Food & Cooking Tips
The Perfect Hamburger
OK, you know you can't have the perfect cookout without hamburgers. We've all had our fair share of hockey-pucks, overcooked, tough and flavorless burgers. We're here to help give you advice so that your burgers will get rave reviews.
I'll never forget the impromptu cookout we had and we used the pre-made
supermarket burgers. They're actually pretty good. No, NOT the frozen
ones, fresh ones. My mother-in-law almost knocked me over when she loudly
protested because I hadn't made my homemade burgers. Since that time I've
made them for her every time.
Believe me, it couldn't
be easier to make hamburgers your friends and family will rave about.
There are just a few tips we'll give you here.
First, don't use ground beef that's super lean (that's where hockey pucks
come from). I remember Michael Chiarello saying the perfect burger would
have 30% fat. Of course fat is what gives the burgers fabulous flavor
and moisture. I have my butcher grind me coarse hamburger about 20% fat.
The best most flavorful meat is ground chuck.
Remember though, a fatty burger will shrink so you'll have to take that
into consideration and make your pattie bigger. I tend to make my patties
about 1/2 inch bigger in diameter than the roll.
The secret ingredient that my mother-in-law raved about? Lipton Onion
Soup Mix. That's right. It's the perfect seasoning for hamburgers. I generally
add two envelopes of Lipton Onion Soup Mix to two pounds of ground beef.
I also add one egg just to help hold things together. Sometimes for a
change I use a Montreal Steak spice instead. I sprinkle it on the patties
after they're formed.
I've also learned to not over mix. Over mixing will toughen the burgers.
If I've stored the hamburgers in the refrigerator I take them out of the
refrigerator at least 15 minutes before we cook them. No matter what type
of meat we're cooking, burgers, steaks, roast, chicken, etc., I always
bring it to room temperature before cooking.
We cook our hamburgers over direct medium heat. Due to the high fat content
in the hamburgers we find there are less flair-ups at medium heat. We
cook a 1" thick burger 6 minutes per side for medium well, and a
1 1/4" burger 9 minutes per side for medium well. To be sure you're
safe you can check it with a meat thermometer and it should register 160°F.
Resist the urge to move the burgers around too much, that's how they break
up. What you should do is put the burger on the grill and leave it for
the suggested time. Then flip it over. It should not stick to the grill.
Also, NEVER push down on your burger with a spatula. All you're doing
is pushing out the juices.
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How to freeze fresh green beans
If you've been spoiled like me eating fresh green beans and dread the end of the season and going back to factory frozen or canned green beans, you should know that freezing green beans is the easiest way to have them year round. Many people prefer to freeze green beans as opposed to canning them. Freezing is much less time consuming and requires fewer tools. Canning requires jars, lids, and a pressure cooker.
Different varieties of green beans
I remember the first time I heard the Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten use the term haricot verts I couldn't think what it could be. Knowing how Ina loves French cooking I knew that it must be some fabulous French ingredient I'd never heard of. Well, imagine my surprise when I leared that haricot verts were green beans! True haricot verts are very thin, crisp and tender green beans.
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