Top Ten Tips to Building a Better Burger

Summer’s almost here and if you’re anything like me, you’ve already made that annual trip to the store to refill the propane tank on your backyard grill.

One thing I often hear from guests is that my barbequed burgers actually taste good … rather than just being hard and dry as hockey pucks like so many of those traditional family reunion barbequed hamburgers we’ve all endured from time to time.

In honor of the hallowed summertime tradition of outdoor cooking, here are some of my favorite tips for finding your way to Hamburger Heaven in your own backyard.

1.) Don’t build your burger from low fat meat.  Get a package of ground beef with an 80/20 or even a 70/30 ratio of meat to fat.  The fat keeps it moist and flavorful and drains off during the cooking process so the calorie count ultimately isn’t much higher than the lower fat varieties … but the flavor is so much better.  Be aware, though, that the higher the fat content in your meat, the more the patty will shrink while cooking.  So plan accordingly.

2.) For additional flavor, try mixing ground beef with other ground meats like pork, sausage or lamb.  A good ratio is two parts beef to one part other meat.  Also, if you use ground turkey to save money, keep in mind that turkey is probably one of the least stable burger materials you can find, so mix it 50/50 with ground beef to keep those burgers in one piece on the grill.

3.) When forming burgers, mix the ingredients together gently, handle your burger patties as little as possible, and don’t fully compress the meat … remember, you’re not making meatloaf or meatballs.  If you form the raw beef into patties with wet hands, the grease won’t stick to your skin nearly as much.

4.) If you like adding extra things to your ground beef before making patties, make sure to keep the pieces small.  Large chunks of onion or garlic make the patty unstable and more apt to fall apart while cooking.  Be sure to finely chop or grate all added veggies.

5.) Some particularly tasty additions to the burger mix are: freshly ground pepper, minced garlic, finely chopped onion, Worcestershire sauce, grated carrot, crushed vinegar & salt potato chips, or soy sauce.  I’ve discovered that burger purists tend to insist on top-of-the-line ground beef (Sirloin) with nothing added but salt and pepper (after grilling).  Honestly, I love a good, pure burger … but sometimes it’s fun to add the extras for variety. Also, if you add steak sauce or applesauce to your burger patties, try mixing in some dry bread crumbs, quick-cooking oats, or beaten eggs to help stabilize the burgers.

6.) Cook over a medium flame rather than a high one.  You want to cook the patties just slow enough to cook all the way through.  You don’t want them charred on the outside and a raw mess on the inside.

7.) Don’t press down on the cooking burger patties with your spatula or flip the burger using tongs that squeeze the burger.  You’ll just be squeezing out all the delicious juiciness and leaving behind a much dryer and tougher finished product.  Make an indentation with your thumb in the center of each burger before cooking to help keep them flat without squishing them under the spatula.

8.) Never — I repeat, “Never!” — poke your cooking burger patties with a fork or other pointy object.  It’s a guaranteed trip to Hockey Puck Hamburger Land when all those delicious juices pour out through that hole.

9.) The less you move the burgers around on the grill, the better looking the grill marks.  Ideally, you only want to turn the burger once, but be sure to focus on safety and full cooking more than making the prettiest burgers on the block.  You’ll hear mixed messages from burger aficionados about what temperature to cook the burgers and how often to flip them, but I tend to not worry about the perfect grill marks and have found that frequent flipping tends to keep the juices in the burger a bit better.

10.) Let the burgers rest for a minute or two before serving to give a chance for the juices to settle.  Serving too soon may cause the burgers to dry out.  Rather than melting cheese onto the burgers during the grilling process, I like to set the cheese slices on top of the finished burgers while they’re “resting.”  The cheese melts without dripping off the burger onto the grill.  When the cheese is done melting, the burgers are done resting and ready to serve.

