That's right. Bake. Real men aren't afraid of a little baking.

Late fall and winter tailgating means hearty chilis and thick stews, and the best thing to serve them with is this easy beer bread from Evite.com. Yup. Bread made with beer. True wonder bread. Break off a chunk and dig in.




YOU'LL NEED:
2 cups self-rising flour
3 tablespoons sugar
12 oz. can beer (room temp)
1 tablespoon melted butter

Combine flour, sugar and beer in a large mixing bowl; stir just until all ingredients are moistened. Pour into a greased 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until bread tests done. (Insert a toothpick in the densest part of the bread. If it comes out clean, the bread is done.) Brush with melted butter. Remove from pan, cool on wire rack. Makes one loaf.

I'm just gonna go ahead and say it: The Schlow Burger is the best guy-burger in the world. Boom. Done. Don't even bother writing in, you can't beat it.

Not for the faint of heart... or those with a bad heart, now that i think about it... this bad boy clocks in at a huge, meaty nine ounces. And dripping with cheddar, horseradish sauce, and crispy onions, this is the perfect tailgate burger to keep you satisfied until deep into the fourth quarter.

Chef Michael Schlow of Radius restaurant in Boston, the food wizard who gave life to this behemoth, says, "Try this burger once and see if it doesn't make you change the way you order your burgers. This is seriously the ultimate man-wich."

Amen, Chef. And pass the beer.

For a copy of the complete recipe that you can print out and use for your next grilling event click here. Your frozen-patty-grilling buddies will thank you.

See this and Chef Schlow's other great recipes in his new book "It's About Time".

www.radiusrestaurant.com

This is the ultimate guy-burger created by Chef Michael Schlow of Radius restaurant in Boston. Grill some up at your next tailgate.

NOTE: The sauce can be made up to three days ahead; the onions can be prepared early on the day they will be served.

Makes 2 “fat boy” burgers.




YOU NEED:
18 ounces ground beef (Ask the butcher for 80 percent lean. Do not change this part, please!)

1 ounce (2 tablespoons) extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

4 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 teaspoons prepared white horseradish

Juice of half a lemon

2 thick slices good quality Vermont or English cheddar cheese

2 hamburger buns, split in half (buy the best ones you can get; I like brioche buns)

Crispy Onions (recipe follows)

Fresh ground pepper


• Combine the ground beef with the olive oil, salt, and plenty of black pepper.

• Divide the meat into two 9-ounce patties and refrigerate until the grill is ready. (Don’t do this more than an hour in advance.)

• Combine mayonnaise, horseradish, and lemon juice in a mixing bowl and season with black pepper. (You can do this ahead of time and store it in the fridge.)

• Heat the grill to high.

• Take the hamburgers out of the refrigerator 5 to 7 minutes before you are ready to grill them.

• Place the burgers on the preheated grill and cook 1 1/2 minutes (for rare).

• Give the burgers a quarter-turn to “mark” them, and cook 1 1/2 more minutes.

• Flip the burgers over and cook 1 1/2 minutes.

• Rotate a quarter-turn to “mark” and cook 1 1/2 more minutes.

• Transfer the burgers to the grill’s top shelf or to a cooler section of the grill and cover each one with a slice of cheese.

• Turn the grill off and shut the lid.

• After 4 minutes open the lid. The cheese will be melted and the burgers cooked rare to medium-rare. Toast the buns, if desired, and place a burger on each.

• Spread plenty of the horseradish sauce on each burger; it should drip down the sides.

• Top with Crispy Onions and season with freshly ground black pepper.

• Slather more sauce on the other half of the bun and place it on top of the burger.

• Grab a cold beer or iced tea and get ready to make a mess. Dainty this ain’t!


CRISPY ONIONS
1 large yellow onion, sliced into very thin rings, 1/3 to 1/8-inch thick

2 cups canola oil

• Place onion rings and oil in a small sauce pot. (Don’t worry if the rings break apart).

• Bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce heat to a very low simmer. The heat releases the onion’s natural sugars, and in essence, causes them to melt.

• Turn the onions with a fork every thirty seconds or so, and cook until they turn golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Adjust the heat if needed to maintain a low simmer.

• Remove the onions from the oil and arrange in a single layer on paper towels. (At this point, the onions won’t yet be crispy, but I promise you that after a few minutes, as the caramelized sugars cool and harden, the onions will become deliciously crisp.)

See this and other great recipes in Michael’s new book, “It’s About Time”

www.radiusrestaurant.com