Cheeseburgers!!

[cbayer]

Summertime and the grill is all heated.

I love a good cheeseburger and thought we might share our favorites here.

Tonight I plan to make burgers with soft blue cheese buried between two thin patties. I will also grill some vidalia onions and serve this open face on toasted french bread. I was taught to not "overwork" ground beef, so will add very little to the patties themselves.

Drooling already.

Just as an aside, I had an interesting burger on a recent road trip. It was called a steamed cheeseburger and is apparently unique to certain parts of Connecticut. They use tuna fish cans with holes drilled in the bottom. They put the ground beef in one and the cheese (monterey jack, I think) in another. They they steam them both. The melted cheese is poured on top of the burger and it was absolutely delicious, but very different than your usual grilled burger.

So what are some of your favorite burger recipes?

:hi:

[Tesha]

1. Around our house, the standard "Teshaburger" Is...

o About 2 pounds of 80 or 85% lean chopped meat,
o 1/4 cup of water,
o 1 packet of Lipton's onion soup mix

Mix it all up, form into burgers, wrap them individually
in "Press-and-seal" food wrap, and freeze for future use.

To use them, we defrost them a bit in the microwave and
then toss them on the grill, cooking for about 4-5 minutes
a side or so, rotating half-way through on each side for
the nicest "grill-marks" ;).

I usually make a batch when the grocery store has a big
packet of marked-down-for-quick-sale chopped meat and
then we eat them over the next month or so.

Lately, I've been molding them in the home-made food
bowls we use for the parrots; these are made from cut-
down 4" "Drain-weight" PVC plumbing caps and they make
and almost ideally-shaped burger. I just lay the press-
and-seal into the cap, pack the burger meat in, lay the
top layer of the press-and-seal on, and press the burger
into shape, sealing up as I go.

Easy-peasee, and nicely uniform!

Tesha

[pengillian101]

10. Sounds like a great way to do it!

Your recipe sounds just how I like it! But, I have seriously lost my taste for ground beef lately - can't imagine why. The ground texture just disturbs me recently for some ODD reason ??

:hi:

[grasswire]

2. Ted's Famous Steamed Cheeseburgers, Meriden CT

Also known by locals as "whizms"

http://www.facebook.com/pages/World-Famous-Teds-Steamed-Cheeseburgers/77312075887

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted's_Restaurant



A stone's throw from my great great great grandmother's home, were it still standing.

[cbayer]

4. Had mine at O'Rourke's Diner in Middletown. Delicious!

[grasswire]

5. is that the diner on Main Street right near the river?

My ancestors owned a great deal of that land in the 1600s. I rue the day they let it go. Some are buried in the cemetery right behind the diner.

[cbayer]

6. Yep, that's the one! It was great and we liked Middletown.

This place serves regular diner food along with some much more eclectic dishes. Everything was great.

Also in Middletown, we discovered Wild Bill's Nostalgia Center. If you get back to Middletown, definitely check it out. It is a one of a kind store.



:hi:

[grasswire]

7. see those green trees?

Right behind that is the ancient burying ground. So old that many stones are fallen and worn over the centuries. When I was there I yearned to care for that old cemetery. Right there also is a big boulder with the names of those who founded Middletown. Anyone named Wetmore or Stowe in Middletown is a relative of mine.

The diner was closed when I was there, sadly.

Hey, that nostalgia shop looks just up my alley! Wow!

[cbayer]

8. I wish I had known of the cemetery. It's exactly the kind of thing I like to explore.

I hope you get to return sometime soon to visit the diner, the graveyard and Bill's!

[csziggy]

9. Wild Bill could be a twin to my hubby!

The only difference is right now due to employment needs, hubby's beard and hair are semi-tamed. But if hubby let his hair grow, and got similar glasses, they would look like twin brothers!

[Ohio Joe]

3. Cheddar, onion and bacon

I like to prepare the meat by mixing in some Liptons onion soup mix as well as some small chucks of cheddar. Cook and top with slices of cheddar, raw onions, crispy bacon, pickle and ketchup. For bonus points, serve on an onion roll :D

[hobbit709]

11. I just grill them with a little pepper and garlic powder

Serve on toasted Ciabatta buns with pepper jack cheese and grilled onions and jalopenos.