Yesterday we used our grill the first time this season and celebrated Father’s Day and a neighbor’s graduation with a barbecue of hamburgers, meat skewers and kielbasa.
Ted wanted it simple. His way would be to cook store-made patties but for only 12 people making them from scratch is just as easy and a lot tastier. (Recipe below)
There were a vegan and two near-vegetarian guests. We balanced the meat with a spinach, arugula, spring mix salad with warm pecan dressing; an avocado, tomato, cucumber salad; and a quinoa salad. Also, we had tomato and lettuce trimmings, caramelized onions (recipe below) and pan seared mushrooms (recipe below), corn salsa, and an asparagus and mini sweet peppers with veggie dip. No baked dessert, we had fruit. I thought it was vegan enough.
For the non-meat eaters I also offered quinoa burgers, from TJ’s, They were pretty good, my vegan neighbor said. I thought they were good too in the sense that all I needed to do was microwave them. Who wants to heat up a kitchen stove when it’s 90 degrees outside? We were also afraid the quinoa will fall apart on the grill.
Because our other neighbors have two younger girls, I doubted that they would eat whole burgers so Ted and I foraged for slider buns yesterday to make child size versions. Even the adults in this group would rather have sliders. I’ve noticed over the years that these friends don’t eat a lot of bread.
From 4 pounds of ground beef, I made 20 patties–eight regular-size quarter pounders, and the rest about the size of a hockey puck, when pressed down. Hamburger aficionados swear by grinding their meat themselves, but I bought some really good ground beef. That would have to do. I opted for 80 percent lean; it cooks better with some fat. My favorite recipe includes Lipton onion soup mix and tomato sauce. No bread crumbs.
After seasoning, I rolled them gently in balls and parked them in a narrow tray to save space. Kept them in two layers, separated by parchment paper. Just before putting them on the grill, Ted flattened them, adding his signature thumbprint in the middle of the patty to keep the juices in.
Ted noticed that even the adults who’d usually find one regular hamburger TOO big, ate two sliders! Also the slider patties cooked in less time.
For future reference unless I have some serious hamburger eaters, we’re going to stick with this formula: buy only slider buns and offer mini hamburgers. We bought 8 regular buns had 4 left over. I think we will continue to make some larger patties, just because people would take just the patty alone.
Quick hamburgers
Serves 10-12
Preparation time: 20-30 minutes
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes
4 pound ground beef, 80 percent lean
2 packet onion soup Mix
4 tablespoons ketchup
In a large bowl, mix beef with soup mix and ketchup. With a large spoon scoop up about 4 ounces of meat and roll it into a ball. Don’t pack meat in too tight. Makes about 16 hamburgers.
When grill is heated up, flatten patty and make a thumbprint dent in the center. Grill dented side first. Flip hamburgers after 4-5 minutes. Cook another 5 minutes and set aside in plate.
Serve with bread, sliders, tomato, lettuce, raw or caramelized, fried onions and fried mushroom.
NOTES
–The meat will shrink after cooking. Press down on patties to form them slightly larger than the circle of the bun.
–Don’t be limited by the 4-ounce size. Some of us love fat, thick juicy patties!
–I prefer to have different sizes of patties so people can decide the size they want. Mini hamburgers are perfect for small eaters and kids, and as seconds.
–Place larger pieces on the grill first and smaller pieces after.
ACCOMPANIMENTS
Caramelized Onion
This fried onion has soy sauce in it. I love it with hamburgers. Make this ahead of time and serve at room temperature. This is also delicious over steak.
Recipe for Caramelized Onion With A Blush of Soy Sauce found here.
Pan Seared Mushroom
A lot of mushroom that is served by many hamburger outlets tend to be limp and characterless. When fried correctly, you can achieve the effect of each mushroom being seared so that it is plump and browned, with its flavor sealed. This is delicious over the hamburgers, and hotdogs, steak and in a vegetarian sandwich.
It takes some patience to make, especially if your mushrooms are plump and fresh because it will render a lot of juices. Fry it continuously and allow the liquid to evaporate. Then add oil at the end to sear the mushrooms to seal in the flavors and give it a slight crisp in its edges.
Recipe for Pan Seared Mushroom here.
