Monday, November 24, 2008

Talkin' Turkey


Are you scrambling to try and some last-minute ideas for your Thanksgiving Feast? If so, be sure to check out the TKRC November 2007 post for one of the tastiest Roasted Turkey recipes on the world wide web!!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Juicy Well-Done Burgers

I saw this recipe on America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) the other day and thought it looked pretty great and really easy. Here’s what they have to say about burgers:

Taste tests proved that well-done burgers made with 80 percent lean chuck were noticeably moister than burgers made from leaner beef, but they still weren't juicy enough. Adding a panade (a paste of bread and milk paste) to the ground beef creates burgers that are juicy and tender even when well-done. To punch up the flavor, we also added minced garlic and tangy steak sauce.

To keep our burgers from puffing up the way most burgers do, we made use of a previous test kitchen discovery: If you make a slight depression in the center of the patty, it will puff slightly as it cooks and level out to form a flat top.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 large slice high-quality white sandwich bread , crust removed and discarded, bread chopped into 1/4-inch pieces (about 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons whole milk
3/4 teaspoon table salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 medium clove garlic , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)
2 teaspoons steak sauce , such as A-1
1 1/2 pounds 80 percent lean ground chuck
6 ounces cheese , sliced, (optional)
4 hamburger buns or rolls

Directions:
Step 1: Mash bread and milk in large bowl with fork until homogeneous (you should have about 1/4 cup). Stir in salt, pepper, garlic, and steak sauce.

Step 2: Break up beef into small pieces over bread mixture. Using fork or hands, lightly mix together until mixture forms cohesive mass. Divide meat into 4 equal portions. Gently toss one portion of meat back and forth between hands to form loose ball. Gently flatten into 3/4-inch-thick patty that measures about 4 1/2 inches in diameter. Press center of patty down with fingertips until it is about 1/2 inch thick, creating a slight depression in each patty. Repeat with remaining portions of meat.

Step 3: Grill burgers on hot grill, uncovered, until well seared on first side, 2 to 4 minutes. Flip burgers and continue grilling, about 3 minutes for medium-well or 4 minutes for well-done. Place cheese (optional) on each of the burgers about 2 minutes before they reach desired doneness, covering burgers with disposable aluminum pan to melt cheese.


Step 4: While burgers grill, toast buns on cooler side of grill, rotating buns as necessary to toast evenly. Serve burgers on toasted buns.