Stuffed Burgers

I might start rating my recipes by how many "mm-mmm's" the food gets from John. This just happened to be a 5. Growing up my dad would make stuffed burgers from time to time. Dave is known to order them at McMenamins. So I thought it was my turn to give them a try. This is what I did:

First, I bought just over a pound of the 20% fat ground beef from New Seasons. I know 20% fat sounds like a lot when you see it next to the 10% or 5%, but when you're dealing with grilled burgers it equates to grilled goodness.

Second, I cut a large yogurt container so I was left with a two-inch ring measuring from the rim. This is the form I used to mold the burgers. They actually make a tool for this you can buy for $20...or you can make your own.

Thirds - I like to make 1/3 pound burgers..when you're dealing with 20% fat meat a good portion of the meat melts away and the 1/3 lb burger is actually just right. Separate the 1/3 lb portions into halves.

Fourth, press one half of the meat into the mold. Make sure to really work it into the entire space. This will make sure your burger holds together when you cook it. I usually flip it and then press it in again. Once you've done this, with the meat still in the mold, sprinkle finely chopped fillings (cheddar cheese, green onions, red onions, blue cheese, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, etc. what ever suits you). Then free-form the second half of the meat into a disk and place it over the other meat and toppings in the mold. Kind of like a top pice crust.

Fifth, press the top all around and work specifically around the edges. Flip it over, use mold again, and do a final pressing. If you don't press it well enough you run the risk of the burger splitting open on the grill and loosing your fillings and maybe even part of your burger.

Sixth, grill. The burgers in the image above are a little more well done than I usually like. It just happened. And we didn't have any tomatoes to top, but the green onions and lettuce were from our garden. With a little bacon, some BBQ sauce and mustard they still tasted soooo good.

Enjoy!

Kate's Fave Potato Salad

I never liked potato salad much as a kid until I had my grandmas. All potato salad was kind of sweet or too mustardy or too mushy. Then at a family reunion of sorts when I was 11 or 12 I tried hers. It did not have sweet relish or mustard in it. And as for the mushy, I was able to get past that because of the first two omissions. About 15 years later I developed my own recipe for potato salad that I love. Today, while finishing off the last bit left over from a recent BBQ* I realized this is an easy one to post and share. Please forgive me as the only bits I had left for a picture were practically traces in my NS "bowl."


In order to remedy the mushy part I use red potatoes. They are a little more waxy than russets and hold their form a little better. Here is how I make it:

Ingredients
a few pounds of smallish red potatoes
3-6 stalks of celery
2-5 green onions
1 can of medium black olives
1 cup of Mayo (Vegenaise** or Best Foods)
Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper***

Optional Ingredients
Hard boiled eggs
Fresh parsely
Capers

First, chop the potatoes into small cubes, about 3/4" x 3/4" -ish. Then boil them until they are just soft enough to stick with a fork. Not mushy! But rather, just cooked, firm but not crunchy. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside to cool. (Sometimes I spread them out on a pan and put in the frig.)

While the poatoes are cooking, chop the celery - slicing it length-wise frist and then into little pieces. I even chop up the leafy parts on top. Chop onions into little pieces as well and add to a large bowl. Finally, chop olives. I like to cut them into quarters the long way. It's pretty, but you can chop them however you want.

When the potatoes are cooled add all ingredients to a large bowl and toss with mayo. Add more or less mayo depending on your style. It's best if this can sit for an hour or so in the frig before you serve it, but it's really good anytime.

Enjoy!

*Ramon is coaching me on BBQ, which I recently learned is different from grilling. More to come on that in the next months.

**Vegenaise is a great way to make this dish vegan if you're interested or have friends who you want to impress. Grapeseed Vegenaise is my favorite.

***If you don't own a pepper mill, now is the time! Fresh pepper makes everything better (even sweets I've recently discovered). If you're using the pre-ground stuff you might was well leave it out. It's stale and bland. Fresh ground pepper is amazing and SO worth it.