My wife tells me this coming Monday we're having a couple of dozen friends over for hamburgers and hot dogs. Hard to see how I can make that special. I can grill over wood or charcoal; or use the infrared.

I can get all beef franks, or not. Maybe some Colombian Chorizo.

Not sure what ground beef to buy for the burgers. Beef is beef I guess, unless it's part pork. I'll make that decision this afternoon.

I'm going to have to have some chicken options apparently. (Women sure are particular.) Boar's Head has some nice chicken frank options.

I think plenty of beer, wine and mixed drinks should cover-up any flaws in my, soon to be, plan.

Not looking forward to this one.

Get creative with toppings. Tzatziki sauce and spinach, or feta with romaine are good alternatives to cheese and lettuce.

I really like alfalfa sprouts on a grilled burger. Gives a light peppery bite.

http://www.realsimple.com/food...er-toppings/view-all

Leave 3 or 4 new selections out for people to try on their own.

Ground sirloin with 15% fat; no dog dick hotdogs.

I like ground chuck.

I'm through shopping. I went to both Kroger's and Whole Foods. Ended up with some 85/15 and some 80/20 ground sirloin, and six gourmet patties with cheddar infused. The rest of the meat includes apple-flavored chicken sausage, Colombian chorizo, Smoked & seasoned beef franks, and applewood smoked bacon.

The hot dog buns are potato buns and steak rolls. For the hamburgers I bought jumbo (sesame seed) buns, crustin buns, and whole grain buns.

I also bought sliced Vermont cheddar and pepperjack cheese.

I hope that is enough options to keep the ladies quiet.

I haven't decided yet which heat source to use, but I'm leaning towards the infrared. That usually seals in the juices quick and only takes six minutes for the burgers and probably less for the hotdogs.

Well it got out of hand. The lady that I bought the chicken sausages for got into some bad crab the night before so her and her husband were no-shows. I let myself get talked into cooking with charcoal and wood. The fire started late, then everyone (meaning my wife) got in a hurry to eat. When it was done & dusted, the hamburgers, hot dog, and sausages turned-out fine, but I forgot to cook the bacon, and my wife forgot to put out the cheddar and Monterey jack cheese slices. (My wife and I both lost track of the cheese-infused hamburger patty, but we assume the lady that was lactose-intolerant didn't get it, because she was still on her feet when the party ended.)

I think to have a better outcome I'm going to have to cut the wine, whiskey and beer rations until AFTER the meat is all cooked.

Everyone seemed happy when they waddled out the door.

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:

I think to have a better outcome I'm going to have to cut the wine, whiskey and beer rations until AFTER the meat is all cooked.

Or soak the meat in them and float meatballs in the punch bowl.

Should have done boer sausages.

You can buy the mix online or maybe even Amazon and have it there the next day.

Disneyland has a beef bbq sauce that is Asian inspired for their Safari village eatery. I am going to try and grill that this weekend.

could have tried this - but only if you have a FB account probably

https://www.facebook.com/LaBib...eos/666553526833126/

Looks kinda good, but a lot of extra work. If they had kept running that video after they cut that burger, the whole "relleno" would have been spread over the entire plate, to be eaten with a spoon.

I'm a traditionalist. I demand a burger I can eat with my hands. The trend of course is for a "gourmet" burger that "stands" 10" high, that has to be cut and eaten like a salad. That mess is supposed to impress me? That brings back zero memories, and deconstructs a burger to nothing recognizable. It makes us all look like soccer-moms eating our "burger". Not just "no!", but "Hell no!".

On cook outs, I subscribe to the KISS principle.
And keep the menu as simple as possible. I was having a fish fry when I lived in Memphis and one fellow asked what was I gonna have besides fish? I told him there would be fish, hushpuppies, french fries all cooked in the same vat and coleslaw on the side. He asked, what about the people that don't eat fish? And I told him: "they stay home."

Gourmet is high quality,
Gourmand is lots of food such as a 10" burger.
Thanksgiving here tends to be gourmand as evey dish they can think of is included.