Burger Review - Redfrog & McToad's Grub-N-Pub

     So our first burger review takes place at Redfrog & McToad's in St. Augustine Beach. They are local Grub-N-Pub located on A1A serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They are open from 11am - midnight on Mondays and from 7:30am - midnight from Tuesday through Sunday.

I ordered the USA burger with cheddar cheese, medium-rare, with fries for $9.49

 

     Their menu says that the burger is 1/2 lb angus chuck, and I have to say, they did not disappoint there! The size of the burger was very nice and covered the bun well. Unfortunately, the burger came out closer to medium-well than medium-rare.

     As far as the juiciness of the burger itself, I'd have to give it a 2 out of 5. The burger was just barely moist, this could be due to the fact that it was a little overcooked, but I've seen burgers cooked to well-done and still be very juicy.

     I only asked for lettuce because I don't like tomatoes or raw onions. The lettuce was definitely fresh, not wilting or turning colors, but there was too much of it! I pulled an entire leaf off of it and left it on the plate, leaving the other leaf on the burger.

     The bun was a brioche bun and it looked like they tried to toast it as one edge of it was slightly toasted to burnt and the rest just barely had that feel of toasted bread.

     All burger come with french fries, but they do offer that you can substitute your side item if you wish. I got the fries and they were your basic frozen fries, definitely not homemade, and they were cooked well but there was nothing special about them.

     Overall, I don't think I would order the burger again. Even if it was cooked right, the meat was very bland and tasted like there was no seasoning added to it at all. I feel like they added the cheese too late in the cooking process and melting it on there turned the burger from medium-rare to medium-well. The price is good for the amount of food you get, but the dish itself was mediocre. Which is too bad because I've had other meals there that were good.

     Next month's location? I'm thinking Surfer Joe's, I've heard lots of good reviews about that place so let's see!

Happy New Year!

May all you scurvy knaves have a great New Year's Eve tonight and a wonderful day tomorrow! Happy New Year to the lot of you!

Christmas Recipes

     I hope everyone is having a merry holiday so far. As a special treat for all of you (and because I forgot to post last week), here's two recipes for you! The first has become a Christmas morning tradition in my house, ham and cheese quiche, followed by a special treat for the adults, spiked mint cocoa.

 

Ham and Cheese Quiche

Ingredients:

2 Eggs

1 Cup Half & Half

Pinch of Nutmeg

8 oz diced Ham

Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

9-inch Pie Shell

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F

2) While the oven is preheating, whisk together the eggs, half & half, and nutmeg.

3) Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and center the pie shell on it, leave it in the aluminum that

     it comes in but remove the plastic top.

4) Evenly distribute the diced ham in the shell

5) Sprinkle enough cheese to mostly cover the ham

6) Once the oven is ready, place the cookie sheet on the open door and pour in the wet ingredients to

     about 1/4 inch from the top of the pie shell

7) Place in oven and cook for 35-45 minutes, or until the edges are set and the center is still a little

     jiggly.

8) Remove and let cool for 30 minutes, then enjoy!

 

Spiked Mint Cocoa

Ingredients:

4 Tbl of Land O' Lakes Chocolate Supreme Cocoa Mix

8 oz of water

1 tsp of Hot Fudge topping

3/4 oz Rumple Minze

Directions:

1) Place water in kettle and turn to high to bring to a boil

2) Place cocoa in drinking mug

3) Fill halfway with boiling water and stir to dissolve cocoa mix

4) Add hot fudge topping and Rumple Minze to cocoa and stir to dissolve and mix

5) Fill the rest of the way with boiling water and continue stirring until everything is well mixed

6) Let cool just enough to drink and enjoy!

Jolly Pirate Cocktail

     I hope everyone's holiday season is going well for them this year. Since it is the holidays, I'm going to post a different recipe every week this month for you all to enjoy and hopefully bring you some of the holiday spirit!

     First up, we have the Jolly Pirate cocktail, a fast and easy drink that warms you from the inside while you sip this cool beverage.

