Born in the USA

Sorry I haven’t been doing these cooking challenges more frequently, but I've been really busy trying to find a bigger apartment. Anyway, this weekend was filled with the big hype of the World Cup. Soccer/Football in England is the equivalent of American Football and baseball combined to the US. There was England merchandise everywhere... literally in every single store! Being in London was really exciting this weekend because England was playing the USA on Saturday. I knew about this game months before and had already invited some of our friends to watch it with us at a pub by where we live. On Saturday, we had a group of 3 USA fans, 3 England fans and an Aussie Fan at the pub. The pub was packed with local England fans by 6pm! (the game didn’t start until 7:30!) I started to get little worried that the England fans were going to beat me up, considering I had a huge flashy USA imprinted on my tank top. When the game started, my friend and I started to chant USA, USA. There were also a couple of other USA fans at the pub screaming "GOOOO USA!" which was met by waves of Boos from the England fans. I was surprised at how friendly the banter was between us USA fans and the England fans. It was a lot of fun and I was extremely overjoyed that I had gotten the experience to watch a World Cup football game in a local London pub and cheering USA. It was absolutely PRICELESS!

To keep in theme with the good US performance, I thought a traditional US BBQ was a must. So I decided to do…

Recipe of the Day : Burgers, Corn on the Cob and French Fries.

Ingredients/Grocery List: Total Spent £9.48

1 Package of 500g Lean Red Meat - £2.50
1 Package of Slice Leicester Cheese - £1.25
1 Package of Whole Wheat Buns - £1.00
1 Lettuce - £0.50
1 Tomato - £0.54
1 Onion - £0.15
1 Package of Frozen French Fries - £1.79
2 Corn - £1.50
3 Cloves of Garlic - £0.25
Unsalted Butter (had it already)
Olive Oil (had it already)
Balsamic Vinegar (had it already)
Fresh Ground Pepper (had it already)
Sea Salt (had it already)

Preheat the oven for 230 C. Butter the Corn and dash fresh pepper and sea salt. Wrap the corn in foil and place in oven for 25-30 minutes. Now cut the onion into rings and try not to separate it. Brush olive oil then dash pepper on each side of the onion. Grill or cook on skillet for 2 minutes. For the Burger: Start by mixing and kneading the meat with your hands. Divide the meat into four balls and then flatten the meat with the palms of your hand. (about inch) Dash fresh pepper, seasalt, and finely minced garlic on each side of the burger. Now add a drop of balsamic vinegar on each side of the burger for a bit more flavor. Cook the burger on medium to low heat. About 10 minutes for well done. Add Cheese a minute before the burger is done to your liking. Slice tomato, wash lettuce for garnish. Serve with French fries or a bag of chips.

It’s always great to have a juicy burger once in a while. I haven’t had a real good burger in London so I guess I took matters into my own hands. Sometimes I wonder am I really in London? I tend to still manage to have a American lifestyle while I’m here. I think overtime, I will start to become “British”. With this strong accent…yeah right! I promise I won’t go Madonna on you guys.