Burgers?

I thought this was an interesting section so I decided to throw in something I like to make. It's basically sort of a simple meat/tofu burger that I started making through experimentation and it's stuck with me... I'm not really a measuring kind of guy so everything here is estimates since I tend to cook by feel. You can adjust any ingredient to match the flavor and texture that you want. It may take a few tries to get it the way you want...

- 2lb Ground Beef (I like to use 80/20)
- 1/2 Block of Firm Tofu (pressed to remove most of the extra water content)
- 1 Egg
- 1/4 Onion finely diced
- A splash of Worcestershire Sauce
- A bit of Ketchup
- A bit of Dijon Mustard
- Onion Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- A bit of Dried Oregano

Makes like 6-8 burgers... I think...

Basically take all of the ingredients and mix them all up in a bowl by hand.
(Wearing a glove is probably good here for sanitary purposes.)

Make sure to break up the tofu well.
(I would advise against using a food processor or something for this because it ends up just turning into a mushy blob.)

The idea is that you want little bits of tofu incorporated into the meat to give it a softer texture and you want the onions and tofu to be somewhat distinguishable when you bite into the burger and look at it. The egg is there to bring it all together and keep it from falling apart.

After mixing all of the ingredients together, I'd cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for an hour or so before shaping the patties and cooking them. I just find it easier to work with this way and the patties tend to stay together better.

I don't have a grill so I've never tried grilling these burgers. I usually pan fry them on Med-High in 1/4-1/3lb patties and it'll usually take about 5-6 minutes per side to cook through. It's really important that you cook your burgers to well-done. Remember that unlike a steak, where only the surface has really been exposed to bacteria and stuff, ground beef has been exposed all over inside and out. Of course this doesn't mean to overcook it... Just make sure blood isn't pouring out when you bite into it. And don't blame me if you get sick from eating an undercooked burger.

After cooking, I generally serve it one of two ways, either a Pizza Burger with tomato sauce and mozzerella on top (in which case make sure to heat up the sauce and melt the mozzerella over while cooking) or a simple Bacon Cheeseburger with a slice of American cheese and bacon.
___________________________________

If you prefer your burgers to be softer, you can add more Tofu to the mix. If you prefer it to be more solid, you can lower the amount of Tofu or eliminate it altogether. While adding ingredients, I like to cook small bits of the meat and taste it little by little as I go until I get to the flavor I want. Ultimately, any recipe is only a foundation. Take it and adjust it to suit your own tastes.

If you've given this a shot, please give me a bit of feedback and also post on ideas or anything else you've come up with because I'd love to try it. ^^

Damn I'll have to try that, I like using steak seasonings when I grill burgers, and I like using terryakki (spell fail) sauce, as well as garlic powder and this stuff called "liquid smoke". It gives the meat this juice smokey taste =3 it's wonderful.

hmm, that's a good idea cake. i don't like to add breadcrumbs to my hamburgers but i like how it can make it softer/mix up the texture. adding tofu sounds way better.

any other homemade recipes? i'm not so great at coming up with things that are palatable to a variety of people, since i usually season things too strongly/spicy. i'm actually wondering if you have a good chicken breast recipe? i like to buy a lot of them and then cook them up for lunches during the week. i usually end up stewing them to keep them moist. but that gets boring after a while..

I think I'm gunna try making this next week >=3

droolybear wrote:

hmm, that's a good idea cake. i don't like to add breadcrumbs to my hamburgers but i like how it can make it softer/mix up the texture. adding tofu sounds way better.

any other homemade recipes? i'm not so great at coming up with things that are palatable to a variety of people, since i usually season things too strongly/spicy. i'm actually wondering if you have a good chicken breast recipe? i like to buy a lot of them and then cook them up for lunches during the week. i usually end up stewing them to keep them moist. but that gets boring after a while..

I usually stay away from chicken breasts when cooking for large numbers of people. It's way too unforgiving in that they have a tendency to dry out unless you're pretty accurate with your cooking time. Of course, this gets harder to do when you have to cook large quantities... For guests, I tend to stick with chicken thighs since they're more moist.

If I do cook chicken breasts, it's usually with roasted bell peppers, some mozzerella, and a little splash of balsamic vinegar. You can throw the whole thing into bread to make a sandwich. Sometimes I'll actually cut a slit into the middle of the breast to make a pocket and put the bell peppers, mozzerella, and balsamic into it so that it helps to keep the inside of the breast moist. You can close off the pocket with a toothpick or something and throw the whole thing into the oven or on a grill. Just make sure to remove the toothpick before serving it.

I actually like my food real spicy too and I know how tough it can be to please people.

Woot, I'm making this for dinner tonight >=3

Italian_Boy1Up wrote:

Woot, I'm making this for dinner tonight >=3

Tell me how it works out. ^^

I just finished cooking and eating these >=3, they were scrumptious.

Do you usually fry them or grill them? We grilled them, and it proved tricky to keep them together >.< lol. However they still tasted great.

Italian_Boy1Up wrote:

I just finished cooking and eating these >=3, they were scrumptious.

Do you usually fry them or grill them? We grilled them, and it proved tricky to keep them together >.< lol. However they still tasted great.

I don't have a grill so I've always pan fried them. I figured they might not work as well on a grill because they have a tendency to fall apart easily before they're cooked. I think if you took out the tofu, it'd probably work a lot better on the grill. You'd still have almost the same flavor, but the texture would be firmer.

Ah, yeah that's kind of what I figured. I assumed since you live in New York, you might not have an outside grill to use, so you probably panfried them. That would probably have worked better haha. They were softer than normal, but they tasted great =P. I think the ketchup and dijon gave it a really nice smell, I couldn't wait to eat them o_o lol.

Italian_Boy1Up wrote:

Ah, yeah that's kind of what I figured. I assumed since you live in New York, you might not have an outside grill to use, so you probably panfried them. That would probably have worked better haha. They were softer than normal, but they tasted great =P. I think the ketchup and dijon gave it a really nice smell, I couldn't wait to eat them o_o lol.

Great to hear to liked the taste ^^. I'll try to post up some other recipes when I find the time.