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!