Add your favorite toppings and enjoy!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

–Deborah Taylor-Hough (free-lance writer and mother of three) is the author of several popular books including Frugal Living For Dummies(R) and Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month. To subscribe to her free email newsletter, Simple Times, send an email to: subscribe-simple-times@hub.thedollarstretcher.com

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Debi’s Cafe’ Vienna Coffee Mix

• 1/2 cup instant coffee (regular or decaf)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2/3 cup nonfat dry milk
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Stir ingredients together until well-blended.  Store in an air-tight container until ready to use. 

To serve, use two(2) heaping teaspoons per cup of hot water.  Stir.  Enjoy. 

~Debi

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Mix-n-Match Skillet Meals

This is a great recipe to keep on hand for using up your holiday dinner leftovers (ham, turkey, veggies, etc.).

I actually keep a copy of this taped to the inside of my pantry door at all times. It’s not only easy, it also saves money by allowing you to choose ingredients already on hand without a last minute dash to the store for some forgotten item.

This recipe is adapted from my book, Mix & Match Recipes: Creative Ideas for Busy Kitchens (SourceBooks).

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Mix-n-Match Skillet Meals

Choose one (1) food from each of the following groups:

Breads and Cereals (1 cup raw)

• Macaroni

• Spaghetti

• Rice (white or brown)

• Noodles

• Bulgar

• Any pasta

Sauce (1 can soup plus 1.5 cans milk, broth or water)

• Cream of Mushroom

• Cream of Celery

• Cream of Chicken

• Cream of Potato

• Tomato Soup

• French Onion Soup

Protein (1 pound or 1 cup cooked)

• Chopped beef

• Chopped pork or ham

• Ground beef or turkey

• Chicken

• Turkey

• Tuna

• Salmon

• Mackerel

• Cooked dry beans

• Frankfurters

• Keilbasa

Vegetables (1.5 to 2 cups canned, cooked or raw)

• Carrots

• Peas

• Corn

• Green beans

• Lima beans

• Broccoli

• Spinach

• Mixed vegetables

• Celery

• Green Pepper

• Whatever you have around

1/2 to 1 cup cheese (any kind) can be stirred into sauce at the end of the cooking time. 

1. Choose one food from each of the four groups above.

2. Stir together in skillet.

3. Season to taste with salt, pepper, soy sauce, onion flakes, garlic, or whatever spices you enjoy.

4. Bring to a boil.

5. Reduce heat to lowest setting.

6. Cover pan and simmer 30 minutes until pasta or rice is tender.

7. Stir occasionaly to prevent rice and pasta from sticking.

8. Stir in cheese, if desired.

9. Serve.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

To Bake in Oven: Mix all ingredients in casserole dish and cover tightly; bake at 350 F for one hour.

Praline Pumpkin Dessert

I stumbled upon this recipe online yesterday at the Betty Crocker site and realized I had all the ingredients in my pantry … no trip to the grocery store needed.  So I made it last night … and everybody loved it!

Click here: Praline Pumpkin Dessert 

It’s almost too easy.  I had to read the instructions several times to make sure I wasn’t skipping a step or something.  It’s also one of those things that you can buy the various ingredients when they’re on sale to keep on your pantry shelf for a spur-of-the-moment, relatively inexpensive dessert.

It’s not a pie … but the bottom layer is essentially pumpkin pie filling.  It’s definitely not a cake … but it uses a box of cake mix.  It has a crust on top that’s almost like a cobbler crust with nuts added … but it’s not a cobbler either.  No wonder they simply call it a “dessert” … it defies description. 

~Debi

A Secret to a Relaxed Holiday Dinner

Can you imagine a relaxed Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner without needing to actually cook a turkey on the big day? You’d be able to enjoy the festivities as much as your friends and family!

Believe it or not, it’s possible to roast your turkey ahead of time and store the cooked meat in the freezer to reheat and serve on the big day. If this sounds a bit too much like eating leftovers, let me assure you that by following these simple freezing and reheating instructions, you’ll have moist, delicious turkey — and not one of your guests will suspect you didn’t spend the entire holiday slaving away in the kitchen keeping watch over a hot oven.

