Eating Outdoors Recipe Swap - Romance Writers Weekly - #lovechatwrite

​We’re sharing up yummy eats, this week on the Romance Writers Weekly Blog Hop! Here’s the topic:

Summer is unofficially here! I love a good outdoor party where everyone brings a dish. What’s your signature BBQ/Summer Party dish? Recipes welcome.

I have a few recipes that I make both in the over/on the stove top and on the barbeque. But my favourite versions of all of them are the ones made on the BBQ. Cooking on the grill lends something special to food – as does eating outside. For some reason, the fresh air makes everything taste better.

When we’re having a big group over, hamburgers are my usual fall back. I’ve been lazy the last few years because the frozen patties you can buy are so easy to cook. But the next time we have them I’m determined to go back to the basics, and make them from scratch. Here are a few tricks I’ve learned over the years for making burgers on the barbeque.

1. I prefer lean ground beef. Regular is too greasy, but extra lean doesn’t hold together as well.
2. For every pound of ground beef, add one egg and a healthy squirt of ketchup. You can also use barbeque sauce if you’re feeling fancy.
3. Add your spices. I like at least a tablespoon of dry mustard, and about a teaspoon each of oregano, basil, onion salt, garlic salt, salt and pepper, but add whatever you like. And it doesn't have to be just spices. See Point 9 below for other ideas.
4. Mix this well. I use my hands. It will be very goopy. The next part is the trickiest.
5. In small increments (about an 1/8 of a cup at a time), add quick cooking or instant oatmeal – the plain variety, of course. 😊 Blend this into your meat mixture, until it no longer sticks to your fingers. That’s usually the sign I look for – if you can mix it without it sticking to you hands, you should have the best consistency for making the patties. If you add too much oatmeal, you can usually tell while there is still some of it unmixed at the bottom of the bowl. Just dump that out.
6. Since you’re making these by hand, you can make the patties whatever size you like – sliders, regular, large. A new technique I’ve just discovered is to make the patties thin in the middle, with a thick outer edge. The patties will shrink quite a bit when you cook them (unlike frozen patties) and if you make them too round and thick in the middle you end up with meatballs. 😊
7. Spray a sheet of aluminum foil large enough to hold all the patties with cooking spray. Preheat your barbeque, then place the aluminum foil on the rack. Place the patties on the foil. Once the bottom is cooked enough to make flipping easy, turn the patties over, still onto the foil. Once the bottom is browned, move the patties directly onto the grill.
8. Continue cooking until well done. I know other countries serve hamburger patties rare to medium, but that’s just wrong. If you like cheese, add a slice a minute or two before serving so it melts just enough. Enjoy!
9. While the list of ingredients I’ve given you will give you a nice basic patty, don’t be afraid to experiment! I’ve been known to add a little relish, small cubes of cheddar cheese, chopped onions (including green onions), fresh parsley and more. Sometimes I just look in the fridge and see what condiments are almost empty and put those in, instead of the ketchup/BBQ sauce.

No matter what you add to your patty mix, the most important part is to get the texture right using the oatmeal. That’s the real trick to homemade patties that don’t fall about on the grill.

What about you? What barbequing recipe is your favourite? These recipe swap weeks are some of my favourite topics on RWW, and I’d love to hear from you!

Discover another new to you recipe with A. S. Fenichel, next on the hop!

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