Burgers/Meatloaf--Cook-Off 10

[percyn]

Has anyone ever grilled burgers made with ground lamb?  I've seen a few recipes that topped lamb burgers with a tzaziki sauce (cucumbers and yogurt) that looked tempting.  I've been tempted to try a few times but always got distracted by something else, plus I wonder about whether the lamb would need something else to keep it moist.

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I have and they are delicious. In fact, I may have some in my freezer and if I do I will make them and post the pics. I sometimes make burgers with a combination of lamb and 80-20 beef.

[Grub]

Glazed Turkey burgers, from a Better Homes and garden cookbook (I'm starting to suspect that I use this book so often, simply because it is conveniently ring-bound... But then again, the recipes in it are tried and tested). BBQ'd btw.

Glaze made of orange marmalade and mustard, of all things. And I guess that wasn't weird enough for me, so I used some mayo and wasabe sauce on the bun. The wasabe sauce was a gift and I'd just never gotten around to using the damn thing, so -- oh well...

[LindaK]

Has anyone ever grilled burgers made with ground lamb?  I've seen a few recipes that topped lamb burgers with a tzaziki sauce (cucumbers and yogurt) that looked tempting.  I've been tempted to try a few times but always got distracted by something else, plus I wonder about whether the lamb would need something else to keep it moist.

I have and they are delicious. In fact, I may have some in my freezer and if I do I will make them and post the pics. I sometimes make burgers with a combination of lamb and 80-20 beef.

I'd love to see pics and get your report back. why beef, though? I'd hesitate to add it to lamb, the flavors are so different. But then I'm not a big beef fan.

[Chris Amirault]

Has anyone ever grilled burgers made with ground lamb?  I've seen a few recipes that topped lamb burgers with a tzaziki sauce (cucumbers and yogurt) that looked tempting.  I've been tempted to try a few times but always got distracted by something else, plus I wonder about whether the lamb would need something else to keep it moist.

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I do it all the time, and as long as you have a decent amount of fat in them, it works great. But if you just use cubes of lamb meat, then, yes, it gets dry.

[Anna N]

I really AM on the right thread! Beneath that egg lies a Danish hamburger.

[Susan in FL]

I really AM on the right thread!  Beneath that egg lies a Danish hamburger.

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Yum, please do tell more.

[Anna N]

I really AM on the right thread! Beneath that egg lies a Danish hamburger.

Yum, please do tell more.

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It is called hakkebof (with a Danish "o"). Basically, it is ground beef, salt and pepper, some heavy cream, well mixed and formed into patties. These are then pan-fried until still pink in the middle. The accompaniment is an onion gravy which is nothing more than onions carmelized, sprinkled with a bit of flour, and then beef stock to deglaze and make the gravy. The burger sits in the onion gravy and is then topped with a fried egg. It is one of hubby's favourites. The accompanying salad is not traditional but being as it's summer, seemed like a better idea than the usual braised red cabbage and/or glazed potatoes.

[ruthcooks]

I once made a meatloaf which turned out too dry because the fat content was so low. I had frozen half, so I let that half thoroughly defrost and mixed in 1/4 cup soft butter with a meat fork (I mix meatloaf with a two pronged fork only, hands never touch the meat). Wonderful!

[Susan in FL]

It is called hakkebof (with a Danish "o").  Basically, it is ground beef, salt and pepper, some heavy cream, well mixed and formed into patties.  These are then pan-fried until still pink in the middle.  The accompaniment is an onion gravy which is nothing more than onions carmelized, sprinkled with a bit of flour, and then beef stock to deglaze and make the gravy.  The burger sits in the onion gravy and is then topped with a fried egg.  It is one of hubby's favourites.  The accompanying salad is not traditional but being as it's summer, seemed like a better idea than the usual braised red cabbage and/or glazed potatoes.

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Thanks, Anna. Our Dane and one of his friends from Denmark will be getting here this weekend, and I can offer that as a dinner.

[torakris]

I really AM on the right thread!  Beneath that egg lies a Danish hamburger.

Yum, please do tell more. 

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It is called hakkebof (with a Danish "o"). Basically, it is ground beef, salt and pepper, some heavy cream, well mixed and formed into patties. These are then pan-fried until still pink in the middle. The accompaniment is an onion gravy which is nothing more than onions carmelized, sprinkled with a bit of flour, and then beef stock to deglaze and make the gravy. The burger sits in the onion gravy and is then topped with a fried egg. It is one of hubby's favourites. The accompanying salad is not traditional but being as it's summer, seemed like a better idea than the usual braised red cabbage and/or glazed potatoes.

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stick it on a bowl of rice and you have a Hawaiian loco moco

Looks great!

hamburgers are on the menu for Sunday's BBQ, pray it doesn't rain as we are officially in the midst of rainy season....

[percyn]

After reading this thread, I had an urge to make Burgers - 3 ways:

Lamb and beef burgers, traditional and peanut butter

Here are the formed patties (the peanut burgers not in the pic)

On the grill, with some Hickory wood chips (too lazy to start my charcoal grill)

Plated:

I had to try the peanut butter burger "plain" and it was delicious. I did notice that they had a higher tendency to flare up due to the fat content.

I went all out on the lamb-beef burger and topped it with aoili, lettuce, fried red onions and a fried egg.

The Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale complimented the burgers well.

[Jensen]

Okay, here's one for the meatloaf contingent...

