Hamburgers

Hamburgers are an entree usually reserved for picnics and fast food, however a burger in the Winter time needs to be huge, moist and "jacked up." To achieve this ultimate burger, one must start with about 6 to 8 ounces of real ground meat. The lean stuff can be used if desired.

In a bowl mix the ground meat with anything that you usually put on top of the burger and any other liked ingredients. For these burgers, I have used hot sausage, minced pepperoni, ketchup, Romano cheese and Worcestershire sauce. Granted, you can experiment and use items such as salsa, diced tomatoes, pesto, hot sauce, mustard, soy sauce, horseradish, and any seasoning that you may have in the spice rack. The amount of these ingredients can vary depending on what taste you would want you burger to finally be.

Proportion the meat and form the patties making sure the center is thinner than the ends, by doing this the the patty retains it shape during the grilling process. I heard one chef would put a pat of butter in each burger just to guarantee the moistness.

Since the path to the grill on the patio was covered in about 2 foot of snow, I used my pan grill. Just in grilling , one must sear both sides in order to retain the moistness. Once you have lined each side, either turn down the heat in the pan, or place the pan in the oven to completely cook the burger so that the outside does not burn. At this time any type of cheese can be put on the burger for melting.

Don't turn you back on Max because he would eat one of these burgers in one gulp.