I call these Spicy Italian Smashburgers..

I make smashburgers on the Blackstone griddle fairly often but wanted to try something different. This recipe belongs to my sweet friend. (If you see this, Thank you for sharing)
You can make it as mild or as spicy as you like by adjusting the amount of spicy Italian sausage you use.

I went with 1/4th spicy Italian sausage, 1/4th mild Italian sausage and 1/2 ground chuck..

tossed into a baggie to smoosh around and blend...

I make large balls of the burger mixture...

then use my "smasher" to press the burgers flat...
The idea is to get as much "crust" on the burgers as possible.

I added a bit of sriracha sauce.. you can leave this off for a milder burger.

Sliced some mild pepperoncini for topping...

Topped the burgers with pepperoncini and slivered onions..

toasted some buns...

Then topped some of the burgers with blue cheese and the other two burgers with mozzarella..

Covered to melt the cheese a bit...

Topped with buns and called er good.

I really liked these! The Italian sausage was just spicy enough to give the burgers good flavor and juice, but not too spicy for me. I hadn't tasted a burger with blue cheese before, not sure why I've avoided it but will use it in the future! Since making these burgers, I've been slapping pepperoncini on many things. lol I love the mild ones!

It used to go against my nature to actually smash a burger, but the crust you get on the griddle is amazing. I like these better than grilled burgers.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Stay warm!

Thanks for stopping by!

Crawfish Bisque With Stuffed "Heads" ( a labor of love) lol

This is a dish from my childhood. I remember Mom and aunts spending pretty much the whole day stuffing heads and cooking the "gravy" for a huge family feast. When Mom passed, I made sure to save her recipes.. This one brings back good memories for me!

I don't measure exactly, but I make it the way I was shown by Mom.

I saved a few heads from my last crawdad boil. 

Boiled the shells (midsections with heads) in water with baking soda added...this cleans the shells. 

rinse and drain well..

Prepared the stuffing...
Crawfish tail meat, scallions, onion, celery, garlic, eggs, peppers, parsley, seasoned bread crumbs, tomato, and pet milk...

I grind everything, blend in the eggs and add the milk til the stuffing holds together well..

Stuff the cleaned shells...

Dip the stuffing side of the heads in flour and fry in butter to "set" the stuffing...

Make the "gravy" for the heads.
Start by making a dark roux...

Add peppers, onions, scallions, celery, garlic...
cook til tender.

Add crawfish stock, shrimp stock or chicken stock, salt and cayenne pepper to taste, you can add cajun seasoning or liquid crab boil to taste too...

Add crawfish tails and let it heat through..

Stir in fresh parsley and chopped scallions and add the stuffed heads to heat...

Serve with rice! 

Clip the shells on the side of your bowl as you eat em. lol

This is one of my favorite dishes of all time. Not only is it comforting, it reminds me of good times growing up and how special my mom was.

Hope everyone is having a great new year so far! I know winter has hit some of you hard. Keep safe and warm!

Thanks for stopping by..

I'm alive. lol

Been layed up for a couple of months but hope to be back to normal soon.
Hope 2019 is treatin' everyone well!

Thank you for the kind messages and well wishes!