Capitol Hill Blue Forums Misc. Topics Food, Drink and Cooking Wonder what the poor folks are eatin' tonight?

Broiled in butter with garlic.

Put aside that the world is going to end in Dec. sometime because of the Mayan calender. I don't think that it will end, but I don't know anything anyway. Assuming that the world doesn't end (and with 4th approaching), I have a serious and truly meaningful issue that will affect the lives of millions of Americans: What tastes better? A hand-pressed hamburger or a hamburger press? I like hotdogs on the 4th, but a number of guests prefer hamburgers. The eternal question. I prefer dogs with a lot kraut, however, some prefer hamburgers. What do you think? I think that a hamburger press burger tastes better, but I don't know why. Any opinions or preferences, and why? Do you think that a hand pressed and formed burger tastes better than a hamburger pressed one?

Another thing, those store bought tomatoes taste like cardboard and are flavorless. Obviously GM tomatoes for distribution and sales. I understand that. I also understand flavor. [b]Here's why they taste like sh*t.[/b]

We only buy the Costco hothouse "cocktail" tomatoes these days: They are sold in a plastic package but are all still on the vine, and are like very large cherry tomatoes. All in the 1.25" to 1.75" diameter range. They actually taste like homegrown, right off the vine. I think the "completely-tasteless but easy to harvest and pack" tomato variety was perfected long before anybody could do GM. It was just selective breeding, same as practiced at the dawn of agriculture.

As for forming burger patties, I used to hand form them but I read a while back that they come out much better if you form them very gently. If you fry them, then you can make very loose patties just by moving the ground beef around without ever pressing it together to get rid of the voids. I guess it cooks more uniformly when the hot fat can bubble up through the patty. This does work very well when you have to fry or broil them.

For the grill, I do press them together just a bit especially around the circumference, so they don't fall apart. Another trick: Form a patty of uniform thickness, and then press down in the center with your thumb. This prevents them from bulging into spheres as they cook.

I like both hamburgers and hotdogs. I like the Hebrew National all beef dogs, grilled, with some mustard and dill pickle relish. Or as a chili-cheese dog. I like my hamburgers hand-formed. I have the butcher grind a mixture of half round and half sirloin. I mix in a packet of dry Lipton onion soup mix and a bit of Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and garlic. we grill them and I put out lettuce(Green leaf), sliced tomatoes(usually from my neighbor's garden), sliced red onion, cheese, mustard(yellow and brown), mayo, ketchup, cheese and dill pickle slices.

But for the 4th this year, we are grilling NY strip steaks, grilled corn on the cob and grilled veggie skewers. Home made lemonade, iced tea and other cold beverages. Lemon meringue pie for dessert. And maybe even homemade strawberry ice cream. I have a lot of fresh strawberries4 lbs) I just bought at the local Farmers' Market for 5 dollars! And I have an electric ice cream maker. I just need to add eggs and cream.... yes, I need to make a trip to the grocery store tomorrow!

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I hope you are using European wieners for those hot dogs. · ·

Ah, my son has also requested that we grill brats wrapped in bacon. So I will add those to the menu.

Dinner out last night! Blackened Sea Bass with a Raspberry Chipotle sauce! To Die For! Just to feckin' die for. OK?
Tonight a fresh loaf of whole wheat bran bread, Stuffed Grape leaves (Dolmathakias) and a pint of Guinness....okay...two pints C:
I like Burgers, I like Dogs. I like damn near everything.
I can't afford those fancy European wieners made from Choice Canadian horsemeat. And don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about numan!
Bacon wrapped deep fried corn dogs are pretty good too Scout!

Mmmm, bacon-wrapped corn dogs!

Wow, that's some hamburger! I'll try combining sirloin with ground round next time. I like Nathan's hotdogs. Brats as well as sweet Italian sausage are great on the grill. I top with cold salsa.