In Search of the Perfect Burger & Racing while Feeling Pukey

The Colorado State Road Race championship was on Saturday. It was a new course on new, smooth and lovely roads. But the course was tough. It had a mile long killer hill. Ellie woke feeling ill, like she was going to puke, but she still wanted to race.

It was also a hot race. The roads are new because the area is in the beginning stages of building a new neighborhood. That meant that there were no trees. That took its toll once the heat began to climb into the upper 90s.


I was proud of Ellie for her determination. Racing while you are sick has got to be pretty bad. I imagine she might have even wanted to stop, but she kept going and came in third place.

For a brief while there was an excellent burger place just across the lake near our house. My husband and son loved having dinner there and would pick it each time we would go out. It left as suddenly as it had appeared. That made my men unhappy. Thus, I started to look for the perfect burger recipe. Here's one I found online and altered to fit what I had in my kitchen. It made them happy and so they had grilled burgers for two meals in a row:

The Perfect Grilled Burger

1 slice of Bread, crusts removed, torn into small bits (it can be stale bread)
2 TBL. Milk
3/4 TBL. Salt
3/4 tea. Pepper, black ground
1 clove Garlic, minced finely
2 tea. Worchestershire Sauce (the original recipe called for steak sauce)
1 1/2 # Ground Beef, 80/20
1/4 cup Veg. Oil

Preheat the grill on high for 15 minutes.

Clean off the grill as it is heating up.

In a bowl mash up the bread, milk, salt and pepper until it is a mush. Garlic and Worchestershire sauce. Stir to mix. Put the meat in another bowl, pour the spiced mash on top of the meat and mix with your hands to incorporate the mixture into the meat.

Grab a ball of meat and form a patty about 4" across and 3/4" thick. Use your first two fingers to put a dent in the center of the meat so that the middle is about 1/2" thick. Do not press the meat too tightly. (I made 6 patties.)

Just before grilling, soak a paper towel with the veg. oil and use a pair of tongs to wipe it across the grate. Turn the heat down to medium. Place the burgers on the grill, close the lid and cook for 3-5 minutes, depending on how you like your burger cooked. Use a wide spatula to pick up each burger, apply another coat of veg. oil to the grate and flip the burger. Repeat with the remaining burgers. Cook for 2 minutes.

While the burgers are cooking you can toast the buns.

Serves 6 burgers

American Cycling 2010 Awards Ceremony & Moroccan Meatball Recipe

On Saturday we went to the American Cycling Association 2010 Awards Ceremony. Ellie was up to receive a couple of awards. This was the first year in many years that Ethan was not on the stage, too. He has moved onto other activities.

Ellie was happy to see her friends, some of whom she does not get to see much outside of biking related events. She was awarded second place in the Junior Women 13-14 Colorado Cross Cup Best All Around Racer 2010 award.


Ellie received third place the Junior Women 13-14 Best All Around Rider 2010 (Road Season) and second in the Junior Women 13-14 Colorado Cross Cup 2010 awards.


Our team, Black Sheep Junior Cycling, also received the following Best All Around Team 2010 awards: first place for Junior Men 8-9, 13-14, Junior Women 13-14 and 15-16 and third in Junior Men 15-16. They also were awarded the following Colorado Cross Cup 2010 Best All Around Team awards for Junior Women 17-18 1st place, Junior Women 15-16 2nd and 13-14, as well as Junior Men 13-14, 3rd place.

Ethan was out with his boss, Bob, ice fishing. They had a great time, but it seems that no one on the lake caught a single fish. Perhaps it was the noise of the motorized hole digger.

Sunday's cooking demonstration at the local William-Sonoma store was "Meatball Mania." They made several recipes, but I thought the following was the best of the session:

Moroccan Style Meatballs
from: William-Sonoma Collection Series, Hors d'Oeuvre

(If doubling this recipe, use only 1 1/2 times the amount of salt, not double the amount.)

* 2 Tbs. olive oil
* 1 red onion, very finely chopped
* 1 lb. ground lamb
* 3 large garlic cloves, crushed through a press
* 2 eggs, lightly beaten
* 1 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley
leaves, finely chopped
* 1 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves,
finely chopped, plus sprigs for garnish
* 2 Tbs. fine dried bread crumbs
* 1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
* 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
* 1 tsp. salt, plus more, to taste
* 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper, plus more,
to taste
* Lemon wedges for squeezing and garnish
* About 42 cocktail picks (optional)

Directions:
Lightly oil a shallow-rimmed baking sheet.

In a fry pan over medium-low heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until very soft, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool.

Add the lamb, garlic, eggs, parsley, chopped mint, bread crumbs, cumin, cinnamon, the 1 tsp. salt and the 1/2 tsp. pepper to the bowl with the onion. Combine the ingredients thoroughly with your hands (the only way to evenly distribute the ingredients). Fry a small pinch of the mixture, taste, and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. Form the mixture into balls about the size of a walnut, rolling them very lightly in the palms of your hands. Place on the prepared baking sheet.

Preheat a broiler. Place the meatballs about 4 inches from the heat source and broil, turning once with tongs, until brown and crispy on both sides, about 10 minutes total. Remove the baking sheet from the broiler and transfer the meatballs to a platter.

Squeeze some lemon juice over the meatballs and arrange the remaining lemon wedges and mint sprigs on the platter. Using a cocktail pick, skewer each meatball. Serve immediately. Makes about 42 warm bites.

Note: The meatballs can be refrigerated for up to 4 hours before cooking. Remove them from the refrigerator 15 minutes before cooking. If desired, cook and cool the meatballs, refrigerate them for up to 4 hours, and then reheat in a 350°F oven until heated through, 10 to 20 minutes.
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Hors d'Oeuvre, by Brigit L. Binns (Simon & Schuster, 2001).