We are not carnivores in our house. We do eat chicken semi-regularly. We ate red meat at my parents for Sunday dinner before my dad had a stroke and they started eating incredibly healthy. But really no red meat. There is no real rhyme or reason. Russ doesn't prefer red meat and I don't know a lot of ways to cook it so we just don't.
But this week I couldn't think of anything that sounded good and summer-y to eat except burgers. (This really needs to change as I have a lot of summer to look forward to. What do YOU like to fix in the summer?) I think I've actually made burgers once and don't have fond memories of it, which is probably why I've never looked back. But there is something so July about a nice homemade hamburger. So I turned to New Best Recipes, then to some of my own ideas and gave it a go.
When Russ got home from work he said the house smelled wonderful -- and it did. We sat down to dinner and Russ took a big bite out of his burger, which was impressive because Russ generally doesn't like any homemade burgers.
"I love eating at home."
It made my day and made up entirely for the soup incident.
Abbie also liked the dinner.
"I love burgers."
"Abbie you've only eaten the buns."
"Oh, I love buns!"
.......okay....
Now on to the burgers.
1 lb of ground chuck. 80/20% (This apparently matters. Not ground beef but ground chuck.)
1 tsp salt
1 cup grated cheese (Interesting tidbit, if you put the cheese into rather than on the burger the burger wont dry out while waiting for the cheese to melt.)
(This is all the cook book called for but I wanted some flavor.)
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning.
Spread meat out to create as much surface area as possible. Add salt, cheese and seasoning and then mix together in a bowl. Divide the meat into three equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball flatten ball to about 3/4" then create an impression in the middle of the patty about the size of two thumbs so the middle is about 1/2" thick. (This was a cool thing. This prevents the patty from rounding up when it cooks.) Then cook on a grill. (I speak from experience when I say don't cook on a Foreman Grill. The cheese will melt and stick to the top of the grill and break the burgers apart.)
7 comments:
See, we make burgers a lot around here, at least in the warmer months. I haven't tried this recipe yet, but I usually add some garlic powder and worchestershire sauce or Sweet Baby Ray's (Scotty got us hooked on that) in with the meat before grilling, and that helps keep it juicy, as well as adding flavor. I've never put the cheese inside - I'll have to try that next time.
How funny we had hamburgers last night and I used almost the exact same recipe! I found that one when Jeremy and I had only been married a few months and it is a favorite of his. I just used ground chuck for the first time last night with it. I couldn't really tell the differance but Jer might tell you otherwise!
I never make my own burgers, but we sure do eat them a lot! In fact, we are big red meat lovers. every once in awhile don't you just crave a nice, juicy steak? mmmmmm.
Sounds yummy. Will be trying for sure!
I have never heard of the thumb trick in the middle. Good tip. Thanks for sharing.
We are burger lovers here too... I've never used the ranch in mine before, but we add worchestershire, and garlic powder like Allison. In the summer I LOVE grilling shrimp! Mmmmm. I have a great recipe from "Cooking Light". They have really yummy recipes that are healthy. We also love corn on the cob cooked on the grill with the husk still on, gives it such a good smokey flavor. It's also good to take the grilled corn, cut it off the cob, mix with some salt, paprika, and sour cream-AWESOME summer side dish!
Sometimes a terrific hamburger tastes sooooooo good.
As a gramma, I LOVE the updates on the girls. Told Russ you all need to Skype so we can see the girls in action. :>)
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