I sometimes wonder if Julia Child ever ate anything other than French cuisine. She lived in France for many years and loved the food, enough that she decided to go to a French culinary school to learn how to properly prepare French food and then co-authored "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." That we know. But I'm curious if Julia ever was wondering what to have for dinner and decided to drop into a local Tacqueria for a combination platter with a chimichanga, taco, and enchilada. Did she ever tire of French food? Did she ever grab a TV dinner and toss it in the oven for a quick dinner?
As I've admitted, I'm not trying to actually cook every recipe in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." As a matter of fact, while looking through the book recently I came across the recipe for "Soupe de Poisson." No, it isn't poison soup. Almost though -- it is "Strained Fish Soup." Hmmmmmm, sounded interesting until I looked through the ingredients. For some reason, "3 to 4 pounds of fish heads, bones, trimmings, and shellfish remains" just doesn't sound particularly appetizing to me. As a matter of fact, I ate things during the U.S. Air Force survival school that were more appetizing. Scratch that one off the list.
Back to today's topic - my "Hamburger a la Costco." I was having one of those days that Julia never admitted to. The weather was beautiful, the grill was sitting there calling my name, and I had to decide if I wanted to spend a couple of hours concocting one of the French recipes, using a dozen pots and pans, and then try to correctly pronounce the name of what I was serving. On the other hand, I could turn on the grill and toss on a couple of frozen Costco hamburgers and have dinner ready in about 10 minutes with no pots and pans to wash!! The ol' BBQ grill won.
For a really tasty burger it's nice to make the patties at home and mix in some onions, bread crumbs, and maybe even cheese. But I usually keep a pack of the Costco frozen hamburger patties on hand for nights like this one was. Now to share the pro tip of the day -- try sprinkling either Costco's Kirkland brand "Montreal Steak Seasoning" or "Sweet Mesquite Seasoning" on each side of the burgers as they are cooking and have thawed out. The seasoning really helps the basic frozen patties turn into something a bit more special. The other burger grilling tip is to only flip the things one time! Typically 10 minutes of direct grilling over medium heat (that's the temperature where you can hold your hand close to the grill for 5 seconds before you have to pull it away. Safety tip -- holding your hand close to the grill means close, NOT touching) should finish off a typical frozen hamburger patty. Do the math, that means you should be flipping the things about 5-6 minutes into the grilling.
The final touch us to add cheese and it turns into a cheeseburger (hey, that's like Julia's trick of just changing or adding one ingredient and giving it a new name), condiments (not compliments) to include the standards plus my personal favorite - guacamole. Final pro tip: Put all of those ingredients inside a bun so that its easier and less messy to hold!
That's it for today. Happy grilling and...
Bon Appetit!
Your burgers are always the best!