Tag Archives: meat

Jan 29 2013

A Burger Eating Contest

On a wet, dull and dreary winter Sunday in January a couple of Broads joined in on a burger eating contest that we were invited to and hosted by BQM Burger here in Toronto at Queen and Spadina. This intersection is becoming burger central with  a McDonald’s on one corner,Hero on another, A&W and of course, BQM Burger since 2008. It doesn’t stop there.Burger’s Priest,a classic American cheeseburger joint, will be opening up a 3rd location in the area in May.

Regardless of how much is in your wallet or on your debit card that’s a good variety of  burgers to choose from within doorsteps of each other for Torontonian burger lovers! However, when it comes to so called competition there isn’t any. BQM Burger burgers are premium quality.The beef is family farmed in Ontario and raised without any added hormones or antibiotics.Every single patty is in house grinded-brisket,chuck and sirloin and served up medium rare and they also  have a large selection of craft beers to compliment any burger of your choosing.

Ok..on with the BURGER EATING CONTEST!

Normally, Doing burger eating contests is not our style.We like to bite.chew.swallow and savor every bite very slowly.And in general, food eating contests of any kind are the epitome of food gluttony in the Western World.When I was approached by BQM to join in and attend the contest,I had to think about it.Was it something we, The Burger Broads,wanted to be a part of ? promote? Well, I decided to wrangle a couple of Broads to do it afterall because as much as we like to showcase burgers and interview owners I thought this could be a fun thing to do, just once and a good way to break up the monotony of  these dreary weeks of winter in January while also giving myself a break from the homework at hand of the ideas i have in store for this coming year.

The Burgers were kept simple.

bq9

No toppings of any sort.Only ketchup,mustard and aioli if you  chose to…..it was just meat and bun..and OMB! (oh, my Burger!) The meat! The Bun! both so good individually so imagine how burgasmic they were together.To me, the true test of a deliciously made burger is eating it with out all the accoutrements and BQM is The Truth! The meat was void of fillers and seasoned ever so lightly with kosher sea salt and black pepper. Perfect.The bun was an egg bun and it too was perfect.And perfect for the meat.

There were seven contestants in total and 2 of them were the only females,My Broads,Sharon and Krista.Seems to me these food eating contests are mostly attended by males so I was proud to have The  Burger Broads represent the female contingency.

These boys you’ll see in the video below were very serious about this contest while us Broads ate,laughed and gushed and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.bq7

bq14

So as you can figure we didn’t win the contest,which by the way was a case of Sleeman’s Draught, but because we ‘took on the boys‘ so to speak, we were awarded a 6pack:) Not a bad day at all for saying yes….free burgers and beer! and lotsa laughs….

…….and that’s how We Broads eat’n'roll!

In Burgers We Trust,

Ms.D-Madame of The BroadHouse

CLICK THIS for more pics on facebook.

Sep 27 2012

The Society of Burgers 2

The Society of Burgers is back!

Ola Burgerbuds,

Welcome back to the second chapter of The Book of Burgerology, as we continue our journey of burger enlightenment and realization.

In the first chapter, The Book of Burgerality, I summated for you a variety of common and rare burger personalities. Have a read…you’ll fit in there somewhere and then tell us what your personality is….we are a nosy bunch!!

Now, SOB is ready to reveal more exciting and perhaps burger altering speculatives on burger fare of which I call, The Book of Beasts Meats.

The Book of Beast Meats is a compilation of what your personality may be depending of the type of meat that lays between your buns.

Your personalized BBM is here…what personality type are you?

Image

The Naturalist: Veggie

They refuse to eat anything with legs and wear that proudly on a t-shirt they hand screened themselves with environmentally conscious materials. They’ve done their homework; studying and testing many types of veggie burgers only to find out that the best kind of veggie burger are the ones with real meat. Don’t worry, it’s not to late; everyone eventually finds their way back to meat….it’s inevitable!” The naturalist can also be referred to as the learner. They can often be found snacking on oatmeal and grains and may have OCD.

Image

The Borgs: Beef

Most of us are willing participants in this collective and this collective serves only one master…Hail King Cow! This ‘hive mind’ of subjugated recipients are controlled by a force larger than themselves and it usually consists of a whole lot of cheese & bacon.  If you pay close attention you may catch ‘borgs’ in their collective splendor. Just head out to any Micky D’s around lunchtime and you’ll see for yourself but DO NOT attempt to approach a Borg if you do see one out & about; they confuse easily and have been know to revolt. Only approach a Borg if you want to be assimilated.

Image

The Urbanite: Chicken

These self-proclaimed urban hipsters would choose fowl over bovine any day. They won’t commit to the extreme means of the Naturalist because it consists of way too much work but they like to be perceived as the group that ‘gets it and gives a shit’. They are somewhat consciously aware, always seem to be just heading out to a meeting, they watch John Stewart and sleep with one hand on their Ipad. They love spending money on unnecessary things and like to conversate about themselves, their art project, their loft or their scooter.

