"Hamburgers Plain and Fancy" - Hamburgers stuffed with Onion and Cheese Filling - National Cheeseburger Day!

Date I made this recipe:  September 18, 2017 – National Cheeseburger Day

Hamburgers Plain and Fancy by Ceil Dyer

Published by Grosset & Dunlap

© 1968

Purchased at Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, NYC

Recipe:  Hamburger (p. 56) stuffed with Onion Cheese Filling (p. 58)

People, I was all giddy with excitement for National Cheeseburger Day, not only because I love cheeseburgers, but I had just purchased this cookbook – Hamburgers Plain and Fancy – from Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks in NY and thought myself all set and ready to go for The.Big.Day.

Turns out I was not all set and ready to go for the Big Day.  Why?

Apparently, cheeseburgers are the red-haired stepchild of the burger world and therefore were not included in this 86-page book.  Not one single recipe.  I checked several times under "cheese" and under "cheeseburger" and nothing.  I was gobsmacked.

There were though, a few recipes for cheese-filled burgers and some for burgers topped with several ingredients including cheese slices. Would these do?  I needed to do some research and so to the internet I went.

It took me two seconds to find a "cheeseburger" definition.  Per Wiki, "A cheeseburger is a hamburger topped with cheese.  Traditionally, the slice of cheese is placed on top of the meat patty, but the burger can include many variations in structure, ingredients, and composition."

In the world of cooking, this explanation was sufficient for me to go ahead and explore other cheeseburger options. That said, my choices were still limited.  Let's chat about that by looking first at the Table of Contents where our choices were:

• Finger Burgers
• Fork Burgers
• Filled Burgers

Those were the burger options.  There's a section called Go Withs i.e. side dishes, and then a final chapter of Menus and Meals.

That concludes our look at the table of contents.

The author offers no explanation for "Finger Burgers," but I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest to you that he meant hamburgers you can pick up and eat although technically and physically, that would make it a handburger hamburger instead of a "Finger Burger."  Sorry, I could not resist saying that.

Options in the "Fork Burger" category ranged from a "Borscht Burger" – p. 15, to a "Suzy Wong Burger" – p. 19 (There is just something "wrong" about the "Wong" burger!), to a "Gandhi Burger" (cabbage and chutney) – p. 36 to a "Healthy Ham-Burgers" – p. 25

This last one amuses.  Ingredients are mushrooms and spinach leaves which are good and healthy, mixed pickles which are interesting and then ground beef plus a small jar of Smithfield ham spread which are not necessarily healthy.  This recipe's a head-scratcher for sure.

In the "Fork Burgers" category, we have [Hamburger] "Au Poivre" (peppercorns, wine, cognac) – p. 46, a "Sicilian Joe," – p. 52, which is basically a Sloppy Joe recipe with anchovies, and "Cook at the Table Party Skillet Burgers" – p. 54-55

Jumping ahead, the "Go Withs" are all side dishes, many of which sounded great (potatoes, beans, etc.) but we are celebrating National Cheeseburger Day, not National "Go With" Day so there it is.

This brings us back to the "Filled Burger" category from which I selected my recipe. 

There were a grand total of 15 recipes for filled burgers and what the author called "look under" burgers which are burgers with various toppings instead of filling. Let's examine them:

• Mushroom Filling – mushrooms, butter and cream but no cheese
• Creole Filling – onion, celery, green pepper but no cheese
• Roquefort Filling – Roquefort cheese and heavy cream
• Tomato Olive Filling – green olives and tomatoes but no cheese
• Bacon Filling  - bacon, sweet pickles, mustard and mayo but no cheese
• Almond Filling – almonds, cream cheese and cream.  Almonds? I can't even imagine that. Also, cream cheese is not "cheese" cheese as contemplated by the National Cheeseburger people.
• Onion Cheese Filling – sharp cheese, chopped onion, mayo and Tabasco.  This is the one I made.
• Walnut Filling – walnuts, horseradish, mayo but no cheese.  Again – walnuts?
• Feta Cheese Filling – feta cheese, black olives, chives, cream.  This one was tempting but we passed on it.
• Burgers "Look Under" – 1 – cream, avocado, pimento, topped with Cheddar cheese
• Burgers "Look Under" – 2 – liverwurst, corn relish, chili sauce and mild American cheese
• Burgers "Look Under" – 3 – tomatoes, garlic, thyme, other seasonings, Mozzarella cheese
• Burgers "Look Under" – 4 – raisins, whiskey, other stuff, Gruyere cheese.  Raisins? In a burger? Hahahahaha. (By the way, this is more like a patty melt than a burger.)
• Burgers "Look Under" – 5 – chopped peanuts, Monterey Jack cheese

Hmm, those are some kind of burger ingredients, am I right?  Shudder.

Now given our theme – cheeseburgers –you would think that I would go with either "Look Under Burgers 1 or 3, as both called for cheese on top, but I just wasn't feeling them so I went with a cheese-stuffed burger instead.  Well, what can I say except it's fun to go rogue!

Although this was one of the easiest recipes I've ever assembled, I had to deduct points from my own efforts for appearance as I did not properly seal the burgers and some of the filling oozed out.  In fact, I commented to Andy that this would likely have gotten me chopped on Chopped!  The taste was great though, and that's what counts.

