Recipe: Skull Burger Patties

The other day the Skull Cakelet Pan from Nordic Ware arrived in our home.

The "Haunted" Skull Cakelet Pan from Nordic Ware

I ordered it after drolling over the cool pizza skull recipe video that I kept seeing online.

While I haven't yet made the pizza skulls (or skull calzones) have been having fun experimenting with ways to use it.

The first night, Liz made some delicious skull scones to accompany a delicious trout and rice dinner.

Skull scones

The next day, I used a package oatmeal muffin mix to make oatmeal skull muffins.

Oatmeal skull muffins go best in the morning with a skull coffee mug

And then yesterday I thought I'd keep experimenting.

And I came up with a recipe that I call Skull Burger Patties - or maybe Spicy Burger Patties (or, more accurately, Slightly Spicy Burger Patties).

Skull Burger Patties

They were delicious.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 700g extra lean hamburger meat (approx 1.5 lb)
• 2 eggs
• 2 garlic cloves (minced, sliced into tiny chunks) (or garlic powder)
• 3/4 cup of  crushed Dorito BOLD BBQ tortilla chips (approx 1/2 a family sized bag)
• 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs
• Montreal steak spice

Makes 6 Skull Burger Patties.

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray inside of Nordic Ware Skull Cakelet Pan with cooking spray.
3. Crush down 1/3 to 1/2 a bag of Dorito BOLD BBQ tortilla chips. (Easy to do this in a sealed sandwich baggy. Crush by hand or use a roller. Heck, play catch with it, step on them, whatever turns your crank) You'll want to end up with about 3/4 a cup of broken Dorito tortilla chips - some fine chunks, some slightly larger ones will be in the mix
4. Mix hamburger meat with 2 eggs, breadcrumbs and Dorito BOLD BBQ.
5. Add minced garlic and Montreal steak spice and ensure hamburger is mixed well
6. Press mixed hamburger mixture into the skull pan. (Each one will be about 3/4 full, or less than a centimeter from the top.
7. Cook in center of pre-heated oven for approximately 20 minutes. (Depending on your stove, you might want to check the meat about 18 minutes in. It could be done, or it might take longer than 20 minutes.

Skull Burgers hot out of the oven.

They turned out delicious.

I had the burgers without buns and a side salad that included sweet-hot peppers. I added ketchup and President's Choice Smokin' Stampede Beer and Chipotle BBQ sauce to the eyes and the nose for fun effect. But these burgers didn't really need any condoments.

I suppose I could have sliced dill pickles and placed them across one another beneath each skull to make a skull and crossbones effect.

Skull Burgers and Salad

As I said, the burgers were delicious. But perhaps not as spicy as I would normally like. (I can handle really hot food).

Next time I might use the Dorito "Flaming Hot" chips to give some nice punch. Or, stick with a regular less painful Dorito flavour, and add in sliced jalapeno or some additional hot dried spice to the mix.

I might also try adding in grated cheese. Maybe by pressing the hamburger meat into the bottom of the pan and a bit up the sides then inserted grated cheese inside, then topping the "back of the skull head" with a layer of meat so the cheese cooks inside.

So many fun possibilities.

Returning to Lincoln City

I will be returning to Lincoln City at the end of February as part of the WMG Publishing Fiction River Anthology workshop. This is one of many amazingly informative and valuable workshops that Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch teach.

In previous workshops, I pulled together the anthologies Editor's Choice, Feel the Fear and Feel the Love (forthcoming).

This year I'm reading for a new anthology focusing on superstitions.

Earlier today I was reminded of my last trip to Lincoln city in the fall of 2017. After M.L. Buchman (internationally best-selling military romance writer) and I had a delightful and delicious pizza dinner at Tie Dye Pie (formerly known as Humble Pie) . . .

Inside the awesome Tie Dye Pie pizza parlor - where customers are encouraged to write on the walls and ceiling

Little Mr Pizza Man

This past Saturday, the owner of a local Pizza Pizza franchise that we regularly visit at 833 Upper James (near Mohawk), invited Alexander to come behind the counter and make his own pizza.

Prior to this delightful event, the owner, Ismet, explained to me that he has been doing this for several decades and has a photo album of the various children who have learned the joy and wonder of professional pizza making in his kitchens. Some of whom have gone on to work with him when they grew up.

After a quick tour where Ismet showed us where the dough and ingredients were kept, he and Alexander proceeded to make two small pizza's -- Ismet made one with Alexander and then watched over while Alexander made the second one completely without any help. (The only parts Alexander wasn't able to do were placing the pizzas in the oven and cutting the slices)

The very first step was a lesson in proper hand-washing. (Alexander was delighted that this is a task he is intimately familiar with)

After rolling the dough, they moved onto the spreading of sauce.

Then, a nice layer of cheese.

Some pepperoni.

Don't forget the bacon.

Now, into the oven.

And then eagerly await the finished pizza. (Look at that delighted smile)


And voila. Two beautiful pizza's.

Not only was this an exciting and memorable event for Alexander, but it was also very informative and educational for all of us. We got to learn a few of the tricks that professional pizza makers use when creating their masterpieces as well as little things that you don't think about but are critical in the food service business, like the half dozen different coloured handle pizza cutters that are used for cutting different types of pizza (ie, vegetarian, meat, etc) to prevent cross-contamination for both sanitary and religion reasons.

But this isn't just a cute story of a five year old getting to learn the process of pizza making from a professional.

It's an example of a big-hearted local business owner who went out of his way to make the day of three customers.

I am currently reading Mitch Joel's book SIX PIXELS OF SEPARATION. And while the book is about integrating digital marketing, social media and personal branding into entrepreneurial activities, Mitch regularly comes back to and focuses on the humanity behind it and the in-person touch-points that can result. Ironically, in this great book about the harnessing of the digital environment, it's really all about connecting with people.

And that's what Ismet is doing. He is focusing effort and energy on connecting with people in his community. He didn't have to take the time to share information and skills with a five year old. No, he did it out of kindness and a desire to make someone's day, to give them a cherished experience. (Interestingly, it not only speaks to what Mitch Joel regularly brings it all back to in his wonderful new book, about it being about the connection between people, but it also ties in nicely with the FISH philosophy inspired by the Pike Place Fish Market which includes: Play, Make Their Day, Be There and Choose Your Attitude.)

And one side-effect of this personal touch he added to our lives is the loyalty that he now has now secured in three of his customers.

The next time we decide we're going to get pizza for lunch or dinner, or someone asks us to recommend a local pizza place, where do you think will be top on our minds? The faceless owner of whoever has the best television or radio ad? Or the friendly and neighbourly owner of a local franchise who took the time one afternoon to personally connect with some customers and create a memorable experience?