 

Jolly Pirate Cocktail

by

The Pirate Chef

Ingredients:

1 1/2 oz of Code Rum Spiced

4 1/2 oz of Apple Cider

2-3 Ice Cubes

Directions:

1) Place the ice in a rocks glass

2) Add the rum and the cider

3) Stir gently

4) Drink and enjoy!

Autumn Sausage Casserole Review

So today I thought I would do something a little different, I figured that I would do a recipe review.

     The recipe is for a dish called Autumn Sausage Casserole and it comes from the Taste of Home website.

                          

     I have made this dish twice so far and every time, it succeeds in pleasing the taste buds of everyone that tries it.

     The flavors of this dish scream fall with sausage and apples, cinnamon and allspice. It combines a nice blend of textures from the crunch of the apples and celery to the softer sausage and rice. The cinnamon, allspice, and salt blend all the flavors together well and helps to boost the fall feelings invoked by this dish. A nice kick is added by the black pepper without overpowering it, but you could cut back on it or substitute white pepper if you're not a fan of black pepper.

     It's relatively easy to make, although mincing the fresh parsley does take some time, but all-in-all, well worth it! Now the recipe does call for Jones Dairy Farm sausage roll but I use Jimmy Dean's 1 lb regular bulk sausage and it works beautifully. Also, I tend to make the rice ahead of time so it has time to cool down before being mixed in, this way it doesn't get too mushy while cooking in the oven.

     So if you are looking for a nice casserole that screams autumn, or just looking for a dish for that company potluck, I highly recommend this one!  Just click on Autumn Sausage Casserole to be taken to the recipe on Taste of Home's website and enjoy!

Gravedigger's Cocoa

     With the weather getting cooler and Halloween fast approaching, I felt like sharing one of my favorite cool weather drinks. It's about as easy as can be to make, tastes good, and will wake you up!

Gravedigger's Cocoa

1 packet of Land O' Lakes Chocolate Supreme cocoa mix

6 ounces of hot black coffee

Milk (as needed)

1) Empty contents of cocoa packet into your favorite coffee mug

2) Stir in hot coffee, making sure you leave room for milk

3) Stir until cocoa is fully dissolved

4) Stir in desired amount of milk (however much you normally use for coffee, but play it by taste)

5) Enjoy!

     I like using Land O' Lakes because it has a much richer chocolate flavor than some of the other ones out there, plus it's not too bad on the ol' coin purse for a treat. I hope your Halloween is spooky and fun and I shall see you all again in a week or two!

Nacho Boats

     Between all the sports games and the holidays coming up, I decided to give you all a simple but very tasty snack to make.  The original idea was started by my mother but I have greatly modified it since then.  So sit back and learn how to make Nacho Boats.

Nacho Boats
by The Pirate Chef

Ingredients:
Tostitos Scoops tortilla chips
Shredded Cheese (I like to use Kraft 4 Cheese Mexican Blend, not the one with taco seasoning)
Salsa
Shredded Lettuce (you can buy a bag of lettuce shreds or do it yourself)
A small can of sliced black olives

Directions:
1) Place as many whole tortilla scoops as you can on a plate, I did a small plate for show.

 2) Fill the scoops as much as you can with shredded cheese, don't worry if you get a little on the plate, it's pretty easy to clean up.

3) Add a dollop of your favorite salsa on top of each pile of shredded cheese.

4)  Put in microwave and heat for just long enough to melt the cheese; it could up to a minute for larger plates.

5) Add a layer of shredded lettuce to each scoop of melted cheese.

6) Top each scoop with a sliced olive (you could also do a sliced jalapeño for more heat)

 

7) Eat and enjoy!

It's quick and easy, but is really tasty.  Since each nacho boat can be easily picked up and eaten without making a mess, it's a much cleaner version of nachos for when you just want a simple snack.

Enjoy!
The Pirate Chef
Cook or Die