Recipe: Creative Cooking Grilled Hamburgers Delux

One of Life's simple pleasures

As Mr. Big Food notes over there to your right, this is "real people’s food—fresh, simply prepared, and delicious." This particular recipe does not come from a spiral bound crappy old cookbook. It's from The Creative Cooking Course: A Complete Course in the Art of Cooking with 1200 Recipes and 2500 Color Photos by Charlotte Turgeon (Weathervane Books, New York, 1975). I think it took Mr. Big Food nearly a year to cull through this book, but it was worth it. Turgeon's editorials are fine reading.

Here's what she has to say about burgers:

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“Hamburgers are a very popular all-American food, perhaps because they are pleasing both to the taste and to the budget. When cooked properly, grilled hamburgers particularly appeal to our palates and can be a delicious part of any meal. …”

“These hamburgers are sizzling in a large oval iron pan supported by a homemade grill made of scrap iron rods. (We have found that neither the elaborateness nor simplicity of a grill affects the delicious flavor of hamburgers.) You’ll find recipes for Barbecue Sauces in the [Grillin’ … section].”—The Creative Cooking Course (1982)

Recipe below. (We had these with Coleslaw with Cooked Dressing.)

CREATIVE COOKING GRILLED HAMBURGERS DELUXE

1 Tbsp butter

1 ½ tsp olive oil

1 medium onion, minced

1 lb extra lean ground beef (preferably home-ground)

3 drops Tabasco (or more, to taste)

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp salt

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 egg yolks, beaten lightly

2/3 C soft bread crumbs

Cheese slices, if desired

Your own favorite sauce (Barbecue—see recipes in Grillin’ … section—Salad Dressing—see recipes in Appetizers …--other sauces (see recipes in Basics section)

Melt butter and olive oil in a small frying pan, add onion, and sauté until golden. Combine ground beef, onion, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper, and mix well. Add egg yolks and bread crumbs, and mix until combined well. Shape meat into 4 patties, each about 3 inches in diameter and ½ inch thick. Place patties on sprayed grill rack about 4 inches above hot charcoals (or under pre-heated broiler) and sear meat patties quickly on both sides. Raise grill rack to 6 to 8 inches above coals and cook 5 minutes on each side, topping each burger with a cheese slice for th last 5 minutes of grilling time (if suing). Serve with your favorite Barbecue Sauce or other sauce or dressing.