Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

No one could have predicted…

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Consistently wrong since 2002

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Republicans in disarray!

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

You are here: Home / Food & Recipes / Cooking / Summer Menus: August Week 1

Summer Menus: August Week 1

by | 72 Comments

This post is in: ,

Tuesday’s recipe calls for Green Beans and Red Peppers, but if you’ve got an plethora of tomatoes, switch things up, as JeffreyW does in this yummy photo.

I love this time of year because of the abundance of fresh ingredients. This week’s menus rely heavily on farm stand fresh items. In addition to green beans, Tuesday has a quick and easy Pasta w/Fresh Basil.

JeffreyW’s tempting pasta

For a PDF of all this week’s menus, click here: August Week 1 Menus

Wednesday pairs up Grilled Steak and Collard Greens w/Bacon, finishing up with a perfect Apple/Blackberry Crisp.

Full shopping lists can be found here: August Week 1 Shopping List – don’t forget you can use the color coordinated list to customize it.

The week ends with Cheesy Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries.

Bonus recipe:

Stuffed Jalapeno Cheese Burgers

Stuffed Burger Final

Ingredients for each burger:

  • 4 oz ground beef
  • salt, pepper
  • 1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed garlic (opt)
  • 1 oz sharp cheddar, sliced thin
  • 2 or more slices of pickled jalapenos

Mix salt, pepper and garlic into the ground beef. Form two, 2-oz patties. Place jalapenos on one burger, cheese on the other.

Prep2

Place the two sides together and seal the edges completely. Gently flatten the burger, but be careful because you don’t want the cheese busting out of the center

Prep1a

The key to grilling or frying these is low and slow. Medium heat seals them and allows the cheese to melt without drying the burger out. I flipped at the 5 minute mark, but depending on the heat, 3-4 minutes may be enough to flip. They’re thin, so the beef cooks quickly, but you want to make sure the cheese melts. I would say minimum 4 minutes per side.

If cheese starts to leak out, flip and flip again as needed. DON’T press down on these burgers while you grill, you’ll have a cheesy mess.

Now the warning. Did I say WARNING? Yes I did. You’ll need to rest these burgers to let the cheese cool a bit. Otherwise you could be biting into a scalding cheese center. You’ve been WARNED.

That’s the basics, now let your imagination run wild.

What’s on your plate this weekend? My birthday is tomorrow, so I’m headed up to the mountains for the second weekend in a row. For more of this:

That’s it for it this week. If you have any recipe questions, hit me up in the comments. – TaMara

Reader Interactions

72Comments

  1. 1.

    Mustang Bobby

    I love the recipes, but even more, I have been where you took that picture and stood on top of Longs Peak (that flat-top in the upper left). I spent ten amazing summers in Estes Park and RMNP. There’s magic in the mountains.

  4. 4.

    Raven

    I’ve been grilling okra and kale a good bit. The tomatos gave out quickly but there are still some buttebeans!

  5. 5.

    ruemara

    I have to plan the menu for my next shoot on the 14th. It looks like crustless mini-quiches & scones for breakfast, a sun dried tomato and basil bread with lemon chicken and buttered herb barley. I just have to start cooking/baking over the weekend and get everything to basecamp by 7 am, including my assistant. #glamorous

  6. 6.

    A Ghost to Most

    I guess I’ve been in CO long enough that I am trying to figure out where the mountain pic is from. Have fun.

  8. 8.

    Alain the site fixer

    @Raven: grilled okra? Fried, in soup and stew, and some amazing dry curries, yes, but I’ve never ever tried grilled. How is it made?

  10. 10.

    satby

    For dinner tonight I made garlic tomato bread with fresh garlic and an heirloom pineapple tomato. With a kale, chard, spinach and arugula salad topped by an orange tomato. All from my garden or the market this morning.
    It was cool and cloudy today, so it felt just like a crisp fall day. ?

  11. 11.

    debbie

    Huh, I bought some ground beef this afternoon for my once every couple of years burger. I like the look of that cheesy recipe.

  13. 13.

    Alain the site fixer

    @satby: I’m not home and so cannot get the physical recipe nor name, but try taking that heirloom tomato, slicing a slice off a side to make it flat so it sits in a pan well. Then make a few perpendicular slices to that bottom. Stuff each slice with shredded gruyere and some salt n pepper, top each cheesy section with some fresh made breadcrumbs. Bake or roast, in oven or grill. Enjoy.

  14. 14.

    satby

    @Alain the site fixer: sounds great, thanks! I’m growing what I hope will be a bunch of heirlooms but so far only got one Russian Oxheart off my own vines. I got the pineapple tomato from the farmer across the aisle. So delicious.

  15. 15.

    Steeplejack

    I had a big salad for dinner with a couple of boiled eggs for
    a protein boost, and now I’m sedating myself for the MSNBC lineup with a semi-bottomless margarita. (Made a batch in a pitcher, and it’s all too easy to pass by the refrigerator and top up my glass.)

