Fun Burgers

Let's face it, burgers can be boring. In the past I have tried ways to make burgers more fun...and the burgers I have made are usually fairly successful. However, tonight I did not want to make an extra trip to the grocery store for any special ingredients. So in an effort to make the burgers fun I looked through Juniors cookie cutters. The star quickly caught my eye due to ideal size for a burger.

After combining a pound of ground beef with a third a pound of sausage I shaped them into stars. A small amount of salt and pepper just before placing on the grill made these burgers taste great. After our crazy week we needed an easy dinner and the star burgers proved to be that.

I noticed some other fun shapes that I am sure I will use sometime soon!

Complete Meal on the Grill

This weekend I decided to cook an entire meal on the grill. It turned out good! For the main dish I made burgers. I used a generous sprinkling of a season salt. Though I have plenty left over, this is what I mixed.

6 tbs salt

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp celery seed

For the side dish I made a grilled potato salad. I had a rub (maybe too spicy) and a dressing to go over the cooked potatoes.

I cooked and crumbled (inside) five pieces of bacon and dumped the six diced red potatoes into the bacon grease. I then added the spices:

2 tbs Kosher salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp celery seeds

Potatoes were cooked in a throw-away tin on the top rack of the grill. They cooked for about 45 minutes. They were the first thing placed on the grill!

The dressing, something I often mix for dipping sausage, was a mix of mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, and Worshestershire sauce. For this recipe it was a total of about 1/2 cup. Dressing was added once potatoes were removed from the grill.

For the dessert I grilled individual angel food cakes. In the top picture you can see the small cake tins. Since it was my first attempt to bake on the grill I used a box cake mix. I used Crisco in each of the tins and filled them each about half-way. Cake cooked on the grill about 45 minutes. I also pureed a bag of thawed mixed berries with some lemon and lime juices to top the cake. Cake turned out light with a slight smoky taste. Cake on the grill may become a regular thing now!

Creative Burger

Really, how creative can you be with a burger? One way is to try new breads. I patted out four burgers and then realized we had no buns. However, we did have two pieces of French bread. I changed the shape of the patties to better fit the bread.

To the meat I added worcheshire sauce and a small amount of Tony Chachere's seasoning. I added cheese once the burgers were finished cooking. Burgers were good. I went a little too light on the seasoning since we had two relatives over.

Note: Today is Thanksgiving and the burgers were not cooked today. Today I celebrated with family. Over fifty relatives gathered at my parents farm for food, fellowship, and fun. Great tradition!

Grilled bacon = Fire

I recently grilled bacon cheese burgers for some friends. I love grilled bacon. Cooking above the burgers allows the grease to drip down onto the burgers and make them taste even better. However, the grease also drips onto the flame and can pretty much make everything catch on fire.

A few minutes after the initial flip of the burgers I opened the grill to see many of the burgers in flames. I was able to blow out the flames and retrieved the water bottle from inside to help control future flame-ups.

The burgers were seasoned with Cavenders Greek Seasoning and the bacon grease. Other than being a little too charred in places the burgers were great. I will grill bacon again soon. However, next time I will have the water bottle on hand from the beginning.

Pizza Burgers

In an effort to try a variety of flavors in hamburgers I recently grilled "pizza burgers". In the burgers I added Italian bread crumbs. I also added a little oregano, salt, and pepper. When the burgers were on the grill I added some tomato sauce. Finally, when the burgers were almost finished I added some shredded mozzarella cheese.

On the side, I grilled diced mushrooms and onions. These were cooked in an open foil pack on the grill with a little extra virgin olive oil and salt.

I thought the burgers were excellent but my wife thought we should have bought a better cheese. I can't wait to prepare these again!