Feta Stuffed Burgers with Pesto

Here’s another yummy variation on the traditional burger. My husband has been wanting to make a feta stuffed burger for a while so we decided tonight to try it out. I had some ciabatta rolls left over from earlier this week so we toasted them up and they were the perfect bun for this burger. Give it a try. It was great!

Feta Stuffed Burgers with Pesto

1 lb ground beef chuck
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
crumbled feta cheese
prepared pesto

Combine all ingredients except the feta and pesto. Form a thin patty with the ground beef. Place a small amount of feta in the center of the patty. Form another thin patty and place on top. Press together to seal the feta inside the meat. Grill until done, about 15 minutes. Serve on toasted ciabatta rolls with pesto.  

Makes 4 burgers

Backyard Beer Burgers

It’s just about impossible to get my husband to cook, as I’ve stated many times on this blog. It’s impossible that is unless it involves the grill. He always jumps at the chance to grill. That’s why for Christmas last year I got him a couple of grilling cookbooks hoping he would look through them and become inspired to pick out his own recipe to make. I’ve been pestering him to go through the cookbooks and pick something out and finally he did. How did I know it would be a burger? He loves to grill burgers. So I bought all the ingredients needed to make these yesterday and he grilled them for dinner last night. Somehow I still managed to put them together though. Not sure how that happened but anyway, they turned out pretty tasty. I think we’ll be experimenting with more burger flavor combinations this summer.

Backyard Beer Burgers

1 1/2 lbs lean (at least 80%) ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
1/4 cup regular or nonalcoholic beer
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
6 rye or whole wheat hamburger buns, split (use any kind of bun you like)
Ketchup, if desired
Pickle planks, if desired

1. Heat coals or gas grill for direct heat.

2. In medium bowl, mix all ingredients except buns, ketchup and pickeles. Shape mixture into 6 patties, about 3/4 inch thick.

3. Cover and grill patties over medium heat 13 to 15 minutes, turning once, until meat thermometer inserted in center reads 160 F and patties are no longer pink in center. Add buns, cut side down, for last 4 minutes of grilling or until toasted. Serve burgers in buns with ketchup and pickles.

Betty Crocker Grilling Made Easy, p. 46

*We also added cheddar cheese to the center of the burgers before grilling.

Summertime Grillin’

It is very evident by the suffocating heat and humidity that Summer is upon us. I think somehow Spring just passed us by here in Alabama. And with this hot weather comes the smell of grills firing up all around my neighborhood. Sure there is something wonderful about grilled food that makes you feel more relaxed like you’re having a back yard party even if it’s just a week night, but let’s face it, it’s just about too darn hot to cook inside! Lately I’ve been dreading turning on my oven. By the time I get dinner done, I’m sweaty and have to cool down before I can even eat. So needless to say you are probably going to be seeing more grilled foods in my blog for a while.

Now whenever I ask what my husband what he wants to grill he will most always say “burgers”. The guy loves some burgers. In the evenings when we walk our dogs around our neighborhood if he smells the smoke of grill he will always say “we need to grill burgers soon”. Now I get tired of plain old burgers. I can think of tons of other things that I would love on the grill. But what can I say, he has simple tastes. So tonight I decided we would grill burgers but I wanted to change them up a bit from my regular recipe. So I threw some ingredients together and what came out was a super moist, smoky, and delicious burger. You should definitely give this one a try if you’re looking to change up your regular burger recipe.

*I also think bacon would be awesome on these burgers.

Barbecue Burgers

1 1/4-1 1/2 lb ground beef or chuck

1/4 cup barbecue sauce plus more for brushing the tops of the burgers (I used honey bbq because that’s what I had)

2 cloves garlic, minced (3 cloves if they’re small)

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup bread crumbs

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

*Buns

*Sliced sharp cheddar cheese

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Form into 6 patties. Place on a hot grill or grill pan and cook until desired doneness. Brush the tops of the burgers with the extra barbecue sauce once they’re done. Top with the sharp cheddar and remove from the grill. Place the buns on the grill and allow them to toast for about 5 minutes or so.

Carmelized Onions and Mushrooms

1 yellow or sweet onion, sliced into thin strips

2 cups mushrooms, cleaned and chopped into 1/2″ chunks

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp sugar

2 Tbsp butter

2-3 Tbsp beef broth or water

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions to the pan and toss to coat with the butter. Add the salt, pepper, and sugar and toss again. Cover and allow to cook down about 5-7 minutes or until you start to see a light brown coloring on the onions. Add the mushrooms in and stir together with the onions. Cover and allow to cook another 5 minutes. Add the broth or water to deglaze the pan and get all the brown bits off the bottom. Serve on top of the barbecue burgers.

Basic Burger

Cold weather is fast approaching so there won’t be much grilling going on for the next few months. It’s still fairly decent weather out, so we can still get a few more uses out of the grill this year. I asked my husband last week to pick two things he wanted for dinner this week. One was burgers and the other, his favorite pasta. So tonight he fired up the grill and I made my basic burger recipe. Very easy and tasty and a nice farewell to summer.

My Basic Burger

1 1/4 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
5-6 dashes worcestershire sauce
2 tsp Paula Deen’s Steak and Prime Rib Rub (a mixture of salt, garlic powder, and smoke flavorings)-goes well with burgers, too

Combine all ingredients in a bowl until well mixed. Form into patties.
Makes 4 large burgers.

Burgers and Fries

Tonight I decided to put a healthy spin on traditional burgers and fries. So I made turkey burgers and baked sweet potato fries. The turkey burger recipe is a basic recipe I got from one of the ladies on a cooking board I frequent. They turned out very tasty!

Delicious Turkey Burgers

Entrée-Turkey

3 lbs. ground turkey

¼ c seasoned breadcrumbs

¼ c finely diced onion

2 egg whites, lightly beaten

¼ c chopped fresh parsley

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

1 t salt

¼ t pepper

• Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Form into 12 patties.
• Cook patties in a medium skillet over medium, turning once, until heated through.

* I actually halved this recipe and made 4 larger patties instead of 6 smaller ones.

Sweet Potato Fries with Basil Salt
5 sweet potatoes, cut into about 1 by 5-inch “fries”
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.Place the sweet potato “fries” on a foil-lined baking sheet and toss with the olive oil. Bake until golden, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile combine the basil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. In another small bowl combine the mayonnaise, garlic, and lemon juice, and stir to combine.

When the sweet potato fries come out of the oven, sprinkle with the basil salt. Serve with the garlic mayonnaise alongside for dipping.

*The recipe calls for a garlic mayonnaise dipping sauce which I didn’t make since we aren’t really fans of mayo. Instead I sprinkled the potatoes with a little garlic powder for extra flavor.

Giada’s recipe-foodnetwork.com http://tinyurl.com/2j9e75