  16. 16.

    efgoldman

    I finished my dialysis training today. I’ll be doing it every day for the rest of my life or until I get a new kidney, whichever comes first.
    However, I had zero appetite for the last three weeks (literally) but when I got home today it was like a switch turned on. Whew.

  20. 20.

    Alain the site fixer

    @efgoldman: neglected to send my best wishes. Glad you’re on the mend, as it were! You’re an important voice in many communities, and we’re in dire need of your piss ‘n vinegar! ?

  28. 28.

    Roger Moore

    @A Ghost to Most:

    I guess I’ve been in CO long enough that I am trying to figure out where the mountain pic is from.

    It’s the back side of Longs Peak. If you look, you can see it’s the same view that was used on the CO state quarter. It appears to be from close to Trail Ridge Road. I took this picture from about the same place, but with somewhat more dramatic weather.

  30. 30.

    Mike J

    Are the menus available in non-pdf form? I’m allergic.

    My home weather station is telling me that the temperature with wind chill is currently 92.8.

  32. 32.

    HeleninEire

    Had a burger in a pub tonight. Delicious.
    Fascinating how food here has gotten great since I started coming here 30 years ago.

  33. 33.

    Another Scott

    @Mike J: If you’re on Winders, SumatraPDF makes viewing PDFs much less painful. It works with lots of other formats as well.

    (Just a happy user.)

    Glad you’re feeling better, efg!

    Enjoy your weekend TaMara (and everyone else).

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  35. 35.

    Mike J

    @Another Scott: Heh. Sumatra is the name of the windows machine I’m on. Also on the network, Kenya, Sulawesi, and Mocha. Actually looking for a name for a new server that fits the scheme of coffee growing regions (keeping in mind I’m not a fan of new world coffee generally). There was a a Malawi, rather not repeat it.

    I just don’t see any advantage to pdfs. HTML conveys all the info and much more easily handles reflowing when you change the text size, etc. Also, pdfs on phones make me stabby.

    But I’ll try to keep my religious beliefs to myself.

  36. 36.

    getsmartin

    Longs Peak as viewed from the trail to Dream Lake in RMNP (was there last December on a snowshoe slog)…

  37. 37.

    JPL

    @WTF: I call his feed magical thinking, because when he I need a spark of hope, I go there. There’s a few feeds that are proven correct every once and a while, but they are not consistent. Sometimes we need magical thinking though.

  38. 38.

    Steeplejack

    @Steeplejack:

    Ha! Friend who lurks on Balloon Juice just texted me that I have a Pavlovian thirst for margaritas on Friday nights because for years when we both lived in Atlanta our Friday night routine was to work out at the Sporting Club and then have dinner and replace our vital electrolytes at El Torero on North Druid Hills Road. Good Times.

  39. 39.

    dww44

    @Alain the site fixer: I don’t know Raven’s recipe, but here’s mine for roasting in the oven and I’ve a brother who grills his:

    Roasted Okra with Olive Oil, Lemon and Sea Salt:

    2 lbs okra, tough stem ends trimmed off
    3 T. olive oil
    1/2 teaspoon sea salt
    lemon wedges

    Toss okra with olive oil. Place in a single layer on a large sheet pan. Roast 8 to 10 min at 450F until bright green and browned in spots. Serve with sea salt and lemon. Serves 6. If grilling use a grill basket sprayed with cooking spray.

    If okra is not tough, then I don’t bother with trimming the ends off. Saves time too.

  40. 40.

    TKinNC

    I came here for duck news and I did not get any. I’ll admit that I do not read every comment. Okay I do not read most comments. What happened to the ducks?
    ETA: I’m glad this post did not include any duck recipes.

  41. 41.

    Jerry

    Oh man, those jalapeno cheddar burgers look great! If, like me, y’all live in a Harris Teeter zone, they have the best pickled jalapenos ever. It’s their store brand version and they’re perfect. I’m gonna have to try these tomorrow night.

  43. 43.

    Steeplejack

    @HeleninEire:

    A friend and I were talking the other day about how food has gotten great in a lot of places in the last 20-30 years. Back in the old days, when we foolishly thought we could talk about a real retirement, we used to think that we would have to live in a good-sized city to have access to good bookstores, some good restaurants and a few movie houses that showed indie/​foreign movies. Now you’re covered with Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, etc., no matter where you are—if you have a good Internet connection—and a lot of small towns have at least a couple of good restaurants now. About the only thing you still have to worry about is the length of the trip to the nearest critical-care hospital when you have that heart attack or fall down and break your hip. Oh, and how you get around when you can’t drive any more, I guess.

  45. 45.

    WTF

    @JPL:
    Interesting. I follow him on twitter and I’m not even sure how or why.
    But if you came to me 5 years ago and told me that Russian intel was conducting active measures to influence the electorate and more, sow seeds of civil strife that accelerates polarization, I would be quite skeptical. Especially if you tried to suggest Republicans were complicit.
    Today, I’d say it has gone on longer than that. Probably since the 90s, and social media and technology have become what is called a force multiplier even the Russians underestimated.
    Call me crazy but all these leaks, like the two phone transcripts, make me think there are just enough loyal Americans who won’t stand for it. It’s a slow motion counter-coup American style, and the sooner the better. Just a second… tin foil hat fell off.

