled to Ireland a few years ago, I had the most delicious soups throughout our trip and they were always served with the best soup spoons. Having these spoons at home now reminds me of our time in Ireland.

I hope you try and enjoy this recipe!

The Ingredients:

Prep time: 30 minutes Cook time: 2 hours Servings: About 8

  • 8 tbsp (1 stick) of unsalted butter
  • 6lbs of yellow onions, sliced into half moons
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1.5 tbsp dark brown sugar
  • 2 large cloves of garlic finely minced
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1.5 c red wine (I used a red blend)
  • 32oz low sodium beef stock
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • Salt to taste
  • 4-8oz Gruyere cheese thinly sliced or grated
  • 1 Gluten Free Baguette 

The Directions:

  • Slice the onions into half-moon shape and set aside in a large bowl.
  • Melt butter over medium/low heat then add the onions and stir to coat the onions into the melted butter.
  • Over medium/low heat, regularly stir the onions and bay leaf. You will need to keep an eye on the pot to make sure the onions do not stick. For this amount of onions, the caramelization process can take up to 1.5 hrs
  • Once the onions start to darken (about 30 minutes) add the dark brown sugar which will help with caramelizing the onions.
  • When the onions are close to fully caramelized (about 1.25 hrs), add black pepper, thyme and fresh garlic then stir.
  • When the onions have a dark, rich color and are fully caramelized add red wine to deglaze. Let the alcohol cook out and reduce the liquid for 5-10 minutes.
  • Add the beef stock and 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar which will help to balance out the sweetness of the onions and sugar. Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes.
  • While you soup simmers, pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Taste your soup. If it’s still too sweet, gradually add another tbsp of vinegar and season with salt to taste.
  • Slice your baguette (or brea of your choice), drizzle with olive oil and toast in the oven.
  • Spoon your soup into the crocks, add toasted bread and top with gruyere cheese.
  • Place the crocks on a baking sheet and broil on high about about 5 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted and slightly charred.
  • Top with a sprinkle of dried (or fresh) thyme and serve.

Cooking Notes:

  • This soup is heavier on the onions than it is on the stock. If you prefer you soup to have more broth, you can add some while cooking, but you may have to adjust the seasonings to maintain the flavor.
  • When I reheated this soup, I added a little extra stock each time.

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Butcher Box Review

Red Rose & HoneyLeave a comment

Hi Friends! Today’s blog is all about Butcher Box. The waitlist that was implemented earlier this year due to the pandemic has been lifted, so new customers can sign-up now. I am going to share all that I think you need to know before you first order. Speaking of first orders, Butcher Box is currently running a $15 off promotion for new customers (click here – I’ll get $15 back with this code too). If you’re on the fence about trying it out, I hope this post helps. We have ordered from Butcher Box a few times a year for just about 2 years. Overall we have been really happy with the quality!

If you take a peak at their website, you will learn that Butcher Box has quickly grown from a start-up company to one of the nation’s top online sources for grass-fed beef. They have very high standards when it come to product sourcing, sustainability and humanely raise animals (click here to read more on BB sourcing). This means that customers are getting high quality beef, pork and poultry. Butcher Box beef is 100% grass-fed!

Butcher Box is a subscription service for grass-fed beef, free-range and non-GMO organic chicken, heritage pork and wild seafood. Although it’s a subscription, you have the option to delay or change your shipment days. This means you don’t have to commit to it every month. We order roughly once per quarter to supplement our grocery store purchases. Usually we save our BB items for weekends when we have more time to dedicate to cooking a nice meal. It’s also a great option for a home date night.

Source: Butcherbox.com

You start by selecting your box type (custom or random) and size (classic or big). There is currently a $20 difference between the custom classic and custom random boxes. The random selections do allow you some preferences (see below), but you don’t have full control over your order. We are a family of 2 and have enjoyed the custom classic option. It allows us to pick 6 selections of our choice. I feel that this ensures we get our money’s worth and truly look forward to cooking each item. Something I also like about Butcher Box is that on their website they provided suggested uses for each selection along with more detailed recipes. You order will be shipped to you with dry ice. All of the items are frozen, so you should transfer them directly to the freezer upon arrival.

Although the pricing may initially seem high, think of it this way. The custom classic box is currently $149. Let’s say you chose 6 orders of organic chicken breast, you will receive roughly 18 lbs of chicken. That comes out to about $8.27/lb which I feel is pretty on-par with my local grocery store for organic chicken breast.

When it comes to quality, Butcher Box is top notch. We have loved just about everything that we have tried. My husband {who is not a picky eater} can always tell when I cook with Butcher Box. That’s how noticeable the quality is in comparison to organic brands you find in the grocery store. For the quality alone, I can’t recommend Butcher Box enough. I also like having the option to try beef or pork cuts that I wouldn’t typically pick up in the grocery store. It’s a great way to try new recipes at home.

Items that we have tried and loved:

  • Boneless Skinless chicken breast
  • Chicken party wings
  • Boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • Whole chicken
  • Ground beef
  • Steak tips
  • Stew beef
  • Sirloin steak
  • NY strip steak
  • Flat iron steak
  • Filet mignon
  • Boneless pork chops
  • Pork tenderloin
  • Ground pork
  • Ground breakfast sausage
  • Babyback ribs
  • Bacon
  • Whole turkey (available around Thanksgiving)

The only item we were not crazy about has been the pre-made beef burger patties. Otherwise, everything has been fantastic. There are few negatives I want to share to ensure you get my full and honest opinion. Since everything comes frozen, you do have to plan ahead to ensure you properly thaw you selection in time for your meal. Additionally, since everything is frozen it can be hard to tell how many pieces of chicken, wings or steaks are in a package. For chicken breast specifically, there have been times that I felt I did not get a full 3 lbs of chicken in my selection.

Through social media I have seen others highlight some packaging issues upon arrival. I did not notice any packaging issues with my orders until this year. One of our selections had a tear in the packaging. Fortunately, Butcher Box’s customer service has been great and they quickly made good on the issue. I carefully inspect each piece before putting in my freezer to ensure it’s fully sealed. I would encourage you all to do the same.

To see how I use Butcher Box in my kitchen, be sure to follow me on Instagram (@redroseandhoney). Don’t forget to use THIS LINK to save $15 on your first order – I’ll save $15 when you sign-up too!

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