As you all know, or should know, this Sunday is Mothers Day. Instead of the overdone brunch or dinner thing, we will be cooking dinner for my step mother. Grilling out actually, to keep it relatively simple. I have an idea of a menu and I would like some help filling in the blanks.
Instead of a salad I was thinking of a mixture of marinated, grilled veggies such as Portabella mushrooms, red, green and maybe yellow peppers and tomatos. Eggplant is an idea, but I don’t know if they are in season. What other vegetable works well when grilled?
For the burgers, I remember I once had a burger that was half lamb and half beef and I want to go with that combo. However, I don’t think that regular ground beef is a suitable match. What type of ground meat would mix best with the lamb? Chuck, Sirloin, or is regular GB okay?
I would also like to have a selection of 2 or 3 cheeses to go with the burger, and could use some suggestions. Is gouda right for this? How about Feta (I think that might be good)? Keep in mind that I want to try and stay away from the basic Swiss and Chedar. Would Stilton be too much?
Is a salad a good idea in addition to the grilled veggies?
Is garlic bread (french bread with olive oil and fresh garlic) overkill considering that there will be buns?
Looking forward to any and all suggestions. Thanks.
Zucchini grills very well.
I would think that if I was mixing going to the trouble of mixing with lamb, I’d be looking at a better cut of ground. Sirloin or the like.
Stilton is not uncommon on gourmet burgers. Feta is sort of crumbly and not nicely melty, I’m not sure it would give you the texture that you want. I’ve been known to slather some chevre on my more snooty burgers.
Also consider the merits of your condiments. A mix of pesto and aoli is a personal favourite.
I wouldn’t be inclined to add more bread to a menu that involves burgers, but you might consider offering up some of that french bread instead of buns for added gourmet value.
jacquilynne, thanks for the ideas. I really like the pesto and aoli idea.
At a recent cookout, I learned that asparagus comes out really well when you grill it. You can make a foil pouch and seal it totally airtight with asparagus and sliced onions and tomatoes, then throw it either on the grill itself or even down in the coals. The onions will sweat and make juice inside, and everything comes out wonderful. All vegetables grill pretty well in the foil pouch method.
Another great option is marinating pineapple and grilling it. We used some kind of commercially-available mango-ginger-habanero marinade, and used the entire fresh pineapple core, separated into four pieces. Everyone will love this, trust me.
As for cheeses, smoked gouda is another good choice. Delicious cold, and melts decently too.
The pineapple thing sounds good. I may try that on Sunday. The asparagus is a good idea as well, that is a good addition to a vegetable medley.
Stilton is always a big hit with my parents. Also, the Shaw’s here recently had a sage Derby that was heavenly, and a pretty green color. Would look nice melted over a lambburger:) Another thing we do on the grill is slice an onion into quarters, while leaving the root intact. Invert over the coals for a nice yummy roasty onion. We also grill a whole head of garlic for each guest, to have on bread or on burgers or to just eat like candy!
Another vote for stilton as a burger option, Gruyere is also a very good melter cheese, cotswold (Cheddar with Chives) is getting easy to find in California and is a good cheese to go with burgers.
A slightly different vegitable idea is to make up vegitable brockettes (Kebabs) they are easy to do on a grill, as they can’t fall through the grill being skewered together. For the brockettes use two colors of pepper, mushroom, onion, aubergine and for something a little different banana. cut all the vegi’s into 1 inch cubes, for the banana DON’T PEEL IT just cut 1 inch lengths of unpeeled banana. put the vegi’s onto the skewers well mixed and touching (pierce the banana through the banana flesh, so that the skin is all the way arround the skewer). Mix nice oil (olive, nut, or peanut) with selection of fresh chopped herbs and brush (or use clean hands to rub it on) onto the brockettes. Cook until the outer sides and corners of the vegi’s start to blacken.
Cheers, Bippy
( Note: if using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for 24 hours before using, that way they won’t burn on the grill)
You people are all genuine class. I went to a pretty nice cookout a few weeks ago (see above), and it was the first time it wasn’t just hot dogs and burgers. I can’t wait to use some of these ideas myself and keep the “nice” tradition going.
I often do grilled vegetables during my cookouts. I marinate zucchini and yellow squash, japanese eggplant, asparagus, and bell peppers with a little balsamic vinegar, olive oil and herbes de provence. I make sure to season them well with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, and grill them until tender.
(And if you have any leftover, chop 'em up and toss 'em in some bowtie pasta with some pesto or tomato viniagrette or some kind of light, herby dressing)
I like all the different ideas for cheese, and I’ll add my personal favorite for burgers: Gorgonzola!
What kind of buns are you serving? I’d personally get some good, fresh, chewy sourdough buns. Yum!
If you include eggplant, be sure to slice it in whatever thickness you will be using and then place the pieces in a colander that has been lined with paper towels. Once you have a single layer, heavily salt the pieces. Layer more of the cut eggplant over the first bunch and salt it as well. Cover all of this with some more paper towels and place a heavy weight upon the entire group. Leave for a few hours and then rinse off all of the salt before cutting up and using. This will help to eliminate the bitter flavor that eggplant often has.
If you are considering blending lamb with the hamburger, you might want to investigate getting a packet of Arabic kebab spices and mixing that with the meat. You’ll probably want a blander cheese than Stilton to go along with it, (like the sage Derby) but the flavor will be incredible. A 85-90% lean hamburger should do just fine.
To gussy things up a bit for the mother-in-law, you might want to look into some yellow taxi tomatoes and maybe some orange bell peppers. Chives are always nice as are fresh herbs for the vegetable packets.
Since you like Feta, consider serving a Greek Salad. If you are already heavy on the veggies, make the salad without lettuce, dice the vegetables and cheese into small cubes and serve it as more of a relish.
For something truly elegant, yet easy to make, try stuffing half an avocado with some small shrimp and top it off with that aoli that you like so much. If you don’t make the aoli, try a remoulade sauce.
Another tasty and easy to prepare salad is Hearts of Palm with Creamy Vinaigrette. This is flavorful and somewhat exotic fare that is easy to make and like.
For a really excellent appetizer you might want to check out Marinated Shitake Mushrooms with Chevre. This is a consistent knock out with everyone who tastes it.
Here’s a super elegant dessert that takes less than half an hour to make and most people mistake for store bought (in a good way). It’s the classic Double Cream Cherry Pie
Let us know what dishes you prepared and how they turned out.
Alrighty, I’m going to take a shower and then head to Central Market for what promises to be an eventful and costly shopping trip.
Zenster, thanks for the kebab spice idea. I wasn’t sure how to season the meat (that doesn’t sound like a euphemism).
Dessert is being made by my cousin and it’ll be Bananas Foster. Also, this is for my step mother, I don’t have a MiL.
If I can find some Stilton, I will pick some up, but the last few times that I have looked for it I haven’t had any luck. I usually can find flavoured Stilton, but those are more like dessert cheeses than the good old ‘knock a buzzard off a shit wagon’ Stilton.
[Bounce] Boiiinnnnggg!
OK adam yax how did it go?