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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Bride of Magazine Challenge: Cheddar Horseradish Burgers

So.
In theory, it's summer here.  The thermometer will tell you differently, but from time to time it's warm enough to go out and take a dip in the pool.  In the two years that we have lived in this house, we've had two of the craziest summers ever for owning a pool.  Last year, we went to New York City for our vacation.  We were gone for a week.  That was the week in July when it was 100.  And we were walking around NYC.  We came home the day the weather broke and jumped in the pool that afternoon.  Then it became unseasonably cold and damp for our kitchen renovation and instead of spending it in the pool I spent it sitting on the couch.  This year, we have once again had cooler than normal temperatures with days of 80+ weather.  The pool is beautiful in the middle of the backyard, but not really warm enough for swimming unless we're willing to run the heater most of the time and I'm way too cheap for that.  The weatherman is promising that things are about to improve.  Just in time for us to go to Seattle for vacation.  But between now and departure, we are supposed to have some more "normal" days in which to get in the water and swim.
One of the things that we like to do on weekends when it is promising is invite people over to swim and BBQ.  We usually just do burgers on the grill, and usually boxed ones at that for ease.  While looking through the July/August 2006 of Everyday Food, however, I found an article on a few different burgers that looked promising.  While not all are things that turn our cranks (turkey burgers were quickly nixed), these sounded delicious.  The day I made them, however, it rained again and I ended up using the Foreman instead of the backyard grill.  Next time.  And J has made me promised that there will be a next time.
From the July/August 2006 issue of Everyday Food, I present to you now Cheddar-Horseradish Burgers:

Ingredients:
1-1/2 lbs ground beef
4 Tbsp prepared white horseradish
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 slices old cheddar cheese (I used medium, but old would be better)
4 hamburger buns
Condiments as desired

Method:
1.  In a medium bowl, place beef, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.  Mix with a fork until just combined, being careful not to overmix.
2.  Shape into 4 patties, being careful not to compact too much, making the burgers dense.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
3.  Grill burgers 4-7 minutes per side, adding the cheese to melt during the last 2-4 minutes of cooking.
4.  Serve on toasted buns, with desired condiments.

From Everyday Food, July/August 2006 

Club packs of ground beef were on sale, so I stocked up and packaged the meat out.  I was a little concerned about mixing with a fork, but things went fine.

I made the patties in the morning, covered with plastic wrap and grilled in the evening.  They were fragile enough that I was just as happy to give them some time to firm up before cooking.  I was also just as happy that I'd done them inside because when one of the patties broke as I was removing it from the grill, I didn't lose it between the grates.
Not the most attractive of pictures, but the burgers were delicious.  I found the only thing I wanted to add was a little ketchup.  The horseradish was a nice flavour, and the patties were more than big enough that we only wanted one.  I hope the rest of the burgers that I've earmarked for trying are as good as these!

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