Saturday, March 16, 2013

They See Me Grillin'...

I made burgers on the grill. To go with them, I roasted some mild chiles on the grill and then paired them with roasted orange peppers and onions for a burger topping. I also grilled enough chicken to feed us all week, since I've been spending so much time on campus.

I cut the chiles down the middle and washed out the seeds (which I planted out back--here's hoping they take!). I then lightly brushed them with olive oil and set them on medium on the grill for 10-15 minutes (about 7 minutes a side, or until the skin starts to blacken). Here's the key: don't worry if they looked burned, just taken them off the grill after 15 minutes and put them in a bowl. Cover the top of the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let them steam for 10 minutes. Then you should be able to peel off that black skin and have perfect, soft, smoky pepper flesh. Boy, that sounds almost dirty...


The rest of the veg I cooked in foil on the grill. I combined them all to make a tasty burger topping:


I marinated the chicken in rice wine vinegar, vegetable oil, Lea & Perrins, 
lemon pepper and 4 chopped fresh garlic cloves. Let it sit in there for 2 hours. I never like to give cooking times with these recipes, because grills vary, chicken breasts vary, etc. I had normal, hormone-free chicken to work with, and I grilled it for 9 minutes on each side and let it rest for 10 minutes wrapped in foil. This time it was 9 minutes, but you never know. Use a meat thermometer! I don't take the chicken off the grill until it's 160 degrees F. A lot of recipes will say 165 F, but the chicken continues to cook as it rests. You'll find you get juicier chicken if you pull it out at 160 F. 



For the burgers, I use a combo of 80% and 93% ground beef. I add an egg yolk to 2 pounds of meat, along with some Lipton's onion soup mix, 1 tbs of soy sauce, and lots of pepper. I always make a well in the middle of the burger before I cook it, so it doesn't swell in the middle. 


We ate them with sesame seed buns, romaine lettuce, fresh tomatoes, the grilled pepper-onion mixture, and lots of spicy mustard. Delicious!