hamburger | Adventures in Thyme

Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole

April 8, 2015 by Ginger Leave a Comment

Cheeseburger Casserole

I’m always game for a juicy burger n’fries, but the bread is sometimes a turn off. So if you find yourself wanting a yummy burger but firing up the bbq isn’t a good solution, you’ll enjoy tonight’s recipe. A cheesy, bacony “burger” with fries all cooked in one dish.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground Beef
1 lb ground Pork
8 slices of Bacon fried bacon, slivered
1 Egg, beaten
1.5 cups of Ketchup
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp Liquid Smoke
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp dried Thyme
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp dried Garlic
Roux (4 Tablespoons butter & 4 Tablespoons flour)
80z shredded Cheddar Cheese (we used goat cheddar)
Bag of frozen Tater Tots

Set your oven to 400 degrees and let’s get cookin!

Fry the bacon in a skillet until done. Remove bacon and set aside on a paper towel to drain. Pour off most of the bacon grease and then add the beef and pork back into the skillet and fry until done. While the meat is cooking mix together the ketchup, Worcestershire, liquid smoke, salt, thyme, oregano and garlic, and set this aside. Carefully spoon the meat into a large bowl and set aside to cool.

In a frying pan melt the butter over medium low heat and then slowly add the flour, stirring constantly. Cook, stirring constantly until golden brown. This will help bind the burger together. When the roux is ready remove from the heat, pour in the liquid ingredients from the step above and mix well. To the cooled meat mixture add the beaten egg and also mix well. Now add the ketchup-roux mixture from the pan into the meat and combine. Time to assemble!

Into a baking dish pour in the meat mixture and level with a spoon. Now add your layer of shredded chedder, then layer on the slivered pieces of crunchy bacon. Finally add rows of tater tots until the casserole is covered.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 mins or until the tater tots have cooked. Serve immediately with burger fixin’s: tomatoes, lettuce, onions, avocado and a splash of tabasco – if you dare!

Luscious Lamb Burgers

June 18, 2014 by Ginger 2 Comments

Lamb Burger

Let’s just pause here a moment and look at that picture once more – salivating yet? We love lamb, and this yummy burger really hits the spot after a long day at work. Let’s get grilling with Burgers Part Deux!

For the burger, mix gently together:
1 lb ground lamb
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 Tablespoon dried basil
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
3/4 cup crumbled sheep’s feta (or goat feta); reserve additional feta to garnish the burger
Note: Overmixing the burger will destroy the yummy chunks of cheese crumbles so mix thoroughly, but gently.

For the Tzatziki dressing, mix together:
1 English cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1 shallot minced fine
6 oz plain goat yogurt
Juice from 1/2 lemon
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Additional ingredients as desired: burger buns, sliced tomatos, butter lettuce, fries.

Grill burgers on your bbq, or fry in a pan in your kitchen. While they are cooking, warm your burger buns if you like them a little toasty, we used ciabatta rolls. When the burgers are done, “Accoutrements assemble!” We stacked our burger with lettuce, burger, tzatziki, tomato, and feta. But some crispy bacon is also a good addition or some French fried onions (they’re good on lots of things other than green beans!).

Enjoy!

Stuffed Burgers

June 11, 2014 by Ginger Leave a Comment

Stuffed Burger

They say that necessity is the mother of invention, we needed dinner, and this burger was the result. I had many of the ingredients on hand and a quick scan of Food Network recipes laid the groundwork for this dish. Let’s get grillin’!

This burger is best done in sections, so I’ve divided them up by the order to best use your time:

1.) Ingredients you’ll need in later burger assembly are baby spinach, prosciutto (or bacon), sliced tomato, crunchy onion rings, hamburger bun or roll.

2.) For the spread, mix together: 1 cup mayo, ½ cup pecorino, ~a dozen fresh basil leaves (finely chopped). Set aside.

3.) For the filling, mix together: 1 cup feta (we used sheep’s feta from Costco), ¾ cup chopped sun dried tomatoes (you can find these oil packed in jars in the Italian aisle at your grocery store. I wrap whatever amount I intend on using in paper towels and squeeze gently to remove the excess oil). Set aside.

4.) For the burgers, mix together: 2lbs hamburger (we used 93/7), 3 eggs slightly beaten, ½ cup Kellogg’s Corn Flake Crumbs (these are gluten free), 2 tsps each of Rosemary/Thyme/Basil, 1 tsp salt, pinch of ground pepper, 3 gloves minced garlic. Because these burgers will contain the filling you made earlier, you need to make two thin halves per burger, then gently encase filling in each (if you like feta, form about ~2 Tablespoons into a disk, if you don’t, use about 1 Tablespoon), and cook to desired doneness.

When the meat is done, add some of the Spread you made to each side of the bun, and begin to layer: spinach, meat, prosciutto, tomato and onion rings. This is a big burger, bite carefully.

Enjoy!

Shells Casserole

March 12, 2014 by Ginger Leave a Comment

Shells Casserole

I love pasta shells – little boats of yummy goodness that can be filled with mixtures from sweet to savory. Today’s offering welcomes back crispy pancetta bits, and cheese. Does it get any better? Actually it does…

Ingredients:
1 box of jumbo pasta shells
1 lb hamburger
1 container pasta sauce of choice
~5 oz of cooked spinach, drained (you can either use a box of frozen spinach or 1/2 bag of frozen organic, I place it in a bowl and pour a cup of hot water over it to defrost, then squeeze out the liquid later)
~2 cups shredded Mozzarella (vegan mozzarella is pictured above)
~1 cup shredded pecorino or parmesan
1 package of sliced pancetta from the deli (you can normally find this in the fine cheeses area). Dice/chop the pancetta for easy frying.
1/4 tsp cinnamon
~ 1 Tablespoon of olive oil
pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F while you prepare the dish.
2. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook until tender but not completely soft – remember, you’re going to be baking this later! When the pasta is done remove and cool with cold water to stop the cooking process.
3. While the water boils heat olive oil in a skillet and brown the sliced pancetta. Remove pancetta with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel to drain.
4. Add hamburger to fry pan and brown in pancetta oil.
5. Drain hamburger and place in a large bowl, add pancetta, mozzarella, spinach and cinnamon. Mix well. Add salt to taste.
6. In a large baking dish pour ~1 cup of the pasta sauce in the bottom and spread evenly. Then carefully stuff a shell with ~2 tablespoons of hamburger mixture.
7. Pour remaining pasta sauce over the shells when finished. Place in oven and cook until the pasta bubbles and shell tips begin to turn brown (or the cheese is well melted).
8. Serve with crusty bread, a glass of vino, a good movie, the possibilities are endless…