Beef Bourguignon Burgers with a Hashbrown Bun & Brussels Sprouts Slaw
I have literally had the best birthday of my life. Like all the feels + all the laughs + so much gratitude for the wonderful people I was lucky to surround myself with. It was my 30th birthday, and there is just no denying that leaving my 20s behind definitely gave me mixed feelings. Being in my 20s is my go to excuse for making poor decisions and choosing to be irresponsible at points…like I’m in my 20s so it’s ok to be young & dumb. But 30s - that’s real adult territory, and entering my years of real adulthood made me feel like a total Debbie-Downer at points. So the fact that it has actually been the BEST birthday that has left me feeling nothing other than lucky for friends + family + life is really saying something. It was a six day whirlwind that left me so thankful for the world's greatest husband & the best friends, & it all came to a close with happy tears and memories I will hold onto for a lifetime.
30 is a big deal. I went into it not really having any expectations for anything too over the top of major, and excited for a weekend with just me and Jordan & the pups, and our us time is my favorite. Especially ones where we can clear the schedule and just have some fun, so that’s what I I'd anticipated with all his secrecy and races to get the mail before me days leading up the weekend. I was instantly excited when he said the party started Thursday after weeks - I LIVE for a long weekend, so it was excitement overload and eagerness to see what we were getting up to. But to have day 1 of the birthday festivities include a secret drive to the airport that ended with Eli & Hannah getting in the backseat of our car was more than what I could’ve dreamed. I will literally never forget being blindfolded, not knowing who the fuck was in the car, and Jordan putting on sandstorm & instantly knowing I was reunited with my favorite people. Icannot explain how freaking excited I was. Jordan asked me several times who I wanted to have up here for my birthday, & when I thought about who I’d want to spend my birthday with they were who I instantly thought of, but I never wanted to say it out loud. They just moved to Utah and have been so busy moving into their new house, and I thought no way they’d be able to come play for my birthday. I like didn’t want to be disappointed or put them in a weird spot by being like “Hey -I know you’re super busy trying to get your shit unpacked, renovate your new house, and start new jobs, but I think you should come up here and hang out because it’s my birthday.” I just felt so selfish making that request, and just had no idea they’d be able to come. But they f*cking did - the two people outside of my husband who I wanted to see the most cleared their schedule during what is probably the busiest time in their life to help me celebrate, and to say I’m grateful for them and there is the biggest understatement. They’re two humans who have the ability to make me laugh until I cry, friends who are so much more than just friends, & two people who I feel like really love me for the person I’ve become….& the feeling is f*cking mutual. I'll always remember spending 30 with my favorite people, & knowing them coming here to celebrate + my husband secretly planning the whole shin-dig is really the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. It left me searching for words other than thank you to really tell them how much it meant to me.
Jordan has summarized the time the 4 of us spend together perfectly…we do a lot of living in a short amount of time. & this go around was no different - we showed up ready to party for my birthday, & my two day hangover was the proof. & this is what 30 looked like - canoe rides, chambongs, dance parties, gin & tonics, trash prank calls, LIZZO (so much f*cking LIZZO!!!), lounging on the most epic floatie that I nicknamed my yacht, dock jumps, and time spent with the MOST PREMIUM FRIENDS ON THE PLANET. Jordan & Eli also made the most beautiful cake filled with the most delicious sponge, and they both should note that I'll remember them telling me they need to “check the sponge” for the rest of my life. A weekend sponsored by Incline cider & 4 people choosing to do nothing other than have a good time, and for those reasons along with all the mental snapshots I think I did 30 right. I think we all did my 30th right…I’m truly so proud of us all. But I can play back specific moments from the weekend, and I really am so luck to be in a position where our friendship with these college friends has only become stronger, and how our friendship has evolved as married couples is something dreams are made of, & I’m so thrilled it’s part of my life.