Image

The Suit: Lamb or Bison

These people have jobs and usually pretty good ones, so they like to show off their culinary prowless by not playing the game the rest of the kids are playing. The Suits like to be above the heads of cows, so to speak, and delight in big game hunting, cigars, traveling and fashion, even if it’s just for show. They eat big as well, slapping down some fresh lamb and bison burgers on the grill or casing out favorite high stakes eateries that serve the ‘not so common.’ Don’t hate them for their celebrity lifestyles. Get a job, buy a BBQ and head to Sanagans Meats in Kensington Market and hook yourself up with some fine beast meats. Now, go impress your 3 friends.

Image

The Radical: Fish

This group is the most unassuming of all. Always swimming up stream from the crowd, they strive on social anarchy…or at least talk about it a lot. They wear predominately black and always carry (not subjected to actually reading it) a hardcover biography of either Hunter S Thompson or Edgar Allen Poe in their vintage leather mailbag. They can often be found huddling in a small tight group discussing the civil rights of fish and the Amish. They may also be minimalists in their lifestyle and have been spotted shopping at IKEA.

Image

The Outsider: Turkey

Turkey burger luvers just want fit in and will put their necks on the chopping block for just about anyone who asks. Lacking a certain amount of self esteem, one could call them pushovers; easily influenced and usually not in a good way. They spend their time at shopping malls because no has told them that it’s not cool anymore and sleep with a night light on…just because. They are not an impressive bunch but they are consistent and if you ever need someone to do something for you…just ask one of these guys.

Now go and get messy with your favorite burger!

circusjo

Aug 7 2012

Would you?

After happening upon a vegetarian food festival that was serving up 10,000 free ‘meatless meat’ burgers, a few weeks ago we asked our facebook friends

“Would you eat a burger that tasted like meat but wasn’t meat?”

This is what some people had to say.

Add your comments too.We would love to hear what you think.

……and here’s a good read by blogger Skinny Girls & Mayonnaise “The Ethics of Eating Meat”

Apr 23 2012

Circusjo’s Society of Burgers

Hello Burgertonics!

I’ve taken it upon myself to devise the first ever Society of Burgers, conspicuously known as (SOB). A place of higher consciousness in terms of finding the true meaning of life thru burgers. As you know, I’ve been on a long and weary journey but it has taught me great things. From my notes from near and far, I now take you on another kind of journey, a journey of enlightenment and realization thru….The Book of Burgerology!

I have categorized, what i believe to be the 6 most common personality traits, based on the way we dress and luv our burgers.

How do you dress your burger? Are you one of these personalities?
Where do you fit in?

Read on and let us know where you squat. Or, do you think you have a personality type that isn’t on our curriculum yet, then let us know, if it’s a fit we’ll add it.

Join The Society! A Call to Arms….

The SOB needs your interaction! We want to know which personality type reigns supreme.  So, rally up the troops and get recruited! Leave us your email addy and we will send you an official SOB e-badge. This elite club is privy to meet -ups, eat-outs, burger challenges and gatherings hosted by the broads…..lucky you!! Summers just ahead and that means BBQ’s, Burgers, and Patios…get on board with the broads…you know you want to!

More from the Society….The Book of Beast Meats

The next interactive chapter of SOB…What’s your beast meat? I’ll take a look at the various types of beast meats such as beef, turkey, lamb burgers etc and the personality types who luv them!

Now lets see where you fit in!…….

The Book of Burgerality

The Nudist: The bare bones of burger personalities. Adds nothing, wants nothing.  They take naturalistic pleasures to the extreme; uninhibited to the exposed flavours of their manifesto meat sandwich. Usually found to be  intelligent and discerning but heavily lack imagination and creativity.

The Nerd: likes to play it safe by adding only one or two toppings to their beast-meat. They would luv to break out and explore more toppings but are painfully shy and may need much encouragement from others outside of their own group. Unfortunately, most in this group lack the balls needed to move past this stage. The Nerd’s best bet is to hook up with a Partier…trust me!

The Worker: This personality type plays it safe by only playing within the classic and basic toppings such as ketchup, mustard, lettuce etc. They are people of consistency and order. Their only adventurous play comes with mixing and matching the order of toppings, but it always ends up tasting the same. They relish in a life of uniformity and predictability and wouldn’t change it for nothing…..unless otherwise told to do so.

The Showoff: These attention craving hamburglars luv it hottt!..or think they do. With clenched cheeks and watery eyes they take no prisoners…because they can’t breath or see…and are most likely to disappear soon after a meal to a quieter and more comfortable private space so they can reflect on what they just did to themselves, then promise themselves that they won’t do that again, but they are helpless against their own egos. They are wannabe dare-devils who, if not careful, could easily crash & burn.