A slight change I made to the recipe was to comply with Andy's request to sauté the onions first.  He didn't want to taste a bunch of raw onion and neither did I.

This then, concludes my report "What I made on National Cheeseburger Day."  Technically, it wasn't a cheeseburger as we know it, but it was a burger and cheese was involved so there you go.  Enjoy!

Hamburger stuffed with Onion Cheese Filling – serves 8

For the hamburger

2 pounds ground beef

1 ½ teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons heavy cream

For the filling

2 tablespoons crumbled sharp cheese

2 tablespoons chopped onion

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

2-3 drops Tabasco sauce

To make the hamburger patties, mix meat with salt and cream.  Shape into sixteen patties half as thick as usual.  Combine the filling ingredients until well-blended. Put two patties together with filling between, making eight burgers.  Press edges together.  (Ann's Note:  I guess I did not press mine hard enough before the cheese oozed out.  Not that I'm complaining, but I wish I would have nailed it.  Also, make sure your cheese crumbles are pretty tiny as this will help keep the cheese inside the burger.)  Broil or pan fry as usual.

Split rolls and heat in the oven.  Place a patty on roll bottom and cover with top half of the roll.

"The 'I Love Garlic Cookbook" & "(Avon) The Active Woman's Cookbook" - Spiced Cheese Hamburgers and Deli Cole Slaw

Date I made these recipes:  March 9, 2013

The ‘I Love Garlic’ Cookbook by William I. Kaufman

Published by:  Doubleday & Company, Inc.

© 1967

Recipe:  Spiced Cheese Hamburgers – p. 83

(Avon’s) The Active Woman’s Cookbook by Avon Products, Inc.

Published by:  Ideals Publishing Corp. and Avon Products, Inc.

© 1980

Recipe:  Deli Cole Slaw – p. 15

Folks, today’s blog post is an example of the snowball effect where one idea leads to another that leads to another and so on and so on until before you know it, you have multiple dining themes going on.  Sadly, this is how my brain works these days which is to say in a permanent distracted state!

So let’s start with how and why I decided to make something from the garlic cookbook and how it snowballed from there.  For the past week or so, I felt like I was fighting a cold that would just not clear up (I now believe it was seasonal allergies) and after going to my front porch to pick up the mail, I spotted the garlic book on my bookshelf.  And this made me think of my dad, Mr. Wildlife Biologist, who constantly touted the amazing properties of garlic by saying “It’ll cure what ails you, including (intestinal) parasites.”

Now I imagine that many of you just had a nose-wrinkling experience on reading that in a food blog, but you have to understand how practical and just plain scientific my father was.  Although he could have, but did not, throw (scientific) Latin words around like candy in a parade, neither did he sugarcoat anything.  But let me also assure you that no child of Rose Marie Verme ever got within 10,000 miles of picking up an intestinal parasite except for the couple years my brother lived in Africa while in the Peace Corps.  That said, he was well-trained by both parents on how to conquer this beast and live to tell about it!

So anyway, I saw the garlic book and thought of dad and decided to try to kill off this “cold” (and/or critters) by making something from this book.  And then I remembered that today is the second anniversary of my dad’s passing and so what better way to pay homage than to make something from this book, specifically the burger recipe.

But I couldn’t just make something for dad without also honoring my mother who died five years ago on March 2^nd.  (March is not a good month).  And just like that, I remembered my (Avon) The Active Woman’s Cookbook and right there, just a few pages in was a recipe my mom would have liked – Deli Cole Slaw – and that worked perfectly with “dad’s burgers.”  Although I didn’t start out to tie all these things together, I must say I am quite chuffed at how this all ended.

So first, let’s talk about the burgers.  Although my dad had quite the educated palate, he loved beef and the rarer, the better.  And he loved cheese and so I hit the jackpot with these blue-cheese stuffed “Spiced Cheese” burgers.  But rare beef (and by “rare” I mean “blue”) and my mother did not go together and so every time we had steak or burgers, the “battles” began and always ended the same:  my mother would “send” her burgers back to have my dad cook them longer and my dad would grumble that she was ruining the meat.  He, of course, saved his own piece for last, maybe broiling the top for 30 seconds, maybe not.  Nothing but nothing frustrated my father more than overcooked beef and going with him to a restaurant was always kind of a hoot:  “Are you sure you can cook it rare?  And I do mean rare because if you can’t do rare, then I don’t want it.”  And so many a server would go off and come back with what they or the chef thought was a rare piece of meat but not anywhere close to what my father had in mind and so there it was.  Being a good sport, he ate it anyway but then again, when you are raised during the Depression, you eat what’s in front of you, period.

The food battles though, did not stop with the beef and as the years went by, my dad often “accused” my mother of over-cooking the chicken which is to say drying it out because if my mom thought raw beef was bad, raw chicken was ten-times worse.  And I do have to agree with my mother on that point but there did come a time when she went a little too far and we ended up with a piece of chicken that just stuck in the throat it was so dry.  That said, nobody ever got sick in our house from parasites or other and that was because of my mother’s almost religious attention to cross-contamination details.  No cutting board was safe until my mother scrubbed the hell out of it with Comet and then washed it to death with dish soap and then rinsed it with scalding water.  My mother really should have been a rabbi ensuring that kosher kitchens were kept kosher but alas, her Catholicism got in the way of that endeavor.