  47. 47.

    Steeplejack

    @Jerry:

    Thanks for the tip! I don’t go to Harris Teeter often, and the last jar of jalapeños I got at Safeway (El Paso brand) was kind of blah.

  49. 49.

    A Ghost to Most

    @Roger Moore: nice picture. It looked really familiar. Usually when we’re at Bear Lake, I’m looking at Halletts Peak, which fascinates me. I have a great pic of it in February, with snow being blown off the top.

  51. 51.

    CaseyL

    @efgoldman: Congrats on getting your appetite back! Are you a transplant list? I think kidneys are easier to come by than, well, hearts or livers.

    So funny to read how people who don’t often eat hamburgers had hamburgers today, because so did I! Decided to treat myself to a BurgerMaster BaconMaster. Hoovered it right up, and now have filled my beef quota for a week.

  52. 52.

    cynthia ackerman

    In summertime, I live on a simple salad of unpeeled thin-sliced Armenian or lemon cucumber, grated unpasteurized brine-pickled beets or baby butternut, home made hummus, and crushed vine-ripened tomatoes.

    I’m tempted by these burgers though. Yum. Will have to try.

  53. 53.

    Steeplejack

    @Mike J:

    Ah, true.

    Every network guy I ever had who ran his own operation had some consistent nomenclature system for all his servers. One guy was big European cities; another was heroes’ names from Tolkien. And—just remembered—another guy was Indian tribes (but not Apache!).

  54. 54.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @CaseyL:

    So funny to read how people who don’t often eat hamburgers had hamburgers today

    I didn’t have a burger today, nor indeed in at least the last six months or so. But about 25 years ago, I was, briefly, a vegetarian (I’ve recounted elsewhere on this blog the abrupt and ignominious end to that experiment), but sometime in the midst of all that I had to have several teeth extracted, and when I emerged from the happy haze of nitrous oxide, the only thing in the world I wanted was a nice rare juicy bloody hamburger. I suppose my body wanted to replenish the blood it had lost. Anyhow, I listened to my body, ate a really fantastic burger, then resumed my vegetarian ways for another year or so, until the Hilton Hotel Episode.

  55. 55.

    scav

    @Steeplejack: One geography lab I was in used imaginary places for machine names (thule, atlantis . . ) — another was entirely cow names (Bossy, Elsie . . . ) because, yes, somebody bought a lot of gateways. Didn’t need to really for the gateways, but it certainly made care and maintenence more amusing. “Atlantis went down again.” “Bossy’s got a virus.”

  56. 56.

    Jeffro

    @debbie: @HeleninEire: @Jerry:

    You know what’s really good? Mixing a small can of mild green chilies and a handful of shredded jack cheese into your burgers (just mix it throughout the meat – no need to create a pocket or anything). Then grill them up in a cast-iron skillet. AMAZING!

  57. 57.

    Mnemosyne

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I got a little over 9,000 words but, more importantly, I wrote 28 days out of 31. I’m really trying to form a daily writing habit, so that was the important thing to me.

    Now I have to pull all of those words off Google Docs and put them into Scrivener to see where I am. I have a writing retreat coming up in September, so I want to start thinking about my goals for that.

    Oh, and ruckus agreed to go to the Tall Ships Festival in Orange County with me. It wasn’t hard to talk him into it once he heard you actually get to sail on the ships. ?

  60. 60.

    Jeffro

    @debbie: Oh, I’m sure it would work well in place of the jack cheese. (You could also mix some diced cooked bacon or pancetta in there, that would would go well with the smoked mozzarella )

  61. 61.

    Steeplejack

    @scav:

    Ha! After I posted I remembered that the European cities guy named one of his servers Atlantis. I could never get a straight answer from him about that; he always gave a kind of weird little grin. In retrospect, I think maybe it was because Atlantis went on line when the company was suddenly getting bigger and more, uh, unsettled.

  68. 68.

    StringOnAStick

    @A Ghost to Most: One of our favorite winter hikes is up the Longs Peak trail to Chasm lake; we’ve ice skated there on January 1 a few times. Love that hike, too bad the crowding in the summer keeps us away now.

  70. 70.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @TKinNC: The ducks are still here in foster care. Although despite my best efforts we have named them. Never a good sign. They are fenced in, met the dogs, met the cats and everyone seems amiable to the arrangements. Except maybe me. I’ll have photos later this weekend, maybe even video.

  71. 71.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @StringOnAStick: We’ve found a really good trick for summer – shorter hikes, late afternoon. We meet quite a few people coming down as we ascend, but we have the trail mostly to ourselves and a quiet hike back down. Good three hours in the quiet and a quiet drive back down the mountain.

  72. 72.

    TKinNC

    @TaMara (HFG): Thanks for the update. I know how “sticky” foster animals can be. I hope Bixby is adjusting because I also know how difficult life can be when animals have to be kept separately.

Comments are closed.