Thursday, August 25, 2011

French Friday with Dorie: Cafe Salle Pleyel Hamburger

PERFECT BURGERS FOR A HOT SUMMER DAY
It’s a scorcher today in AZ.  At cooking time it is 114^.  A nice day for slider size burgers instead of  huge meal size burgers.  On hot days our appetites are smaller and high water content foods such as fresh veges and fruits have more appeal.  To please my family, I took the Idea from today’s assigned FFwD recipe, and added lots of chopped/ grated veges and toppings.

SPICY PEPPERJACK CHEESE WAS USED TO TOP THESE BURGERS
About a week ago we visited a cheese factory and brought home several varieties of wonderful  freshly made cheeses.  A spicy  pepperjack  was chosen to top our burgers  instead of the Parmesan requested in the recipe.

LOTS OF FRESH VEGES AND HERBS MAKE JUICY, FLAVORFUL BURGERS
EVERYTHING MIXED TOGETHER
My ingredient list included: sweet red peppers, red onion, garlic, grated potato, grated carrot, fresh cilantro and thyme, 90% lean ground beef, 2 eggs which helped hold all the mixture together, salt and pepper.  I used fresh mini buns from a local bakery.  For condiments I used sliced tomatoes, lettuces, mustard, and ketchup.  And...I made the onion marmalade per the recipe using additional red onion, however as it cooled it seemed greasy to me.  Next time I will saute the onion in a very little olive oil.

RED ONION MARMALADE USED AS A CONDIMENT
OVEN FRIES MADE WITH A LITTLE OLIVE OIL, SALT AND PEPPER
THE BURGERS WERE READIED AND LEFTOVERS WRAPPED TO FREEZE FOR FUTURE MEALS
OUTSIDE GRILLING THE BURGERS
As a side, I broiled oven fries coated with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.   I grilled the burgers and melted on the cheese outside instead of frying the meat in the house.  I considered frying the potatoes, French Fry style, outside, but with all the veges included in the meat,  the meal seemed healthy and I kept the potatoes also on the healthy side.  I made 20 slider-size burgers which were enjoyed by several family members who stopped by to taste...it was easy to eat 3 or 4 per person.

A PERFECT SIZE MEAL FOR A HOT SUMMER DAY
Everyone enjoyed my slider-burgers, appreciating the smaller size...they all especially commented that this meat mixture is really good and flavorful.

These burgers make a good, prep ahead meal with a short cooking time.   The veges and seasonings can be prepared and mixed into the meat and refrigerated in advance, the fries can be cut and soaked ahead, and cook/put together time is only about 15 minutes.  Nice.
                           
As I look at what my cyberfriends have done with this recipe, I expect to see some big juicy burgers with beautiful toppings.  I always enjoy getting your great ideas.
YUM!





19 comments:

  1. I made sliders too! This was fun. Glad you liked yours so much - they look delicious!!

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  2. Love all the fun additions! And fresh cheese to boot. Lucky, lucky family.

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  3. Wow, I love all the veggies you put in your burger patties! I wish I'd barbecued mine too, your sliders here looked so good!

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  4. I think I would have preferred your burgers, especially the pepperjack. Yum!

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  5. Sliders is a great thought :-)
    We grilled ours outside too. It was just too hot to fry them.

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  6. I wish I thought of both sliders AND freezing extras for later. Yum.

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  7. I also froze some burgers for later, too. Those burgers look fantastic! We also grilled ours...really loved this one!

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  8. Love that you used pepperjack on your colorful burgers.

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  9. Wow..you make so many....and I am sure your family loved them. I love them and we have dorie to thank for. Saved us the fare to Paris to try their popular hamburger :) Have a nice day !

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  10. What a beautiful dinner! I love all your yummy sliders :)

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  11. So good! I think sliders is a great idea- fun to share a plate of these for a family dinner;-)

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  12. What an awesome selection of vegetable you packed into those sliders!

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  13. Great idea to do the sliders! I also like your idea of adding the fresh vegetables. It looks like the perfect hot summer night meal!

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  14. Soooooo glad I wasnt the only one who froze some more later! : )

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  15. Freezing for later is a great idea! as are the sliders...thinking about meatball sized ones for a party now...

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  16. I love all the additions you made! Genius!

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  17. You managed to turn a decadent meal into a healthy one without losing the fun factor. Great job! We really loved these and will be making them again soon.

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  18. You're a real trooper to make these in 114 degree weather. Sliders are a perfect idea! The oven fries look delicious too!

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  19. Your vegetable additions sound great - I'd never thought of adding grated potato to a burger, but it would be a great addition for structure and taste. I mostly followed the recipe this time and really liked the taste. I've got more in the freezer for another time, but we finally have some hot weather (not as hot as yours, though), so they're going to be grilled or we'll be waiting a few weeks.

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