Feel free to use your own favorite turkey recipe if you prefer, and then follow the freezing/reheating instructions at the end of this article (but I personally don’t think you’ll find a tastier turkey recipe!).

TO PREPARE TURKEY:

• 3 onions, quartered
• 6 celery stalks, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 2 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 1/2 cups white wine (or water)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 2 teaspoons sage
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 3 cups chicken broth, canned (reserve for freezing process)

In bottom of a deep roasting pan, place two quartered onions, four celery stalks, the carrots, bay leaves and white wine (or water). Remove turkey giblets, rinse bird inside and out. Pat dry with paper towels. Stuff turkey loosely with remaining quartered onion and celery stalks. Brush turkey with olive oil mixed with salt, pepper, sage, and thyme. Cover turkey loosely with a large sheet of foil coated lightly with olive oil, crimping foil on to edges of roasting pan. Cook according to chart below. During last 45 minutes, cut band of skin or string between legs and tail. Uncover and continue roasting until done. Baste, if desired.

Turkey Roasting Chart (loosely wrapped with foil):
12-16 pounds / 325 degrees F / 4 – 5 hours
16-20 pounds / 325 degrees F / 5 – 6 hours
20-24 pounds / 325 degrees F / 6 – 7 hours

Testing for doneness:

About 20 minutes before roasting time is completed, test bird. Flesh on thickest part of drumstick should feel soft when squeezed between fingers, drumstick should move up an down easily, and meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of leg should read 185 degrees F. (Or follow manufacturer’s instructions.)

- FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS -

DRIPPINGS: Pour liquid and drippings from roasting pan into a bowl. Remove vegetables. Allow bowl of liquid to cool in refrigerator until fat congeals on top. Scoop off fat with a spoon and pour drippings into a labeled freezer bag. Thaw to use for making gravy on serving day.

TURKEY: Allow turkey to cool in pan for 1/2 hour; then place turkey and its roasting pan into refrigerator. Allow to cool completely (several hours). When fully chilled, slice turkey as usual. Remove all meat from bones. Place breast and dark meat slices into labeled freezer bags. Pour canned chicken broth into bags over meat. Freeze.

TO SERVE: Thaw bag of meat and broth, and place into a covered baking dish for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. Or place turkey and broth into a microwave-safe dish, cover with plastic wrap, and heat until hot (the time will vary with different microwaves, so check manufacturer’s instructions). Drain off broth (reserve to make more gravy, if needed). Arrange the heated turkey slices attractively on a serving platter. Serve hot.

**Excerpted and adapted from the 10-Day Holiday Meal Plan in the bestselling book, ‘Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month’ (Champion Press).

~Debi

Homemade Pudding Pops

“Pudding Pops”

Prepare a box of instant pudding according to instructions, pour into popcycle molds and freeze.  You can also make your own molds with small paper cups and popcycle sticks.

If you use chocolate flavored pudding, you have super-simple, do-it-yourself fudge-pops.  And if you use sugar-free pudding, it can even count as a “diet” dessert or treat. 

Butterscotch pudding is really good this way, too.

~Debi

Ratatouille

If you browse through the produce department in your local store, you’ll probably notice that all the main ingredients for the following recipe are plentiful, beautiful and cheap(!) right now.  Ah, the joys of buying produce in season. 

Before we get to the recipe, here’s a little background story on why I’m posting this right now:

The other weekend, we went to see the movie “Ratatouille” at our local cheap theater ($2 per person every show, every day).

We all enjoyed the movie, but afterward my kids were all asking, “Mom, what IS Ratatouille, anyway?”

I went home after the movie craving a big steaming bowl of Ratatouille.  It’s been one of my all-time favorite meals for years, but I’d never fixed it at home after my kids were old enough to make “yuck” faces at large pieces of green pepper and cooked onion in their food.