Last year I essentially spent my birthday moving away from our home in Arizona, and that was bittersweet. I was both headed on this grand adventure with my favorite human, & that was so exciting, but I was also leaving a life I’d come to enjoy very much. A job that sustained me, a lifestyle heavily rooted in pool days & outdoor hangs (my favorite), & friends that were so much more than just friends. I mean that’s the kind of life I’d always dreamed of. I was more than content in our old home, and started to really thrive in my environment. Anyone who knows me - like really knows me - knows that it left me feeling kind of displaced, and a bit lonely at points. We left a lot of really great people, & I moved further away from my family and childhood friends. I found myself getting caught up thinking about this leading up to my birthday, especially because I haven’t really made many new friends up here. I'm embarrassed to even write that because it sounds so loser-y, but it’s true. I think that feeling left me questioning if I’m thriving here, and truly missing our best friends. I mean who doesn’t have hopes of being surrounded by your favorite people for special occasions? & it’s absolutely not that spending my birthday with my husband isn’t good enough (I cherish our time together more than anything), & more the fact that not really having that friend group up here that constitutes a strong social circle is a tough adjustment. Our closest friends aren’t people we have the luxury to call up on a whim to grab drinks with - we live states apart - let alone ring up to come party for my birthday. It left me missing them tremendously at points, so to see two of those sweet faces for my birthday was incomparable.
Jordan is the real MVP (there’s no denying it), & the thing I’ll remember the most is that none of this would've happened if it weren’t for his planning and effort. He saw me at times where my birthday left me dwelling on a life we left behind, and he made my birthday one that reminded me of all the things I have to be so grateful for, him being numero uno. The memories I have with him from the weekend are the kinds of visions I just want to replay over and over, and leave me hoping our whole life is filled with those really good mental snapshot. He’s the person who brings such a distinctive smile to my face, who I live to hold hands with, & who effortlessly rejuvenates my love for our life…ugh it just continues to make me count my blessings that I walked into his frat house back in 2010. I really do wake up everyday so in love with this sweet man, and on my birthday I was next level thankful for him & our life. So when it came for my actual birthday, and all I wanted was to have dinner in the yard with Jordan - just a date night for me & him & our pups, & sort of recreate the us time I’d anticipated for my birthday. So burgers by me is exactly what was on tap.
I f*cking looooove hamburgers so much - like love them in all forms and would eat them everyday if I didn’t give a shit about wearing bikini. I LIVE for burger night. So it only felt right to have my favorite meal for my birthday, & get experimental to craft a fancy birthday burger. Like step outside the realm of pickles, ketchup & mustard with a Beef Bourguignon Burger with Hashbrown Buns & Brussel Sprout Salad. Literally - the fancy, open-faced birthday burger of my dreams that has all flavors of a typical beef bourginon. It’s buttery & salty & kind of fancy, and just a good little French burger.
Beef bourguignon gets its distinct flavor comes from one single ingredient - wine. Cooking hunks of beef low and slow in, and essentially braising it in red wine, is beef bourguignon. & I swear - cooking anything with wine makes it better (I love just deglazing the pan with wine when making pasta sauce), hence why this fancy shit is so popular in France & amongst Julia Child fans. So to keep my beef bourguignon burger consistent with it’s standard flavor profile & bring that savory, red wine sauce piece to this burger, I made red wine mushrooms. Mushrooms that are first browned with butter, and then deglazed with red wine that cooks down to form a thick, syrupy sauce that just coats the mushrooms. & it’s really the sauce of whole dish, replacing any need for mayo, ketchup, or the other usual suspects. The perfect fancy sauce for a perfect fancy burger.
Bacon - another key element of beef bourguignon & my favorite burger topping. I used a little oven baked, crispy bacon as a crunch layer to my birthday dinner, & it’s I laid on top of melted & gooey gruyere cheese. The gruyere makes the whole thing feel just a little fancier, and when it melts it’s creamy & salty & everything delicious.
Beef bourguignon is really a meat and potatoes dish, and this is a meat & potatoes kind of burger. I went outside the French Fry box and turned to hash browns. Thanks to Pinterest, I’ve come to learn that hash browns are the perfect plant based substitute for bread, and in this case a bun. The starchy potatoes are perfect for soaking up all juices of the beef patty & the red wine sauce of the onion. & frozen hash browns are such a good hack for this. It’s probably so stupid, but I was amazed to find out that frozen hash browns are really just frozen shredded potatoes - no bad crap added. So I’ve said goodbye to the days of shredding potatoes (which is really not a fun job), and frozen hash browns are where it’s at. Cook them in a hot pan with a little butter, and it’s so easy to make little potato cakes that serve as a crunchy, buttery bread substitute.
