Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Finally Here- The Season for BBQ Hamburgers

Sorry to the vegetarian readers out there; some graphic raw meat pictures in today's post! 

Tonight was BBQ Burger Night- our third this week.  Now that it's spring (it is spring, right?), we're giddy with relief that the sun is out. We've spent the last eight days outside, digging compost and battling mosquitoes. BBQ seems like the only appropriate interruption.

So perhaps it seems pretty basic, a post about homemade hamburgers, but its on my mind (and I think more people buy hamburgers than make 'em). Homemade burgers are cheap, have way better flavour and way less creepy filler, than the frozen kind. A pound of beef or elk or bison will make me 9 medium sized burgers or 6 really large ones.  Even with organic, free-range beef that's just under 35 cents per patty! The one down side is cleanup: in my kitchen raw hamburger touches the bowl, the transfer tray from kitchen to BBQ, and thoroughly coats my hands. 


I'm sure there are hundreds of variations of homemade burgers. In ours, I usually add to the thawed meat a jumble of the following ingredients: 

oatmeal
cracker crumbs
shredded carrot
egg
worcestershire sauce
mustard (prepared and powder)
garlic (crushed and powder)
onions
oregano (fresh or dried)
arugula
spinach

Etc. Etc. What goes in yours?


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've added left over ranch dsg mix from Epicure, and their hummus mix as well. Makes it extra garlicky. I'm a big fan of just eggs, oats, fresh pepper and some chopped fresh herbs. Love BBQ season!

Anonymous said...

Where do you get organic beef for $3????

Carissa Halton said...

I should have qualified non-certified organic! Ma-Be Farms at the Alberta Ave Farmers Market... though he may have just raised prices to $3.50. And I was buying half a grass fed cow from a farmer named Albert: (780) 231-5307. I was buying dairy cattle (he'd had a few 'dairy' calfs that he raised for meat) and the hung price was under $3.