Homemade Burgers

One of the foods I miss the most from home is a hamburger. A hamburger you ask skeptically. Why yes, my dear readers, a burger. Here in the midwest, burgers are not nearly as good. Sure, they might have cheesy goodness or delicious mushroom and onions sauteed on top. But the patty itself is always bland, always lacking the beautiful harmony Cajun burgers had. Lately, I've been craving those good ol' burgers found in restaurants and bakeries back home (Southside Bakery in Lafayette, LA. GO THERE) Today, while discussing what to have for dinner with hubby, I mentioned burgers and he jumped on that idea. From there, our dinner ideas expanded into the most delicious, most unhealthy stereotypical American feast. And let me tell you, it was damn good. We rarely fry things (last night being the first time when hubby fried some chicken breasts) so I figured it wouldn't be so bad to do it today.

Since hubby had such a good experience frying chicken last night on a whim (his first time frying anything) he thought he'd try onion rings. You'll hear more about those delicious bites of heaven in a bit. Look forward to it!

And, having burgers and this amazing Spring weather outside, it was a perfect time to have potato salad too. Mmmmhmmmm.

I think I gained 10 pounds today.


Burgers

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 egg, or 2 egg yolks (long story, involves angel food cake and only have 10 eggs. ok. short story then)
• 1/8 cup breadcrumbs
  
• Chachere's or season-all or lawrys
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• Black pepper
• oil

Yields 4 patties.

Alright. Get ready to get your hands dirty.

In a large bowl, mix up the meat, eggs, breadcrumbs, and seasonings (use your hands). I can't really give you measurements; it depends on what you want out of your burger. I probably had a tbsp of Chachere's and 1 tsp black pepper with a 1/2 to 1 tsp each of the garlic and onion powders. I wanted my burgers really well seasoned with the nice little kick Chachere's gives.

Here's a cooking tip: use your nose!! So often by just sniffing what you're mixing up you can tell what's missing. It is a vital step when cooking with meats since you can't just taste it right then and there.

Once your meat is mixed to a fragrant perfection, divide it up to make patties. We had small buns, so hubby (who took over the burgers at this point) divided the meat into 4, making 4 smaller patties. Shape the patties into discs about 3/4 inch to 1 inch thick. Make the center a little thinner than the edges as the burgers will plump up quite a bit.

In a large, heavy, nonstick skillet, heat up 2 tbsp of vegetable oil. Place the burgers around the pan and cook them a few (maybe 5) minutes, then flip them over. Press down gently on each patty. After another 5ish minutes, flip over again for 2 minutes, then flip again. The sides should both be nicely, richly browned. We decided they were done after we cut one open and it was cooked through.

Sorry these directions aren't the best. Hubby has a poor sense of timing when it comes to the kitchen, and I was whipping up an angel food cake.