Grilling is for Girls: REAL SIMPLE Beef, Bacon, and Egg Burgers

Last night signaled the end of my grilling challenge! Every week Jared's been in medical school, I made a different burger from Real Simple's June article "Top This." It was a really fun adventure for me; at the beginning I needed some help from Jared in lighting the grill, but pretty soon I was confident enough to do things all alone. Yesterday I got the grill to start on my first try.

 

 

The final burger was total comfort food - like a breakfast sandwich, but even better. I went with whole wheat English muffins, and an heirloom tomato from a local farmer's market.

 

 

Maybe it's just because I'm getting better, (or maybe the prep time is one of the shortest listed), but this took me less than 30 minutes from lighting the grill to sitting down at the table. It also had the simplest steps (I thought) and simplest ingredients.

 

After lighting the grill, I chopped up the bacon into fairly large chunks and mixed it with the ground beef and ground black pepper.  I formed patties, which looked pretty large, especially considering I had bought a little over a pound of beef instead of 1.25 pounds.

 

Once these were on the grill, I used the first four minutes to do some dishes.  I flipped the burgers, and then started on the English muffins, eggs, and tomato.

 

 

I cooked Jared's two eggs a little longer than my egg since he doesn't like super runny yolks.  I toasted the muffins in our little toaster instead of grilling them.  (Our grill is pretty small so there isn't much spare room.)

 

I took three slices off the tomato for myself.  Jared is not a fan of tomatoes, so I get the heirloom all to myself!

 

The burgers were done in about nine minutes total.  The last step was simply to put everything together.

 

 

For mine, I put the tomato on top of the bottom half of the muffin, added the burger, then the egg, and topped with the rest of the "bun."

 

 

These were incredible - and so filling!  Usually Jared has eaten two burgers every week (one night he even ate three) and this time he could only finish one.

 

 

I would say my favorite burgers of the whole challenge were these "breakfast" burgers, and the Salmon-Scallion Burgers. But all the recipes were definitely worth trying, and now I have a new skill under my belt.

 

Can't wait till next summer - I'll be grilling everything in sight.

 

 

Grilling is for Girls: REAL SIMPLE Mushroom Burgers with Fontina and Cornichon Relish

Tonight marks the end of my summer grilling challenge! Here's my recap of last week's grill: the Mushroom Burger.

 

 

We've tried portabella mushrooms before, and, try as we might, neither of us can bring ourselves to like mushrooms. For this recipe, I decided to substitute regular old ground beef for the patty.

 

I couldn't find ciabatta rolls at Trader Joe's, so I got this incredible ciabatta loaf instead. I also had to look up cornichons online - I had no idea they were basically mini pickles.

 

 

I set out all the ingredients and started heating the grill.  This time I wish I would have made the relish before putting the patties together because the grill time for the beef was so short.

 

 

I got it all worked out and toasted the bread in my normal toaster to save time while the burgers were grilling.  This one was pretty simple compared to some of the other recipes.  I just had to put the cheese, relish, lettuce, and burger patty together on the ciabatta!

 

 

These were so delicious. The relish was fun and the burgers were juicy.  The toasted bread was just perfect, especially since I got to cut it to the size I wanted.  (Sometimes there is just too much bun, you know?)

 

 

I served the burgers with our new favorite beer, Swill, from 10 Barrel Brewing Co. in Bend.

 

 

So yummy!

 

Tonight we grill the final burger!  I've been saving the Beef, Bacon, and Egg Burger for last.  And we have finally gotten some fall weather here in Portland, so it will be the perfect comfort food.  I'll let you know how they turn out.

 

 

In case you missed my other burger adventures, here they are!

 

 

Grilling is for Girls: REAL SIMPLE Lamb Burgers with Tangy Fennel Slaw

 

Well, we are over halfway done with the six burgers in my grilling challenge!

 

If you missed the other escapades, here they are:

Spiced Pork Burgers

Cheddar Turkey Burgers

Ginger-Scallion Salmon Burgers

 

This week we went with the Lamb Burgers with Tangy Fennel Slaw.  I had to hit up two different grocery stores since Trader Joe's didn't have lamb and some of the other ingredients.

 

 

I always start by getting out all the ingredients.  Then I put them away after using them.  This helps me avoid forgetting anything (which I have done in the past). 

 

I ripped my hand doing pullups at CrossFit on Monday, so I had to enlist Jared's help.  These burgers were actually some of the most simple (and fast) of the bunch, but I needed him to mix up the ground lamb with the spices and make the four patties.

 

I got the grill going (lit it myself two times in a row now!) and worked on the fennel slaw.

