Post 1.9 - Memorial Day Recipes

Memorial Day kicks off the summer. Many of us will be enjoying barbecues, picnics, or even a first trip to the beach.

Initially, I was going to make this post several recipes, but it occurred to me that my favorite recipe is several recipes in one.

Stuffed Hamburgers.

These are easy to make, and the basic idea is to stuff your hamburgers with the ingredients you typically love to top your hamburger with -- sauteed onions, sauteed mushrooms, cheese, mustard, barbecue sauce, etc.

Basically, take your quantity of ground beef and season it with a little onion powder. Set it aside.

You can sautee a quantity of mushrooms and/or a quantity of onions. Slice a block of your favorite cheese so you have small pieces for stuffing. Set aside maybe a 1/4 cup at a time of spicy mustard, dijon mustard, barbecue sauce, or any of your favorite condiment.

Form the ground beef into medium to large balls and make a well in the center with your thumb, then put whatever filling you'd like in the well. The barbecue sauce will be tricky in the next step, so don't use a lot - thicker consistency liquids do better.

Close the "well" and flatten the ball into a patty. The filling should be completely contained by meat and not visible from the outside. Some people like to cover over one "well" with a small amount of additional meat (think meat sandwich), rather than working with just the meat in the original ball, and that's fine, too.

Then cook the patty on medium-high heat on your grille or in a pre-heated frying pan. You will not be able to cut into the meat to see how "done" it is without losing the filling, so you'll have to do it by time. Usually 5-8 minutes will cook the meat thoroughly, turning once halfway through.

You can still melt cheese on the outside, if you wish, add lettuce, tomato, mayo, whatever you like, and serve it on a bun.

For myself, the stuffed burger seems more elegant to eat as a standalone filet with a knife and fork and no additional bread, since the burger has such a tasty filling with flavors that permeate meat. It's also a great solution for ground turkey, which is often difficult to season effectively when making turkey burgers.

In any case, it's something different and I love it - and I hope you do, too.

Some suggestions for fillings:
bleu cheese
feta cheese
cheddar cheese
colby cheese
french-fried onions
sauteed mushrooms
sauteed zucchini (cut into small pieces after cooking)
sauteed onions
dijon mustard
spicy brown mustard
A1 steak sauce
barbecue sauce
ranch dressing
bleu cheese dressing

Happy Memorial Day!

Have a question or a suggestion for a future topic? E-mail me at facetsblog@gmail.com.

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