To make it a true meal, I made a quick & easy Brussel Sprouts Slaw - a super simple summer salad made of shaved Brussel sprouts, parmesan, walnuts, and a lemon vinaigrette. It’s crunchy from the sprouts, and the saltiness from the parmesan is balanced with a sweet and citrusy dressing made from maple syrup & fresh lemon juice. It’s such a great go-to summer side because shaved Brussels are hearty - they can be tossed in dressing and set aside in the fridge for hours, and still be crunchy as ever when it comes time to eat. A set it & forget it kinda thing, clearing up extra time to tend to some more complex burgers.
So devouring this delicious dinner for one final birthday treat was just how I wanted it - just me & Jordan & our pups in our backyard oasis. So much love & thoughtfulness & pure happiness, and I can sign off on my 20s knowing they’ve lead me to enter my 30s with the best crew.
For the Slaw
1/2 a lemon, juiced
1/4 c. Dijon mustard
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 package of shaved Brussel sprouts (10 ounces)
2 tbsp parmesan
1/4 walnuts, chopped
Salt & pepper
For the Burgers
4 slices of bacon
1 1b ground beef
1 stick of butter
2-3 cups sliced mushrooms
1 onion, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 tbsp fresh thyme, plus a couple of extra sprigs for garnish
1/2 c. red wine
1 c. frozen hash-browns (a little more if you want heartier hash brown disks)
1 c. shredded gruyere
Salt & pepper
Start by making the dressing. Toss the dressing with the Brussels, parmesan, and walnuts. Set it aside in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Next, place the bacon in a single layer on a foil lined baking sheet. Place in a 400 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes (maybe a couple minutes longer to get the bacon nice and crispy).
Now time to get burger making. Start by forming your patties - separating the ground beef into 4 equal portions and forming them in to patties. Season each side with salt & pepper. Leave the patties out to reach room temperature, keeping them on a plate or plastic cutting board.
Next move to making your burger toppings - the caramelized onions & red wine mushrooms. Place two separate saucepans, one large and one small-medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Add 3 tbsp of butter to each pan. Once melted, add the mushrooms to the large skillet & the sliced onions to the other. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to both, cooking the veggies for 10-12 minutes, stirring each every two minutes or so. After this initial round of cooking, lower the heat on the onions to low, stir in the thyme, and let them continue to caramelize for 20 minutes. Add the red wine to pan with mushrooms (they should be perfectly browned at this point) and crank the heat to medium high, bring the wine to a simmer. Let the wine continue to simmer with the shrooms until the liquid is reduced by half, and the sauce becomes thick. Turn off the heat and place the mushrooms in an oven proof bowl. Set them aside.
Wipe out the large pan used to cook the mushrooms, and place the pan back over medium heat. Add in the remaining 2 tbsp of butter. Place a 1/4 c. of hash-browns in the pan at a time, separating them in to individual heaps so you’re cooking separate hash-brown disks. You just want your hashbrown disks to be about the same size as the patties previously formed. Cook them 5-6 minutes on each side, and then flip each hashbrown disk, cooking them an additional 5-6 minutes on the other side. Place the cooked hashbrowns, which should be golden brown & have crispy edges, on a baking sheet and then in a 200 degree oven to stay warm. Place the mushrooms in the oven as well.
Either using the same pan used to cook the hashbrowns or a grill, cook your patties to medium rare (cook 4-5 minutes on each side over medium high heat). After the first flip, place the cheese on the burgers and let the cheese melt.
To assemble the burgers, place a hashbrown disk down as your base. Evenly distribute the onions and then the mushrooms amongst each burger. Top each with a patty, one slice of bacon that’s broken in half, and garnish with any leftover sprigs of time. Pull the brussels salad out of the fridge, and serve it right alongside the warm and juicy burgers. Too die!