Now I will tell you up front that my dad would not have been happy with the burgers we made in his honor but only because we cooked them a little longer than he would have to ensure that we got the cheese consistency that we wanted.  Sorry about that, dad.  And as to the garlic, the thing that surprised me most about this book was how little garlic was used in most of the recipes.  Many of the recipes called for just 1 clove of garlic which is fine except I was expecting at the bare minimum, a recipe for the now-famous chicken with 40 cloves of garlic recipe. Alas, I think most recipes had a three-clove maximum.  Do keep in mind though, that this book was written in 1967, well before we all got nutty in the kitchen with the 40-clove chicken recipes.

So that’s the saga of how I came to cook these burgers (“overcooked” or not, they were so good) for my dad.  Next up, I needed to find something for my mother and not only did I find just the right cookbook for her but the Deli Cole Slaw recipe was the perfect accompaniment to these burgers.  When we were growing up, my mother made cole slaw all the time but used Miracle Whip.  Yes, I know many you are shuddering as we speak but as I’ve said in this blog many times before, Miracle Whip was the thing to use in the 60’s and 70’s.  We were not mayonnaise people and even if we were, the fact that my mother discovered her family had high cholesterol meant that product would have been out on its ears in a heartbeat.  As it is, she likely would not have eaten “dad’s” blue cheese burger because cheese was evil.  (For the record, it is not but we’re talking about a woman who eventually eschewed all salad dressings in favor of cholesterol-free lemon wedges. Zzzzzzzzz…)

Given her cholesterol history and her German heritage, you would think that my mother would have made the classic deli oil and vinegar cole slaw like I’ve made today except you would be wrong.  I cannot recall a time – ever – when we ate this type of cole slaw and yet I prefer this recipe over anything with mayo or Miracle Whip.

If Miracle Whip was kind of a kitchen staple in the 60’s and 70’s so, kids, was the presence of the “Avon lady.”  I am willing to bet that most of us who grew up during these eras knew of at least one person who sold Avon products door to door.  My mother had several friends who were Avon ladies, and I tell you what, I could not wait for their visits.  They came to the door bearing this big black box full of little miniature products like mini lipsticks and little tubes of lotions to try out and oh my, did we try them out!  My home town had a few department stores but none of them carried makeup and so when the Avon lady came calling, that was it - that was your chance to get on the makeup bandwagon or suffer going without.  (By the way, remember the Avon commercials from the 70’s?   A woman rang the doorbell and the catchphrase was [Ding, Dong] “Avon calling!”)

Over the years, Avon got creative with products and so we had candles and jewelry and of course, the oh-so-famous “Skin So Soft” which my mother loved and which she bought by the boatloads, gifting relatives far and wide.  (It keeps away mosquitoes).  But I had no idea until just recently that Avon published a cookbook; don’t know how this escaped my attention but it did.  And I have to tell you that although I found this book at Arc’s Value Village Thrift Stores for all of $.99 and it was sold hermetically sealed in plastic, the book smells of…an Avon product.  I don’t know how they did that but I’ve had to air it out on my front porch.

So there we go – my mother was a fan of Avon and my mother was an “active woman” making this cookbook a good fit to honor her memory.  But I didn’t always see my mother as an active woman.  Mom was stay-at-home mom of two kids with (to me) so much time on her hands that for the life of me, I could not figure out why she was always so tired.  In fact, I was not alone in asking my mother “Just what did you do all day?” after coming home from school.  You can chalk that question up to the times as well:  the women’s movement picked up speed in the 70’s causing many a young girl like me to question just why a mom with kids in school with (according to us) nothing to do all day could be so tired.  We were silly and uninformed and let’s just leave it at that.

So let me fill you in - in addition to all the household chores my mother did, she was very active in our lives and so I submit to you just a small list of my mother’s activities:  She was a Brownie, Girl Scout and Cub Scout troop leader for many years.  She served two terms as president of the Women’s Hospital Auxiliary and many more years as a board member.  She was very active in St. Bridget’s Circle (part of St. Anthony’s Guild) at our local Catholic church and my dad used to tease her endlessly about all the work she and her buddies did getting ready for the annual church (“bizarre” as dad called it) bazaar.  She went door to door to collect money for every nonprofit on the planet and after being diagnosed with breast cancer, went all in to try to fundraise for that group; she also did one-on-one counseling with other breast cancer survivors.  This was all in addition to driving me and my brother to endless appointments and after-school activities.  And yet, sad to say, it took me years into adulthood before I appreciated that my mother was one “active” woman. 

And so—I married (pun intended) dad’s burgers with mom’s active woman cole slaw and all was well with the world.  Following in my mother’s footsteps, I prepped all the food but then had my husband, Andy, substitute for my dad in the kitchen to make the burgers.  It’s not that I couldn’t do it, I just chose, for one brief moment, to honor a very traditional married couple by taking on traditional kitchen roles.  I think my parents would have laughed although for sure dad would have said that the burgers were overcooked and mom would have said they were just perfect.  And they were a bit of both but we didn’t care.  Enjoy!

Spiced Cheese Hamburgers – Yield:  6 servings

1 ½ pounds lean ground beef (chuck)

¾ cup finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon powdered mustard

1 ½ teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Roquefort cheese (crumbled or sliced)

6 hamburger buns

Combined first six ingredients.  Shape into 12 thin patties, 4 inches in diameter.  Place 1 ½ teaspoons crumbled (or sliced) Roquefort cheese in the center of six of the patties.  Cover with remaining patties, pressing edges together well to keep cheese in place. 

