Barbecue Season - Burgers, Marinades - Recipes
June 18, 2006 at 8:28 PM
by Ashleigh
BBQ at the Meiers
The kids love the burgers, I like the kebabs and I think everyone likes drumsticks.
So, I thought I'd share some recipes:
Ashleigh's Best Beef Burger Recipe
500g minced beef or half beef/half pork
3 cloves garlic, peeled
3 medium sized red onions/shallots/mix of both, peeled
good handful of fresh parsley, oregano and thyme, leaves only
4 slices of wholegrain bread (I use the crusts), broken into chunks
1 large egg
1 tblsp sweet soya sauce
1 tblsp sweet chilli sauce
splash of worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp english mustard
freshly ground sea salt and pepper
- Fit the steel chopping blade and with the food processor on, drop the garlic and onion through the feed tube.
- When they are finely chopped drop the herbs in. Your mixture should look quite alarmingly green, but this is exactly how it should be!
- Add the bread in chunks through the feed tube with the processor still running.
- When the bread resembles chunky crumbs add the rest of the ingredients (except the minced meat).
- Finally, add not more than a third of the minced meat to the processor. Process for about a minute until thoroughly mixed.
- Spray a few sheets of foil with cooking spray and lay them out next to your working area.
- Turn the mixture out onto a clean countertop or a stainless steel tray or into a bowl (not as handy for mixing).
- Add the rest of the mince mixture to the processed mxture and mix together with your hands. You can use a wooden spoon but it doens't work as well. If you're squeamish, get some disposable latex gloves for this bit.
- Form the mixture into patties about the size of your palm and approximately an inch (2.5 cm) thick. Place them onto the foil as you go.
- When you're done, spray another piece of foil with cooking spray (or brush with oil) and cover the burgers. You can freeze them immediately by placing your foil sheets into the freezer and then removing the burgers to a plastic bag once they are frozen. Alternatively, keep them in the fridge for a while before grilling.
I like to make a batch and freeze the extras for next time. In my opinion they cook better from frozen anyway. Just make sure that the meat you're using hasn't been frozen before.
Approximately 7 minutes a side from frozen on the bbq or on a moderately hot grill, about 5 if you use them fresh. If you are nervous that they are undercooked, take one off and cut it in half to see if its still pink inside. If so, give it another minute.
You should get at least 12 - 15 burgers from this mixture depending on how thick you make them.
This recipe gives a really moist burger that doesn't fall apart when you turn it on the bbq, but, as I've learnt from experience - once you have placed the meat on the grill don't keep fiddling with it, leave it alone for a few minutes to form a seal. If your grill isn't non-stick, brush the patties with oil just before placing on the grid.
Teriyaki-style Marinade (c) Norene Gilletz - The Food Processor Bible
I used this marinade for the drumsticks, but I forgot to score the skin of the drumsticks first - must remember for next time! I marinaded these for about 6 hours. They could have gone overnight.
1 or 2 thick slices root ginger (like an inch worth). I keep my root ginger in the freezer and cut off as much as I need when necesssary.
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey, maple syrup or brown sugar
1/4 water or white wine (I used lemon juice instead)
2 tsp toasted sesame oil (optional)
Using the steel blade, drop ginger and garlic through the feed tube with the machine running and process until minced. Add remaining ingredients and process to blend.
This marinade is nice, and gives a really good, sweet, sticky taste to the drumsticks. Yum. Once again, I can't stress how much I love this cookbook. I haven't had a single failure yet from it. The drumsticks take about 20 minutes to cook, being turned regularly over moderate heat.
Sesame Marinade for Chicken Kebabs
This recipe came with our electric grill. I've modified it.
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup red pepper sauce (or 1 red pepper)
half a handful of fresh thyme
2 tblsp sesame seeds
juice of 1 lemon
freshly ground sea salt
Using the steel blade drop the garlic, thyme and red pepper (if using red pepper sauce add it later with the oil) through the feed tube. Once finely minced add the olive oil, salt and lemon juice and process about a minute to blend well. Pour in the sesame seeds and whizz for a couple of seconds to blend.
Marinade chicken pieces for kebabs for a few hours or overnight. This has a distinct lemony, herby taste - very refreshing, especially in counterpoint to the teriyaki marinade for the drumsticks.
About 12 - 15 minutes to cook through over moderate heat and being turned regularly.
We have our bbq with carrot and apple salad, greek salad, Heinz baked beans in tomato sauce (for me and Joe), and, of course, bread rolls for the burgers. Sometimes we have garlic bread and potato salad in addition - depends how many people we're feeding!
MMMM. Yummy!
June 19, 2006 12:12 PM