September 16, 2023

WEEKLY MENU 09.17.23

We don’t need a holiday to enjoy a burger, but the Weekly Menu 09.17.23 includes one!

National Cheeseburger Day falls on Monday during the Weekly Menu 09.17.23! You would think that after a long hot summer, I’d be sick and tired of burgers, but it just ain’t so. Burgers and Cheeseburgers are among my most favorite foods. Which is obvious by their consistent appearance on the Weekly Menu!

Did you know that we don’t know who actually came up with the all American favorite?

Many food historians credit 16-year-old Lionel Sternberger, who in 1924 decided to slap a slice of American cheese (what else?) onto a cooking hamburger at his father’s Pasadena, California, sandwich shop, the Rite Spot. He liked it, and so did his dad, and thus the cheeseburger was born. Or was it? They called it a “cheese hamburger,” so that may disqualify the Sternbergers on a technicality.
The Spruce Eats

The first sandwich to actually be called a “cheeseburger” was at Kaelin’s restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky. Charles Kaelin claims to have invented the cheese-topped burger in 1934 because he wanted, reports Louisville writer Robin Garr, to “add a new tang to the hamburger.” This is the earliest example of a menu claiming to be “the birthplace of the cheeseburger.”
The Spruce Eats

Then there’s Louis Ballast of Humpty Dumpty Drive-In in Denver, who trademarked the name “cheeseburger” in 1935.
The Spruce Eats

I don’t care who created it. I’m just glad they did!

In the beginning, the cheeseburger was a smash and fry burger. Short-order cooks at diners everywhere cooked those beauties on a griddle. They were well done, and often stacked in layers. You could get a single, a double or even a triple. Later on “bar burgers” were created with a thicker patty and various types of cheese. They were cooked on a stove top or even baked. (Affiliate links follow. See Disclaimer Page for details.)

Around here, we used to be grilled cheeseburger super aficionados, but with the purchase of the Blackstone, we’re griddling around here too. Thankfully, Bert is a total grill and griddle master.

Have I mentioned that it took me some time to completely trust Bert with the outside cooking? DOLD was wonderful at many things, but being grill-master was not one of them. He worked on a Hibachi Grill over charcoal. Which is what the burgers looked like when he was done. Tiny charcoal briquettes. They were awful, but he was consistent if nothing else.

I still don’t know how he fit cheeseburgers for ten on that thing.

I slip in cheeseburgers around here in many different ways. There’s no soup more favorited at our house than Cheeseburger Soup. Watching your carbs? Try a slice of Cheeseburger Pie. Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes are an easy comfort food. Chopped Burgers are always good too. Or we could have put Gigantic Southwestern Cheeseburgers on the Weekly Menu 09.17.23. We could have even done one of these specialty burgers:

20 Plus Beautiful Burgers

But nope. National Cheeseburger Day calls for the all-American Classic Cheeseburger. We’ll griddle them (well, Bert will griddle them) and top them off with a melty piece of cheddar. And some ketchup. The buns are classic too – nothing fancy around here this week. I can’t wait.

What are we going to have with? It can only be fries. I’m going to shallow fry fresh cut fries in our Big Cast Iron Skillet. Nothing goes with cheeseburgers better than fries, but pickles are a close second, although they aren’t super popular around here. I’m thinking of prepping a jar of Refrigerator Pickles for those intrepid eaters.

WEEKLY MENU 09.17.23

So we’re covered on Monday, but what else is for eats? We’re getting out our big Crockpot on Sunday for the Slow Swiss Chicken. It’s a super simple recipe that layers boxed stuffing mix with chicken and some cream of chicken soup. So it’s a classic.

Sunday dessert looks great: I found this new-to-us recipe on Pinterest. It’s homemade Crunch Bars. Can you say, “Yes, Please?”. Hopefully we’ll have some leftover to go with the cheeseburgers on Monday.

Mexican night is creamy Chicken Enchiladas Suizas. Italian night is Sausage Ragu. And we’re bringing the bar food on Friday night with homestyle nachos made with Tater Tots. Totchos, if you will!

One of our new favorites made the cut again this week: I make cutlets out of pork tenderloin. I cut the tenderloin into about 2″ segments and smash them down in a plastic bag with my trusty meat tenderizer. Then I’ll sauté them (probably in the big cast iron skillet again) in a little bit of oil. I’ll add some soy sauce and a spoonful or two of brown sugar to the pan once they’re cooked through and add back the “medallions”. Super simple, fast, and extraordinary cost effective. Score!