 

 

It was really simple, and smelled great with the fresh lemon juice.  I went out to flip the burgers after they'd been on the grill for about 6 minutes...and forgot to set a timer for remaining cook time.

 

I worked on the "lemon tahini dressing" next.  I am too cheap to buy $7.50 in tahini when I almost never use it, so I used peanut butter instead.  It actually worked really well!  I also replaced the mayonnaise with Greek yogurt since we both hate mayonnaise.

 

 

All of a sudden I realized I hadn't heard a timer go off, so I went to check the burgers.  I should have taken them off right then, but I didn't want them to be under-cooked, so I waited another two minutes (probably 8 total on the second side).  Then I was scrambling to wash the lettuce and split the brioche buns, which I should have done earlier.

 

Finally, I was ready to assemble it all:

 

 

Honestly, these were our least favorite of the four burger recipes so far. 

 

Part of it is due to the fact that I overcooked the burgers...the other three were moist and these were a little dry.  The texture combo of brioche bun, crunchy fennel, and "Tahini Dressing" was great, but the flavors in this just weren't as compelling as the other burgers.  However, these were the most filling, especially since for once I bought the recommended amount of meat.

 

Since these were so dry, instead of reheating the two leftover lamb patties, I have been breaking them up and using them in soup.  I get really creative with leftovers since having the same exact meal over and over can get boring fast.

 

Next week's dilemma: The Mushroom Burger.

 

Try as we might, Jared and I have not been able to get on the mushroom for meat kick.  Do we try again with these and hope the relish and fontina cover the flavor and texture enough?  Or do we go big and crazy and try buffalo meat instead?  Or do I go with ground pork since I used turkey for the pork burgers? 

 

Help me - what should I do?

 

 

 

 

Grilling is for Girls: REAL SIMPLE Ginger-Scallion Salmon Burgers with Miso Yogurt

 

Welcome back to Adventures in Grilling!

 

This weekend, we had some med school friends treat us to some pickings from their (local, organic) garden!  The haul included some green onions, so of course I knew this was the week for the salmon burger recipe.

 

 

Week 1: Spiced Pork Burgers. 

Week 2: Cheddar Turkey Burgers.

 

I bought most of the ingredients at Trader Joe's, but went to a local hippie grocery store for the salmon...I find that the fish at Trader Joe's isn't always the best.

 

Thankfully I read the recipe ahead of time: these burgers require 30 minutes of chill time in the fridge before grilling.

 

I ignored the first step of the recipe for prepping the carrot slaw.  I went straight to step 2: prepping the burgers.  We're on a money saving kick, so I went with 3/4 lb. of salmon instead of 1 and 1/4 lb.  I kept the rest of the ingredients the same except for the breadcrumbs, of which I used a little less.

 

It took me about 20 minutes all told to prep the burgers, but I had to skin and de-bone my salmon, which probably added a fair chunk of time.

 

 

After I put the salmon patties in the fridge and set the timer for 30 minutes, I went back to step 1: the slaw.  Usually I don't like slaws, but this one was very different and fun.

 

 

 

 

The carrot slaw took me about fifteen minutes to prepare.  I put this in the fridge with the patties and used some of the remaining time to do some of the dishes from prepping the patties and slaw.

 

When there were about 5 minutes left on the timer, I went down to the garage to get the grill!

 

After the grill heated up (Jared helped me start it again), it was time to add the salmon burgers.  Mine were a little smaller since I'd done less salmon, so I went with about 4 minutes per side instead of 5.

 

 Chilling these in the fridge made them hold together really well.  As the burgers were finishing, I toasted the buns for a minute or so on the grill.

Then I put it all together!  I decided not to do miso since we usually avoid soy.  Just the Greek yogurt was delicious on these!

 
Jared ended up eating three of the burgers!  All that studying makes him hungry.

I paired my burger with a pinot grigio.  It was so good with the spicy carrot slaw!

Seriously, if you haven't tried one of these burger recipes yet, you are missing out.  Every burger we eat ends up being my new favorite!

I think next week might be time for the lamb burger.  And who knows?  Maybe I'll even start the grill myself.

Grilling is for Girls: REAL SIMPLE Cheddar Turkey Burgers with Mashed Avocado

 

Last week I started my six-week REAL SIMPLE grilling challenge.

 

Jared showed me how to operate the grill, and I learned a few valuable lessons.  One of them was not to buy pre-made patties, since for many of these recipes, you have to mix in other ingredients and reshape the patties yourself.  The other was to make the burgers earlier in the week so you don't have to freeze the meat and then thaw it (last week's spiced burgers REALLY did not want to combine).

