#19 Yummy Hamburger

It's getting cold outside to barbecue, and its also been raining a lot. We were in the mood for a hamburger on Sunday last week. Going to a fast food on a sunday night is out of the question! Just does not feel right at this stage of my life. Especially because I have a self-imposed challenge of 347 dishes left to make, I have to cook. Ha! But seriously though, nothing beats the taste of a home made hamburger. It's a tad pricier than grabbing one or two from a fastfood, but it is better because you know what is in your patty. Did you ever hear about those crazy stories that some fast food chains add ground cardboard in hamburger patties? Hmm. Yeah, I freaked out when I heard that. But true or not, that evening, a decision was made unanimously: we we're making our own hamburger from scratch. So off we went to get a little and inexpensive George Foreman Indoor Grill for $30. We wanted to find out if we can make a great all-american hamburger for dinner, instead of firing up a huge grill. :)


HAMBURGER

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons chili sauce
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 pound ground beef
4 slices of American or cheddar  cheese, halved diagonally
2 slices of Swiss cheese, halved diagonally
4 hamburger buns, split and toasted
Lettuce leaves, sliced tomato and onion, ketchup and mustard

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the first four ingredients. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into four patties.
2. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 6 minutes on each side or until meat thermometer reads 160F and juices run clear.
3. During the last minute of cooking, top each patty with two triangles of American cheese and one triangle of Swiss cheese. Serve on buns with the lettuce, tomato, onion, bacon, ketchup and mustard if desired.

Recipe source: Diane Hixon, tasteofhome.com

"Who invented the hamburger?", I asked every one. Nobody knows :). A lot of people in the past have claimed they did it, but it is believed to have appeared in the 1800's. I thought about  how truly hard it is to find out which country it originated from, since bread and meat is consumed in almost all countries. In my opinion, it most likely first appeared  somewhere in Europe. Whoever first thought of putting the steak in between the breads, may never be known, but many thanks to that person's creativity! A hamburger is a delicious lunch or dinner for us, especially with crisp vegetables, lots of mustard and ketchup. Yum! Nowadays, the Hamburger is an American Icon. While it is convenient and inexpensive to buy it ready made, I choose to make my own (from now on..). If you haven't made your very own hamburger at home, I urge you to do so soon! It's so easy to make, and you'll be surprised how different and more delicious it will turn out!

As for the George Foreman grill that we bought for $30, thumbs up! It cooked our hamburger indoors without fail and smoke :) I don't have a macho looking real grill, you know, the big high powered looking ones you see in nice homes. I have two reasons for not owning one:  first, when you're living in a high rise with limited space, it's the last thing you want, given a small patio. The second and the bigger reason is that, a friend always bring me grilled food from his home. Always. When he grills, he brings some to us, we are an extension to his table. :) We've been spoiled for almost three years now. But since this quest has started, I've been planning to try grilled food recipes from all over the world, so I thought it was time to get my own big grill. I was going to pick one up since I know they're on sale during winter time. I'm glad I listened to a friend who suggested the little wonder grill. It works, for now, it's very convenient. When I move to a bigger home, I'll get a macho grill for sure. :)