The Laughing Wolf

Special Burgers

When I don’t grind my own meat, I usually get the extra-lean ground meat. The only problem with this stuff is that it does not have enough fat to cook properly, allowing things to get dry and tough. A good way around it is to do something like the following.

First, put the ground meat in a bowl. Add in some olive oil (I use garlic olive oil and truffle oil), some Worcestershire sauce, some Tabasco, diced fresh onion, some liquid smoke (if you can’t grill but have to cook inside), spices to suit (chipotle, pepper, salt, cinnamon, etc.), shredded cheese, diced or sliced ripe olives, and if you like them sweet peppers. Mix together well, form into patties, and cook.

The olive oil provides the fat needed for cooking, helping improve the moisture, texture, and toughness. According to some old studies, it can even replace some of the bad fat that is left in the meat. Not sure if I believe that (have not seen follow-up studies), but it is a “good” fat where you need it. The other ingredients add flavor and moisture, and make it hard to beat. Go easy with the spices: remember, what you want to do is bring out the flavor of the meat and enhance it, not mask it. If you need to mask, you need to switch butchers.

Enjoy.

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