Brown on both sides in a hot, greased heavy skillet or over a slow-burning charcoal fire.  Serve between warm, split buttered hamburger buns.

Deli Cole Slaw – serves 8 to 10 (Ann’s Note:  I bought a 10-ounce bag of shredded cabbage and then adjusted the seasonings accordingly.  That yield should serve 4 people.)

3 pounds cabbage, shredded

2 onions, chopped

1 green pepper chopped or sliced

1 cup vinegar

1 cup safflower oil (Ann’s Note:  you can substitute corn or canola oil)

1 tablespoon celery seed

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

In a saucepan, combined vinegar, oil, celery seed and salt; bring to a boil.  Stir in the sugar. (Ann’s Note:  the recipe doesn’t say but you should remove the mixture once it boils, then add the sugar and keep it off the stove – it’s done!).  Combined cabbage, onion and green pepper in a bowl.  Pour dressing over and refrigerate up to 3 weeks if necessary.  Serves 8 to 10.

"The Tail-Gate Cookbook" - Salt-fried Hamburgers with Cheese Sauce

Date I made this recipe: February 6, 2011 (Super Bowl Sunday)

The Tailgate Cookbook by April Herbert
Published by: Funk & Wagnalls
© 1970
Recipe: Salt-fried hamburgers with Cheese Sauce – p. 21-22

Okay, fair warning: I will get around to talking about today’s recipe but first a word about my (Green Bay) Packers: Woo Hoo!

Okay, I suppose that was really two words but who cares? My boys won Super Bowl 45 (I don’t do Roman numerals) last night against those evil Pittsburgh Steelers. Wow. Double wow!

So of course I watched the game but then again, I didn’t. See if you can follow this logic: I’ve been to Lambeau Field three times in the last couple of years, the last time being this fall against the Detroit Lions. And each time, I go in full battle gear: Cheesehead, green and gold beads, Packer jersey or t-shirt or sweatshirt, depending on the weather. Short of dyeing my hair or painting my face, I am good to go. (By the way, my husband inadvertently wore a “Lion’s blue” (team colors) shirt to the game and was lucky to walk out of Lambeau alive. It was cool enough for him to wear a jacket the entire game and that was a good thing!)

But when it comes to watching the game I get superstitious as does the rest of my family. I used to wear my Cheesehead while watching but then we’d lose the game. And I used to wear my Packers apparel but then we’d lose the game. And so I quit wearing anything Packer-related since I wanted them to win their games, particularly this one.

I also believe, as does my brother, the ultimate Packer fan (and shareholder), that if we watch the entire game on TV, we will jinx them, especially if things aren’t going well for us. Yes, I know, rather odd. On the other hand, we could both argue that it’s nothing more than brilliant strategy on our part. My solution is to flip between one channel and the next during the course of the game; my brother’s solution is to leave the room for a while!

So…the game started out great and my husband, the world’s most reluctant Packers fan there ever was tuned in as well. He never watched sports before marrying me and cannot believe the person I become when I watch the game. (For the record, when you marry a Verme, you marry the Packers. That is just the way it goes. It’s a total 2 for 1 deal).

Anyway, he says I go crazy and I totally disagree. I mean, define crazy? I am just an exuberant fan. I yell at the TV, I armchair coach--is there a Packer fan out there who doesn’t do that? Nope.

Okay, so as I was saying, the game started out great. We got a touchdown and then we intercepted a pass and got another touchdown. FAN-tastic! But then the Steelers came back and got a touchdown right before halftime and Grrrrr. This was not so fantastic.

So the halftime show started and Zzzzzzzz. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Black Eyed Peas but they were not their best and really - was it too much to ask that we just get on with the game already?

The Packers came out to start the 2nd half and got the ball on the kickoff and within minutes, mere minutes, they got three penalties. They looked sloppy, very, very sloppy. And my stomach started to churn. And then the Steelers woke up and started playing better and my stomach really started to churn. And so I told my poor husband that it was time for me to start flipping the channel because to my logic, if I quit watching the game so intently, we would prevail. And people believed it or not the man was peeved—peeved! He was peeved because he didn’t want to watch the game in the first place (because I get “so crazy”) but now he invested all this time and effort only to have me flip a station to channel 10 so I can watch a rerun of The Closer, one of our favorite shows and then flip back again. There’s no satisfying some people.

Anyway, if you ask me, the Packers should be damned glad that I did that. I watched The Closer for a few minutes and then flipped back to the game. “Well this is much better” thought I, as the Packers got another touchdown. So back I went to The Closer. But then I flipped back again and again and ouch—things were not so hot. And so I got myself into a “to watch or not to watch” conundrum (that is the question) and was just totally undecided about what to do and what to watch and oh….did I mention that I went and poured my first martini? (Talk about being thrown off one’s game!)