My children are quite a bit more grown up in their food tastes now, so I figured there probably wouldn’t be too many “yuck” faces when they saw eggplant, green/red/yellow peppers, and onion chunks swimming in their bowls.

Much to my surprise, EVERYONE liked it, even my pickiest eater (although she did pick out the onions and peppers as I suspected she would). But the flavor was rated “Yummy!” by everyone.

I’m not sure they would’ve been quite so willing to try it if it hadn’t been for the movie. Sometimes introducing children to diverse food items is just a matter of using a little creative timing. 

Ratatouille

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil (more or less)
• 2 large onions, sliced (or one gigantic one like I used)
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 medium-sized eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4-6 medium sized zucchini (or one humungous one from the garden), thickly sliced
• 2 green peppers, seeded and cut into chunks (I used 1 green pepper and 1/2 each of a red pepper and yellow pepper .. makes it more colorful)
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1/4 cup fresh minced parsley (I was out of parsley so didn’t use it … didn’t miss it, either)
• 4 large tomatoes, cut in chunks

Instructions:

1. Over high heat, heat olive oil in a large pan or Dutch oven.  Add onions and garlic and cook until softened but not brown.
2. Stir in eggplant, zucchini, peppers, salt, basil and parsley.  Add a little more oil if needed to keep the veggies from sticking.
3. Cover and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir gently and carefully to retain shape of veggies as they soften.
4. Add tomatoes.  Stir gently.  Add more oil if sticking.
5. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for an additional 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

This is best if served a day or more after preparation.  It can be served hot, cold, or at room temperature.

~Debi

Fruit Salad

“Fruit Salad”

Fill a salad bowl with large cubes of fresh fruit (apples, oranges, bananas, melons, etc.), and then pour a carton of VANILLA-flavored yogurt (NOT plain yogurt) over the fruit for a sauce.

This is so simple, but very tasty.

~Debi

How to use up the last bits of breakfast cereal in the box

Sometimes I find my cupboard filling up with boxes of cereal that contain less than a full serving of cereal.  Nobody ends up eating the last little bit and the nearly empty boxes take up lots of space.

Last summer, my kids and I were on vacation and at one of the motels we stayed at, they had a serve-yourself breakfast each day.  One of the things they offered was a choice of several cereals, and then also a container of mix-and-matched cereal that looked like the ends of the boxes all mixed together.  Much to our surprise, my kids and I discovered that we actually liked this mixed cereal.

When we got home, I bought a plastic reuseable cereal storage container and started pouring those last little remnants from various boxes into the container, shook it gently to mix, and suddenly we had an easy way to store and serve the tidbits that were often thrown away or went stale before we could find someone willing to eat only half a bowl of Raisin Bran.

Sometimes the easiest changes bring about big rewards.  We now have more cupboard space, and we also have another option for breakfast in the morning:  “Mom’s Mix”. 

~Debi

Hot Spiced Cider

My recipe for hot spiced cider is one of those throw-it-together-as-you-go recipes, but I’ll try to explain the process as best I can. This is an easy recipe for kids just learning to cook, too.

First, take a large jug of apple juice or cider (a gallon is a good amount). Then pour the juice into a large pot on the stove (or into the crockpot if you don’t want to use a burner). Heat to a simmer.

Then add the following ingredients to the simmering juice:

• about one cup of frozen orange juice concentrate (this ingredient
  is a MUST)
• approximately two teaspoons (more or less) of EACH of the following: Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves (whole or ground)
• and sometimes I add about one cup (or less) of cranberry juice

Let it all simmer for awhile (half an hour at least).

The smell wafting through the house while the cider is simmering is simply heaven. Serve the hot spiced cider in mugs. For a nice touch, add a whole cinnamon stick to each mug.

Having a large pot of hot, spiced apple cider simmering on the stove when company arrives is a sure way to make them very happy that they chose to come over to your house. 

~Debi