Cookbook Review- Michael Smith's Family Meals

Having dinner as a family is something that is super important in my family. Ever since I can remember, we always sat down to share a meal together, no matter how late people came home. My mom taught late on Thursday nights, so when my brother and I got home from school we'd have a snack and then we would wait for her to come home before the entire family sat down to soup for dinner. Dinner was the only time all of us could sit down and catch up on each other's lives. I still value dinner time, and am happy to see that chef Michael Smith believes it is valuable also. His new cookbook, Family Meals, includes a wide variety of meals that are easy to prepare and are family friendly.

There were so many options of what to make that I found it really difficult to choose. In the end, I decided to try Smith's Nacho Burgers since it is summer time and I wanted to take advantage of the nice weather and BBQ outside.... Plus who doesn't love nachos or burgers so putting them together can't be bad! Overall my family thought that they were really good. They were super tasty and really easy to make- they were quick which made them awesome for a family meal, so I can definitely see why they are in this book. 

While I was making the burgers I was a little surprised that there were no eggs in the patty. This resulted in a few of the burgers falling apart a bit since there was no binder, but I didn't worry about that too much since they were going to go on a bun anyways. The suggested cooking time wasn't quite right- we ended up cooking them for 6 minutes more. This might have been because I made the patties a little too thick, even though Smith said to make them thin. The only other complaint I had was that the corn chips lost a bit of their crunch from all of the moisture... this definitely is not Michael Smith's fault and was probably also as a result of me breaking up the chips a little too much.

Regardless of the lack of a "binder" and the extra cooking time, the overall burgers were still delicious. They had a great flavour and were made quickly (which I was happy about since I came home late from work). I would definitely make these burgers again. We added a bit of avocado onto the nacho burgers which added a little bit more flavour, but even without the avocado they were still really tasty.

Recipe: Nacho Burgers

Makes 6 large or 8 smaller burgers

Ingredients: 

For the burgers

2 pounds (900g) of ground beef

2 tablespoons (30mL) of ground cumin

2 tablespoons (30mL) of dried oregano

1 teaspoon (15mL) of salt

Lots of freshly ground pepper

1 onion, minced

For the burger buns

1 teaspoon (5mL) of chili powder

2 tablespoons (30mL) of butter, melted

6 or 8 of your favorite burger buns

To garnish the burgers

1 heaping tablespoon (20mL) of your favorite salsa per burger

¼ cup (60mL) of any shredded cheese per burger

3 or 4 tortilla chips, crushed, per burger

Directions: 

Build a hardwood fire and ultimately a bed of glowing coals. Or prepare and preheat your grill or stovetop griddle to high.

To make the burgers, have a clean plate on the counter and a few sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap nearby. Place the ground beef in a large bowl. Break it up a bit and spread it out evenly. Sprinkle the meat as evenly as you can with the cumin, oregano, salt, pepper and onions. Using your hands, thoroughly and evenly mix the works together. Form the proceeds into 6 or 8 evenly shaped thin burgers and place them on the plate, with the wax paper in between layers.

To ready the buns for the grill, stir the chili powder into the melted butter and brush the fragrant fat onto the cut sides of the buns. Just before grilling the burgers, toast the buns until lightly browned and delicious.

Grill the burgers until browned, 4 or 5 minutes a side. Move the finished burgers straight from the grill to their toasted buns so the juices soak into the bread. Top with the salsa, cheese, tortilla chips and bun tops. Serve and share!

I gave this recipe: 

 out of  

I definitely cannot wait to try more recipes from Family Meals. Flipping through the pages I found a number of recipes that I want to try. I liked that he included vegetarian recipes and also included recipes that just provided "guidance" on how to make the dish (such as pureed vegetable soup). I am glad he has everything from quick meals to slow cooker meals. I highly recommend picking up this book for anyone, whether you have a large family of 20 or if you are a small family of 2, the meals are tasty and quick to make.

I gave this cookbook:

 out of 

Special thank you to Penguin Books for sending me a copy to review. 

Like what you read? Purchase a copy of the book here!