By this time, I was giving the “Last” button on my remote a workout. And now Pittsburgh was closing in and the score was 25 to 31. Holy crap! Time for more gin!! And then I flipped back to the game Pittsburg had the ball…and so I flipped back again and again and damn it—Pittsburg still had the freaking ball and the clock is ticking down to the 2 minute warning…and then it’s a minute something. I could hardly stand it. Never has a minute seemed so long! I started welling up and praying (as Packer fans do) “Oh Lord, please. Pleeeeeeeeeeeease.” And apparently God heard my plea because the heavens opened up their quarterback threw an incomplete pass that landed in Tramon William’s hands (he’s a Packer) and voila! We got the ball back with about 30 seconds to go in the game and….Victory!!! (For the record, I do know their quarterback’s name but the spelling is hard and he is with the enemy so what do I care? I call him something else anyway…and it’s not nice so I won’t print it.)

And there was much rejoicing and rejoicing and rejoicing! Wow. Super Bowl champions! I love it!

As to the meal, this was an absolute no-brainer. Last year, a friend gave me a used copy of today’s book – The Tailgate Book. I must say that I know that tailgating menus have ramped up a bit but honestly—cold cucumber soup at a tailgate party? Beef Bourguignon at a tailgate party? Peaches with mincemeat at a tailgate party? It just seems so…well, let’s say it’s not likely on a tailgate menu in Green Bay, home of beer and brats and cheese.

And so, the winner of the Green Bay Packer indoor tailgate party was…burgers with cheese sauce! These were easy to make and fun to eat. And my husband, the world’s most reluctant Packer fan, inadvertently cemented this dish in the Packer (tailgate) Hall of Fame by adding green pickle relish to the top of his cheese. It was so pretty with that green and gold and I teased him that he really was a true fan after all because I sure didn’t think to add the relish! He says “not” and has already asked me when the season starts up again (“Duh honey – August”) but not out of interest, oh no—he’s dreading the start already! On the other hand, I cannot wait. In the meantime, I am basking in the glory of that win, an absolute bright spot in an otherwise cold and grim February (as was my green and gold burger.)

Life is good.

Salt-fried hamburgers - serves 4
1-2 tsp regular salt or garlic salt
1 pound ground beef or hamburger
Buns

Sprinkle 1-2 tsp salt in frying pan, and place on very high heat until salt begins to brown. Add 4 large hamburger patties, and sear on both sides; lower heat and cook to desired doneness. Add cheese sauce.

Cheese sauce – serves 4
1 ½ Tbs. butter
1 Tb. Flour
½ cup milk
Dash garlic salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce
4 oz. cheddar cheese, slivered

Melt the butter over very low heat. Add flour and then milk (add the milk gradually) and then the spices (garlic salt, pepper and Worcestershire). Add cheese, stirring constantly and remove from heat as soon as cheese is melted. Serve immediately. (You should start making the cheese sauce while your burgers are cooking).

"Family Circle Great Ground-Beef Recipes," "John Michael Lerma's Garden Country," "Cool Entertaining"

Date I made these recipes: July 5, 2010

Family Circle Great Ground-Beef Recipes by the Family Circle Food Staff
Published by: A New York Times Company Publication
© 1965, 1966, 1971
Recipe: Double onion burgers – p. 24

John Michael Lerma’s Garden County by John Michael Lerma
Published by: Syren Book Company
ISBN: 0-929636-50-3
Recipe: Cherry Tomato Pie – p. 171-172

Cool Entertaining by Irma Rhode
Published by: Atheneum
© 1976
Recipe: (My Grandmother’s) Apple Cake – p. 151

Well, there’s no time like the 4th of July to break out the All-American items—with variations of course!

Burgers were kind of a given but I’m not exactly stocked with burger books (even fewer hot dog books). After a careful shelf by shelf search, I pulled this one out at Memorial Day and kept it on my dining room table so I didn’t forget that I had it. (Because trust me, out of sight, out of mind!)

Next, I felt that something fresh from the garden was in order and so I pulled John Michael Lerma’s Garden County book off the shelf. I was almost set to make a pasta salad using tomatoes and corn but the recipe for the pie (and of course, pie is usually a given on the 4th of July) sounded more interesting.

Finally, I also yanked out Cool Entertaining a few month’s back in anticipation of the summer holidays but sheesh, people, finding a recipe I liked was a challenge and a half. Practically everything in the book required that the meat or vegetables be encased in clear gelatin and while I’m not opposed to it, I wanted something a little less wobbly for the day and so went with apples…but not in a pie.

So back to the pie…John Michael Lerma can often be seen on the Food Network in pie-making competitions. He also wrote another cookbook about pies, one that I have yet to bake from, but will soon. Actually, I mean that my husband will bake a pie fairly soon seeing as how he’s the “pie guy” in our family. I conscripted him into action this afternoon, pleading with him to make the crust so that I could concentrate on the filling. When I make a crust, it’s okay. When he makes one, it’s divine! And so he cracked open a beer and got to work—love that about him!

And before I beat the pie topic to death…I have a love/hate relationship going with Top Chef (not to be confused with Top Chef Masters that I love!) and last week, everybody had to make a pie. And people, to my amazement, this year’s contestants who claim to be chefs copped to never having made a pie at all or maybe making it once.

What the ???!! How can you be a “chef” without ever having made a pie? This is just inconceivable.

Now I know, I know—in chef-land there are those who are pastry chefs and those who are not and usually the twain never meet. But honestly, folks, how many of us non-chefs starting baking and cooking when we were youngsters? My guess is a lot. So if you then go on to cook for people for a living, it seems like a no-brainer that you should know how to make all kinds of food. The fact that some of these contestants didn’t know how just seems odd to me.

