Easy and simple hamburger recipes
This easy and simple hamburger recipes page shows you why a hamburger is simple to put together.
It is a beef patty sandwiched within a soft bread bun. A hot sandwich. Simple right?
Hamburgers are relatively inexpensive easy fast food for the masses. This explains why it is one of American's greatest culinary export to the world.
Althought is is easy and simple, it doesn't mean that it is boring. The bread-meat-bread platform lends itself to infinite changes and innovation.
1. Fresh ingredients
Find fresh ground beef to make the patties. You can get the cheaper cuts to grind but do not buy ground beef that are near expiry or have expired, no matter how cheap it is. Avoid pre-seasoned ground beef unless you know the butcher or the shop people quite well and trust that they are not trying to extend the shelf-life of their stale meat products by seasoning them beforehand.
Buy fresh buns, especially those that are baked on the day itself. If you are up to it, you can bake your own.
Lettuce and any other vegetables should also be fresh. Even pickles or preserved ingredients should be current, not stale or have expired.
2. Experiment a little at a time with new ingredients
How boring to just slap a piece of pattie onto a buttered roll and some ketchup and stop there. It is not difficult to add some toppings such as tomato slices, lettuce leaves or cheese and bacon.
Once you have stepped up with common toppings and condiments, move along a little and try adding some sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, cooked cabbage, onion relish, grilled vegetables like sliced eggplant and bell pepper.
Or introduce some ethnic flavors by adding blue cheese, using bolognaise or pasta sauce, or you can add curry powder, wasabi, soy sauce or teriyaki sauce to season the patties.
3. Try different cooking methods
Pan frying isn't the only hamburger cooking technique. I believe most people prefer outdoor grilling. However, not everyone has a backyard or an outdoor grill. Indoor grills, griddle pans or the oven can be used to cook hamburgers. Some people even use the microwave oven, although I don't think it does the beef any justice.
Some people use the oven top grill to melt the cheese that they have placed on top of the patties. This really imparts some smoky goodness to the cheese instead of just depending on the heat of the patty to soften the cheese.