 

Last week's meal dripping through the grill grate

I asked Jared before grocery shopping which burger he wanted next, and he voted for the Cheddar Turkey Burger with Mashed Avocado.

 

 

The recipe calls for a ripe avocado, but since I only went grocery shopping on Monday, by Tuesday morning the avocado was still hard.  I had no apple or paper bag to try that speed ripening trick (or is it a banana?) so I just rotated the avocado around the house and onto the porch so that it was in the sun all day, which really helped!

 

 

In the evening, when it was time for dinner, I decided to prep the mashed avocado before worrying about the grill. 

 

 

Last time it took me too long to prep the food for the grill and so I wasted a lot of energy (literally) by letting it sit out there empty but hot.

 

 

I was afraid the sun hadn't helped enough, but the ripeness was actually perfect: it kept the "mashed avocado" from turning into guacamole. 

 

 

I got the grill out, but couldn't get it to light.  Apparently the propane tank was starting to run low.  Jared used a match to get things started for me.  While the grill heated up, I combined the ground turkey with shredded sharp cheddar and "grated" onion (I bought pre-shredded cheese to save time and just cut the onion into tiny pieces).

 

 

When I went out to flip the burgers, I brought the wheat buns so I could grill them at the very end, and found that the grill had died down.  Jared got it going with another match.

 

 

I went back in to start cleaning up while I waited for the final side of the burgers to cook, but when I came back, the grill had died down again.

 

 

I ended up finishing the burgers on a pan and toasting the buns instead of grilling them:

 

 

 

It worked out well - the burgers were really moist with great flavor. We topped them with thinly sliced onion and the mashed avocado. 

Jared had two, which means I get the last one for lunch today!

 

Grilling is for Girls: REAL SIMPLE Spiced Pork Burger with Grilled Peppers and Provolone

 

When Jared got accepted to medical school back in May, I realized that I would have to take on a much larger share of the cooking for the next four to eight (or twenty) years.  Generally Jared makes us breakfast and dinner and I'm in charge of packing lunches and snacks.

 

While my skills have improved significantly over the first four years of our marriage, I still need recipes that are fun, fast, and feasible.  The June issue of Real Simple magazine featured a spread on six different drool-worthy burgers and so I decided that when I took on the cooking for our family this year, I would try one new burger each week until we'd had all six.

 

Week One: Spiced Pork Burger #teammatson Style

 

Last night, Jared chipped in by showing my how to fire up our little grill without blowing anything up or lighting the porch on fire.  Most of you may find this sort of thing easy/intuitive, but here are the steps he went through with me:

 

 

Uncover grill.

Twist off propane cap.

Screw propane canister into grill.

Push grill knob down and turn so it no longer says "off."

Push red button until grill ignite (small flame which should be short lived).

 

 

Then, cover grill to let it heat.  In my case I needed medium high.  You can clean the grill with a wire brush when hot but ours was pretty clean to begin with. 

 

 

I always start cooking by putting all my ingredients out together, and then putting them away as I finish using them.  This helps me avoid forgetting anything important.

 

 

The recipe called for ground pork, which I couldn't find at Trader Joe's, so I went with ground turkey patties.  In hindsight, I would not get the meat in patties as you end up mixing it with the spices and reforming patties later anyhow.

 

First step was to cut up the peppers and onion and mix with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Spray (CAREFULLY) the grill with olive oil and then grill the veggies (5-7 minutes for the peppers, 12+ for the onions), turning occasionally.

 

 

 

While the veggies were grilling, I worked on the meat.  You mix the ground meat with fennel seed, chopped garlic, and red pepper flakes.  I had frozen the patties earlier in the week and then thawed to grill.  This seemed to cause difficulty in getting the patties to bind, so Jared suggested I use a raw egg. 

 

NOTE: you are supposed to mix the egg before mixing it in with the meat...I didn't do this and so it didn't help much.  The patties sank into the grill which made them hard to flip and then the grill was a bear to clean later.

 

 

 

Also, I found out you basically always cover the grill while grilling.  I left the cover off for a while and wondered why the patties were cooking so slowly.

 

After flipping, add the provolone and grill the hamburger buns.  This recipe called for regular sesame seed buns, but we went with brioche buns to make it more fun.

 

 

I scraped the burned skin off the peppers, and when the burgers were done we just had to assemble the different pieces!

 

 

We paired our burgers with a Belgian Tripel ale.  So yummy!

 

 

 

 

Success! 

 

 

You tell me: Next week I'm thinking Ginger-Scallion Salmon Burgers or the Lamb Burgers with Tangy Fennel Slaw.  Which would you choose?