And speaking of odd…every year on Top Chef, there’s one contestant who stands out as being the biggest a-hole of the season. (Having an ego is one thing but displaying it for all to see on cable TV is another!) This year, it’s Angelo, who is one of the aforementioned “non pie guys.” The dude never made a pie before—ever. So of course, it stands to reason that the first time out of the chute, he manages to make a respectable pie. Hate.him.

Previous year’s villains have been Mike Isabella (season 6), (make that Ickabella—or, if you are a true Minnesotan, make it Ishabella!) whose misogynist thinking was a total turnoff to me and thousands of viewers and Illan Hall, winner of season 2. Just the image of his smug mug makes me want to change the channel. So of course, who shows up as guest judges at the Judge’s Table on this week’s show? Mike and Illan. Lord help me, Jesus!

CORRECTION: I could have sworn Illan was shown in the previews but when I watched the show last night, he wasn't there. My bad...but I still don't like the guy. And I still can't figure out why, out of all the former contestants, Mike Isabella was there. But to make up for that snafu, the judges did include cutie pie Bryan Voltaggio, last season's runner up. That I can live with!

Well, anyway, as I am wont to do, I digress. So here’s my selection of 4th of July recipes guaranteed to make you feel patriotic.

By the way, the following lyrics from a song that I sang in childhood, kept running through my head as I put the pie together:

Can she bake a cherry pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Can she bake a cherry pie, Charming Billy?
She can bake a cherry pie, quick as a cat can wink her eye
But she's a young thing and cannot leave her mother

Catchy, right?!!

Double Onion Burgers – makes 6 servings
1 large Bermuda (purple) onion, peeled (I used a Vandalia onion and it was glorious)
¼ cup salad oil
1 ½ pounds ground beef
1 small onion, chopped (1/4 cup)
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
¾ cup soft bread crumbs (1 ½ slices) (I used a hamburger bun)
1 egg
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
¼ cup catsup
6 slices bacon, halved

Cut Bermuda onion into 6 slices; arrange in a single layer in a shallow baking pan; pour salad oil over top. Bake in a moderate oven (350) for 20 minutes.

While onion cooks, mix ground beef lightly with chopped onion, parsley, bread crumbs, egg, salt, and pepper until well-blended; shape into 6 patties about 1 inch thick.

Place one each on a baked onion slice; spread with catsup; top each with 2 half slices of bacon.

Bake 30 minutes longer, or until bacon is crisp and meat is done as you like it.

Ann’s Note: dang, these burgers were yummy. I was thinking about grilling the stuff but the weather was bad so I went with the oven instead and am glad I did.

Cherry Tomato Pie – serves 6 to 8
Note: plan on allotting at least 1 hour to chill the dough.
For the crust:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher or Hawaiian salt
½ cup cold all-vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
½ cup cold water
1 large egg yolk and 1 teaspoon water for egg wash
For the filling:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon ground mustard
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ pounds assorted cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 ½ cups cheddar cheese, shredded
Kosher or Hawaiian salt

Make the dough by first combining all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add shortening and butter (these should be cold as directed). Using a pastry blender cut in the shortening and butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Drop by drop, add the cold water. Mix in with the fingertips; do not use your hands as the palms will warm the dough. Continue mixing water in until the dough begins to hold together without being sticky but not crumbly.

Divide dough into two pieces and place each in plastic wrap. Fold over plastic wrap and press down to form a disk. This will make rolling out easier after chilling. Finish wrapping in plastic and place in the refrigerator for at last 1 hour.

Lightly spray a 9-inch pie plate with butter or vegetable cooking spray. Roll out dough and place in pie plate. Return to the refrigerator until the filling is ready. Roll out top crust.

Next, make the filling. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a heavy-bottom skillet over medium, heat oil. Add onion and garlic. Cook until translucent. Do not brown the garlic as it will become bitter. (Ann’s Note: And so will you if you end up with ruined garlic!)
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, mustard, and pepper. Blend in the cooked onions and cherry tomatoes. Stir to mix well.

Remove bottom pie crust from refrigerator and layer with half the cheese. Cover with tomato and onion mixture. Spread remaining cheese evenly over the mixture. Brush edges of pie crust with egg wash. Attach top crust, fold edges together, and crimp. Create a decorative edge. Brush top crust with egg wash and sprinkle with kosher or Hawaiian salt.

Bake for 30 minutes. (Ann’s Note: plan on allotting more time for this. After 30 minutes, the crust was still soft and the cheese wasn’t melted. I put it back in the oven for another 30 and that seemed to do the trick. But everyone’s oven is different so check the pie after 15 minutes to make sure you don’t overbake it.)

Let pie cool on a rack for 20 minutes before serving.


My Grandmother's Apple Cake – 8 servings (that would be the author's grandmother, not mine)
NOTE: This dish is supposed to cool overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
2 large apples (I found one was sufficient but buy 2 just in case)
Strawberry jam
½ cup sugar
9 medium egg yolks (NOTE: medium egg yolks are required. If you only have large, you should be fine using them in this recipe. If you only have extra-large, I’d check on the internet for conversions)
9 medium egg whites
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 9-inch springmold

Heat oven to 325. butter the springmold, then place a round of aluminum foil over the bottom and butter again. This is to prevent discoloration of apple slices. Peel and core apples. Cut them into rings and place into mold in one layer. Fill center of apple rings with strawberry jam.