The Partier: they luv to take chances and will try anything at least once! They have no fear and luv to ketchup with what’s trending and new. They like to think of themselves as ‘out of the box thinkers’ and are very socially motivated. This personality type is somewhat outspoken and impulsive and sometimes could be confused with the Showoff. The Partier is carefree and loose minded, experiencing a lot in short bursts…. but forgetting most of it by morning.

The Extremist: the ‘no holds bar’ personality type. They are not only willing to try anything and everything, all the time, day or night, rain or shine…all you have to do is dare them… but they show no shame in combining items that would make the Nudists recoil in horror and make the Partiers look like amateurs. They live always on the toasted, crumbly edge of life and luv to grind it out with other like minded individuals, trying to always ‘up’ their game.

So there you have it! Don’t forget to leave your type with us and if you would like to be a member of the SOB Society, then you know what to do!

Circusjo..

Apr 21 2012

homemade burgalactics

greetings burglizza’s

i relish sharing my burger stories from afar with you but i’ve taken a little sabbatical from my treacherous journey across land and sea to spend a little well deserved recreational time with my life here at home.

this isn’t the most interesting story by far, but where there are burgers, i shall be…especially if those burgers are on our bbq, 5 feet away from our kitchen and even closer still to the beer that chills patiently in our fridge.

i’m a huge fan of eating and better still, eating at home when you know it’s prepared with luv and goodness. so,  my better half & i…dave, we’ll call him; decided to bbq up some burgs. we wasted no time getting down to bizniz.

we fired up the ‘beast maker’ and anxiously awaited that predictable, instant drool bbq smell that you know makes the entire neighborhood take notice.  we technically refer to this as ‘bbq envy’.  it’s the smell that summons you, much like a programmed robot, to go get yourself a little yummy something to slap on your own beast maker. it’s the snowball effect at it’s best.

homemade goodness!

what i find interesting about burgs is the overwhelming variety of dressings, toppings and styles that differentiates one burg from another.

for instance, when it comes to dressing a burg, ‘the one i call’ dave and i take opposites approaches.  he plays it pretty safe adding items one would expect to see on any given burger…..ketchup, mustard, onions, tomatoe, pickles, mayo and cheese.  he’ll play with any combination of the above but seldomly  strays. the’s what i luvingly call the ‘nerd burgular’, it’s like playing only in enclosed areas for safety coupled with the fear of venturing out past their comfort zone.

but alas, the good news is if you are one of these nerd burgulars, there is plenty of room for improvement and adventuring into new flavours.  soooo, the one i call dave took a tiny step out of his box and added a little avocado to one of his burgs….there’s hope yet!

me, on the other hand, wear my knickers a little looser.  i experiment more with toppings, dressings and even meat types.  it’s really just about whatever i think may taste good or at the very least, won’t make me gag….my reflexes are somewhat snobby.

one should always take into consideration the combinations and hazards of tastes blending…sometimes it’s a hit and others, well…we won’t go there.  taking what i just said into it’s own consideration,  i can attest to somewhat playing it safe with my burger toppings, but to my defense, it was what i had in the fridge that evening……you work with what you have and this worked out extremely well!…no gags!  the blue cheese was worrisome at first thought but it turned out to be a huge success!

we ate and enjoyed our friday night food frolic with a wash of ice cold brew…you can’t go wrong!

P.S….coming soon…what does your burger preferences say about you! I may have the answer for you. BURGSTROLOGY coming soon to a blog near you…well, in this blog, right here but at a later date, very near in the future, not too far away.  You will be shocked and amazed!

circusjo

acircusofburgers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jan 16 2012

The Luther Burger….why?

ola, dear hamburglers,

during my truth seeking journey, i will undoubtedly encounter fascinating and odd actualities along the way that may help me understand the unending and unshakable hold, this thing we happily named the hamburger, has over us.

i have unearthed, what is called the ‘luther burger’, an unnerving oddity, that upon site, has be known to make  ordinary men & women abandon all intelligence and the most basic of  morals.  is it the work of uncontrollable influence? is it something outside of our comprehension? some have speculated that the luther burger may possess the soul of ….wait for it….the devil.

but what in heavens name is the luther burger?

the luther is a burger fashioned with sticky, sweet glazed donuts as buns. yes, i said that right….dooooonuttttssss! 

usually made with krispy creme donuts…mmmmm!

 

 

it just might be the devils work….

so who invented this abomination?

speculated-alien among us...not confirmed information

"hail satan, you're burger-donut is working. soon they will be ours!"

 

 

 

 

well, the legend tells us that this dessert-dinner combo was invented by or for the late great soul singer, luther vandross. he was a superstar in the eighties and sold over 30 million albums worldwide.

the question is..why?

 

 

we may never uncover the truth about this oddity. whether it was created for him or by him….why donuts? what does the burger-donut signify? could the burger-donut be responsible for man’s downturn? are there aliens among us?..and what of the power donuts have over most law enforcement….hmmm food for thought, literally.

what i do know is that this phenomenon has spread  rapidly throughout america and could be making its way to canada…so please go and eat safe eh!

it may already be among us