Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Lamburgers!

I've been thinking of starting a food blog, not because I have that many original recipes to share, but just to document what I feel is a really massive achievement: cooking dinner almost every single night. Yes, let's hear it for me!

Sunday night's dinner turned out to be one of the best I'd ever made. Oh, my gosh. One bite, and I said, "This is the most delicious thing I've ever made. I would PAY to eat this in a restaurant!"

I've had a yen for Greek food lately, so when I saw this recipe I had to try it. Grilled Lamb Burgers, or as I call it, Lamburgers. I found the recipe in the paper, but I can't link to it. (If you click on the picture, then click again, it will enlarge enough to read it.) I'll type out MY version at the end of the post.



I do have a few comments on what I did.

Ground lamb at the farmer's market is ex$$$$pensive but delicious! I used about 1 3/4 lbs, and made the patties extra large, so that with shrinkage (not that kind) they would still fill out the whole bun.


Because I used more meat, I also increased the other ingredients semi-proportionately. I'm not a real measury kind of cook. Also, I used onion powder because I really don't like onion chunks in a burger. I cooked them in the frying pan, not on a grill. Because I don't have a grill. Use a meat thermometer. The meat is so tender that it will still feel quite soft when it is done. I topped them with avocado, grilled onions, arugula, and a decadently delicious smoked cheddar from the farmer's market.

Doesn't that look wonderful?


I served them with homemade cole slaw and tater tots. Yes, tots. We love tots. (Which explains why there was so little ketchup left for the next night's dinner.)

1 3/4 lbs. ground lamb (try it with hamburger, tell me what happens!)
zest of one lemon (the juice went into my coleslaw)
approx. 4 tbl. fresh mint leaves, finely chopped (I think basil would be good, too)
approx. 4 tbl. fresh parsley, finely chopped (I like the flat leaf kind)
1/2 tbl. dried oregano (or fresh, if you have it)
2 cloves garlic, pulverized with your garlic press
2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp honey
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper

Toppings:
4 good-quality larger hamburger buns, toasted
cheddar cheese, enough slices to cover each burger
spicy arugula, or any other greens or lettuce
sliced avocado
grilled onions (mine weren't quite "caramelized")
ketchup (yes, we're a ketchup house, not a catsup house)

Mix up the meat and seasonings, form into patties, cook...you can figure out the rest.

Yum.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yum! I think I will try next week. I think you are amazing, dinner everynight or not!- Echo

Suzy said...

I love lamb and those did look good. As an adult I look back and am amazed that my mother cooked dinner every night. It's such a HUGE PITA.

Do you know the trick to finding out if meat is done? Touch your thumb to your forefinger. Now feel the base of the thumb. It should be soft & squishy. That means Rare. Now touch your middle finger, that is what MR should feel like. The fourth finger to the thumb = what Medium should feel like and the pinky finger to the thumb = Medium Well.

Susan said...

I made lamb burger this week, too! I mixed mine with some oregano, basil,rosemary, garlic, s & p, tomato paste (the tube kind is great for just a squeeze into things)and parsley. Served with plain greek yogurt and tomatoes on pita.

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

I am not a lamb fan--which I realized when I made lamburgers myself one night. They sounded and looked fantastic, but my husband and I bit into them, looked at each other and said, "I guess we don't like lamb."

You are a rock star for making dinner every night. Truly.

dkuroiwa said...

Even if I did like lamb, I wouldn't be able to fix it very often as only a few meat shops have it.
I also cook dinner every night and
I think a "what the hell can I cook tonight?" kind of food blog would be great!!! Over the years, I have found that I spend a lot of shopping time looking at others' shopping carts to get ideas about something to cook. Funny thing...one or two ladies I always see, do the same thing...we figured this out when we caught each other checking out each others' carts!!

Jen on the Edge said...

I love lamb, but no one else in my house will eat it for moral/emotional reasons.