Beat together sugar and egg yolks until thick and lemon colored. Add flour and mix. Beat egg whites until stiff, gradually adding cream of tartar. First fold in 1/3 of egg whites into egg yolk mixture, then reverse and fold into egg whites. Pour dough over apples and bake for 45-50 minutes. Cool in the mold overnight. Place on a coffee tin, push rim down and turn cake upside down on a service plate. Take off bottom part, then peel off aluminum foil.

"Cook it Outdoors" by James Beard and "KCMR Casseroles and Salad" - Pig Hamburgers and Lentil Confetti Salad

Date I made these recipes: May 31, 2010 (Memorial Day)

Cook it Outdoors by James Beard
Published by: M. Barrows and Company
Copyright: 1941
Recipe: Pig (Pork) Hamburgers – p. 88

KCMR Casseroles and Salads by KCMR Radio, Mason City, Iowa; recipe submitted by Sylvia Duenow
Published by KCMR
Copyright: 1992
Recipe: Lentil Confetti Salad – p. 37

Oh, the pressure.

Memorial Day usually signals the start of the grilling season but for the past two years, our grill has been down and out.

Now, we had the replacement part all ready to go, having purchased it two years ago in, of all places, Pamida (a modern day five and dime store) in my hometown in Michigan. But did we get it installed? No, reader, we did not. Given that half the year is cold and wintery, where was the pressure?

But now it’s fixed and off my husband’s “honey do” list and we have achieved grill and so the only thing left to decide was what to make.

This wasn’t easy because I’ve already cooked from most of my grilling or barbecue cookbooks but then I spied my James Beard Cook it Outdoors cookbook and we were set.

Or were we? James Beard was more of a gourmet (or is it gourmand) than just a chef or a cook and so finding just a basic burger was a challenge. Lucky for us there was the pig burgers recipe (although seriously—can we talk about how unappetizing that name is?); easy to make and fun to eat!

All that was left was to find a salad recipe and for that, I turned to my stash of community cookbooks. Nobody knows how to put together a picnic salad recipe like a hometown cook.

Although the taste flavors of this salad – Italian – clashed a bit with the Asian-oriented pig burgers, I made it anyway as it seemed more heart healthy than some of the others and it took less time (can we talk about the inordinate number of recipes that required overnight chilling?). And on a sunny holiday weekend, I am all about time.

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend!

Pig Hamburgers – no quantity listed but it made about 12 burgers
3 pounds lean pork, ground
½ teaspoon sweet basil (Italian)
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon grated garlic
½ teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper

Mix the pork and the herbs and spices thoroughly, using gingers to blend it all. Shape into think cakes about three inches in diameter and grill over the coals. Serve with buns and barbecue sauce.

Lentil Confetti Salad – makes 5 small servings
½ cup Lentils (1/4 lb)
1 ½ cups water
1 cup cooked rice
½ cup Italian dressing (Can we talk about how many choices there are? Sheesh)
½ cup tomatoes, seeded and diced
¼ cup chopped green pepper
3 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons pimento
2 tablespoons stuffed green olives
2 tablespoons parsley (garnish)

Wash and drain lentils. (Lentils require no soaking). Place in heavy saucepan, add water and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 20 minutes. Do not overcook! Lentils should be tender with skin intact. Drain immediately. Combine with rice, pour dressing over mixture and refrigerate until cool. Add remaining ingredients, except parsley. Mix well. Garnish with parsley.

"The Art of the Hamburger" & "Better Homes and Gardens Salad Book" - Tucson Turkey Burgers with Tomato Coleslaw

Date I made these recipes: Monday, May 28, 2007 – Memorial Day

The Art of the Hamburger by Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen
Published by: Chartwell Books, Inc.
ISBN 0-7858-0704-7
© 1996
Recipe: Tucson Turkey Burgers – p. 57



Better Homes and Gardens Salad Book
Published by: Meredith Press
© 1969
Recipe: Tomato Coleslaw – p. 66

Is there a better way to kick off the summer season than to grill a burger? I think not.

As we approached the Memorial Day weekend, I pulled out all my grilling, picnic and summer salad cooks and chose the two recipes listed above. Finding a burger that struck my fancy proved to be too difficult so I threw the task over to my husband (our grillmaster) who selected the Tucson Turkey Burgers.

And then there was the salad selection. I was just hell bent on cooking from one of my salad cookbooks and was pretty bent on coleslaw but the initial recipe I selected just didn’t do it for me as it had celery seed and I didn’t see that going with tomato salsa. So I put the book aside for a while and when it was time to make the grocery list, I flipped open the book to the page with the recipe I was thinking of making, saw the recipe for Tomato Coleslaw and decided that was a much better fit for the turkey burgers.

Both recipes are really easy although my husband cautions that the burgers don’t do well on the grill because the meat is too loose and the burgers wanted to slide through the grill grates. Part of the reason may have been the salsa we selected. We’re very partial to Salsa Lisa – http://www.salsalisa.com/ - a locally-produced fresh salsa available in the refrigeration department of many grocery stores—hopefully, one near you! Even “drained,” the salsa didn’t have that goopy consistency that other commercial brands do so perhaps that’s why the burgers didn’t bind together too well. He managed to get the burgers grilled but the next time around, I think we’ll use a fry pan. (Under no circumstances are we changing out the salsa. That would be a sacrilege!)

