Lately I've been on something of an all-American kick, largely inspired by ballpark fare. Hot dogs for lunch (with cole slaw, a Southern thing you must immediately adopt) and pizza and burgers for dinner. Healthy? Not in the least. But it's making me a happy girl.
After making Iraqi dolma the other night, in this case Swiss chard leaves stuffed with a mixture of ground lamb, rice, and spices, I had a hunk of leftover lamb. What to do? Stuff it with cheese, of course, and serve it up with a side of fries. I remembered seeing a cheese-stuffed burger recipe in a magazine but, in my relentless and quite possibly unbeatable war against entropy, I seem to have thrown it out. Drat! Improvise? Not my strongest suit.
But, dear readers, I persevered, full of self-doubt and self-pity, mixing ground lamb with casually measured amounts of egg, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and the like. Even in the face of possible calamity, I pushed onward, slapping the cold meat patties down on my cutting board and spreading them with crumbled bleu cheese (note pretentious French spelling -- it was an import so I felt I owed the French this small gesture of worship) and mashing another layer of meat on top. Waste not, want not being my philosophy, I carefully selected oversized ciabatta rolls rather than buy an entire bag of fluffy, soft hamburger buns (though economically speaking, I wasted the same amount of money on 2 rolls that I would have on 8). I asked Mr. Food Musings to fetch a locally grown tomato from the market on his way home and sliced it thick. What I did not do, my dears, is julienne the frites by hand, but come on. What do you take me for, a masochist?
When the burgers and fries were done, Mr. FM and I sat down to catch up on season two of The Wire, glasses of wine in our hands. The cheese oozed out, the fries were crisp and light, and though I think I prefer my burgers to be all beef, I was a happy girl indeed.
Blue Cheese-stuffed Burgers (adapted from a Cooks.com recipe)
Serves 4
1 1/3 lb. ground beef
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. spicy mustard, plus more for spreading
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 tsp. fresh black pepper
3/4 cup blue cheese, crumbled
4 ciabatta rolls (or hamburger buns), toasted
1 tomato, sliced
4 pieces of butter lettuce
1. Preheat broiler (or grill). In a large bowl, combine ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, pepper and garlic. Mix well. Shape the meat mixture into 8 thin patties.
2. Place 1/4 of the blue cheese atop each of 4 patties. Spread to within 1/2" of edges. Top with remaining patties. Press meat around edges to seal well and smush them down a bit if they're too thick.
3. Place burgers on a broiler pan. Broil 3" from heat about 4 minutes per side, turning once. Serve burgers on toasted buns with lettuce, tomato and more mustard.
Ooooh, YUM! Nothing like a hot, juicy burger made JUST the way you like it! Those sound divine.
Posted by: Jennifer | October 18, 2005 at 01:17 PM
What a great, simple idea for dinner. Have you tried making yukon, gold french fries in Rice Bran Oil???
Posted by: Madison | October 18, 2005 at 01:56 PM
Jennifer -- Exactly!
Madison -- I cheat, I use some nummy pre-cut fries in olive oil and sea salt from the frozen section at Whole Foods. Have never even heard of rice bran oil, what sort of flavor does it impart?
Posted by: Catherine | October 19, 2005 at 09:28 AM
Rice Bran Oil is great for high heat sauteing and the best for deep frying-the smoke point is 490 degress and the flavor is neutral-it also has more antioxidants than olive oil.
Posted by: madison | October 19, 2005 at 12:18 PM
Madison -- wow, super interesting. I'll look for it next time I'm at Whole Foods. Thank you!
Posted by: Catherine | October 19, 2005 at 12:33 PM