Chipotle chicken meatloaf, topped with Jaymes' salsa (now that is a recipe that needs to be in Recipe Gullet!) and served with Therese's squash gratin, refried beans, and tortillas.

And, yes, I cooked the meatloaf on the grill!

[snowangel]

Okay, here's one for the meatloaf contingent...

And, yes, I cooked the meatloaf on the grill!

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Did you flip it? Charcoal or gas? Please talk more about the grilling meatloaf.

[Jensen]

Okay, here's one for the meatloaf contingent...

And, yes, I cooked the meatloaf on the grill!

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Did you flip it? Charcoal or gas? Please talk more about the grilling meatloaf.

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Well, I said I cooked it on the grill, not that I grilled it.

It's a gas grill, which I heated on high to clean the grate. Once that was done, I turned all burners (we have three) down to low and let the temperature stabilise. It ended up being around 450 F.

The meatloaf itself was cooked in a loaf pan. As you can see in the photo, the loaf pan was on racks on a baking sheet. I had initially planned to just cook it "free-form" right on the baking sheet but then, when I decided to make the gratin as well, I went with the loaf pan. Less mess and all that.

[LindaK]

I went all out on the lamb-beef burger and topped it with aoili, lettuce, fried red onions and a fried egg.

Aioli AND a fried egg? I'm sure it was delicious, but a bit over the top for me. I think I'll try the aioli and lamb, though, sounds like an inspired combination.

[snowangel]

We burger at The Cabin this weekend. Leaving tomorrow morning. We will probably stop at a burger joint (ground on site with hand-formed patties) on the way up, and do our own on Sunday evening. All in the name of the quest for the ultimate burger.

[BryanZ]

I'm sorry if this has already been discussed, but has anyone attempted to recreate the DB Bistro Burger by Daniel Boulud. Braised short ribs, foie gras, and truffles in a big hunk of ground beef sounds good to me, but I'm wondering if it's possible to do at home,

[Genny]

Sorry no pix...hungry!

Beef burgers, pan fried (DH still sick so man no cook with fire). His was with carmelized onions, no bun. I was in the mood for "everything" so mine had avocado, Blarney cheese, pickled jalepeno, carmelized onions and was eaten in a lettuce wrap "Protein Style". Was good! All with a side of home made Dilly Beans!

[Chris Amirault]

I'm sorry if this has already been discussed, but has anyone attempted to recreate the DB Bistro Burger by Daniel Boulud.  Braised short ribs, foie gras, and truffles in a big hunk of ground beef sounds good to me, but I'm wondering if it's possible to do at home,

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Please, kind sir, be a trailblazer and attempt this concoction your own self! Document it well!

[percyn]

I'm sorry if this has already been discussed, but has anyone attempted to recreate the DB Bistro Burger by Daniel Boulud.  Braised short ribs, foie gras, and truffles in a big hunk of ground beef sounds good to me, but I'm wondering if it's possible to do at home,

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Please, kind sir, be a trailblazer and attempt this concoction your own self! Document it well!

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I had tried this a few years ago (before I found eG and documented my cooking/eating)...sans the short ribs. The taste as I recall was good, but to be honest the beef over-powered the foie gras and truffles. The foie gras did give it a "tender gooey center". This burger has to be eaten rare to slightly medium rare.

Personally, this dish is more of a gimic, like the $100 cheesesteak with similar ingredients...you try it once or twice just for fun. If I find the time and inspiration this week, I might try this again.

Edited June 19, 2005 by percyn (log)

[iguana]

I'm glad to see the meatloaf reappearing in this thread! An alternative to oven-roasted meatloaf, whilst not as good as grilled, is meatloaf cooked in the slow-cooker (Crockpot). Beth Hensperger's Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker cookbook has several recipes. I tried the traditional version with all ground beef and it was delicious.

[Patrick S]

The picture below is of a burger I made back at the end of May. The recipe was from that new magazine, the name of which escapes me at the moment, that is published by the same group that does Cooks Illustrated. I can't remember the whole recipe, but it was a leanish beef with S and P, garlic, and a paste made from white bread and a little milk, cooked in a hot cast-iron skillet. Not bad, but not very impressive either. The next time I do burgers, I plan to try a Thai flavor. I'm tired of burgers with wimpy flavor (my apologies to burger purists)!

EDIT: Oh yeah, one of the ingredients was bacon grease -- about 3T to a lb of beef, IIRC.

Edited June 19, 2005 by Patrick S (log)

[Susan in FL]

Whoa! That may get the most-beautiful-photo-of-the-burger cookoff award, even if you weren't all that impressed by the flavor.

[CaliPoutine]

The picture below is of a burger I made back at the end of May. The recipe was from that new magazine, the name of which escapes me at the moment, that is published by the same group that does Cooks Illustrated.

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The magazine is cook's country.

really down home type recipes.

[Susan in FL]

This is the first cookoff for two nights' participation by me. Having done meatloaf already, tonight we did grilled hamburgers. By the way, there is no competition going on between the two in this house. They are two completely different foods. We rarely have meatloaf, but we have hamburgers fairly often.

There were four of us tonight. They all had regular burgers, hamburger purists that we are for the most part. The three of them did different condiments, but their's were plain ground round (85/15). Russ is a lettuce, tomato, mayo, pickles, and onion kind of guy:

I halved Marlene's PB Burger recipe, and that's what I had, for a change of pace from our usual burgers:

We had grilled Brats, too, and Belgian-style fries, left-over coleslaw, all the burger and Brat fixin's, and "hamburger wine."