Tucson Turkey Burgers (with Salsa) – Serves 4
1 ½ pounds ground turkey
¾ cup good-quality commercial brand of tomato-chili salsa, well drained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and thinly sliced
½ cup grated cheddar or Monteray Jack cheese
Lettuce leaves
4 burger buns, split and toasted
Extra tomato-chili salsa, to serve

Tomato Coleslaw – serves 6 to 8
2 cups shredded cabbage
18 cherry tomatoes, halved
¼ cup diced cucumber
2 teaspoons minced onion
¼ cup mayonnaise/salad dressing
2 tablespoons French salad dressing
1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
Dash pepper

Combine the cabbage, tomatoes, cucumber and mixed onion. Chill. Blend together the mayonnaise, French salad dressing, lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper and chill. Just before serving, toss mayonnaise mixture lightly with cabbage mixture.

"Picnic & Tailgate Parties" & "The Hungry Man's Outdoor Grill Cookbook" - Mu Shu Burgers and Fiesta Potato Salad

Date I made these recipes: Sunday, May 12, 2007 (Mother’s Day)

Picnics & Tailgate Parties – A Sunset Book by the Editors of Sunset Books and Sunset Magazine
Published by: Lane Publishing Co.
ISBN: 070661802536
© 1982
Recipe: Mu Shu Burgers – p. 66

The Hungry Man’s Outdoor Grill Cookbook by the Staff Home Economists Culinary Arts Institute
Published by: Spencer Press, Inc.
© 1953
Recipe: Fiesta Potato Salad

Well, here in the heartland, we finally got around to getting a new propane tank for our grill and we’re back in business. And that’s a good thing—the temperature started spiking again (today we’re at 90) and yesterday, Mother’s Day, was a perfect day to grill out.

As you might imagine, given that I have over 800 cookbooks, I’d have a few books on grilling and picnics. Finding a recipe, however, wasn’t so easy.

Take The Hungry Man’s Outdoor Grill Cookbook. Clearly, this book is intended for more sophisticated grilling than our little gas grill can undertake. There were recipes for Beef Roast on a Spit, Turkey on a Spit, and my favorite, Duck on a Spit (we are spit-less in this family), as well as Barbecued Bologna Roll, Grilled Lobster and even Griddlecakes. And so I was just a bit challenged.

In the end, I decided to hedge my bets and go with an accompaniment to the Mu Shu Burgers – Fiesta Potato Salad. Sure, it’s a cop out, but it’s not like burgers don’t need potato salad for heaven’s sake!

And so speaking of burgers, these were fantastic. I was rather surprised to see a recipe for Mu Shu Burgers in a cookbook from 1982 but you know, those Sunset people are on top of everything.

Although the recipes don’t really compliment each other, neither did they clash. Both were quite tasty as a Mother’s Day treat even if Mom couldn’t make it. She and my dad had just gotten back from three weeks in Italy (Rough, huh? Actually, the trip was to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary so I suppose...), plus she lives in Michigan so that would have made it hard for us to entertain her. Instead, we “toasted” her with some mighty tasty vittles.

Let the grilling begin!

Mu Shu Bugers – Serves 8
1 pound lean ground pork
1 small onion, chopped
¼ cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 egg
½ cup finely chopped water chestnuts, jicama, or celery (we used celery)
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ to ¾ cup hoisin sauce (topping)
¾ to 1 cup green onion, cut into matchstick-size pieces (topping)
About 1 cup bean sprouts (topping)
Fresh coriander (cilantro or Chinese parsley) sprigs (optional) (topping)
8 flour tortillas, 6 to 8 inches in diameter

In a bowl, combine pork, onion, crumbs, egg, water chestnuts (or jicama or celery), garlic, soy sauce and ginger. Shape into 8 logs, each about 3 inches long.

To cook, place the pork logs on a grill 4 to 6 inches above a solid bed of glowing coals. Grill, turning to brown evenly, for 12 to 14 minutes total or until meat in center is no longer pink when slashed. Place foil-wrapped tortillas at edge of grill; turn over often to heat evenly. (Note: the recipe says to lightly moisten both sides of tortillas with water; stack tortillas and wrap in heavy foil but I think we skipped this step since we only grilled a couple of tortillas).

To serve, spread some hoisin sauce on a tortilla. Place a pork log near lower edge and top with some onion, bean sprouts and coriander. Fold edge of tortilla over filling; fold in sides and roll up to enclose meat and vegetables.

Fiesta Potato Salad – serves 4 to 6
3 cups cold, diced, cooked potatoes
1/3 cup finely sliced scallions (include some green tops)
6 slices crisp bacon, crumbled
2 tablespoons well-drained slivered pimiento
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon monosodium glutamate (Note: I didn’t add this, mostly because I don’t stock any!)
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ cup French dressing with tomato ketchup base – or you can use 1 tablespoon vinegar combined with 3 tablespoons bacon drippings

Toss all ingredients lightly together with a fork. Cover and chill in a mixing bowl for an hour or so. Toss lightly with 3 hard-cooked eggs, sliced and ¾ cup mayonnaise or cooked salad dressing. Turn into serving bowl.